Hi everyone! So awhile back I was sucked into MMOs. I tried Everquest 2 and World of Warcraft. WoW ended up eating my soul. I lost days playing that game. Well, a man and his children entered my life and I had to stop WoW cold turkey or I'd shirk my ever increasing list of responsibilities.  However, it seems that I've now found a fairly responsible medium of gameplay and I need answers! I have maybe an hour on week nights and a few hours on the weekends to play at most so I want to make sure I pick the perfect game to invest my time and money in. Which would you recommend? Below are some of the things I'd like to find in my perfect MMORPG:

1. I'm big on the Role Playing aspect.

2. I want to be able to solo.

3. Great character customization is a big plus. Both looks and game play.

4. Hotkeys

5. Guilds

6. Mature people. I don't want to play with a bunch of idiots.

7. Good graphics. Nothing 2d flash animation.

8. Creative quests. Not the same find stuff/kill stuff quests over and over again.

9. Professions/crafts. I really like the idea of being able to mindlessly level up a skill.

I've been thinking of going back to Everquest 2 or WOrld of Warcraft again. I've also been toying with the idea of Rift. Can anyone compare/contrast those 3 games? Or give me new options? The hubby has suggested Star Wars Old Republic as well.

My suggestions would be Rift, The Secret World, and GuildWars 2.

Of the three, my impressions are:  Rift is within striking distance of proving its longevity so the dev is going all out with features.  TSW didn't sell well considering the budget of the game, but seems to have its strong points.  GW2 is post-honeymoon after release, a tough time, but it seems to do well keeping the PVE crowd happy.

Vanguard is your game for sure! meets and exceeds all your criteria.

It's free to play so give it a try.

Originally posted by Narianna
I played GW about 8 years ago. I don't remember there being any RPing whatsoever and you had to leave the general area in order to quest. Is all that still true in GW2?

There is no "general area" (I assume you mean the hubs in GW1) in GW2. It's an open world mmo.

Originally posted by Narianna
I appreciate the Storyline of Vanguard really well but the graphics just don't seem to measure up to the other games proposed. This Secret World games looks very intriguing, though. I will add it to the list of WoW, EQ2, Rift, and SWTOR. So many choices!

Interesting, you say the graphics in Vanguard are not up to par with other games listed, yet they beat quite a few of them easily. Have ever played the game with full settings? I'm guessing not since you think otherwise.

As far as your question, there is no "perfect" mmo. They all have their good and bad. I honestly doubt your would get into The Secret World. That game takes actual thought and I'm not saying you don't have any or could not play it. However, you think Boracraft has great graphics so, a game like that would truly blow you away.

At least you have Rift and EverQuest 2 on your list.  Rift is good since it fills what you want. Either that or the carrot following Borecraft. If you like a variety, I would go with EverQuest 2. Tons of classes, lots of content and it has great graphics with the settings all the way up. (even decent ones with average settings).

Noone can really tell you what to play, I suggest you pan out and try some. Good luck.

Originally posted by Narianna

Hi everyone! So awhile back I was sucked into MMOs. I tried Everquest 2 and World of Warcraft. WoW ended up eating my soul. I lost days playing that game. Well, a man and his children entered my life and I had to stop WoW cold turkey or I'd shirk my ever increasing list of responsibilities.  However, it seems that I've now found a fairly responsible medium of gameplay and I need answers! I have maybe an hour on week nights and a few hours on the weekends to play at most so I want to make sure I pick the perfect game to invest my time and money in. Which would you recommend? Below are some of the things I'd like to find in my perfect MMORPG:

1. I'm big on the Role Playing aspect.

2. I want to be able to solo.

3. Great character customization is a big plus. Both looks and game play.

4. Hotkeys

5. Guilds

6. Mature people. I don't want to play with a bunch of idiots.

7. Good graphics. Nothing 2d flash animation.

8. Creative quests. Not the same find stuff/kill stuff quests over and over again.

9. Professions/crafts. I really like the idea of being able to mindlessly level up a skill.

I've been thinking of going back to Everquest 2 or WOrld of Warcraft again. I've also been toying with the idea of Rift. Can anyone compare/contrast those 3 games? Or give me new options? The hubby has suggested Star Wars Old Republic as well.

Forsaken world maybe

Oh geez, Guys. I didn't mean to step on any toes with that statement. I was just going off the media screenshots on their website versus the other games listed. I just have so many games to choose from that I was trying to narrow it down. There seems to be quite a bit of passion for Vanguard so I'll give it a shot on the trial version. :)

Oh also, the money isn't too terribly important. I don't mind paying for a subscription if the game is worth it.

Man im tellin ya AoC would be perfect fo ya, best rp'ers too

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/191/view/forums/thread/339264/Age-Of-Conan-A-new-look.html

Originally posted by Narianna

1. I'm big on the Role Playing aspect.

MMOs are the wrong place to look for that.

This "perfect" MMO you're looking for may, in fact, have a lot to do with your dissatisfaction. (Or hell, this entire site).

6. For example--is only possible in single-player games. Any game involving more than one person risks "idiots". Either work on your tolerance, or accept that this standard cannot be met.

Originally posted by Narianna
So in GW2 you're able to see and talk to people even while questing? Is there a lot of RPing in GW2?

I'm playing on an unofficial EU RP server of Guild Wars 2. There is a whole lot of rp. Lion's Arch is full of roleplayers, each tavern is full of people roleplaing with eachother. I am in two roleplaying guilds. One is more casual and they only roleplay at events, either player-driven or Anet events. The other is heavy rp and they roleplay EVERY DAY. Like, each time I log in at semi-peak hours, I see at least 5 members in Lion's Arch. I know they are roleplaying and aren't just afk in the market. There are usually more than 10 members roleplaying at evenings, though.

To be honest, if anything, GW2 is great for roleplaying. Especially, considering how rich the world is with lore, thrown around here and there, having random npcs talk to eachother and such... Do note that since there aren't any OFFICIAL roleplaying servers, there are no hard naming policies and GMs will not defend roleplayers openly. Yet, the community seems very understanding and friendly to roleplayers. Friendlier than non-roleplaying community on wow RP servers, from my experience.

Still, if roleplaying is your main point, I'd strongly recommend LOTRO on Laurelin. Best and most dedicated roleplaying community I've ever seen in any mmorpg. All quests are VERY strict to the lore. No cyberpunk and sci-fi bulls**t in lotro fantasy world. Moreover, I think it's the server with most strict roleplaying rules that are fully supported by the developer and game masters. There are no OOC names and, afair, you can't even talk OOC in /say.

Good luck!

I thought I'd be the first saying LotRO but sudo was faster :) My 2 cents are:

LotRO: rp is great on rp servers, solo, hotkeys, guilds, mature players (with emphasis, the community is great), good graphics, profession/crafting.

On the middle ground is character customization - by the looks it's awesome (and has a big aspect on rp too, you really should check some LotRO fashion pages) but by gameplay it's only average, your class is more or less defines your gameplay.

On the somewhat negative, creative quests. While it has some (session plays, for example), you will find a lot of wow-like, same old "go and kill" quests as well.

TSW: rp is good and getting better as the game goes on, solo, character customization in every direction (imagine a very big plus here), hotkeys, guilds, mature players (b2p had its effects though ;) ), good graphics (again a huge plus here, if you have a decent pc), creative quests (again a big plus)

On the middle ground, profession and crafting, it's there, and you can craft almost everything in game, but it's not feel a profession at all. It's easy, it's there, and... that's all. :)

Both can be played with only 1-2 hours at a time, financially both are at the same level (with about 30$ you'll get a lot of entertainment value).

Edit: a fashion page for example :)  http://lotrofashion.blogspot.hu/2012/08/cluck-cluck.html

(ps. I love AoC as well, but I think it'd stumble upon char. customization by looks, rp, and on mature community :) )