Just to start off, Ill say that I have played almost every MMO that has come out, at least retail.  The past year alone, I have played Conan, Warhammer, Pirates of the Burning Sea, WoW, Anarchy Online, Ultima Online and a few others.

Well, recently, my partner and I split up.  We had been playing WoW together (I have played WoW off and on since it's release).  And I agreed to change servers.  But now, I just don't have the motivation to play again, either starting over or continuing on with characters I have.  I never hit 80, but got close.  I just don't care enough to see the new content.  It just feels like a social network and an item gathering experience.

So, I am basically looking back to going into an old MMO.  I just want to know which one I can start out fresh on, that would allow for a new player to progress and equal those who have been in the game for years.  I was considering Pirates of the Burning Sea, but heard the avatar combat was still poor, and that they had to combine servers.  I don't want to get into a game that will close up if I do get into it.  I considered going back to EVE, but I know I would be way behind in the curve there in almost every area.  Plus, I never met anyone to talk to in that game.  Though I know it's still popular.  I also considered City of Heros/Villians, but unsure if that game is still popular since it's so old..  I'm into a lot of customization of my avatar, being able to pick unusual setups, etc.

I love space ships (which is why I want to do EVE again), I love pirates (hence Pirates of the Burning Sea), and super heros are ok, but, it looked fun to try again.

Please, don't say, "Get Game X when it comes out."  I'm not talking about future releases.  I know what ones I want, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, etc.  I don't know many of the future ones.  So if you want to mention one in reply to the original post, that would work.

Please give suggestions, and why you suggested it.  I have tried almost anything, but willing to try something I have played before.

If you feel the urge to go back to EvE, then go with your gut and give it a month. Or, get the 21 day trial (thread stickied in EvE forum) and see if you still enjoy it with a new character before spending any money.

Really, you talk about going back to a number of games you've played and, from what I can tell, most of them have trials available. You'll get any number of responses telling you which games are super-awesome according to the poster responding, but the proof of the pudding is in the tasting right?

One thing to consider, since you are coming from WoW, would be Aion. I reference that as, from everything I have heard, it seems to be pretty polished and pretty accessible which I believe are some of  WoW's strong points. I honestly can't speak to how the game translates beyond that so hopefully someone else could detail whether that would be a decent transition or not.

Ive recently resubbed to Warhammer and rolled a new toon on the Dark Crag server. It puts you into PVP at level 1 if you want and there are plenty of people doing the secenarios at the lower levels. If not PVP there is also PVE quests and the public quests that can be done. Im having fun and as said, i jumped into PVP about level 3 or so and feel like im as advanced as anyone who has been playing awhile. I was fortunate to get guilded fairly soon as well.

I just recently tried the PotBS trial and I would suggest you do that before purchasing it.  In fact, try every trial you can and you may just find yourself unpleasantly satisfied for long enough that a new game has been released.

On PotBS, the avatar combat was sufficient for my tastes.  The world itself seemed on the small side though.  Going from one end to the other took perhaps all of 45 minutes I would guesstimate.  The naval battles, though fun at first, quickly became turn fights similar to the way SWG space fighting works but without the Z axis coming into play.

It may in your best interest to just wait for one of the future games you're looking forward to.  If so and you just want some F2P crap to tide you over I can only suggest Dungeon Runners as being worthwhile to kill boredom.  A really old one with awful graphics that is free and actually has decent mechanics is Rubies of Evintide.  Great community as well since the whole game is maintained by players now.

Well, if you also like sandbox freedomness, you might wanna try Mortal Online; shop opens this monday. I know you don' t want to hear about future releases but this one is pretty imminent so I mentioned it anyway.

Oh, and I have played Lotro for a few months and I have enjoyed it alot as an inbetweener. It's dirt cheap to buy in the shop now anyway and you get a free month. You might wanna try that. Personally I left because of the lack of world pvp but apart from that the game is pretty awesome, as is the community.

Originally posted by DarkPony

Well, if you also like sandbox freedomness, you might wanna try Mortal Online; shop opens this monday. I know you don' t want to hear about future releases but this one is pretty imminent so I mentioned it anyway.

Oh, and I have played Lotro for a few months and I have enjoyed it alot as an inbetweener. It's dirt cheap to buy in the shop now anyway and you get a free month. You might wanna try that. Personally I left because of the lack of world pvp but apart from that the game is pretty awesome, as is the community.

opening shop for pre-orders which will allow waves of beta invites, meaning you can preorder monday, but not be invited until the end of august/september rofl