I've been looking for an MMORPG that I like for many years, but never seem to find one. I suspected long time ago that I just didn't like the genre, but I still keep looking, hooping that I will find something.

My first game was Star Wars Galaxies back in early 2004 when it was released in EU. Even though I'm a huge Star Wars fan I got bored after a few weeks. I then played EVE and same thing happened. I later came back to EVE and have played it occasionally since then, but mostly just training SP which didn't seem worth paying for.

I've also tried a few free MMO's like Priston Tale, Rappelz, Sword of the New World and some others. I've tried WoW trial and didn't like that either.

The MMO I've liked the most was Tabula Rasa because it was so different, but that also got repetetive.

So is there any MMO that doesn't have:

Grinding ( I like leveling up just as much as the next guy, but it can't be the entire purpose of the game)

Repetitive combat ( Since you fight so many monsters in an MMORPG it seems wierd that most games seem to be about clicking on a dude and waiting for him to die, maybe push a button for a healing spell or special attack every now and then)

Stupid Quests ( Killing 10 Green Slime Bunnies isn't what I call fun and since you know they respawn anyway it's about as fun as pulling weed out in your garden while it constantly respawns)

What I DO want in a game:

Interesting missions (some funny, some sad, some scary, some adrenelin pumping, in other words a good variety of fun quests instead of the same grind over and over)

Interesting lore (Why should I care about this generic fantasy world #45? Is there enough character and depth to the world?)

Cool customization (I'm a bit like a girl when it comes to this I have to admit, but I LOVE customizing a character, the more the better. Shoes, dresses, shirts, hats, hair, pants, rings, armbands, etc. I want to make my character look unique and look cool/attractive)

So can you recommend a game for me? It seems every game I've tried have lacked one or the other. Or should I just give up? Accept that no MMO is ever going to be made that isn't grindtastic, repetetive and uninteresting story wise no matter how much I'd like an MMO that had all the things I like in single player games?

Don't give up. Darkfall releases January 22, 2009.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Originally posted by Ihmotepp

Don't give up. Darkfall releases January 22, 2009.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Damn...I was going to do that....

I've been making posts about this as well lately. MMO developers seem to have decided the only way to get repeat busines from their customer base is to appeal to our OCD gene. Time sinks seem to be the rule nowadays in this genre. I dunno but I would think that if you started a game with fun combat mechanics, made it sandbox, and allowed your players actions to siginficantly effect the future expansions for the game then people would play the game long term.

I am pretty sick of grind and it just seems to be getting worse. Look at WAR - you grind for level, you grind for reknown, and now they are coming up with a new category to grind for.... all of this in a game that's purported focus was going to be on RvR?

We'll see if Darkfall can break that mold, but I am starting to think any game with levels is going to fall into this mechanic. In another thread I started someone pointed out that in the MMORPG world, the RP doesn't stand for role-playing but for the role-playing mechanic of level-based progression. Well... if that is all the MMORPG world learned from pen/paper games then it is pretty sad.

Originally posted by Kyleran

Originally posted by Ihmotepp

Don't give up. Darkfall releases January 22, 2009.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Damn...I was going to do that....

hmmm I think people are jumping the gun a bit on Dark Fall.

Remember... All these games will say they have "x" and do "y" but until the general populace gets their hands on it you don't really know for sure how successful they will be.

For instance, do we really know that Dark Fall WON'T have fed Ex quests? Will have robust customization? etc...?

I think the problem you have is suffering from MMO monogamy, man was not made for just one game alone. There is no such paradise for some people. I just invented that lol.. anyways no one true game can satisfy all your needs so you're just going to have to do with playing many single player and multiplayer games and then have an mmo you might barely tolerate when you want to have people around to do quests with. That's what I did for awhile, you do that till you find what you like.

I was a bit of a pessimist,however there is a A LOT going on in the MMO industry.

38 studios and Roger Clemens are building a great MMO.They have hired many bigtime people including Todd Mcfarlane[artwork].

Codename ....Project S1 looks real promising.

www.bluehole.net/eng/index.html   some big names here that worked on L2 [Lineage 2].they look to bring us high tech and some great game play.

www.n4g.com/News-110974.aspx   The guys who brought us Shaiya/Last Chaos run by Imo a MAFIA group [SONOV] lol. However they have the game engine now UE3 and have proven a decent product.

Many MANY other developers all working on MMO's,quite a few have licensed the best game engine out there the UNreal3 engine,actual call it UE4 because they are constantly hiring new companies to develop ideas for their software.

If there is a developer  out there that can code a game to run at the highest tech and not lag out the average user and using the Unreal Engine,we may have some brilliant games coming our way.

Webzen is a giant ,we are waiting for there HuXley,too bad i think SUN will never hit NA.Webzen hoever has liscened the engine for many more products to come,and these guys have lots of money to spend  :D.

Originally posted by dterry

I am pretty sick of grind and it just seems to be getting worse. Look at WAR - you grind for level, you grind for reknown, and now they are coming up with a new category to grind for.... all of this in a game that's purported focus was going to be on RvR?

We'll see if Darkfall can break that mold, but I am starting to think any game with levels is going to fall into this mechanic. In another thread I started someone pointed out that in the MMORPG world, the RP doesn't stand for role-playing but for the role-playing mechanic of level-based progression. Well... if that is all the MMORPG world learned from pen/paper games then it is pretty sad.

Yeah, I agree, WAR was a very big con-job.  The whole game is a series of grinds.  Grind levels, scenarios, renown, influence, now RvR influence, endgame ward gear grinds, etc.  Mythic basically took endgame grinds from other games and inserted them at all levels, and then hoodwinked people into thinking they had a different game design.

I also think that level/class based MMOs are going to fall into this hole time and again. 

GW is grindfree, though there is a constant argue whether it is an MMO or not. The story line is interesting and well written and played out. Level cap at lvl.20, which the hallmark for not being a grindfest. The game launched in 2005 and may seem a bit dated, since lot of players have been there done that within the game for quite a while. Costumisation is very good though not as elaborate as you describe, but it is easy to be unique, specially since you can dye your clothes and weapons in almost infinite different ways.  The mood and sounds in the game are good, and the music in the different areas are unmatched within the MMO genre.

Arenanet will likely launche GW2 in 2010, so maybe you should wait a year and join that game from the beginning. 

I think your problem is how you look at an MMO. You are cutting away all detail and looking at its basic parts. If you don't read quest dialogues you are missing a big part of a games story. The "grinding" in a game isn't supposed to be about how long it takes to reach the highest level it's supposed to be a journey. Take your time, go explore, make some friends, and enjoy yourself. As for boring repetitive combat why not make your own fun out of killing a mob? For example kite him around, if possible, and see if you can kill it before getting hit.

I'm not saying every game has what it takes to be enjoyable, but a lot of them certainly provide several options for it to appeal to a wider range of people. The way I see it MMOs are just a faster paced version of our real lives just in a fantasy, sci-fi or whatever other setting. I would hope you don't see your real life as just sleeping, eating, pooping, breeding, and waiting for death.

When and if your perception is changed I'd suggest checking out Age of Conan as it fits the "What I DO want in a game" in my opinion.

Thanks for the advice. Unfurtunatly, playing video games is my life...guess I demand a bit too much out of a game, after all it's not supposed to be a substitute for real life.

I do read quests, but no MMO I've played has ever had a compelling story compared to single player games like KotOR, Mass Effect, FInal Fantasy etc.

It also doesn't help that I have almost as much problems finding people to play with in MMO's as I have IRL. As soon as they start to rely on me too much I can't take it. The more someone tells me I have to do something the less I want to. I can't stand the preassure of having to play whenever they want to play and I tend to not being able to play one game for hours and hours at a time. I like to play for 1-3 hours and then do something else like watch a movie or something, then maybe play some other games. I could never devote 8h a day to WoW like some people or 16h a day to SWG like my best friend did before they changed it too much with patches.

I actually have Guild Wars Nightfall, forgot to mention that. It's the Collector's Edition which I got from a friend to join his guild, but the PC I had back then couldn't play it even though it should have (A64X2, 2GB, X1950GT) I've got a new PC now which can play it and I played a bit awhile ago, but got bored like I always do. I think it's not the games, but rather me who's at fault...

What makes a story compelling to you? For me it's the cut scenes and voice overs, if done properly, that add emotion which in turn adds some sort of realness. Age of Conan did that very well in the first 20 levels. They added more later on, but I don't think they have updated them all. World of Warcraft also did it well in the recent expansion with the Wrath Gate quests and where there was a battle between Illidan and Arthas. You got to play Arthas which was pretty cool.

It is possible for text to draw me in if it's not a wall of text, but generally MMO quests don't have an ongoing storyline throughout the whole game like a single player game does. The only MMO I have played that had a continuing storyline for 10+ levels was Q-World. You have to find out what happened to the princess of your land so you have to run around doing errands for other NPCs. After another quest or two they give you information that leads you to other people. I didn't play it long since I had lag issues, but I enjoyed what I did experience.

As for the people thing I suggest joining a casual guild if you plan to continue playing MMOs and want to group now and then. They exist in every game, are pretty lax, and don't require anything from you. Also don't pick a class that is relied heavily upon such as a tank, healer, or crowd control.

... just some friendly and subtle game suggestions/advice

I was very exited for Age of Conan, but then when it was released I realized that it was only from lvl 1-20 it had the voice overs and all that cinematic stuff. I might get the game anyway though since it's so cheap now. 99SEK (about €10) might be worth it even if I only like the first 20 levels. Been waiting for a trial, but doesn't seem to appear any time soon.

I honestly think you should check out City of Heroe's/Villans, even if it is an older game, it has a great community around still and a very nice story line with tons of customization. There is PvP although it is quite limited and it is more of a PvE game, but if you are looking for a game with detail and variety, I haven't played anything better than that in those aspects. It also has one of the best customizations I have seen in any mmo.

Hmm if you didn't like SWG(Pre-NGE) and you found no joy in WoW its gonna be tough to find a game to hold your interest. Some of the games you might wanna check out are World War 2 Online, more of a MMOFPS but does give you a break from the routine of traditional MMO's. You could also check out Pirates of the Burning Sea, another game that breaks the mold of traditional games. I would say check out the websites and forums for these games and see if there is any interest. Someone mentioned CoV/CoH but unless they got an influx of players I wouldn't even waste time on them. However they are two of the games that I hold near and dear, being able to be a superhero was great. Last time I went back when the offered the free time to entice players back there were at most 100 people or so on my old server. EVE Online is another one that goes outside the traditional MMO, I haven't played it personally but if you are looking for something new it might be worth a look at. Not sure if any of these will fit the requirements you are looking for, but they are at least worth investigating further.

Not sure about all of the games but I know that City of Heroes and City of Villains offers insane character customization, downside the lore isn't that great and the quests are a little repetitive. I realize my post didn't really offer a lot of games that met your requirements but if you are willing to accept a little less in some areas you might find a winner.

Started playing Atlantice Online which seems okey. I kind of like the turn-based combat, however I fear I'll get sick of it like all the other games.

Since it's unlikely I'll find a game that has every aspect I want I might as well try to focus on one. So is there any game that focuses on character customization and social interaction? I know of Second Life, but no way I'm playing that and pay 1000 bucks for a house or whatever and besides it looks bad by todays standards and I want my character to look as real as possible.

So any game on PC which looks as good as Age of Conan and plays sort of like Home on PS3 will? I wouldn't think so...I was hoping the avatar on 360 would be better, but the limited selection of clothes and lack of any social interaction with it (What is the point of an avatar if not to have a virtual life with parties and whatever?) was a big dissapointment. You would think there would be a bunch of such games since girls (and some guys like me) love that sort of thing, like Dolls Online or something

Another thing I just realized I forgot to ask when first creating this topic. Which game is the best MMO for roleplaying, actually this sort of ties in to character customization since roleplaying can be hard if everyone has the same generic look.

Originally posted by ssjdagas

I've been looking for an MMORPG that I like for many years, but never seem to find one. I suspected long time ago that I just didn't like the genre, but I still keep looking, hooping that I will find something.

My first game was Star Wars Galaxies back in early 2004 when it was released in EU. Even though I'm a huge Star Wars fan I got bored after a few weeks. I then played EVE and same thing happened. I later came back to EVE and have played it occasionally since then, but mostly just training SP which didn't seem worth paying for.

I've also tried a few free MMO's like Priston Tale, Rappelz, Sword of the New World and some others. I've tried WoW trial and didn't like that either.

The MMO I've liked the most was Tabula Rasa because it was so different, but that also got repetetive.

So is there any MMO that doesn't have:

Grinding ( I like leveling up just as much as the next guy, but it can't be the entire purpose of the game)

Repetitive combat ( Since you fight so many monsters in an MMORPG it seems wierd that most games seem to be about clicking on a dude and waiting for him to die, maybe push a button for a healing spell or special attack every now and then)

Stupid Quests ( Killing 10 Green Slime Bunnies isn't what I call fun and since you know they respawn anyway it's about as fun as pulling weed out in your garden while it constantly respawns)

What I DO want in a game:

Interesting missions (some funny, some sad, some scary, some adrenelin pumping, in other words a good variety of fun quests instead of the same grind over and over)

Interesting lore (Why should I care about this generic fantasy world #45? Is there enough character and depth to the world?)

Cool customization (I'm a bit like a girl when it comes to this I have to admit, but I LOVE customizing a character, the more the better. Shoes, dresses, shirts, hats, hair, pants, rings, armbands, etc. I want to make my character look unique and look cool/attractive)

So can you recommend a game for me? It seems every game I've tried have lacked one or the other. Or should I just give up? Accept that no MMO is ever going to be made that isn't grindtastic, repetetive and uninteresting story wise no matter how much I'd like an MMO that had all the things I like in single player games?

Actually yeah I think you should just give up on it all.......for now anyway. I feel exactly the same way about mmos. They are all boring as hell. I've played the majority of the P2P ones and they rarely hold my attention for longer than a few weeks.

Hopefully some of the mmos on the horizon (Darkfall, Earthrise, Fallen Earth & Crusades) will add a new burst of life to the genre by breaking away from the worn out themepark games. Its about time that mmos start taking advantage of the fact that there are loads of people to play with. It would also be great if mmos stop trying to cater to unintelligent people. I dont need to have things simplified for me. Also why are we all playing against the computer all the time with all of this PvE bullshit? Plenty of single player games have an online co-op mode for that.

Originally posted by ssjdagas

Started playing Atlantice Online which seems okey. I kind of like the turn-based combat, however I fear I'll get sick of it like all the other games.

 

Since it's unlikely I'll find a game that has every aspect I want I might as well try to focus on one. So is there any game that focuses on character customization and social interaction? I know of Second Life, but no way I'm playing that and pay 1000 bucks for a house or whatever and besides it looks bad by todays standards and I want my character to look as real as possible.

So any game on PC which looks as good as Age of Conan and plays sort of like Home on PS3 will? I wouldn't think so...I was hoping the avatar on 360 would be better, but the limited selection of clothes and lack of any social interaction with it (What is the point of an avatar if not to have a virtual life with parties and whatever?) was a big dissapointment. You would think there would be a bunch of such games since girls (and some guys like me) love that sort of thing, like Dolls Online or something

Another thing I just realized I forgot to ask when first creating this topic. Which game is the best MMO for roleplaying, actually this sort of ties in to character customization since roleplaying can be hard if everyone has the same generic look.

If you're looking for customization and roleplay I would have to say City of Heroe's can't be beaten. It should also have just about everything you're looking for and if you'd like, send me a PM and I'll see about getting you a free trial to check it out for yourself, and with issue 13 just released there are tons of people always online. =]

EDIT: Decided to give you some more details so here goes (and all of this is based off my own personal experience)

The character customization is insane, able to customize colors clothes, hair, everything from being a little kid going to school to a big hulk monster thing to being that "sexy" chick every guy plays as.

There are tons of character types to chose from and sub types with many variations of skills (good place to look threw all this is with Mid's Hero Designer)

There are tons of quests, you will never run out of them especially if you want to get all of the badges (to see the list of badges you could checkout BadgeHunter.com)

The roleplayers dreamgame IMO, with tons of RP'ers online all the time, and many guilds dedicated just to RP. The server I played on even had a radio station where people could go listen to it and RP with others in Pocket D.

The community is great, with minimal PvP its mostly adults who play and the community has a very mature and helpful feel to it, unlike any other game I have played.

I have had the some problems as you dude.

Our problem is we want something VERY specific from the game we choose.

If i knew how to make a game, i would make it.  But i cant.

If you do find something you like, let me know and ill join you on it.

Until then i can only suggest

1.)  Get an Xbox 360

2.) Get Xbox live

3.) Get Halo 3

4.) own noobs

Originally posted by ssjdagas

I've been looking for an MMORPG that I like for many years, but never seem to find one. I suspected long time ago that I just didn't like the genre, but I still keep looking, hooping that I will find something.

My first game was Star Wars Galaxies back in early 2004 when it was released in EU. Even though I'm a huge Star Wars fan I got bored after a few weeks. I then played EVE and same thing happened. I later came back to EVE and have played it occasionally since then, but mostly just training SP which didn't seem worth paying for.

I've also tried a few free MMO's like Priston Tale, Rappelz, Sword of the New World and some others. I've tried WoW trial and didn't like that either.

The MMO I've liked the most was Tabula Rasa because it was so different, but that also got repetetive.

So is there any MMO that doesn't have:

Grinding ( I like leveling up just as much as the next guy, but it can't be the entire purpose of the game)

Repetitive combat ( Since you fight so many monsters in an MMORPG it seems wierd that most games seem to be about clicking on a dude and waiting for him to die, maybe push a button for a healing spell or special attack every now and then)

Stupid Quests ( Killing 10 Green Slime Bunnies isn't what I call fun and since you know they respawn anyway it's about as fun as pulling weed out in your garden while it constantly respawns)

What I DO want in a game:

Interesting missions (some funny, some sad, some scary, some adrenelin pumping, in other words a good variety of fun quests instead of the same grind over and over)

Interesting lore (Why should I care about this generic fantasy world #45? Is there enough character and depth to the world?)

Cool customization (I'm a bit like a girl when it comes to this I have to admit, but I LOVE customizing a character, the more the better. Shoes, dresses, shirts, hats, hair, pants, rings, armbands, etc. I want to make my character look unique and look cool/attractive)

So can you recommend a game for me? It seems every game I've tried have lacked one or the other. Or should I just give up? Accept that no MMO is ever going to be made that isn't grindtastic, repetetive and uninteresting story wise no matter how much I'd like an MMO that had all the things I like in single player games?

im not being a WAR fanboy but it sounds like you would like WAR

Originally posted by ssjdagas

I've been looking for an MMORPG that I like for many years, but never seem to find one. I suspected long time ago that I just didn't like the genre, but I still keep looking, hooping that I will find something.

My first game was Star Wars Galaxies back in early 2004 when it was released in EU. Even though I'm a huge Star Wars fan I got bored after a few weeks. I then played EVE and same thing happened. I later came back to EVE and have played it occasionally since then, but mostly just training SP which didn't seem worth paying for.

I've also tried a few free MMO's like Priston Tale, Rappelz, Sword of the New World and some others. I've tried WoW trial and didn't like that either.

The MMO I've liked the most was Tabula Rasa because it was so different, but that also got repetetive.

So is there any MMO that doesn't have:

Grinding ( I like leveling up just as much as the next guy, but it can't be the entire purpose of the game)

Repetitive combat ( Since you fight so many monsters in an MMORPG it seems wierd that most games seem to be about clicking on a dude and waiting for him to die, maybe push a button for a healing spell or special attack every now and then)

Stupid Quests ( Killing 10 Green Slime Bunnies isn't what I call fun and since you know they respawn anyway it's about as fun as pulling weed out in your garden while it constantly respawns)

What I DO want in a game:

Interesting missions (some funny, some sad, some scary, some adrenelin pumping, in other words a good variety of fun quests instead of the same grind over and over)

Interesting lore (Why should I care about this generic fantasy world #45? Is there enough character and depth to the world?)

Cool customization (I'm a bit like a girl when it comes to this I have to admit, but I LOVE customizing a character, the more the better. Shoes, dresses, shirts, hats, hair, pants, rings, armbands, etc. I want to make my character look unique and look cool/attractive)

So can you recommend a game for me? It seems every game I've tried have lacked one or the other. Or should I just give up? Accept that no MMO is ever going to be made that isn't grindtastic, repetetive and uninteresting story wise no matter how much I'd like an MMO that had all the things I like in single player games?

Keep your eye on The chronicles of spellborn. I REALLY think your gonna like it. If you can get into the free 2 play when it goes live (its their version of a trial til level 7 or 10 i beleive)... Awesome..

   I've been looking for a year and a half since I left WoW. I've beta tested many and also tried some of the free ones, but nothing that I liked. I too am a huge Star Wars fan. I've been waiting for SWG2 for a few years now, I left it right after the combat upgrade. I've always heard about another Star Wars MMO, but not until recently did they make an official announcement on it. So by the time it does come out I would have waited for it for almost five years. Thats the only game I'm waiting for really. I'm kinda curious about Darkfall, but I don't think I will like it. If after waiting five years for the next Star Wars MMO to come out, and I don't like it, I'll probably be done gaming all together, forever.

Originally posted by ssjdagas

I was very exited for Age of Conan, but then when it was released I realized that it was only from lvl 1-20 it had the voice overs and all that cinematic stuff. I might get the game anyway though since it's so cheap now. 99SEK (about €10) might be worth it even if I only like the first 20 levels. Been waiting for a trial, but doesn't seem to appear any time soon.

if its that cheap you might as well pick it up and try it out.  they have been coming out with alot of good patches and they are planning for the server merges to happen before Christmas which will help the population.  they are also planning to bring out a big patch at the end of january which includes dx10 (cant find the link, if i find it i will post)

Originally posted by WrathPker

I have had the some problems as you dude.

Our problem is we want something VERY specific from the game we choose.

If i knew how to make a game, i would make it.  But i cant.

If you do find something you like, let me know and ill join you on it.

Until then i can only suggest

1.)  Get an Xbox 360

2.) Get Xbox live

3.) Get Halo 3

4.) own noobs

 I have Halo 3, but I don't enjoy playing with random dudes so much. It's great fun when playing with friends, but these days it's all Gears of War 2 and Call of Duty 4/WaW.

Star Wars Old Republic is about what you describe. You want storylines, it  is based on storyline quests and lore. They claim it will have more content then all other Bioware games combined. Weather this delivers remains to be seen.

Guild Wars might be fun for you for it's storyline quests. I enjoyed Guildwars for a couple years and the good thing about it, is if I get the urge to log in, there is no monthly. Not much for character customization.

EVE you might want to join a decent corp. Being in a good corp will make the game. EVE is what has kept me. I love my sandbox.

I must admit although I didn't like all the zones and instances AOC had a combat system that had potential if it was fixed. I havn't played AOC for months now so I can't recommend it.

LOTRO has good storyline quests, but combat was just bleh imo. Nice graphics, pretty world, but a bit cartoony in character design. Combat in the end just bored me.

City of Heroes was fun for a few years for me also. Character customization is better then ANY other MMO out. Making your look was a fun game in itself. Missions got repetitive (keep in mind I played this for more then 2 years), but much has been added. Powers are lots of fun. There are some cool storyline quests. Overall it's a solid game you might want to try being it has a free trial. City of Villians will give you the other side and much updated graphics in the zone designs.

Others to watch for are; Earthrise, Fallen Earth, and Mortal