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Looking for a representative experience in MMOs
Spiersberg
Member UncommonPosts: 6
Hello everyone,
Being this my first post, I have to say I've been an avid reader of this forum for years. I must confess you guys amaze me everyday with your knowledge and opinions.
My teacher is the girl in the middle. She is one half of "Colectivo Nubol" .
What they do is what they call "participant intrusion", which is documenting experiences of social integration. It's just doing social stuff they never did before and writing about it. For example, in the photo they are cosplaying for their first time ever. They have done a lot of activities, like regional dance, going to soccer stadiums, running marathon... and they are very serious about it, giving everything.
So, their next challenge is the MMO world. They need your experience in order to choose the right target.
- It has to be a game. It can't be something like Second Life.
- PVP has to be optional because they don't have any kind of experience or skill in videogames. It can´t be too hardcore neither.
- It has to be a representative experience, so it can´t be a niche title, too childish or too anything. Something giving a nice global view of what a MMO (community) is about.
- Big, lively and active community.
- Human driven events by GMs/GSs and/or players. Stuff like weddings are a big plus.
- F2P with full access to chat is better, but they would even pay a subscription.
Well, that's it. I can't wait to read your answers. Thanks in advance!
Comments
In this order:
LOTRO
DDO
Rift
Champions Online
I would say Guild Wars 2. It's easy to get into and has a large and -in my experience- helpful community. I wouldn't recommend Word of Warcraft because most if not all players over there are already high levels and more focused on doing end game content, while in Guild Wars 2 there is still a decent amount of people in lower level zones as well (at my server anyway, which is Far Shiverpeaks). If they choose Guild Wars 2 and they need any help, send me a personal message and I will give them my in-game name. Good luck with your research!
- Nevermind, forgot that it has to be F2P.
haha I wish I could sell myself on one cute bloke. But slightly facepalm.
Being an avid forum reader for years and not knowing which MMO's that are FTP to try is quite contrary.
Anyway I think there is something in a game called world of warcraft that might fit the decribed criteria. Maybe AION if your looking for weddings ect. Everquest 2 has "dev" interaction at times but it's sparse and there really isn't too much fanfare leading up to it.
Free to play - TERA
Pay to play - Guild Wars 2 and or World of Warcraft
Sharess Dragonstar - Midgard
Grievance is recruiting.
ohoho well done.
Veteran of 27 years of MMO's here. A little challenge, picking an MMO for two young'uns.
Boba Fett-"Reality doesn't care if you believe it."
Thanks for the responses so far!
I'm interested mostly in abstract discussions, like solo vs group, economy, sandbox vs themepark, stagnation of the genre, etc. I've played just around ten MMOs myself and I know I can find here people who knows far better than me.
It isn't needed for the game to be F2P, but it's a plus. They will even pay a subscription it's really a better representative experience.
I would agree with the above, most notably Champions Online. Its very forgiving, not sure what the population is like, but one thing Champions Online (and also DC Universe - but DC has a tougher combat system) does right is Character Creation, which I find is a great starting point when getting introduced to a new game.
Overall I feel DC Universe is a better game, and they would likely understand most of the references made in regards to characters. It isn't exactly the "traditional" MMO though.
I wouldn't be opposed to them trying SWTOR either, it has a pretty great story, and enough content that they could play together. It also envelops the Star Wars theme which is ideal if they are really interested in Pop Culture, socially or otherwise.
You mentioned the one in the middle being your "Teacher", in which I would say LOTRO would be good simply because most teachers appreciate Tolkien, and with the resurgence in popularity due to the Hobbit, I could see that being interesting to a degree.
GW2, WoW, TERA are all games that call themselves MMO's....their community is made of mainstream gamers that aren't exactly the shining example of the MMO community. the best game I can think of if you really want a true MMO community would be:
Lord of the Rings Online or Everquest 2
If you dont mind a slightly more niche game go with "The Secret World"
If you can stomach the outdated graphics and want to try a TRUE MMORPG that is free to play, try Anarchy Online.
It is good in many ways, but dare I say it? Dull. Fundamentally dull. Very samey.
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
My vote would be for Everquest 2. It has a ton of content and one of the most mature player bases I have every played with. My second vote would be for LOTRO. As the player base is simular to Everquest 2.
I would not recommend WoW due to the extremely immature player base. I would not recommend Guild Wars 2 as it is th emost socially awkward game I have played. It's difficult to get people speaking as there is little reason to group in the open world. And don't pay Eve as you won't see any other players for the first 3 to 4 days and when you finally do run accross someone they will blow you up.
Just my opinions lol
haha Aeon, I hate to disagree with you because I generally think you speak sense, but no.
World of Warcraft has become casual and caters to the widest demographic. I personally dislike the game but you asked for something easy with a wide demographic which would make it the most feesable choice.
Edit: "Help two cute girls finding their first MMO."<---------- Irrelevant title and borderline offensive. We aren't all ugly trolls who have never been with a woman and won't cater too your needs specifically because you are female.......at least I won't.
That doesn't matter. GW2 would be a fantastic game for first time gamers. Unfortunately it isn't F2P, they would pay immensely on the box price for something they likely wouldn't play for very long - especially if this is an experiment.
There are a whole host of amazing F2P games out there. Even a game such as Spiral Knights would be a good starting point, though it is substantially more kid friendly.
There are so many games that could fit the bill, but their decision should really be based on general interests rather then what we say.
For fantasy, LOTRO, EQ2 or WARHAMMER, would be great games, and to a lesser extent Rift and Tera.
Superheros would like CO or DCUO
Sci-Fi could go with SWTOR, and to a lesser extent, EvE (not really beginner friendly), or if they wanted to wait for Phantasy Star Online 2, that will be a fantastic beginners game.
More kid friendly - Wizard101, FreeRealms, Spiral Knights
Non Combat Focused would be A Tale in the Desert, amongst others.
Anybody else notice the Luffy cosplayer in the background?
Wow, tough list of criterea for one game. I'll have to think about that for a while.
Even in something like World Of Warcraft, the community changes a lot depending on server and alliegence. Most of the games I've been in with friendly helpful people would fall into the niche category. (WoW doesn't qualify, as it's not F2P, even though it has a kind of trial mode, it's too limited.)
So yeah, that's a hard list. One thing I know for sure, EVE is NOT a good choice for noobs to MMOs.
Big active community, not niche, not too cute, F2P, no non-consensual PvP, has PC/GM driven events instead of just scripting, doesn't have a big learning curve.
Oh boy. That's really going to take some research. The only ones I can think of right now either no longer exist, or fail at least one of those requirements.
Lost my mind, now trying to lose yours...
Well the poster is a guy and mentioned the girl in the middle was his teacher so maybe he tried a title that people would click on for whatever reason to increase his grade or score points or whatever. Who knows.
Oh make no mistake, it's definitely a first MMO or casual MMO type game. I wouldn't recommend it to people who have been playing them a while. It does what it does and I'm loathe to recommend WoW anymore.
Good to know someone thinks I make sense sometimes! haha.
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
I would go with rifts most likely as it is large enouph that you have quite abit of players in the community to get a good idea of the community (though every game will have a veriaty of communities really), while it is also f2p up to lvl 20 allowing you to test play it an then shift to sub if you like the game/community (alot of the chatting in the game is done in the lower lvl chats over top level chats).
Also if it is supposed to be representive of mmo community, than i would look into playing several mmos, as each mmo-type (sandbox, and themepark being the two largest) will have a different feel compared to each other. Wow/rift/aion i would say would be good choices for themepark mmos as they are either f2p or have a trail with largely full access, and i would say that anyone of the other sandboxes would be good for that set, and though this you can get a better idea of the entire mmo community.
If you are willing to try a pay to play then:
WoW of course is the big one still. I wouldn't go back to it but it is basically still the standard even if it is starting to show its age.
GW2 is very popular but I didn't like the combat. You might, but the combat and several other elements do make the game rather non-standard. I don't think they have a trial yet.
I would much more recommend Rift for a pay to play choice. Very representative. lots of features. constant updates. Basically it is WoW but better and newer, IMHO.
If free to play is a must then I would say go with Aion or maybe Tera. Aion is great looking, has lots of content, will soon be getting more classes here in the west and while the cash shop is aggressive in marketing it is still truely free to play. That is, you can play the whole game for free if you are willing to do without convenence and cosmetics.
Tera is also great looking but is somewhat limited in content. It is not a small world but things can get repeatitive. Also it is action combat so that is not very representative of MMO though things are heading more that direction all the time is seems so far. They have perhaps the best free to play model out there too. The community can be a bit off putting though.
If you are willing to give superheros a try as opposed to fantasy then try Champions Online. Pretty standard game play but character creation is very open ended and fun. Strong RP community and pretty good on the F2P model though they go overboard with the lock boxes.
SOE has a number of good games but I cannot recommend them because their free to play crosses my personal pay to win line in that you have to pay to equip high end items. For me that goes too far.
Same goes for SWTOR, good game, bad free to play model.
While EVE Online is a great game it is PvP everywhere. It is cut throat and downright mean. It is nothing like any other MMO (except for Perpetuum which more or less copied them.) so it is certainly not representative but it is still the biggest and probably most successful of the true sandbox games. Only play this game if you like your details to have details, you have a Ph.D in Economics and a lot of free time or you want what little faith in humanity you might have left to be thoroughly crushed.
All die, so die well.