Recently someone passed me a BETA key for the 3rd Beta Weekend of The Secret World and I really enjoyed the mass player environments in which people were constantly questing.

It whetted my appetite for such an MMO although I realised that The Secret World might be a bit too much to play due to a level of complexity that seemed to either attract too may retentive types or confuse too many casual players.

I really enjoyed throwing myself into fights with the restless hoards in that game and either winning them or being defeated which in turn encouraged me to make sure my character was stronger next time.

I've also played Dungeons & Dragons and enjoy stalking around the wide open spaces using stealth and exploring places at my own pace, grouping when the need or inclination drove me to it.  Also when I played GuildWars I would always be someone who would explore a new region, enjoying finding hidden quests and trying to fight to reach interesting places.

Both games made me wary of PUGs as most players seemed to be far too random.

I'm an old classic pen and pencil role-player from the 70s, who gained his Computer Science degree in the 80s and played computer games from  ZX81 games, via Roguelikes and the many incarnations of Sid Meier's Civilization series. As a result I'll tend to enjoy a good setting and allusions to classic role-playing themes. If I shoot things in a game I prefer to shoot monsters rather than people - at the end of the day I want to simulate adventures not massacres.

A small download is an advantage and I have a modern enough basic gaming machine to play them on.

Does anyone have any suggestions based on these near random notes?

Yours,

An Old-Time Gamer

Everquest 2

You can play Swashbuckler as a class and it does have stealth as a skill.

I also started gaming in the 70's and I do play a Swashie in EQ2.

That sounds about right, straight away.

I really enjoyed playing a Halfling Rogue in DDO, soloing a fair amount and being moderately proficient because I've been playing D&D in various forms since 1977. However I reached the limit of what I could play for free and the things I bought experimentally simply did not work out too well.

I've googled it and it all seems to fall into place with the actual Swashbuckling class name being a bonus.

Much obliged,

Old-Time Gamer

Uncharted Waters Online is *the* exploration MMO, has swashbuckling as a given, and technically has stealth through a skill that lets you ambush others, as well as another that lets you avoid ambush (both in ship mode, though... dunno about on-land).

I considered some of these naval/piracy games as a past player of Car Wars I would often design Vans like frigates so I could try to "Cross the T" and expose people to side barrages. This didn't necessarily work as most cars had a forward weapon but I still loved all that sail, storms and stars stuff.

As a Traveller player I wouldn't mind a space trading game but, as with many of the naval games, the PvP common in these games would put me off.

As a tabletop player I find cooperation is more rewarding than conflict.

By swashbuckling I mean commiting to tough fights and winning against all odds by character skill and player strategy. The sword fighting in Secret World was much appreciated, especially as I experimented with the system, growing in power returning to tough fights and turning the tables.

Not an MMO, but Skyrim is by far the best stalking/exploration game I've played in a long time, and definately has that D&D feel. I know it's not what you asked for, but its all I could think of with what you described :)

*** Edit: Oops, just spotted the post said Skrym, as in Elder Scrolls rather than Skyrealms! ***

A colleague of mine bought the game and I took the chance to grill him about it as I already had my suspicioms.

Skyrealms actually appears to be an implementation of the classic role-playing game Runequest, an early competitior to D&D, complete with being skill-based and featuring a struggle between independent sky cultists and an empire modelled around the Roman empire. 

What it lacks though is the fragility of the heroes (RQ I & II combat frequently has combatents slain, maimed or mortally wounded in very short order) and significant advancement only being possible via joining (and being dedicated to) organisations such as cults, guilds and military organisations.

However this was a decent suggestion. I wouldn't have posted here if I wasn't seeking such suggestions.

Originally posted by eagle4x4

Everquest 2

You can play Swashbuckler as a class and it does have stealth as a skill.

I also started gaming in the 70's and I do play a Swashie in EQ2.

 

As a fellow EQ2 Swashie I have to agree, it seems to have everything you're seeking, and EQ2 is definitely a game with plenty of content to explore.

I thought I would report back to say how people's advice played out for me.

I played EQ2 as Heriot, a human swashbuckler on the Oasis server, until about level 27 with no cost except for my time and my broadband download limit. However this only allowed me to determine that the game is not for me.

The highlights were brewing tea (as an experiment of going off-quest with crafting), cooperating with other low-level solo adventurers and getting AA improvements & Researching to work.

You seem to purposefully hit the no Legendary items limit very quickly (I turned in a low-level feather collection in return for a Legendary neckware item) which require either a monthly payment or a suggested one-off exception payment.

The one-off Silver membership would have probably allowed me to play for a little bit earlier but I've decided against it.

I might try just one more character from scratch but Heriot is the only character I've played beyond level 7 without deleting it due to the uninspiring nature of that town's quests.

The Stealth nearly worked as people suggested but the red-tinged lookout system work against it. Swashbuckers may have had the right name but I saw neither a proper buckler nor a chandelier to swing from.

I'd like to thank people for their advice and hope that my returning with this feedback has been useful.

If you haven't tried it, maybe take a look at anarchy online.  I'm not sure what the population is like atm though(they stopped advertising it until the graphics update come(if it ever does)).

Or maybe planeshift.

The EQ2 Great Challenge has burnt me out from MMORPGs for a bit.

If EQ2 was a better game (or maybe had I chosen a "better" starting city) then I'm sure I would have found the Great Challenge less onerous.

Anarchy Online does not seem a very cooperative game to me, what with the constant PVP. As a player of Traveller I've seen better pen-and-paper implementations of such worlds so I'll not rush to play AO.

Planeshift is more a possiblity but I'll come back to that when I feel the need to play a MMO again.

I notice that the latest Elder Scrolls has come down to £10 and so this might tempt me before I dabble in another MMO.