Casual MMO that you can take seriously?

raystantz

Which MMO's fit this bill?

- Vast world to explore.
- Things to do other than just kill 10 <x>
- PVP of some variety, that is active.
- Something that can be played casually. I work in film, so my schedule is nuts. Some weeks I may not get to play at all, some weeks I might binge the whole day away.. But, in a game like WoW if you don't play, you're so far behind that you find yourself forcing yourself to play to catch up, and that's not very much fun to me.
- no subs... see previous point. I don't play enough to pay for a sub fee. I'd rather pay to unlock things as I get to them. 

I'm currently playing ESO, seems like it's in that ballpark? Just making sure there's nothing else worth trying. 

Octagon7711

GW2 and ESO are my go-to MMO's for casual play.  Short learning curve and lots of conveniences.  Played both off and on since launch and still with them.

Albatroes

raystantz said:

Which MMO's fit this bill?

- Vast world to explore.
- Things to do other than just kill 10 <x>
- PVP of some variety, that is active.
- Something that can be played casually. I work in film, so my schedule is nuts. Some weeks I may not get to play at all, some weeks I might binge the whole day away.. But, in a game like WoW if you don't play, you're so far behind that you find yourself forcing yourself to play to catch up, and that's not very much fun to me.
- no subs... see previous point. I don't play enough to pay for a sub fee. I'd rather pay to unlock things as I get to them. 

I'm currently playing ESO, seems like it's in that ballpark? Just making sure there's nothing else worth trying. 

You can't be casual in WoW....? What exactly are you forcing yourself to catch up to? If you mean raiding, casuals buy raid clears all the time, especially with how easy it is to make gold in the game now. I never really how people could ever take WoW seriously anyway given that content is always outdated every few months. The hardcore just get rewarded with a mount and achievement in the end, unless you're seriously obsessed with the temporary power they get that Blizzard gives casuals anyway via world quests or raising the gear drops from normal heroic dungeons anyway. Heck, normal mythics are faceroll at that and m+ doesn't get "challenging" until +10(?). Personally, I dont care much for wow, but I never understood the overall seriousness of the game since everything is on a timeframe before it gets nerfed. If things are "too challenging" just wait until Blizzard passively increases the rewards you get from doing stuff you've already been doing or until the next expansion. Raid gear doesn't even really help you level THAT much faster in the beginning of an expansion anyway. A greatly geared dps isn't going to level faster than a fresh tank/healer simply because the expansion always helps you get up to its first dungeon, so even if the dps can access said dungeon faster, chances are they'll still be queue but the time the former has the ilvl to enter. So just play.

Lithuanian

I have one game in mind, but it does not fit:

a) vast world

b) active PvP.

Other things fit:
- Things to do other than just kill 10 <x>
- Something that can be played casually
- no subs... see previous point.

If those two missing points are not crucial - my vote would go for Istaria. Free to play model generous (only restrictions: you can be only human and cannot own land). There are end-game territories (someone remind me NOT to go to Bloodskulks or Indestructable Fiyakis alone...) and bosses to kill, but that's all, you are not forced to do it

EvilGeek

GW2 is my favourite contender, plenty of space to explore, enough PvE and story content to keep you entertained for a long time, PvP in the form of World Verses World or more traditional team based PVP. 

cesmode8

I would have to say GW2 hands down.  Probably ESO too, but Im a bigger fan of GW2.  I played about 1400 hrs+ within the games first 1.5 years, i stopped playing for various reasons and have since returned this week after a 4+ year break.  SO much has been packed into the game, so much content, lore, collectible, content, things to do, aesthetics and cosmetics... I just finished the first expansion, Heart of Thrones, last night and its probably the best expansion Ive ever had the pleasure of experiencing out of any MMO, including my 7 years in WoW.  Period.

TEKK3N

GW2

Maurgrim

GW2 is what you are looking for.

raystantz

Albatroes said:

raystantz said:

Which MMO's fit this bill?

- Vast world to explore.
- Things to do other than just kill 10 <x>
- PVP of some variety, that is active.
- Something that can be played casually. I work in film, so my schedule is nuts. Some weeks I may not get to play at all, some weeks I might binge the whole day away.. But, in a game like WoW if you don't play, you're so far behind that you find yourself forcing yourself to play to catch up, and that's not very much fun to me.
- no subs... see previous point. I don't play enough to pay for a sub fee. I'd rather pay to unlock things as I get to them. 

I'm currently playing ESO, seems like it's in that ballpark? Just making sure there's nothing else worth trying. 

You can't be casual in WoW....? What exactly are you forcing yourself to catch up to? If you mean raiding, casuals buy raid clears all the time, especially with how easy it is to make gold in the game now. I never really how people could ever take WoW seriously anyway given that content is always outdated every few months. The hardcore just get rewarded with a mount and achievement in the end, unless you're seriously obsessed with the temporary power they get that Blizzard gives casuals anyway via world quests or raising the gear drops from normal heroic dungeons anyway. Heck, normal mythics are faceroll at that and m+ doesn't get "challenging" until +10(?). Personally, I dont care much for wow, but I never understood the overall seriousness of the game since everything is on a timeframe before it gets nerfed. If things are "too challenging" just wait until Blizzard passively increases the rewards you get from doing stuff you've already been doing or until the next expansion. Raid gear doesn't even really help you level THAT much faster in the beginning of an expansion anyway. A greatly geared dps isn't going to level faster than a fresh tank/healer simply because the expansion always helps you get up to its first dungeon, so even if the dps can access said dungeon faster, chances are they'll still be queue but the time the former has the ilvl to enter. So just play.

It's not that you can't be casual, it's just a different kind of casual. In ESO I don't feel like I'm left behind, because all of the old content is still viable and still fun. WoW dumbs everything down except for the current content (which isn't that hard either) so that essentially all you're doing is playing constant catch up. If I started right now at level 1.. in about a day I'd be at the cap, because all of the old content is obsolete and you literally only do it to get to the cap so you can jump on the gear wheel. It's not about the journey, it's about how fast you can get there. That's not fun to me.

Scorchien

yea ESO is the best fit for you