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Here are my 5
1. Anarchy Online - Even to this day I find myself relearning this game every time I go back to it, very awkward but cool
2. Eve Online - This one was a tough one for me and as bad and maybe even more than AO, definitely a deep learning curve.
3. Planet Arkadia - Just a bizarre and different experience I have ever come across in the world of mmorpgs.
4. Face of Mankind - As many times I have tried this game within the last decade, I find myself probably going back to this one to check things out. I never got far into it, but what a crazy experience every time I did log on.
5. Ultima Online - Ahhh, A fantasy game that kept me busy for many years, even now, however I find myself spoiled today with graphics, however I find myself just checking things out in Britannia now and then as well.
Comments
I'd add neocron to your list as well as AC, both were pretty expansive and offered little in the way of 'this is how you don't die/make your character not poop.'
Edit: Though to be honest, making crazy character builds was most of the fun.
I do remember both games quite well, neocron and Asherons Call. The imagination the developers had bad then
I have skipped this game many times, but it seems to have a niche crowd of players still following it. I may have to check this one out sometime since it has resurfaced with it's new content.
another thing to keep in mind is that ´complicated´ also sometimes mean unintuitive. There are plenty of games that I felt were complicated because they made no sense.
One recent one I played had puzzles. But the puzzles weren´t something you could figure out or solve because you would have to read the devs mind. So everyone just bookmarked a fansite.
For me, the ´best´ complicated game was DDO because the complication came because of combat options before the fight. if you went inside a quest ( quests are like mini-dungeons) there were many many different ways to complete the quest. If you failed the quest, then you had to decide if it was because you didn´t execute your tactic well, or because you should change tactics. IN that game, I played a stealth mage that focused on mind controlling stuff. I could push the limits of the difficulty of quests and because of my character makeup, I had many many different ways to try to beat it.
EVE to me felt like a complicated spreadsheet. The difficulty felt too much about meta-gaming, and not really ingame. Combat was very very uncomplicated though.
1 Star Wars Galaxies and Eve Online
2: Ultima Online
3: A Tale In The Desert
4: Xsyon
Hmmm.
EVE
Ryzom
WURM
SWG
EQ1 (because it was my first MMO)
Honorable Mentions: Horizons (Istaria) and Rubies of Eventide
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
1. The Secret World
2. Everything else.
Hedonismbot: Your latest performance was as delectable as dipping my bottom over and over into a bath of the silkiest oils and creams.
1. Eve online (Everything the first few months)
2. Star wars galaxies (As a Bio Engineer, crafting)
3. Secret world (Investigation missions, skill combos)
4. Path of exile (Skill system / skill tree, but not really a MMO)
5. Guild wars 1 (Skill system)
So far most MMOs I have played, especially in the last few years, cannot be classified as complicated in any way and do not deserve to be mentioned here.
---
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
1. Eve Online
2. Asherons Call
3. Starwars Galaxies
4. Everquest
5. Final Fantasy XIV;ARR.
While i would agree that the degree of complexity to a game does not mean it has depth, a lack of it is usually an indication that it does not, although there are exceptions. For 5th place i was in 2 minds whether to add DF;UW instead, as the degree of complexity of the game does seem to be 'increasing' and not in a bad way i'm thinking.
1. Ultima
2. Asherons call
3. Horizons
4. Anarchy
5. SWG
I notice some of you put SWG in your top 5, I didn't put SWG in my top 5, but would have easily made it in my top 10.
I would say the 1st 6 months in that game, I pretty much didn't know what the hell I was doing, I didn't have any goals and was just immersed in the whole SWG experience.
Then reading the forums and I believe a website called MPStrategies at the time showed several profession builds and then my SWG adventures continued. I loved the creature handler / rifleman spec during the times, but soon CH was nerfed, went to the Jedi killer template. Man I miss them days.
But yeah, I would say SWG did have a learning curve as well, since there were no '?' to npc's for missions and a rail system. I will always remember getting owned by kreetles, worrts, scyk and squills in mos eisleys as a spring chicken.
It was a wake up call for me to learn to play the game correctly, lol!
1) Eve Online
2) Neocron
3)Ryzom
4)Everquest
5)Ultima Online
DnD
EQ
Vanguard
Horizons
In general i dont like it when games become to complicated.... I prefer action
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
1. EVE online.
2. Nope. Havn't found any other complicated MMORPGs out there since 04 when I began playing MMOs. Would love to find one though. If it's complicated it's most likely also more entertaining, at least for me.
1. Eve Online - "I can make anything? really?"
2. Anarchy Online - "I have to get what buff to wear this armor? Where do I get that?" lol
3. Ryzom - Just generally a different MMO experience
4. SWG - Old school with unlocking Jedi .. "But I don't want to learn to dance!" lol
5. ??? - not sure for number 5 .. haven't played Secret World, or WURM but hear they are pretty complicated .. probably go with Asheron's Call though
Fine, we'll compromise. I'll get my way & you'll find a way to be okay with that.
1; Neocron
2; Eve Online
3; Star Wars Galaxies
4; The Secret World
5;..
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
EQ - Go play EQ now and you will feel like a noob for a year. There are so many systems and unwritten knowledge at this point it can be overwhelming.
SWG
All the others I've played I figured out in a reasonable amount of time.
DAoC
UO
Other games did not cause any major difficilties.
FFXI, FFXIV, Mabinogi
All other mmo's were straight forward and easy.
EVE
Wakfu
EQ 2 at its launch state (it was not complex, I just think it had complications at the time)
A Tale in The Desert
Ultima Online
Asheron's Call with its spell system at launch
Horizons with its deep complexity in crafting and character building
Vanguard
Eve although I find it boring
Ryzom