Greetings. In the past I've played a handful of online games, mostly computer, some console, and I've enjoyed most. But recently, by recently I mean the past year or two, I've lost not my love for the games I've come to known, but I'm without a way to enjoy old content; this meaning I've enjoyed the hell out of the games I've played to the point where there isn't any enjoyment left. I will look at the pros and cons of games and at the end highlight a few aspects I think are important in a game for me, and hopefully you make those connections before you get to the end, or even make a few I didn't notice myself.

I believe my very first game was Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction. I spent a large portion of time there and find myself coming back to it every year and a half or so just to bring back old memories. In that game I spent a lot of time talking with friends. I enjoyed the social aspect of the game; there were people there you could trust and people you could get to know and be friends with. I had a very good friend, Vivitheblackmag (missing the i there was probably a cutoff on the number of characters allowed in an account name/ character name) and we spent lots of time going through the game, killing bosses over and over, getting ourselves better loot, making new characters, and just having a good time in general. Eventually we lost contact due to a lost account on his behalf, but we were great friend.

I had a few things I liked about that game.

* Socializing - Friends lists made it easy to keep in touch with your buddies.
* Groups - Every game created could fit Eight Players to tackle the objectives at hand; most often the game would always be one giant group, unless someone got in an argument; this would result in going hostile with the party and pretty much result in all out war. (didn't like that part)
* Gear - It was most often not given away for free! You had to earn your gear, by killing the harder monsters you got the far better loot. A lot of the gear had different looks, and there were lots of variations in what the gear could do. The looks on the gear was great!
* Trading - There was no interaction from anyone other than players that could change the price of an item. You also traded items for items, not items for coins and vice-versa.

Some things I didn't like about the game.

* It was nearly all clicking. Click to move, click to attack, click to operate any function really. The only part that wasn't click was pressing F1-F12 to swiftly select skills to use.
* Not enough content. There were Six acts (levels) with an average of about 5 quests per act. There were also three difficulties to do these on. Some of the quests could be skipped by in order to reach the end game, very fast.
* Not enough customization. If you were a sorceress you were female (no sorcerers), if you were a druid you were male. You couldn't choose your hair color, eye color, height, size, weight, skin tone, nose shape, ear shape, facial accessories or anything.
* Hacks - People could dupe (duplicate, hack to make a second) items that would appear totally legitimate, but sometimes would, as everyone referred to it as, poof. They would disappear after you logged out of one game to join the next. That was always a bummer.
* Guilds - There weren't any supported ways to create a guild. No guild window, Guild tag, unless you rerolled a character and added a few letter to the beginning of your characters name. E.G. RoL_Boss, RoL_Gangster This didn't bother me at the time, but I've grown accustomed to wanting a guild with guild chat after playing a few mmorpgs.
* Scamming - A number of people were only concerned with themselves, and a small amount of that population had the hacks behind them to help them! There were ways to make it so that if they killed you, everything you were wearing would drop (Had it happen to me twice that I can remember.)
* Characters Expired - After three months of remaining inactive your characters would expire and be rendered useless, you couldn't claim there items, they'd only sit in your character slots until you deleted them.

I spent at least 30-50 days total playing time there, I'm sure.

Overall it was a really good game, the PvP was very skill based and fun! My friends made the game more enjoyable, but there was a lack of content and a few things that could ruin my day in the game.

After Diablo 2 I went on to play Runescape. This game was also an all clicking game, but you could use F1-F12 to select certain tabs quickly. This game was great. At first I started as a F2P member. There was a lot of content, lots of things to do, but as soon as I got to a higher level (around 70 when the cap was... 120 ish? I forget, they raised the cap a while back) I started noticing that my options were being cut off because I was not a member. So I subscribed for the small monthly fee (five dollars, great deal!) and went about my way. Wow. When you open up from members, you get a world three times the size of the previous one (Includes the free players parts) with more skills, no advertisements, and a lot more good stuff! I've spent a LOT of time on this game, definitely the most out of any other game I've played I'm fairly certain.

I enjoyed a lot in this game.

* Content - it seemed endless. There currently are over one hundred quests. These quests aren't kill x of y. They all have their own story, minus the very VERY basic starter ones you get upon beginning, some of them can take a few hours or even a couple afternoons of playing. There is ALWAYS somewhere new to explore, content is added almost weekly (I think they bumped it up to every two weeks with bigger additions now.)
* Trading - I made a lot of my money off of trading. I would be fit under the 'merchant' class in that game. I made Millions of GP by following the rule, "Buy low, Sell High." I love to manipulate trade in games for my personal profit instead of grinding to make money.

* Socializing - If you were skilling up you would have some time to talk to the guys and gals around ya. Your friends list could hold up to 200 people. On your mini map, friends would show up as a green dot so you could holler at 'em when they walked by. A lot of the game would be talking to your friends and the people around you.
* Crafting - Personally I'm not much of an artisan. In this game you could ignore a serious crafting profession, but in order to do some of the quests and experience some of the content, you'd need to be about par at crafting. Occasionally I did craft, and the rewards can be great.
* Appearance - I love customization. In this game you can choose your main clothes, (what you look like without gear on) their color, your hair cut, your hair color, skin tone, shoe color, even shoe shape. When you wore gear, each item had it's own look. The color most often reflected the material it was composed of, if not always. But for your first seven sets of gear, they were all the same shape and size, just different color. (First seven sets refers to the seven basic sets in the F2P setting. In order of weakest to strongest, there was, Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, Mithril, Adamantite and Runite armor. All of these except for Black armor could be player crafted.) In the members version, they added Dragon, each piece having its own unique look. Barrows armor had it's own look, and the whole set always looked like it belonged together (there were a few different sets of Barrows armor.) and they continue to add stronger and stronger and stronger sets of armor, and I think they are at the point where you can't add more armor that is so balanced. But all of the stronger armors looked cooler, in a sense. And a lot of the seven regular sets of armor could be found with Trim or Golden Trim on them (It looked like stripes were painted on to the armor, some of the sets looked bad, some good.) Overall, there were so many individual fun items and wearable quest items out there that appearance was just great. Appearance is one of my favorite aspects to a game - I like to be an individual!
* Rankings - If you spent time on your character, it shows. Often, people will compliment you on your gear, or people will see your ranking on the high-scores table and reflect upon it. Being shown this respect for being a good player is always a plus.

Eventually, my awesome game had started to crumble. I found a few things I didn't like.

* Grinding - At the beginning it didn't seem like a grind, fighting monsters was enjoyable because I didn't know what to expect. But when I had experienced a lot of the content and I wanted to move on to the strongest monsters, you had to prepare. And preparing in Runescape meant hours upon hours of grinding. Click to kill, pick up loot, bury the bones. Repeat. Replenish health by eating food every other monster. It got too repetitious. Click tree, click the next tree, click the next tree. Bank. Repeat. Skilling up was a constant grind.
* Trade - I know this was listed as one of the things I liked, but Jagex (Creators of Runescape) changed that up for me. They eventually added an Auction House of sorts (WoW reference) but they controlled the prices. The prices reflect upon (they say) how much the item is traded at such a price. If it is traded at the maximum price, it goes up in price, so on and so on. This was a failure. On top of that, they implemented a trade limit. You would not be able to buy an item for so much more/less than the item was worth. Say you were buying an axe. This axe is worth 10,000 coins. So you go open trade and some guy puts it up. If you tried to put it 5,000 coins, it would say it was too far under the trade limit and you can't gain that much coin in a trade. There went my merchanting. This change was the MAJOR reason I left the game.
* Socializing - Yes, this had its issues too. I guarantee that at least once a week I would get in an argument. Most often with a young player who can't spell out words like you or please. But sometimes you would find such inconsiderate @#$%@#$'s that you couldn't put up with them and you just had to say something back. That was always an issue.
* PvP - It was definitely one sided. If you were a well balanced player fighting a specialized player, you were going down. So-called Pures (those specialized players) would be able to hit you for up to thirty while remaining at a low combat level by sacrificing some of their defensive skills. You would only be able to hit for 10 to 15, on the other hand. It could get difficult. Also, there were three fighting styles. Melee --> Rangers ---> Magic. This is represented in a triangle, Melee beats range which beats magic which beach melee and goes on forever. PvP was very one sided. Also, there were times when you'd get upwards of 10 players (i've been jumped by fifty rangers before, all standing on one square) and you'd be dead instantly, so you had to be careful walking into multi-player wilderness.
* Clans - They had a limited way you could create a clan, and it often made me feel limited. You had a clan chat channel, and you could also get everyone in the clan to wear clan-capes so they appeared as blue dots instead of green or white, and would make them non-attackable in the wilderness. It was not a good system.

Very nice game, but Jagex eventually killed it with updates by trying to control the game to make it 'better' for the players. I most enjoyed the content, talking to friends, and the customization. I've spent a lot of my time on there, I'm assuming 100+ days of gaming time.

Of course, as nearly every MMORPG player has, I played WoW. This was a good game for me, and the easy learning curve helped me out to learn how to play it in the first place.

I enjoyed a couple aspects of the game.

* Customization wasn't too bad, your character could look different, but the races looked pretty similar, about the only factor that changed the look was the hair color. But the classes' gear sets made your character look great, and some races fit the look better than others. If you truly wanted to look the part of a sneaky rogue or a holy paladin you could.
* You got gear as you gained levels - I didn't notice a large amount of pvp that was my level that I couldn't handle with my rogue, and I was average geared. But a few levels usually made a difference. I never reached end-game in WoW.
* PvP - Loved it, until battle grounds became repetitive due to the fact that the horde would sweep the alliance because they had tactics and could team up, when we, the alliance, could not. World PvP was sweet, mostly due to the fact that I didn't get ganked too often because I had stealth and I could gank others if I felt like it.
* Dungeons - That's a two sided deal. Dungeons are fun the first couple times you do 'em, and I definitely enjoy the group aspect. They do give some nice gear.
* Auction House - You got it! Using Auctioneer made some easy coin for me! I fit right back into that role of 'merchant' by using the auction house to manipulate prices.
* IT WASN'T ALL CLICKING! I was so in love with using WASDQE to move, and pressing 1-9 to hit skills. It was great. I'm not giving that one up.

I didn't like a few things about the game, however.

* Trade - Moving stacks around could be a pain in the ass. Also, 6 slots at a time was annoying. But I suppose whatever works.
* People - A lot of people weren't very stable; Guilds I was in were very immature, they would change and leave me in the dust, Friends of mine would switch servers. It was tough to meet good friends - I got in an argument quite often in that game.
* Quest Grinding - Sometimes the quest lines would get dull and just come out as a grind for me. Kill x of y, come back, do it again. Ugh. Also, waiting for spawns while killing x of y made it even worse.
* Dungeons - They would get awfully boring to me if I new the dungeon, or in some cases I thought a lot of them were boring.
* Exploration - Not really fun for me personally. All I can really say is that there wasn't enough area for me to really be able to cover, as I like to look through some zones thoroughly, given they have the scenery I enjoy. I'm the one who likes to climb up in the mountains and look over the whole area/zone and see what's out there before I go explore, a lot of the mountains there didn't cut it for me. I also thought that some of the areas were too small, and that the quest lines took you through most of the area. Maybe a bad explanation, reply if you want to ask me more about that.

That game was alright, not great, but had its moments where it really shined, but also had moments where I wanted to puke, and moments were I did puke.

The last game I think worth mentioning would be Everquest 2. That game was great, yet terrible at the same time. I never knew what I would expect that day. Some days I'd have a lot of fun, other days I'd be bored of the game, other days I'd feel like it was a waste of life.

The game had really good aspects.

* Voice Chat - I have the feeling I need this in any game I play from now on, it gives me a more personal feeling about the people I'm chatting with. I have Ventrilo downloaded. All is good there :)
* Questing - Most of it was interesting the FIRST time you went through it, and most of it was not kill X of Y.
* Guilds - Great guild system, they offered a free guild website they would host and offered some advanced features for a little extra dough, great guild events you can do (raiding with your guild = great! you can raid at nearly any level after 10 if you know where to go :D)
* People - So mature, friendly, as long as you stay out of the public chat channels (which I didn't, this one is by far one of the worst i've seen, but at the same time it's too much fun to not participate in)
* Player Owned Houses - My pride and joy in this game was showing off my 'death pit' in my house. I'd get players trapped in my house all the time! Oh my, and I made the houses look amazing. The way you were allowed to put together houses allowed soooooooooooo much customization, absolutely loved it.
* Appearance - This game had a whole secondary equipment set of slots dedicated to appearance. They won my heart here.
* Farming - I loved the farming in this game. If you were good (adequately geared, and someone who can think) you could solo the harder mobs by yourself, as I often did. And I used a caster to take on the named monsters there to get myself some better loot. I made a lot of money this way instead of merchanting - it definitely is a GREAT alternative for making money. Loved farming in that game.

There were some things I really disliked about the game. I couldn't number which ones I hate the most, so just assume I hate them all equally.

* PvP - Their PvP was the most gear based, non-skill oriented PvP I've ever seen. You also get ganked a lot, and about 50% of the time you are ganked, if you are solo you are going to get griefed too. Another bad thing is that you can abuse the PvP rules. There was a PvP range depending on the zone you are in, if it was Four levels, you could attack someone up to 4 levels lower than you, and be attacked by those up to 4 levels higher than you. But if you were a group of low levels, and you attacked a higher player, the only thing you have to lose is your time, really. I wont go into the mechanics, but the lower levels would gain something from killing a higher player, and the higher player wouldn't gain anything from killing someone below their range.
* Crafting - Crafting was such a pain in the ass for me in this game. It just was not fun to keep up - I attempted to do it for my guild but it was causing me to self-destruct. I had to leave that to others who either a) enjoyed it, or b) macroed!
* Guilds - They had a great system, but something bad with having such a great system is everyone wants in on it. For every big major good guild, there were ten lower guilds that seemed to always just die away. (Totally made up statistic, but you get the idea.) You'd get in on some bad guilds a lot of the time.
* Factions - The faction system was a little whacky. You were allowed to switch factions if you liked, and also switch to the opposite class if you liked. All you needed to do was spend a couple hours going through a serious of quests. It was odd, and both factions hated each other with a passion, and would go out of their way to make the other faction cry, for the most part.
* Change - Sony likes to change everything about their games, and they really screwed up EQ2 for me every time they updated. It was just... for lack of a fantastic word, it was bleh. It made me want to yack. I thought something would be the same and they'd change the thing from bad to worse.
* Gear - Terrible. Gear meant everything, in my opinion. And the best gear (sorta kinda not really debatable) for levels 1-70 was player made and expensive. The cap is 80.
* AA's - There was a third way to enhance your character. 1) You can level up. 2) You can get better gear. But 3) There were AA's, this refers back to Everquest 1 where they had Alternate Achievements, and in EQ2 they're called Achievements or Achievement points, but the abbreviation AA's stuck. You gained AA's by questing, and you could gain more per level by locking your level and leveling slower. AA's were essentially a way for you to be able to explore more of the content while remaining at that contents level, so instead of doing one level 10-19 zone, you could do all the 10-19 zones and not pass level 19. But this obligated you to lock up and try to cap your AA's for fear of being, as nearly everybody would say, gimp in PvP. Not being able to PvP because you wanted to level and not worry about gear was terrible. Gear/AA's/PvP were all interlocked and were just a tangled up mess that I don't want to deal with.
* IRL Money - The only thing I saw sony concerned with was their wallets. They just wanted your money. They added in-game store items (appearance) that looked REALLY nice and was very tempting to me, and I didn't eventually buy something, but I hate when they are so concerned about money. They try to charge you for every last thing you could possibly want, this turned me off. I just wanted to pay my 15 and play and be the same as everyone else.

Basically, what turned me off from EQ2 was

1. The constant fear of change - they're gonna nerf this class, make this class amazing, blah blah blah.
2. In order to succeed in skill-less pvp (for the most part), you need to have the best gear and capped AA's (You could have a maximum of 1.5 x your level worth of AA [ E.G. 15 AA's for level 10]) or else the other player will just kill you in a few shots.
3. PvP wasn't enjoyable.
4. They nickle and dime you.

There are a lot of the reasons I enjoy games, and a lot of reasons I don't. I think I have a few main things I need in order to play a game.

Communication - Really nice communication with voice-chat, but the basic typing chat system should be good. If the game has an implemented voice-chat system that is great, but I can get by with ventrilo just fine!

Socializing - A good community. I like friends, good friends I can trust, be friends with, group with, rely on, and have them rely on me sometimes. I enjoy grouping.

Money - I enjoy making money in games, personally. I can do it either by a) trading or b) farming and enjoy it, but harvesting around isn't my favorite thing to do. Note that harvesting isn't something I'm looking to avoid, just something I don't want to overdo or have be one of my main goals.

Appearance - I like to look different, unique.

Rankings - I do enjoy to make my character one of the better, stronger characters in the game.

Housing - Could go under appearance, I believe player housing is nice if you can customize it.

Not all clicking - I want to use my keyboard as well. :D

So, without getting TOO picky I'm gonna stop there. Very general things I want there, but see if after you've read through this if you notice anything in particular you can pick out, and think I fit in to any game.
 

you'll be lucky if anyone reads even half of this...

Wall of Texts hits you for 430849084024284 mental damage.

Anyhow, i was looking for a good game myself, so i bought Fallen earth hoping it would be good, and it was just good.  there was nothing that really poped in that game for me.

I actually just bought Aion, and  lvl 26 and i would recommend it to people looking for a game. Aion is not anything new but its something really well put together it has some of the best aspects of most mmo's out there.

my 2 cents if you are looking for a game and dont mind grinding a bit

Originally posted by IceShadeX2

Wall of Texts hits you for 430849084024284 mental damage.

 

Anyhow, i was looking for a good game myself, so i bought Fallen earth hoping it would be good, and it was just good.  there was nothing that really poped in that game for me.

I actually just bought Aion, and  lvl 26 and i would recommend it to people looking for a game. Aion is not anything new but its something really well put together it has some of the best aspects of most mmo's out there.

my 2 cents if you are looking for a game and dont mind grinding a bit

Lol @ mental damage.

Define the grinding part of Aion? And what is the story like?

Originally posted by Vinterkrig

you'll be lucky if anyone reads even half of this...

This is true, but it'd be nice if I got at least one person to read it and reply, considering I took the time to type it up and think about it.

I'm not level 50 yet so i dont know the whole story, but what ive played i like it alot.  the first 10 levels were a blast personaly, teaches you alot about differnt parts of the world if u actaully read the quests, and when you hit 9 you do a quest that will level you to 10 and you get your wings, oh and the cut scenes in the game are awesome.  alot of side quests like gathering ones, take this there and stuff like that so you dont have to follow the story always, anywho i think the game is worth a try. Best fantasy mmo currently out i would say.

Grinding in Aion is like most games, questing or just kill over and over and over.  the quests arnt the worse, so it makes it doable.

Originally posted by IceShadeX2

I'm not level 50 yet so i dont know the whole story, but what ive played i like it alot.  the first 10 levels were a blast personaly, teaches you alot about differnt parts of the world if u actaully read the quests, and when you hit 9 you do a quest that will level you to 10 and you get your wings, oh and the cut scenes in the game are awesome.  alot of side quests like gathering ones, take this there and stuff like that so you dont have to follow the story always, anywho i think the game is worth a try. Best fantasy mmo currently out i would say.

Grinding in Aion is like most games, questing or just kill over and over and over.  the quests arnt the worse, so it makes it doable.

I looked at it, the wing concept made me feel like it was a little too fluffy for me if you get what I'm saying. But I watched two youtube videos and now I'm looking at the website.

If you can summarize that in 2 paragraphs i would gladly help.

Originally posted by Gabby-air

If you can summarize that in 2 paragraphs i would gladly help.

How about..

I like content, friendly people, pvp that is more skill based (I really liked Darkfall pvp, but i sucked at melee and the grind to get skills up was a bitch)

I hate grinding, a bad community, economy being affected by the creators, i like voice-chat, guilds, yeah..

It really says it all in that essay up there though ^_^

I feel I wasted my time writing that one up.

Originally posted by Kithablast

I feel I wasted my time writing that one up.

I read the whole thing, and it was definitely one of the better things I've read about gaming.  Therefore, it was completely wasted in this forum.  I don't know if there is a more mature MMO/gaming forum out there, but you might want to repost it if you could find one.  Or, maybe you could post it on a blog on this site?  Perhaps it would get more attention.

As for a game meeting your criteria, not sure if I can help you or not.  I am currently playing Lord of the Rings Online, and I think it fits some of what you are looking for, but perhaps not all. 

1) LotRO, because of the lore and Turbines care with presenting the gameworld, has some of the deepest content you are likely to find.  The world is absolutely engrossing.

2) Socially, probably the most mature community in MMO's (probably because it is Tolkein).  Guilds (Kinships) are hugely important to the social experience.  That being said, social interaction seems to take place out of official channels (which can have a few idiots).  But if you take the initiative (which is appreciated) you'll be astounded how many regular people you'll meet (as opposed to epeeners).  I think there is ingame voice chat.

3) Economy.  I haven't played long enough to understand it completely, but there doesn't seem to be a huge player economy.  I assume because crafting is done within kinships and there isn't a great need for trade.  There is an auction house, but I have no idea what is in demand, or what is rare.  But I'm sure there is something.

4) Almost no grind.  LotRO has quests coming out of its ears.  Some of them are epic, long storylines where you interact with heroes from the books (Dwalin, Strider etc.) -- these have actually given me shivers.  Others are more mundane.  So far the only thing you may have to grind are "deeds" -- secondary skill bonuses that you really only need for high levels (i.e. no grind to level).

5) PvP is currently limited to "Monster Play" .  In this, you can create and level special monster characters that can fight other players in their normal classes.  Some people love it, but it is secondary to the PvE portions of the game.  There are rumours Turbine is developing PvP servers to be tested in the Chinese market, but these are unconfirmed.

Overall it strikes me that LotRO descends from "old school" fantasy games like Runescape and Everquest, rather than more arcade style games like WoW.  Most of the veteran gamer playerbase seems to have come from that stream instead.  It lit a spark for me, it might for you.

There is currently an excellent subscription deal for North American customers.  You can download the Trial Client, upgrade for $9.99 for the complete game (includes all current expansions) with a month's free time.  Then you can commit to a 3+ month subscription for 9.99/month (regular $15).  If you commit to this multi-month subscription by October 31st you get the Siege of Mirkwood expansion when it comes out in December for free. 
 

Originally posted by GidSlack

Originally posted by Kithablast

I feel I wasted my time writing that one up.

 

I read the whole thing, and it was definitely one of the better things I've read about gaming.  Therefore, it was completely wasted in this forum.  I don't know if there is a more mature MMO/gaming forum out there, but you might want to repost it if you could find one.  Or, maybe you could post it on a blog on this site?  Perhaps it would get more attention.

As for a game meeting your criteria, not sure if I can help you or not.  I am currently playing Lord of the Rings Online, and I think it fits some of what you are looking for, but perhaps not all. 

1) LotRO, because of the lore and Turbines care with presenting the gameworld, has some of the deepest content you are likely to find.  The world is absolutely engrossing.

2) Socially, probably the most mature community in MMO's (probably because it is Tolkein).  Guilds (Kinships) are hugely important to the social experience.  That being said, social interaction seems to take place out of official channels (which can have a few idiots).  But if you take the initiative (which is appreciated) you'll be astounded how many regular people you'll meet (as opposed to epeeners).  I think there is ingame voice chat.

3) Economy.  I haven't played long enough to understand it completely, but there doesn't seem to be a huge player economy.  I assume because crafting is done within kinships and there isn't a great need for trade.  There is an auction house, but I have no idea what is in demand, or what is rare.  But I'm sure there is something.

4) Almost no grind.  LotRO has quests coming out of its ears.  Some of them are epic, long storylines where you interact with heroes from the books (Dwalin, Strider etc.) -- these have actually given me shivers.  Others are more mundane.  So far the only thing you may have to grind are "deeds" -- secondary skill bonuses that you really only need for high levels (i.e. no grind to level).

5) PvP is currently limited to "Monster Play" .  In this, you can create and level special monster characters that can fight other players in their normal classes.  Some people love it, but it is secondary to the PvE portions of the game.  There are rumours Turbine is developing PvP servers to be tested in the Chinese market, but these are unconfirmed.

Overall it strikes me that LotRO descends from "old school" fantasy games like Runescape and Everquest, rather than more arcade style games like WoW.  Most of the veteran gamer playerbase seems to have come from that stream instead.  It lit a spark for me, it might for you.

There is currently an excellent subscription deal for North American customers.  You can download the Trial Client, upgrade for $9.99 for the complete game (includes all current expansions) with a month's free time.  Then you can commit to a 3+ month subscription for 9.99/month (regular $15).  If you commit to this multi-month subscription by October 31st you get the Siege of Mirkwood expansion when it comes out in December for free. 
 

Well, first off, thank you for that compliment. I spent a little while putting that together. Lotro I've heard nothing but good things about, and it's I think the third highest on the overall rating/hype list and first in ratings (the other two ahead of it are un-realeased games, or something of the sort.)

Second, I've downloaded the trial before, and I forget what it was that I didn't like, but I think it had something to do with the graphics? Now that I've read a little about it, I've heard nothing but, "The scenery is amazing!" So maybe I'm wrong. Also, is there a need to have a good knowledge of the lore, or will I learn about it in the game? Personally I've never picked up the books, but I've seen the movies and not followed too closely.

Third, Can it support a casual time frame, because I do attend school with a few hours of work each night, plus a girlfriend I love very much who I try to spend as much time with as possible. So a couple afternoons a week would allow me to push myself at a moderate speed? 

Fourth, Can I get through the game without having top-notch gear because I wont be able to play every night? And if not is it soloable for getting gear? I cannot do raiding; I'm sure the game doesn't have it, but just making sure.

It sounds like a reasonable game. Maybe you can give me your server/character name or even ventrilo info and we can talk a little more about it? Let me know! Appreciate the feedback.

Op,

i read your entire post and i thought it was a very good biography of your mentionable gaming history. i would sugjest that you check out a few game, based on your want of A) community, B) non-grindy ness ( i guess everything is a grind if you REALLY think about it ) and C) Economy.

The first game i would offer up is EVE-Online. this is by far one of the most community driven games on the market at the moment. every aspect of the game is pretty much controlled by the players. now some people may disagree with me but the the real key is finding a corp or alliance that really fits your RL personal morals, because that in the end i think will give you the most enjoyment. the character progressions is done through training of skills that take RL time to complete. no more killing NPC after NPC for experiance, if RL things come up just log out... your char is still gaining in ability. the only real need to play is for enjoyment and money, because lets face it everything takes money. also if your looking for a game with an awesome economy this is the game for you, every aspect of the game economy is manipulated by the players for profit, and reading what you wrote about runescape i think the "buy low sell high" model will work very well for you.

The second and final game im going to offer up to you would be any of the current "Sandbox" style games, weather it be Darkfall, Mortal Online, or even WURM. now, being a runescape player i dont think that graphics are really what your heart is set on, its more the community and game mechanics so i think these games will do you nicely. as with any sandbox game most aspects are manipulated by the playerbase, and in the case of WURM you can even teraform your area to suit your needs ( i one time dug a massive tunnel system, much like the vietcong had in vietnam, it was awesome, and for no reason at all )  at any rate i hope you can find a game that you enjoy!

Originally posted by Kithablast

Originally posted by GidSlack

Originally posted by Kithablast

I feel I wasted my time writing that one up.

 

I read the whole thing, and it was definitely one of the better things I've read about gaming.  Therefore, it was completely wasted in this forum.  I don't know if there is a more mature MMO/gaming forum out there, but you might want to repost it if you could find one.  Or, maybe you could post it on a blog on this site?  Perhaps it would get more attention.

As for a game meeting your criteria, not sure if I can help you or not.  I am currently playing Lord of the Rings Online, and I think it fits some of what you are looking for, but perhaps not all. 

1) LotRO, because of the lore and Turbines care with presenting the gameworld, has some of the deepest content you are likely to find.  The world is absolutely engrossing.

2) Socially, probably the most mature community in MMO's (probably because it is Tolkein).  Guilds (Kinships) are hugely important to the social experience.  That being said, social interaction seems to take place out of official channels (which can have a few idiots).  But if you take the initiative (which is appreciated) you'll be astounded how many regular people you'll meet (as opposed to epeeners).  I think there is ingame voice chat.

3) Economy.  I haven't played long enough to understand it completely, but there doesn't seem to be a huge player economy.  I assume because crafting is done within kinships and there isn't a great need for trade.  There is an auction house, but I have no idea what is in demand, or what is rare.  But I'm sure there is something.

4) Almost no grind.  LotRO has quests coming out of its ears.  Some of them are epic, long storylines where you interact with heroes from the books (Dwalin, Strider etc.) -- these have actually given me shivers.  Others are more mundane.  So far the only thing you may have to grind are "deeds" -- secondary skill bonuses that you really only need for high levels (i.e. no grind to level).

5) PvP is currently limited to "Monster Play" .  In this, you can create and level special monster characters that can fight other players in their normal classes.  Some people love it, but it is secondary to the PvE portions of the game.  There are rumours Turbine is developing PvP servers to be tested in the Chinese market, but these are unconfirmed.

Overall it strikes me that LotRO descends from "old school" fantasy games like Runescape and Everquest, rather than more arcade style games like WoW.  Most of the veteran gamer playerbase seems to have come from that stream instead.  It lit a spark for me, it might for you.

There is currently an excellent subscription deal for North American customers.  You can download the Trial Client, upgrade for $9.99 for the complete game (includes all current expansions) with a month's free time.  Then you can commit to a 3+ month subscription for 9.99/month (regular $15).  If you commit to this multi-month subscription by October 31st you get the Siege of Mirkwood expansion when it comes out in December for free. 
 

 

Well, first off, thank you for that compliment. I spent a little while putting that together. Lotro I've heard nothing but good things about, and it's I think the third highest on the overall rating/hype list and first in ratings (the other two ahead of it are un-realeased games, or something of the sort.)

Second, I've downloaded the trial before, and I forget what it was that I didn't like, but I think it had something to do with the graphics? Now that I've read a little about it, I've heard nothing but, "The scenery is amazing!" So maybe I'm wrong. Also, is there a need to have a good knowledge of the lore, or will I learn about it in the game? Personally I've never picked up the books, but I've seen the movies and not followed too closely.

Third, Can it support a casual time frame, because I do attend school with a few hours of work each night, plus a girlfriend I love very much who I try to spend as much time with as possible. So a couple afternoons a week would allow me to push myself at a moderate speed? 

Fourth, Can I get through the game without having top-notch gear because I wont be able to play every night? And if not is it soloable for getting gear? I cannot do raiding; I'm sure the game doesn't have it, but just making sure.

It sounds like a reasonable game. Maybe you can give me your server/character name or even ventrilo info and we can talk a little more about it? Let me know! Appreciate the feedback.

The one thing a certain segment of people object to in LotRO graphics are the avatars (landscape seems to have been uniformly praised).  The avatars themselves aren't heroically handsome or endowed; but seem to be homely, almost caricatures of the races.  (Women, however, like the modest female models, and lack of skimpy armour).  Combat animations aren't overly flashy either.  I've played other Asian-style MMO's with arcade-like fight graphics, and they are fun.  LotRO just has a different sensibility, and it does grow on you as you play.  It is also much calmer.

There is also no need to be expert on the lore.  I've read the books years ago (haven't seen the movie), and not really even a Tolkein fan.  But it probably is the best fantasy world there is; and if you are generally familiar with the main characters and events (what Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf did etc.) and some of the landmarks of Middle Earth it just gives an extra dimension when you encounter them in game.  The entire story though is also explained through quests and cut scenes as you progress.

LotRO is probably the most casual-friendly game on the market.  And I'm not far enough long to confirm it, but people say gear doesn't matter like it does in WoW.  (And from my experiences so far, it just doesn't seem like that sort of game; the whole atmosphere is laidback).  Turbine did add a kind of a mini-WoW-style raid endgame with the Mines of Moria expansion for the people who wanted it (again optional).  But even that was too much for some of the playerbase, and it looks like Turbine may tone it down a bit in the next expansion. 

The most populous server right now is Brandywine (Landroval is the most popular unofficial RP server).  My main character is Thrumdi (Dwarf Guardian) on Brandywine.  I don't use the ingame voice chat, but send me a tell if you want to talk more.

(Also note: the game is down for maintenance today the 19th from 7am-12pm EST).

Originally posted by GidSlack

Originally posted by Kithablast

Originally posted by GidSlack

Originally posted by Kithablast

I feel I wasted my time writing that one up.

 

I read the whole thing, and it was definitely one of the better things I've read about gaming.  Therefore, it was completely wasted in this forum.  I don't know if there is a more mature MMO/gaming forum out there, but you might want to repost it if you could find one.  Or, maybe you could post it on a blog on this site?  Perhaps it would get more attention.

As for a game meeting your criteria, not sure if I can help you or not.  I am currently playing Lord of the Rings Online, and I think it fits some of what you are looking for, but perhaps not all. 

1) LotRO, because of the lore and Turbines care with presenting the gameworld, has some of the deepest content you are likely to find.  The world is absolutely engrossing.

2) Socially, probably the most mature community in MMO's (probably because it is Tolkein).  Guilds (Kinships) are hugely important to the social experience.  That being said, social interaction seems to take place out of official channels (which can have a few idiots).  But if you take the initiative (which is appreciated) you'll be astounded how many regular people you'll meet (as opposed to epeeners).  I think there is ingame voice chat.

3) Economy.  I haven't played long enough to understand it completely, but there doesn't seem to be a huge player economy.  I assume because crafting is done within kinships and there isn't a great need for trade.  There is an auction house, but I have no idea what is in demand, or what is rare.  But I'm sure there is something.

4) Almost no grind.  LotRO has quests coming out of its ears.  Some of them are epic, long storylines where you interact with heroes from the books (Dwalin, Strider etc.) -- these have actually given me shivers.  Others are more mundane.  So far the only thing you may have to grind are "deeds" -- secondary skill bonuses that you really only need for high levels (i.e. no grind to level).

5) PvP is currently limited to "Monster Play" .  In this, you can create and level special monster characters that can fight other players in their normal classes.  Some people love it, but it is secondary to the PvE portions of the game.  There are rumours Turbine is developing PvP servers to be tested in the Chinese market, but these are unconfirmed.

Overall it strikes me that LotRO descends from "old school" fantasy games like Runescape and Everquest, rather than more arcade style games like WoW.  Most of the veteran gamer playerbase seems to have come from that stream instead.  It lit a spark for me, it might for you.

There is currently an excellent subscription deal for North American customers.  You can download the Trial Client, upgrade for $9.99 for the complete game (includes all current expansions) with a month's free time.  Then you can commit to a 3+ month subscription for 9.99/month (regular $15).  If you commit to this multi-month subscription by October 31st you get the Siege of Mirkwood expansion when it comes out in December for free. 
 

 

Well, first off, thank you for that compliment. I spent a little while putting that together. Lotro I've heard nothing but good things about, and it's I think the third highest on the overall rating/hype list and first in ratings (the other two ahead of it are un-realeased games, or something of the sort.)

Second, I've downloaded the trial before, and I forget what it was that I didn't like, but I think it had something to do with the graphics? Now that I've read a little about it, I've heard nothing but, "The scenery is amazing!" So maybe I'm wrong. Also, is there a need to have a good knowledge of the lore, or will I learn about it in the game? Personally I've never picked up the books, but I've seen the movies and not followed too closely.

Third, Can it support a casual time frame, because I do attend school with a few hours of work each night, plus a girlfriend I love very much who I try to spend as much time with as possible. So a couple afternoons a week would allow me to push myself at a moderate speed? 

Fourth, Can I get through the game without having top-notch gear because I wont be able to play every night? And if not is it soloable for getting gear? I cannot do raiding; I'm sure the game doesn't have it, but just making sure.

It sounds like a reasonable game. Maybe you can give me your server/character name or even ventrilo info and we can talk a little more about it? Let me know! Appreciate the feedback.

 

The one thing a certain segment of people object to in LotRO graphics are the avatars (landscape seems to have been uniformly praised).  The avatars themselves aren't heroically handsome or endowed; but seem to be homely, almost caricatures of the races.  (Women, however, like the modest female models, and lack of skimpy armour).  Combat animations aren't overly flashy either.  I've played other Asian-style MMO's with arcade-like fight graphics, and they are fun.  LotRO just has a different sensibility, and it does grow on you as you play.  It is also much calmer.

There is also no need to be expert on the lore.  I've read the books years ago (haven't seen the movie), and not really even a Tolkein fan.  But it probably is the best fantasy world there is; and if you are generally familiar with the main characters and events (what Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf did etc.) and some of the landmarks of Middle Earth it just gives an extra dimension when you encounter them in game.  The entire story though is also explained through quests and cut scenes as you progress.

LotRO is probably the most casual-friendly game on the market.  And I'm not far enough long to confirm it, but people say gear doesn't matter like it does in WoW.  (And from my experiences so far, it just doesn't seem like that sort of game; the whole atmosphere is laidback).  Turbine did add a kind of a mini-WoW-style raid endgame with the Mines of Moria expansion for the people who wanted it (again optional).  But even that was too much for some of the playerbase, and it looks like Turbine may tone it down a bit in the next expansion. 

The most populous server right now is Brandywine (Landroval is the most popular unofficial RP server).  My main character is Thrumdi (Dwarf Guardian) on Brandywine.  I don't use the ingame voice chat, but send me a tell if you want to talk more.

(Also note: the game is down for maintenance today the 19th from 7am-12pm EST).

Good thing I slept through that. Hahahaha :P

It looks like I may give the game a shot, but let me read the website first, it might lack a few things I like. But it sounds altogether like a nice game I can enjoy :)

Originally posted by Navydt

 

Op,

i read your entire post and i thought it was a very good biography of your mentionable gaming history. i would sugjest that you check out a few game, based on your want of A) community, B) non-grindy ness ( i guess everything is a grind if you REALLY think about it ) and C) Economy.

The first game i would offer up is EVE-Online. this is by far one of the most community driven games on the market at the moment. every aspect of the game is pretty much controlled by the players. now some people may disagree with me but the the real key is finding a corp or alliance that really fits your RL personal morals, because that in the end i think will give you the most enjoyment. the character progressions is done through training of skills that take RL time to complete. no more killing NPC after NPC for experiance, if RL things come up just log out... your char is still gaining in ability. the only real need to play is for enjoyment and money, because lets face it everything takes money. also if your looking for a game with an awesome economy this is the game for you, every aspect of the game economy is manipulated by the players for profit, and reading what you wrote about runescape i think the "buy low sell high" model will work very well for you.

The second and final game im going to offer up to you would be any of the current "Sandbox" style games, weather it be Darkfall, Mortal Online, or even WURM. now, being a runescape player i dont think that graphics are really what your heart is set on, its more the community and game mechanics so i think these games will do you nicely. as with any sandbox game most aspects are manipulated by the playerbase, and in the case of WURM you can even teraform your area to suit your needs ( i one time dug a massive tunnel system, much like the vietcong had in vietnam, it was awesome, and for no reason at all )  at any rate i hope you can find a game that you enjoy!

 I appreciate you reading the whole post, but allow me to address a few things.

First, who is Op? Hopefully you were addressing me when you wrote this.

Second, I have looked at EvE online, never played it, but a) I'm not really into the Sci-Fi category of gaming, b) I've heard stories from friends about being scammed by a corporation?? I'm not one to judge something before I've tried it, but I don't think it fits my style. I have looked in to the game previously, and thought it wasn't suited for me.

Third, I have played Darkfall. Actually, I waited years for the beta to come out (Didn't get in of course) and the day it was released without a cap on how many people could buy it, I jumped in. I went through the world, found a clan with ventrilo (I still have theirs and talk to them from time to time, funny guys), stole some things, killed some people, defended from a siege on my ally city, and then after about a month of playing I realized how bad my character was. He hit low hits, had bad gear and weapons, his magic was terrible. And I thought to myself, "Alright, well let me just try to grind this out whenever I get bored."   This is the game that made me hate grinding. This isn't kill x of y to go get 8 pelts and return to get another kill x of y grind. This is click (swing), click (swing), click (swing), click, click click, move to the next person on the wall of death, rest for stamina once you're out.

Absolutely terrible. The whole game was a grind on stats. So I left the European server. But knowing how much I loved the game I planned to return once the NA (north american) server was out. And I did, and they recharged me 50 bucks for the American version of the client, and then 15 a month. I was angered because when I got their, my clan was divided between the servers, and I wasn't enjoying the game as much. I may have needed a new start, but it is so hard to give up friends, you know you will see again.     Maybe there is a chance if you play it, know someone who has, or want to help me get back into it I can give it a shot? But the grinding is my major issue there,  I can't stand all the clicking, it actually started to ware at my laptop's mouse and it's almost broken now (I have to click pretty hard, but it gets the job done) so I may use my auto-clicker program I found. It works out alright as long as i watch the screen. Economy on Darkfall I haven't been able to attempt the buy low, sell high, because a) I didn't have enough money to buy enough of something to make it so someone would spend an hour to get to me, and b) I was spending all my time looking for ways to make money (Which I finally did figure out)

I heard from my buddies that they made the grind on stats a lot easier, I remember on the NA server that monster loots where better.

Ahh enough blabber, I'll go on forever about that game.

Mortal Online? I've looked it up, looks alright, maybe I ought start there. Graphics aren't too bad, looks a lot like Darkfall, but I like their graphics a little more from what I've seen. I looked it up just as I was in the middle of darkfall, so I don't remember much about it. It looks like it is still in beta.

Wurm? Never heard of it.

Something to keep in mind, I am a fantasy genre player, but it could take a little convincing to play a different type than I'm used to.

Thanks!

     Kithablast

Wow, You really have great interest in playing MMO's.

What makes ya say that? :P

I started playing Fallen Earth this weekend. I think I'm hooked. I generally only like the really polished/high budget titles (like WoW), but this is a huge exception. It sounds like it might be right up your alley. At least try to get a trial key for the 10 day trial event starting Friday.

Because you tend to know a lot of things about the game you are playing. Giving out the Pro's and Con's of the game in your own perspective.

a lot of people just play games just to have some fun but only a few tend to analyze every inch of the game they are playing. Just like what you did, you gave out insights about the games you've played.