Ok, I see lots of threads but few that are helping the community to find/enjoy MMORPG's that are avaliable out there.

Sandbox - MMORPG where players can directly impact the gameplay and experience of other players in the virtual world.  

Themepark - MMORPG where you only impact your character history (like achivements, feats, text titles, pet/mount animation)

Your welcome to add your reasons for playing your current MMORPG and maeby list your top 3 MMORPG's that you think are doing better in terms of gameplay, polish, value for the $, pace of content release, and so on...

P.S: Do not bother mentioning EVE(2003), WOW(2004) and GW2(2012) in your top 3 list. Only a complete noob to the genre would not heard or know anything about these MMORPG's and there is plenty of info avaliable here on these MMORPG's.

Heres my problem. I love sandbox games (which I voted for) butcurrently play Themeparks.

Sandbox games (the recent batch) are underfunded, buggy, amature, hardly working PVP Deathmatch arena games... In other words, they have very little sand or are broken beyond repair. They seem to attract people who only think PVP with Full Loot is what makes a sandbox (not those things being PART of a sandbox- but a small part)

So yeah... I am screwed.

Currently Playing GW2 (enjoying it for what it is- Casual and fairly shallow but fun)

                             And Single Player games. I consider GW2 a great second MMO when taking a break from my regular MMO... But        right now I do not have a regular MMO.

Originally posted by Kopogero

Ok, I see lots of threads but few that are helping the community to find/enjoy MMORPG's that are avaliable out there.

Sandbox - MMORPG where players can directly impact the gameplay and experience of other players in the virtual world.  

Themepark - MMORPG where you only impact your character history (like achivements, feats, text titles, pet/mount animation)

Your welcome to add your reasons for playing your current MMORPG and maeby list your top 3 MMORPG's that you think are doing better in terms of gameplay, polish, value for the $, pace of content release, and so on...

P.S: Do not bother mentioning EVE(2003), WOW(2004) and GW2(2012) in your top 3 list. Only a complete noob to the genre would not heard or know anything about these MMORPG's and there is plenty of info avaliable here on these MMORPG's.

Hrmmm... so, this is going to go backwards for me - taking it from the bottom instead of the top.

In regard to your P.S. - well, that's kind of a silly thing to say.  Telling folks not to mention games.  You've asked for their current game(s) and their top three.  So if any of those three are the game they are currently playing or they are in their top three - well - then they're going to mention them, no?  Aye, kind of a silly thing to say - that P.S. thing there at the end.

As far as seeing what games are out there - well, that's kind of the whole point of the site, no?  There's a game list page.  There's also Google/Bing (if that's your thing) out there...because there are other sites like this out there, as well as other sites out there like here that are not like here.

Then it gets a bit rough, because I'm not really playing a game right now.  I have STO installed, but that's because I dork around in the Foundry every now and again - and well, I like the music.  It's not a game that I can play seriously though, because it's just too - too - too what's wrong wtih the MMORPG world out there.

Getting into the top 3 list - well, that's extremely rough - because it's not an overall top 3 list, but rather it's a current top 3 list.  A current top 3 list would not reflect how I voted in the poll very well - it doesn't really reflect my preferences, but it would reflect my ability to be objective.

1. The Secret World
2. RIFT
3. EVE

Yep, I included EVE even though your P.S. said not to - but again, like I said earlier in this post...asking for a top 3 but asking for things to be excluded is somewhat silly.  Oh, I get the "BESIDES THESE" things - but then it wouldn't really be a top 3 thing - it might be a top 6 thing with the bottom 3 or maybe those 3 don't even make their top 10.  It's far easier just to go with the top 3, no?  Notice that neither WoW nor GW2 are included in my top 3?  Curious, eh?

If I had the money for TSW, I'd be playing TSW.  I simply did not have the money to upgrade both my and the girlfriend's computers to be able to run it.  Yep, the min spec reqs for TSW were ahead of their time when it comes to MMORPG gaming.  For some folks that are playing other PC games, perhaps not - but MMORPG games that have pushed the hardware envelope have tended not to do too well.  Oh, they do better when they offer their low end and high end - but when their low end is at or above the high end for others... yep, it's painful.  Yep, if I had the money - I'd be playing TSW.  It's not perfect, but it's at the top of my list.

RIFT makes that list, because even though I walked away after seven months (box month + 6 month sub) because of how the game changed...felt like it was a different company than during the beta...I can't deny how it appears to have gone the direction that WoW should have gone with Cata (IMHO).  That has a great deal of appeal.  If TSW did not exist, then RIFT would likely be the game that I would return to if I needed my MMORPG fix.  Then again, I guess that's why TSW's #1 and RIFT's #2.  Duh, I can be so braindead at times.

EVE is the only game that I have ever /ragequit.  I mean the delete everything in a mindless fury and launch that massive attack of F-bombs /ragequit sort of thing.  While I'm sure people think that would likely be common with EVE, my reasons were not because of the actions of another player.  It was CCP themselves.  Yep, CCP ranks up there with NCSoft, EA, and Sony - I might even put them ahead of Sony...nah, maybe next to each other.  Still, that doesn't change that there's very little out there that does offer what EVE offers.  Honestly, I can't think of anything.  I know there's a game or two that's tried, but they fail miserably (IMHO).

So a game I can't afford, a game that alienated me, and a game that caused me to /ragequit.  A curious top 3, eh?

Like I said though...I like trying to be objective for these things.

My actual top 3, mind you - including games no longer around:

1. Shadowbane
2. EVE
3. Star Wars Galaxies

Course, each time I'm asked that - it tends to change somewhat.  Because even Shadowbane drove me (and almost everybody I knew) to WoW with the silliness of ToO and SWG obviously had the NGE...meh.

Folks should look around at games, read about them, watch videos, check out feature lists, look at multiple reviews, take a trial for a spin, etc, etc, etc.  Going with the opinions of average folks posting on the forums is kind of silly, because so many of us treat our opinions as fact.  Yep, so take it all with a grain of salt... do your research... find the game that's fun for you and enjoy the Hell out of it while you can (before they royally screw it up - yes, many of us are jaded too)....

75% would play a sandbox over a themepark, which just further proves that the themepark model is far from popular. There are many things that determine a good MMORPG. The Secret World for example is probably one of the most attractive MMORPG's in the 2nd half of 2012, but its P2P model and box fee is over the edge for another themepark MMORPG. 

I've been too busy playing DC Universe Online to do research on what would be the other 2 MMORPG's I'd play if DCUO didn't exist. I was hoping the community would be a bit helpful with this, but apparently with all the GW2/WOW hype it's far from well informed about  what else is avaliable out there.

Top 3:
SWG
DAOC
TSW

Playing: Mechwarrior Online + DDO

DDO i play to stay in touch with some of my MMO-Friends.
Mechwarrior Online bcs i like the Battletech/Mechwarrior Universe and the Gameplay.
I feel connected to this game-universe and eager to conquer planets for my House or Merc Unit - i am still undecided whom i join.

My last experience in WoW was a so horrible boring "world" of repetitiveness, lack of challenge, variety, characterbuilding while i have no trust in Funcom that i must conlcude the current mmo"rpg" market does nothing offer to me.
Collecting almost useless pets does not connect me to a game.
Leveling Alts in a boring game increases the boredom (and i am not an altoholic anyway).

So i am done with Themeparks!

Originally posted by Kopogero

75% would play a sandbox over a themepark, which just further proves that the themepark model is far from popular.

Based on 32 votes....?  Er... even though I'm one of those that voted sandbox, I'm not going to kid myself about where the masses play.

I have come to despise the term sandbox. I prefer virtual world which very few sandboxes or themeparks resemble in the slightest.

Originally posted by Yamota
Only 33 votes so not enough to draw any kind of conclusions. Still, interesting to see 75% for sandbox games.

Sandbox will always win out over themepark as far as this website is concerned. I just wish we could all agree on what a sandbox actually is, 29 votes for sandbox and probably 29 different defenitions.

Originally posted by Foomerang

I have come to despise the term sandbox. I prefer virtual world which very few sandboxes or themeparks resemble in the slightest.

 

Im with you...

Put me into the virtual world category

Top 2 MMOs for me right now are TSW (for the game) and LOTRO (for the friends).

Don't think I've ever actually played a real sandbox, as the couple of times I logged into one I was immediately ganked. Thus my dislike for and avoidance of PvP.

I do love the concept of sandbox or sandpark hybrid, and I'd love to give one a try but don't know of any that don't involve open world PvP.

Edit: Didn't vote

Picked sandbox.

Well due to your P.S. I guess I'd have to say you could play Rift or SWTOR but I don't think either are the best Themepark offering atm. I would say FFXI but they ruined it. In the Sandbox catagory I would say UO but they kind of ruined that too.

P.S. Frack your P.S. EvE for sandbox and GW2 for themepark. ArcheAge is looking good for a sandbox.

Originally posted by Kopogero

Ok, I see lots of threads but few that are helping the community to find/enjoy MMORPG's that are avaliable out there.

Sandbox - MMORPG where players can directly impact the gameplay and experience of other players in the virtual world.  

Themepark - MMORPG where you only impact your character history (like achivements, feats, text titles, pet/mount animation)

Your welcome to add your reasons for playing your current MMORPG and maeby list your top 3 MMORPG's that you think are doing better in terms of gameplay, polish, value for the $, pace of content release, and so on...

 

P.S: Do not bother mentioning EVE(2003), WOW(2004) and GW2(2012) in your top 3 list. Only a complete noob to the genre would not heard or know anything about these MMORPG's and there is plenty of info avaliable here on these MMORPG's.

 

Why do you not have a both option? I am sure there are plenty of people like me that enjoy playing a good GAME, whether it be "sandbox" or "themepark". 

Why not add an option for people that just play GAMES...

I would seriously try and get your hands on a Planetside 2 Beta key, Amazing game and free.

Playing Warcraft and Planetside 2 ATM.

Originally posted by rungard
i wish there were worlds. Worlds have the elements of both sandboxes and themeparks.

This and although there are a few out there I'm hoping for a polished game with one.  I voted sandbox because that's what I prefer to play.  Unfortunatly I play themeparks at the moment because there isn't a fantasy sandbox out there worth playing IMO.