I'm starting to think that I've either outgrown MMO's, or MMO's are simply not what they once were. I still search for a new MMO to play. Every time I try a demo it just seems to lack something. I've played WAR, WoW, EQ, DAOC, and Runescape in the past, with the most time spent in EQ. I have tried demos for EQ2, Vanguard, Darkfall, Dofus, Eve (a little), and I've attempted the demo for FFXI without luck in getting it to work. All of these games fall short in game play and community (except EQ and DAOC, but they now fall short due to a lack of people or to a lack of a good company running them. I'm sure you know which applies to which). DnD online has been suggested and I'm actually seeking out a free trial right now.

So, with that, if you have any suggestion I'm very open to them if they are not listed above (unless you're going to tell me that DAOC has a much larger community on CLASSIC servers, or if EQ was knocked back about 9 expansions and the level cap was reduced 20 levels). Also, if you have any suggestions for a decent browser based F2P MMO, I'd love to have a little something just to dick around on and blow some time here and there. I haven't found any great MMO's that are browser based though.

Edit: Games with item shops where you spend real money for in game items can...do something that's not appropriate for here. 

DnD has gone F2P.

The era of good mmos is over :(.

Originally posted by Clobster

I'm starting to think that I've either outgrown MMO's, or MMO's are simply not what they once were. I still search for a new MMO to play. Every time I try a demo it just seems to lack something. I've played WAR, WoW, EQ, DAOC, and Runescape in the past, with the most time spent in EQ. I have tried demos for EQ2, Vanguard, Darkfall, Dofus, Eve (a little), and I've attempted the demo for FFXI without luck in getting it to work. All of these games fall short in game play and community (except EQ and DAOC, but they now fall short due to a lack of people or to a lack of a good company running them. I'm sure you know which applies to which). DnD online has been suggested and I'm actually seeking out a free trial right now.

So, with that, if you have any suggestion I'm very open to them if they are not listed above (unless you're going to tell me that DAOC has a much larger community on CLASSIC servers, or if EQ was knocked back about 9 expansions and the level cap was reduced 20 levels). Also, if you have any suggestions for a decent browser based F2P MMO, I'd love to have a little something just to dick around on and blow some time here and there. I haven't found any great MMO's that are browser based though.

Edit: Games with item shops where you spend real money for in game items can...do something that's not appropriate for here. 

When did you try vanguard. I tried it at release and hated it. Tried a free trial several months ago still not taken with it. I returned at this most recent free trial and really am enjoying the game. The newbie island gets you geared up and somewhat familiar with your class and then your out in the world. If you play on Seradon you have the equivelant of a low population wow server, which means you can get a group most nights. The one draw back for me was that the pvp server is so under populated and its ffa(I prefer team pvp) that I had to forgo it.  Anyways, that's all I got right now. 

In the future I may try Allods out or Alganon. Alganon has  a TON of potential, but it needs work, its being released in december, I probably won't play it until its been out for 3-6 months. Other than that the only game that intrigues me even a little is the new star wars mmo. If you're a bit of a hardcore pvper you might want to take a look at Mortal Online.

You might want to try Lord of the Rings Online, made by Turbine (which also makes Dungeons and Dragons Online).

Turbine is still a private company (unlike Blizzard or Sony), so decisions aren't made solely to pad the shareholders bottom line (though they are still in business to make a profit).

Also, Lord of the Rings Online, though it has some idiots, is probably the best MMO community I have experienced in the past few years (once MMO's went mainstream).

There is a 10 day free trial for LotRO, but make sure you stick it out past the newb areas until you get to the places where people congregate, like Bree.

 I'd look into:

LOVE

Earthrise

Dawntide

The Secret World

A Tale in the Desert

Vendetta

Blade and Soul

FInal Fantasy XIV

etc, etc

A few are still upcoming, but they all provide a somewhat different take on MMOs as far as I've seen and may be what you're looking for.

 I can't think of anything. Maybe you should wait for Star Trek Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2, etc.....

I just think we hit an all time low with good quality mmos.The Old Republic will probably be the only quality new mmo released in 2010. Chances are good that if you are not playing Aion or have any interest in The Old Republic then you have a long wait to find a good mmo to play.

 It's ridiculous that the MMO industry is doing so poorly yet the gaming industry as a whole is more profitable than ever. There are some really great games this year and next.

Originally posted by SaintViktor

I just think we hit an all time low with good quality mmos.The Old Republic will probably be the only quality new mmo released in 2010. Chances are good that if you are not playing Aion or have any interest in The Old Republic then you have a long wait to find a good mmo to play.

I think many of you are putting way too much faith into SWTOR.  There is no reason to believe this will be anything more than a complete bomb like almost all of the other MMOs on the market.  Especially since it sounds like it will be a lonely ultra-solo, ultra-themepark.

I removed DnD quickly,it was shameful to see how the game that started it all was done so poorly.DnD should be the Flagship on MMO's,it should be the game that others look up to,heck in early days we all wanted to see games using the DnD formula's,we respected the game.

Now i can only shake my head and confirm why so many play WOW....there is a LOT of dummies out there.Imagine that i erased DnD so fast and it is F2P,that is how bad it is,i can't imagine that there was people that actually paid to play that game.I thought WOW was ancient tech as bad as a 10 year old console game but DnD tops the cake,i would not suggest it to even my worst enemy.

As far as browser games go,they are all what you would expect VERY cheap,cheap to make and a cheap result.

I hear that Ubisoft next Might nMagic might be a browser based game,that would probably be your best bet in that area.

Since you spent a lot of time in WOW and EQ,then the next obvious choice ,although i hate to help out an item mall game ,would be ROM[Runes of Magic].Pretty much the same game play and uses the same setup as WOW for leveling.You can solo,it seems most do except to kill the bosses,and it is Free to Play but of course like all F2P games,only free if you want to play a half ass game.

PW[Perfect World]may be a better option also free but a little less directed at the item mall when compared to ROM.The only thing ROM allows for free is to login lmao.

I don't see the correlation between DAOC and the other games you tried other than PVP,so it probably shows you may like DF.PVP is not my cup of tea in RPG's so i can't really break them down game by game as to witch is the best,they all fail imo.

I appreciate the feedback from everyone.

johnmatthais, several of those games look interesting. I will keep an eye on them as they release.

Vanguard is a game I tried maybe a couple months ago. I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I feels very much like EQ in terms of how abilities and combat work. It also, however, feels very soloish. I don't think I was able to find a group during my time there.

Every time I take a look at LOTRO I'm completely turned off. I'm totally fine with fantasy MMO's, but something about it just doesn't appeal to me.

Alganon, as stated, looks like it has potential but needs work. I'll probably look into that later.

I didn't bother trying DnD.

If it helps to come up with suggestions or ideas:

-Large worlds that are fun to explore are a plus.

-The game need not be large in community or user base.

-I'm not a hardcore PvP person. Full loot is not desirable. PvP is fine though if the PvP has more meaning to it (player driven worlds) and is not FFA full loot.