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Which MMO has most value for money?
derf26
Member Posts: 123
In your opinion, which MMO has the most value for money. Let's only include pay to play MMOs here.
You should judge them upon the following factors. Please include a short explanation for each factor:
- Innovation - For me this is a very important factor at play. If i'm going to subscribe to an MMO long-term, I want to know that I get to play a world with interesting new features, and not just a re-make of another game with a new name.
- Graphics - These have to be between good and very good. Ideally the game should allow you to set them to high, in which case it should be a beauty, yet also allow slower computers (mine is mid-range) to play them at a good performance woth lowered settings. Most MMOs have a cartoony feel to them or the graphics are simply old. It would be nice to see FPS standard graphics in a game.
- Gameplay - One of, if not the, most important factor at play here, If a game has stunning and incredibly addictive gameplay (read: minimum repetitive grind) then I could endure terrible graphics and still play it.
- Community - Is very important to me. I tend to talk a lot on the forums of any particular game I am drawn in to, and would like the majority of the community to be mature. Mature doesn't necessarily mean older players, it just means less flaming/insolence. I want to be able to talk intelligently with people on both aspects of the game, and discuss news from RL.
- Lag - Is a game breaker for any MMO, so how the company manages lag is very important to me.
I've probably missed something important but I can't think of anything else at the moment, so if you've got somethign to add go ahead. I would appreciate it if people gave feedback on the games they play/played and their opinion of them if you thought highly of it. I've recently stopped playing Eve, and went through an exploratory stage trying out F2P MMOs, but decided that they were a waste of time. So i'm now in the market for a game, and so are several friends of mine.
Thanks. 
Comments
The answer to your question is: none
With that said, for me it would be GuildWars. Not because it is all that much better, but it is F2P after you buy the box. To address your specific areas, innovation just isn't going to be found in a game anymore. I am sorry fanboys of <insert new game here>, your "cool new feature" has been done before in some manner. GW does keep things flowing with good expansions and they do keep stuff well updated. Graphics are decent in most games now if your computer can handle it, GW has excellent graphics. Gameplay is pretty subjective. GW plays well, but it is repetative like any other fantasy based mmo. There is a lot you can do to change it up, either with pvp or boss hunting for new skills etc. Community is where GW is really lacking unless you get into a really dedicated and "good" guild. Some of the guilds in GW, I have had fun in. It is nothing like my old guilds in EQ, DAOC, EVE and such, but none of them ever are anymore. Lag is decent and much better than most games of GW's caliber.
Ok that's actually something I feared to hear.
Does this include all the current titles and those yet to come, or only the current titles? Or is it too hard to determine which of the announced games actually have or will have the features they promise, and which ones are just empty promises?
the game can be very laggy...but it's FREE!
WoW patches added one or two dungeons maybe every three months possibly a bit more. That's $45 for one or two dungeons. Guild Wars has been about an average of 8 months per campaign for $50 for the equivalent of probably 10 WoW dungeons and add in two new classes each (with some odd 150+ new skills). Time wise you might get a similar amount of content but the amount you pay is almost triple, althoug when you add in the new classes its clearly a lot more.
Alot of other non-WoW MMOs either charge for the new content (like EQ2) and only tweak on patches or have put in less content than WoW in patches. And then there is the whole expansion thing for WoW as well since you must buy both games etc.
All in all you really do not get much bang for your buck. I could take this even further and compare Oblivion buyable Betheda content additions and it would look just as bad.
All in all I think its a bit of a racket and you don't get even close to the value for you dollar that other paradigms give you. I pay because I like these sorts of games I have never been under the impression that I am getting a good return on my dollar.
Ok that's actually something I feared to hear.
Does this include all the current titles and those yet to come, or only the current titles? Or is it too hard to determine which of the announced games actually have or will have the features they promise, and which ones are just empty promises?
Its an empty promise until its implementedRight now I can't recommend anything.... we really need something fresh and "good".
But there are many new games on the near horizon, and I'm hoping one of them is a winner.
"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
Although I believe Community is the most important, but it is not the most value for money.
I am gonna go with game play, which include PVP, monsters, Races. I usually look at the screenshots of the game, but then I would look at the Races right away. My fav Character would be Assassin, few games have Assassin as a class. Most games contain, Warroir (close combat), Wizard (long distance), then maybe healers, Archers, Summoners...etc . Then I would look at the PVP system, for me Grinding isnt so much of a problem, I am pretty outgoing, my classmates would play with me, some online friends would also play, i make new friends as i go as well, i am trying to forum a guild of nice players to play with right now. So I dont really mind grind, but I care more about PVP. Race/class are directly related to PVP, and how their skills can affect their combat against others, so I suggest you design your PVP system fairly to everyone, and make more interesting class, not just typical warroirs and wizards.
As far as whether or not the initial $50 is equal that is not really an analysis I want to do as it start to get way to subjective.
Either way the point is moot as all the monthly sub games are a terrible value for what you get compared inside the industry. However like someone else say its doesn't bother me that much as $15 is the same as going out to a restaurant once a month and i gnenerally spend enough time and get enough enjoyment on whichever one I am playing that I am fine by it.
I find it amazing that by 2020 first world countries will be competing to get immigrants.
Max cap in GW is 20, an average player will reach that in 2-3 weeks and then its just PvP (instanced) cus thats all there is to do, because GW is F2P its laggy (player warps alot) and everything is instanced, the only place you will find other players are in towns and even then you are sperated into districts that hold about 100 players. You can go out of town with upto 4 friends but thats it. No Auction house or any realy kind of community tools for finding groups etc. Feels like a single player game IMHO. But its good for a month or so thats how much time i got out of it.
Max cap in WoW is 60 (we'll forget about the expansion for this), average player will take a good 3-5 months to get to 60, all the while your questing next to and grouping with people in the world, no instanced world, just instanced dungeons and PvP battle grounds, sell your crafted or gather items on the aution house, pop into the battle ground for some PvP or form a group and do some world PvP. Flag your self as LFG on the LFG User interface tool. Been playing 14 months still things to do.
WoW is only $15 now BTW, so try it for a month, or download the 10day trial signup.worldofwarcraft.com/trial/index.htm
More to your points, this is how WoW measures up.
these days i would have to say that the F2P and the free to DL are teh best MMOs out now. I really don't like any P2P games out there at all
Just to add, I think community is the second most important thing you have to look at because, the community is, 80% of the time, the one that will help you progress through the game. Whether it be guilds, clans, friends, veterans, or other new players. I specifically look for mmorpg's that have english speaking, helpful, fun players that are good to be around with. And also, you don't want to be playing a deserted game right? I always look at "Current Online" and "Total Registered Players".
As of now, I think EverQuest II is the best shot. I've only played it at a friend's house, but hell, it's freaking good!
Ok that's actually something I feared to hear.
Does this include all the current titles and those yet to come, or only the current titles? Or is it too hard to determine which of the announced games actually have or will have the features they promise, and which ones are just empty promises?
Honestly, that pretty much includes the ones scheduled for release. Several of the future games look cool, but if they turn out like VG, then I don't know. I personally play GW on and off, EVE on and off, and do betas when I get in. On the horizon, I see myself possibly messing with Stargate Worlds, but I fear it will turn out to be either an SWG-esque failure over time, or a DDO type failure. If Mythic were still solely in charge of WAR, I would say it would be good, but now I don't know. I too am in a position of wondering what to do, LotRO is fun, but I might as well play a game like WoW or EQ2 where I already have high level characters....Note that I am not a GW fanboy, you don't see me running around posting about how much I love GW. In fact, I have not actually played in a few weeks. But the game is fun and if you look around some, you might actually find a decent guild and get some good mmorpg interaction.
1) Guildwars - Best value hands down
2) WoW - Standard price but at least it's FUN
*drumroll*
REAL-LIFE!
Yes, folks you can craft, earn money, own a house, choose any mount you like from horses to cars (no dragons though
I love the way I can customize my character! There are shops all over the towns where you can dye your hair and even get a tan! This alone has made me want to play!
And it's 100% free
BTW @ Cupertino GW does in fact contain features to search for a party...erm...Party Search. You should look into it some time. I also find GW alot more challenging than many other MMOs BECAUSE of the instances. There's no one to randomly help you when you're running away screaming for help, or to buff you as you walk past. It's all about your skill in choosing the right spells and knowing when to use them.