An MMO that isn't totally dark and depressing, while still being fun?

Sciela

So, I've been playing a lot of League lately, but I'm massively burning out. I quit WoW years ago because WoD and Legion took everything I enjoyed away (the combat was fun, and then became 2 buttons). So, I've been playing FFXIV and GW2, but they're just so depressing, and both of them are missing things, and I just burn out.

Is there an MMO out there that's more lighthearted (or at least isn't depressing and edgy 100% of the time), and actually has fun combat as well as meaningful progression?

I liked Wildstar, but it died out sadly, and I don't think it has much time left. : /

Sciela

I've tried Trove, and just got tired of it.

Sciela

DMKano said:

Sciela said:

I've tried Trove, and just got tired of it.

How long has it been? Eclipse expansion or before?
Either way, Nov 14th is a major expansion update (Adventures)

Check out the pages of patch notes here:

http://forums.trovegame.com/showthread.php?128789-PTS-Patch-Notes-Trove-Adventures-October-19-2017

Oh a long time ago. Like a year or more. xD Played it for a couple weeks, and just burned out 'cause it got really repetitive.

Albatroes

Wasn't there some kind of pony mmorpg that Hive did a review on not long ago? I forgot the name of it but it look like it had more depth than a lot of mmorpgs on the current market surprisingly. Just wasn't my kind of game though. You can also give Digimon masters online a look as well.

SomethingUnusual

That's a familiar avatar... I know you from wildstar...

Lighthearted games? That's a tough one. And not a lot to mention for open world games. 
I would suggest Trove as well, but I agree on the repetitiveness (though adventures might change that a little, something to at least play through once.).

Have you ever dived into Everquest 2? A lot of content there that can get repetitive but varying emotional states and sense when adventuring that isn't always "dark over-looming evil" and a good consistent change in scenery. Only thing I can think of with your specifications without getting into children's games. 

If you're into superheroes there's DC Universe. Definitely some lightheartedness there in some episodes. 

Thane

hm, more "light hearted" than wildstar? will be hard to find

Sciela

Thane said:

hm, more "light hearted" than wildstar? will be hard to find

No I loved Wildstar, but it seems like no one else did, and I don't think the game is goinna last much longer. : /

SomethingUnusual said:

That's a familiar avatar... I know you from wildstar...

Lighthearted games? That's a tough one. And not a lot to mention for open world games. 
I would suggest Trove as well, but I agree on the repetitiveness (though adventures might change that a little, something to at least play through once.).

Have you ever dived into Everquest 2? A lot of content there that can get repetitive but varying emotional states and sense when adventuring that isn't always "dark over-looming evil" and a good consistent change in scenery. Only thing I can think of with your specifications without getting into children's games. 

If you're into superheroes there's DC Universe. Definitely some lightheartedness there in some episodes. 

Haha, so you probably hate me, huh? :P Most of the community did, and I was banned from the forums forever because one of the mods didn't like me.

I mean, I know totally light-hearted isn't goinna happen, but I just want to laugh every now and then or be able to relax instead of having some edgelord story going on and having people die and all that all the time. Like, the latest GW2 expansion? My God is it dark. Legion is dark but has funny bits, so it's better, but the combat is boring now.

I never tried EQ2 though. I don't think I'd really enjoy it.

wanderica

Hmmm.  Lighthearted, huh?  Might be a bit tough.  Assuming you want to avoid more family oriented titles like Wizard 101, I can only think of Marvel Heroes and DCUO.  Fun combat is, obviously subjective, but I think DCUO's combat really shines here, and I usually prefer the old tab target traditional MMO style.  Marvel Heroes will become a D3 style gear grind, but DCUO has tons and tons of end game content.

If you wanted a more story oriented game, then LotRO has some lighthearted moments, but most of these are found at lower level stuff.  The shire, in particular, is probably a perfect fit.  As you level through Middle Earth, though, the big bads become more and more front and center, and you'll find that death and destruction theme return in full force by the time you get to Helm's Deep.

There's also SWTOR.  The Smuggler story is riddled with humorous moments, and feels very light compared to Jedi Knight's, for example.  Level 50+, however, doesn't share that quality, and end game may teeter out for you.

Sciela

wanderica said:

Hmmm.  Lighthearted, huh?  Might be a bit tough.  Assuming you want to avoid more family oriented titles like Wizard 101, I can only think of Marvel Heroes and DCUO.  Fun combat is, obviously subjective, but I think DCUO's combat really shines here, and I usually prefer the old tab target traditional MMO style.  Marvel Heroes will become a D3 style gear grind, but DCUO has tons and tons of end game content.

If you wanted a more story oriented game, then LotRO has some lighthearted moments, but most of these are found at lower level stuff.  The shire, in particular, is probably a perfect fit.  As you level through Middle Earth, though, the big bads become more and more front and center, and you'll find that death and destruction theme return in full force by the time you get to Helm's Deep.

There's also SWTOR.  The Smuggler story is riddled with humorous moments, and feels very light compared to Jedi Knight's, for example.  Level 50+, however, doesn't share that quality, and end game may teeter out for you.

I mean, I'd be fine playing a family-oriented game so long as it was enjoyable and had some meaningful progression. I'm actually considering downloading Maplestory, even, after listening to an OST from the old version of the game. Was such a nostalgia bomb. :P

And I know I'm goinna sound like a broken record, but I've tried SWTOR and DCUO, and didn't really enjoy either. : / Though I haven't tried LOTRO, but if it's anything like the book, it's goinna be hyper edgelord.

Kyleran

Threads like this are always a challenge when they are missing the list of games already played and discarded. 

What was enjoyed previously and why can also be helpful.

Sciela

Kyleran said:

Threads like this are always a challenge when they are missing the list of games already played and discarded. 

What was enjoyed previously and why can also be helpful.

Alrighty, I'll go and add in all the games I remember playing, and why I liked them / quit.

Sciela

Okay, so apparently my original post is too old to edit, so I'm adding this here. I'm going to list as many games as I can remember playing, and explain why I liked / disliked them, and why I quit.

1. Maplestory. I played this when I was little, and it was an absolute blast. I listened to an OST on Youtube today, and I started tearing up with all the memories and nostalgia. I remember enjoying the game, but the story was a bit lacking as far as I remember, and it was a bit grindy. I think I quit because I picked up WoW.
2. Runescape. I played this before Maplestory, and was probably the first MMO I played if you don't count Diablo. I really didn't like it that much, but my cousin and people from my school played it, so I did. I quit because I got bored and wasn't a member.
3. WoW. I played this for 10 years. I loved it the entire way, until the WoD prepatch came out and made every class I enjoyed incredibly boring. I mostly quit because Fistweaving wasn't viable anymore, and Hunters and Shamans became super simplistic.
4. GW2. I loved the combat in this game, and the Asura were adorable, but once I hit 80, I just ran out of things to do. Fractals released shortly after I hit 80, and I enjoyed those for a while, but I just got bored. I went back for HoT, and the raid was fun, but ultimately left a sour taste since there was no progression and it was more or less an awareness check.
5. Wildstar. I loved this game. I picked it up after I quit WoW, and I loved it so much. I burned out a little bit in the middle because the classes were easier, but once I hit max level and got into raids I had so much fun. When the Protostar dungeon came out, I spammed the hell out of it and had a blast. Then the game started dying, and when it went F2P I quit. I don't think it has much time left, and I wouldn't feel good about playing it in its current state -- don't want to ruin the good memories I have.
6. Mabinogi. I remember playing this a little bit, and I LOVED the music system, but I never made it very far. The combat was fun since it was a lot of reactions and I liked the whole rock-paper-scissors thing, but overall the game was a confused mashup of things and I eventually got bored and went back to WoW.
7. SWTOR. I never got far, the game was just wonky feeling and the combat was way too slow for me.
8. TERA. It was fun at first, since it was the first action game I played, but eventually I got bored since the classes were super repetitive and the dungeons were just lame.
9. Blade and Soul. This one... the little cat girls are adorable, and Blade Dancer was fun, but the game was just so grindy and felt unrewarding, on top of the dungeons also being kind of lame, I got bored and quit (I was like level 35). I might consider going back since I like the combat, but is there anything to do PvE wise?
10. Eden Eternal. I remember picking this up during a content drought in WoW, and it was fun for a while, but ultimately was a bit simplistic, and I got bored. I liked the art style though.
11. RIFT. I don't remember it well, but I remember it getting a bit repetitive and boring.
12. FFXIV. Currently playing this one, and I do love the art style, music, story and crafting, but the combat leaves a lot to be desired and is really slow and simplistic, but the encounters are well designed and moderately entertaining. Really worried about hitting max level since I feel like the raids are going to be mindless and easy. Plus, it seems like Yoshi P actually cares about the game beyond how much money it makes, and I really respect that. Amazing community as well.
13. BDO. I tried it, and it just felt bad. I didn't enjoy the combat, the questing was really badly done, and it didn't have any kind of PVE content I enjoyed.
    

Other games I remember playing but don't remember enough to make a comment on them (or games I don't think count as MMOs): Dark Eden, Aura Kingdom, Perfect World, Allods Online, Runes of Magic Online, LOTRO (maybe, not entirely sure), Adventure Quest (if that even counts, I was little), Dragon's Nest, Spiral Knights (or some game similar to it), Gunbound (if that counts, but I loved this game), Conquer Online (when I was little), Atlantis Online (I think that's the name? Some tile-based turn-based thing)... I can't think of any more games to name. I can remember how things looked and whatnot, but I can't put names to them. A handful more.

Forgrimm

Villagers and Heroes might be worth a shot http://www.villagersandheroes.com/category/featured/

Sciela

Forgrimm said:

Villagers and Heroes might be worth a shot http://www.villagersandheroes.com/category/featured/

I swear I've played that before. I don't really know, since it was so long ago, but the art style just looks so familiar. I can't remember for certain though. T_T

Forgrimm

Sciela said:

Forgrimm said:

Villagers and Heroes might be worth a shot http://www.villagersandheroes.com/category/featured/

I swear I've played that before. I don't really know, since it was so long ago, but the art style just looks so familiar. I can't remember for certain though. T_T

It used to be called "A Mystical Land".

MadCoderOne

Having a lot of fun currently with DC Online. Didn't like it years ago, I don't know why but this time around something clicked.

MadCoderOne

kchisarik said:

Having a lot of fun currently with DC Online. Didn't like it years ago, I don't know why but this time around something clicked.

Bah missed the comment where you said you tried and didnt like... 

laxie

Jokes aside, based on what you are saying, I think your issue has nothing to do with games being too "dark and gloomy". It sounds like you have a problem with MMOs feeling unrewarding.

It might be useful to think about games in terms of gameplay. Try to see what you like about the games you play and find a game that gives you more of that.

On one hand, you don't enjoy games that lack clear progression (GW2 endgame). On the other, you don't enjoy games that require a grind, as those are boring to you (Trove). I think you need to think about your expectations and what you want from a game.

Things like EVE Onilne are very open ended and quite diverse, but they don't have clear goals and you might find that boring.

Then you have primarily social games (like Star Wars Galaxies or more extremely Second Life), where the goal is social interaction. Those games can be rewarding in their own way, as long as you see value in it. You may find them boring, as there is no explicit goal.

Sciela

laxie said:

Jokes aside, based on what you are saying, I think your issue has nothing to do with games being too "dark and gloomy". It sounds like you have a problem with MMOs feeling unrewarding.

It might be useful to think about games in terms of gameplay. Try to see what you like about the games you play and find a game that gives you more of that.

On one hand, you don't enjoy games that lack clear progression (GW2 endgame). On the other, you don't enjoy games that require a grind, as those are boring to you (Trove). I think you need to think about your expectations and what you want from a game.

Things like EVE Onilne are very open ended and quite diverse, but they don't have clear goals and you might find that boring.

Then you have primarily social games (like Star Wars Galaxies or more extremely Second Life), where the goal is social interaction. Those games can be rewarding in their own way, as long as you see value in it. You may find them boring, as there is no explicit goal.

You know, that makes a lot of sense -- though I do enjoy brighter parts in games a lot more than the darker parts. :P

I like to have a clear direction to move in (without entirely removing choice, like the WoW leveling zones had options but at the same time guided you slightly), since I kind of flounder and get lost in sandboxes, and then just get bored with it and quit. So, horizontal "progression" like in GW2 just doesn't cut it for me. Then Trove, where you have to grind... it's just not satisfying grinding. You make such incremental changes, and there's never any new content as you get better gear, it's just more grinding. In WoW, you got better gear to go to higher tier raids / harder modes / generally harder content - there was a sense of progression, and each mode / new raid had totally new mechanics and whatnot to learn and adapt to.

As to what I want from a game... I need combat / gameplay that's enjoyable just on its own merit. No mechanics or people interrupting, the game itself needs to be fun. Then, I need content that's fun no matter how much I play through it. I also need some sense of progression. After that... it's really not as important - I can enjoy all kinds of games.

EVE... I wouldn't even call it a game. It's like a guided cinematic if anything.

And I grew up never having friends, so I don't particularly like social games. :P

Sid_Vicious

Right now I would suggest either Darkfall: Rise of Agon if you prefer exciting FPS-style PVE in a fantasy setting or Conan Exiles if you prefer more of a Minecraft type style. Both games need more support, for sure. Great but play them while you may. New Dawn may be on its way too, but not sure how ready they are... most people are turning to easier games and newer games unfortunately.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RgImLtNzxA

Gymrat313

OP, I think you have taken a stab at anything worthwhile out there. There probably isn't some mystical game out there that is so good and will satisfy your needs that you haven't heard of. 

Sciela

Gymrat313 said:

OP, I think you have taken a stab at anything worthwhile out there. There probably isn't some mystical game out there that is so good and will satisfy your needs that you haven't heard of. 

Probably. But I don't want to admit that and just give up. : /

Kyleran

You are probably going to have to wait with the rest of us for the next few years until some of the kickstarter/ indie titles launch.

I'm keeping busy catching up on about 15 years of unplayed single player games.

DeadSpock

Switch it off a little by playing a non mmo game with some online interaction like Destiny 2. Personally I'm playing Destiny 2 at the moment and tomorrow  Call if Duty WW2 and .hack releases for PS4 have them both preordered and installed. MMORPG lately are not my forte I feel burned out as well it's not just you. Also playing Diablo 3 and having a lot of fun as I'm playing the whole time with a friend online, it has a lot of grinding but it's fun.

Scorchien

Maybe try out Tree of Savior ... may be something you like from your history ...


http://store.steampowered.com/app/372000/Tree_of_Savior_English_Ver/

  Or
 Tree of Life ....
http://store.steampowered.com/app/361800/Tree_of_Life/

sunandshadow

Did you ever try Wizard 101 or Pirate 101?