That is like asking what beer is the best. You need to be a bit more specific. Do you like theme parks or sand box, pvp, pve? What genre fantasy scifi etc?
You could potentially get hundreds of answers to a question this broad.
The only MMOG I'm currently playing is in my signature, but so much depends on your personal preferences, system, finances, time, etc.
Yes, it is a good game.
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Authored 139 missions in VendettaOnline and 6 tracks in Distance
I do enjoy pvp somewhat, theme parks I'm slighty tired of if its the basic WoW style. I'm really up for anything
Well that's a bit weird to understand (at least to me) but you can always try Blade and Soul. I was honestly thinking about trying to get back into it myself sooner or later. Servers have either been "consolidated" or are going to be (merged) but its still NCSoft's highest grossing game in the west on pc if that means anything and its updated frequently.
There's always Tera as well but I never enjoyed the end game personally. Gear grind + enchant grind. But its pretty populated. I think most people play it for the battlegrounds and occasional fun pve fights. But to me it lacks real substance (i.e. meaningful rewards that actually make sense and last longer than 3-4 months, which take you about that time to get what you want so you dont really enjoy having it for more than a month till you replace it).
Neverwinter is also another solid title that has controlled pvp (queued pvp) and you'll really only notice the p2w in pvp, not pve (no open world pvp).
not a wow theme park, right now I"m reading about black desert
Black desert is your best bet escpcially if you are sick of wow style theme parks stay away from Final Fantasy, I think its a amazing game but its very much in the style of WOW. Black desert sounds like what you are looking for but be warned, they have this very complex system in place and you will have to do some reading offline in order to understand what the hell is going on.
Final Fantasy and ESO both have active player bases.
Both are pretty themeparky, with the main emphasis on PVE, and some PVP tacked on. FFXIV PVP recently got an overhaul and is better, but it's far from eSport worthy.
FFXIV is closer to WoW of the two - it's got a definite eastern-influenced Final Fantasy flair, and the story is much more emphasized than it is in WoW. Also, the class system - no alts needed to play every class in the game. It has much more in depth crafting and gathering, and (limited) housing. This game you can start for free, or buy just the base edition and purchase the expansions later, but it does have a monthly sub.
FFXIV is on it's second expansion now, and has ~a lot~ of content - maybe not as much as WoW, but still a significant amount, and it does a pretty decent job of keeping the older content relevant and playable. The end game is heavily gear treadmill based, though.
FFXIV has a unique development culture, and YoshiP (lead director) is extremely engaged with the community. Feedback from the community is heard, and when it actually makes sense and is poassible, is used.
ESO plays more like any other Elder Scrolls game. It is also pretty story heavy - you still have to pick a class like in WoW, but it has a bit more options once you do - any class can use any weapon or armor, and do well with it, and playstyle will depend heavily on those choices. Gathering/crafting here is pretty much WoW style. I haven't PvPed in this game, but I do know that it exists in some form. ESO level scales pretty much all the content, which is nice if you like to go out and explore a bit, and alleviates some of the themeparkedness since you can just wander about and quest whereever. In the end it boils down to a champion system that requires a good deal of XP grinding, and a moderate amount of gear chasing.
ESO is fremium - you don't have to pay the sub, but it's a better game if you do (and nearly required if you want to get into crafting). It follows the chapter model - the first few content releases were "chapters", and you can buy with in-game currency. It wasn't until Morrowwind that they actually called one an "Expansion" and required another cash purchase.
GW2 may be another game to consider. It's worth the box price alone (and has no sub) even if you don't fall in love with the end game.
Of those three: I actively play FFXIV and hold an annual subscription to it. It's the only game I maintain a sub to even when I'm not playing, because I like to support those developers. I find the story very engaging, and I like running the 8-man Trials a lot (kind of like mini-Raids - one boss - in and out). Once it gets down to the end game gear treadmill, I usually drop off and wait for the next content release.
I played the ESO open beta and hated it. Something about it just didn't click with me. I did eventually pick it back up on sale a while later, and once One Tamirel hit (the level-sync all content), it opened up and I liked the game a lot better. I play it occasionally, but haven't gotten a character to max level in the game yet.
I bought GW2 on release, and played for about 6 months straight, leveling up a couple of different characters. I like the story, I like the exploration, the concept was fun, but the end game just wasn't really existant. There is no gear treadmill, there's just limited "living story" content releases, which have a few hours worth of content, and then a good deal of not much inbetween those. I don't regret buying it, and one of these days when I have the time I want to go back and check out the expansions (one released, one coming up). The story was good, I loved the gameplay. I certainly don't regret the purchase.
Really couldn't go wrong with any of those 3 choices if your looking for a game with some population to it.
thank you, let me do some research on BDO , I have heard the cash shop was pretty bad
BDO is a game for active groups of friends. Go solo and you'll find yourself in a very empty world full of 17,000 other players who spend all their time either AFK or guild-chatting.
If you have Steam, go to steamcharts.com and type in any MMO name on Steam to see if there are people actually playing it or not.
BDO is decent although highly time consuming in order to be competitive and not get two shot by most other PvPers, unless you've played from launch. It's also a bit expensive, or it will take you months to get all the cash shop items you'll need from the in game currency market.
GW2 would probably be the only other populated non-WoW game. It probably still has a higher population than BDO but that's just going off what I see. It also has an expansion about to come out, so there's that.
Both games have their respective issues.
I wouldn't recommend Albion at the current moment till they iron out their server stability issues. It seems to me they are refusing to upgrade tech, and are instead choosing to pocket the profits from their hype. It has the ability to be a great game though if it's not held back by bad choices.
I would suggest Guild Wars 2 with a very good looking expansion coming in 1 month! Game is good, fun, LOTS of things to do and well populated with probably the best community out there. Helpfull & kind players everywhere. Best MMO choice in my opinion right now.
I'll also recommend Guild Wars 2 ans well as Secret World Legends. FFXIV was lots of fun as well, its also a good option. I also played ESO but I couldn't get into it. I maybe expected an experience like Skyrim and it was a huge let down from that perspective and still is. I've come back a few times but it doesn't hold my attention. I also tried BDO and its a great looking game, but it has a been there done that feel to it for me.
With a new expansion coming out for GW2, I think this would be the game to try and its free as a base game and not P2W.
GW2 wins but you must know the real winner is not anything mentioned, because the real winner is The Crew 2. Tired of the roleplaying games where you always skip the story part even in ESO and SWtor you quickly skip the dialogs. Then forget about all these boring RPG's and go for action packed mmo's like The Crew or Planetside 2.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
also can turn them off, lot sigs would piss me off but the posters are oblivious to it, so i turn them off. much nicer clean text to read an no self rage reading crap sigs.
not a wow theme park, right now I"m reading about black desert
I love Black Desert. It has a decent population but "going the right path"? Too loaded. I mean "World of Warcraft" has the largest population so there must be something right with their path after so many years.
I vote Black desert provided you like Asian grind games. If you don't then "don't".
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I recommend ESO, it has good pve and amazing group based pvp. Its also active, has lots of players etc. GW2 is also pretty good, and BDO is another excellent game if you have the time.
The only games I would recommend right now , and I have probably played all the big ones are : WoW , Eso , Swtor . I personally do not think any other are that good . Please note I am not playing the games I mentioned now so am unbiased , I play Uthgard DAOC currently.
Comments
The only MMOG I'm currently playing is in my signature, but so much depends on your personal preferences, system, finances, time, etc.
Yes, it is a good game.
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Authored 139 missions in Vendetta Online and 6 tracks in Distance
There's always Tera as well but I never enjoyed the end game personally. Gear grind + enchant grind. But its pretty populated. I think most people play it for the battlegrounds and occasional fun pve fights. But to me it lacks real substance (i.e. meaningful rewards that actually make sense and last longer than 3-4 months, which take you about that time to get what you want so you dont really enjoy having it for more than a month till you replace it).
Neverwinter is also another solid title that has controlled pvp (queued pvp) and you'll really only notice the p2w in pvp, not pve (no open world pvp).
Aloha Mr Hand !
Both are pretty themeparky, with the main emphasis on PVE, and some PVP tacked on. FFXIV PVP recently got an overhaul and is better, but it's far from eSport worthy.
FFXIV is closer to WoW of the two - it's got a definite eastern-influenced Final Fantasy flair, and the story is much more emphasized than it is in WoW. Also, the class system - no alts needed to play every class in the game. It has much more in depth crafting and gathering, and (limited) housing. This game you can start for free, or buy just the base edition and purchase the expansions later, but it does have a monthly sub.
FFXIV is on it's second expansion now, and has ~a lot~ of content - maybe not as much as WoW, but still a significant amount, and it does a pretty decent job of keeping the older content relevant and playable. The end game is heavily gear treadmill based, though.
FFXIV has a unique development culture, and YoshiP (lead director) is extremely engaged with the community. Feedback from the community is heard, and when it actually makes sense and is poassible, is used.
ESO plays more like any other Elder Scrolls game. It is also pretty story heavy - you still have to pick a class like in WoW, but it has a bit more options once you do - any class can use any weapon or armor, and do well with it, and playstyle will depend heavily on those choices. Gathering/crafting here is pretty much WoW style. I haven't PvPed in this game, but I do know that it exists in some form. ESO level scales pretty much all the content, which is nice if you like to go out and explore a bit, and alleviates some of the themeparkedness since you can just wander about and quest whereever. In the end it boils down to a champion system that requires a good deal of XP grinding, and a moderate amount of gear chasing.
ESO is fremium - you don't have to pay the sub, but it's a better game if you do (and nearly required if you want to get into crafting). It follows the chapter model - the first few content releases were "chapters", and you can buy with in-game currency. It wasn't until Morrowwind that they actually called one an "Expansion" and required another cash purchase.
GW2 may be another game to consider. It's worth the box price alone (and has no sub) even if you don't fall in love with the end game.
Of those three:
I actively play FFXIV and hold an annual subscription to it. It's the only game I maintain a sub to even when I'm not playing, because I like to support those developers. I find the story very engaging, and I like running the 8-man Trials a lot (kind of like mini-Raids - one boss - in and out). Once it gets down to the end game gear treadmill, I usually drop off and wait for the next content release.
I played the ESO open beta and hated it. Something about it just didn't click with me. I did eventually pick it back up on sale a while later, and once One Tamirel hit (the level-sync all content), it opened up and I liked the game a lot better. I play it occasionally, but haven't gotten a character to max level in the game yet.
I bought GW2 on release, and played for about 6 months straight, leveling up a couple of different characters. I like the story, I like the exploration, the concept was fun, but the end game just wasn't really existant. There is no gear treadmill, there's just limited "living story" content releases, which have a few hours worth of content, and then a good deal of not much inbetween those. I don't regret buying it, and one of these days when I have the time I want to go back and check out the expansions (one released, one coming up). The story was good, I loved the gameplay. I certainly don't regret the purchase.
Really couldn't go wrong with any of those 3 choices if your looking for a game with some population to it.
If you have Steam, go to steamcharts.com and type in any MMO name on Steam to see if there are people actually playing it or not.
GW2 would probably be the only other populated non-WoW game. It probably still has a higher population than BDO but that's just going off what I see. It also has an expansion about to come out, so there's that.
Both games have their respective issues.
I wouldn't recommend Albion at the current moment till they iron out their server stability issues. It seems to me they are refusing to upgrade tech, and are instead choosing to pocket the profits from their hype. It has the ability to be a great game though if it's not held back by bad choices.
Game is good, fun, LOTS of things to do and well populated with probably the best community out there. Helpfull & kind players everywhere.
Best MMO choice in my opinion right now.
With a new expansion coming out for GW2, I think this would be the game to try and its free as a base game and not P2W.
Also keep an eye out for Camelot Unchained.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I vote Black desert provided you like Asian grind games. If you don't then "don't".
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo