7h30n
Augur
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2012
- Messages
- 311
When the Gray Death hit, I've noticed I actually enjoyed going out and mingling with real people. So, I've decided to take the free time I have and try out the MMO genre. So here's my overview, and feel free to point me to try something else.
The only MMORPG that I played as a teenager was Guild Wars 1, as it didn't require subscription (which was bloody expensive at the time), but that was a long time ago, so I'll cover what I played these past years.
1. Old School RuneScape
2. EVE Online
3. Lord of the Rings Online
4. Star Wars Galaxies (SWGemu Finalizer server)
5. Ultima Online Outlands
When recommending me what to try next, I have a couple of guidelines.
The only MMORPG that I played as a teenager was Guild Wars 1, as it didn't require subscription (which was bloody expensive at the time), but that was a long time ago, so I'll cover what I played these past years.
1. Old School RuneScape
The world building and quests were interesting, just turn off the darned RuneLite quest helper plugins. The gameplay was extremely boring, everything is click & wait based, while macros & scripting are forbidden. The combat allows only for 1 player to attack a monster, except in some zones, so there's no organic grouping/interaction in the wild. PvP can happen only in specific areas (and specific servers), and the mechanics of item switching aren't that interesting. The group content comes too late into the game, so the only interaction with other players you have is trading on the Grand Exchange or the random chatter (which is more frequent on paid member servers). Player houses (and player made dungeons in them!) are instanced, and that's a shame. Overall, the game is best played when doing something else and/or chatting with guild members.
Best moments.
Best moments.
- Mining ore while some random player (not a bot!) started singing (typing) a work song.
- Doing flip-sales on the Grand Exchange, and the economy seems to be mostly player (or bot) driven.
2. EVE Online
The world building and missions are dull. The economy looks completely player driven, and basically 99% of loot I got could be sold to other players. Itemization is good in a sense that there aren't many steps of upgrades to get the best, instead you opt for different kinds of equipment. I instantly felt I could contribute in a corporation. Learning the game is extremely easy, there are tons of videos, guides, and experiencing the game through EVE University corporation. There's a lot of gameplay systems, but they are generally simple, click on something and wait for bars to fill/empty or do a mini-game. There is a twist though, the non-consensual PvP is everywhere and you lose everything on you. This really spices up things and makes the game quite interesting to play with other people flying about. There are also player structures everywhere. I think for the first time I felt what MMOs should be/are about with this game.
Best moments.
Best moments.
- Running away from 3 battleships through multiple wormholes in my small, defenseless exploration frigate.
- Hunting lucrative gankers/criminals in Low Security sectors with 50 other people from the corporation, which then culminated in a 50v50 fight.
3. Lord of the Rings Online
The combat is I guess what people call "typical tab targeting" MMO with cooldown abilities. I never completed the tutorial because it's long, boring, and apparently segregated from regular players. Turns out I'm not such a fan of Tolkien I thought I was to carry on playing.
Status: Maaaybe try completing the tutorial and getting into RP guild as I hear that is good and I've never done it outside of tabletop.
Status: Maaaybe try completing the tutorial and getting into RP guild as I hear that is good and I've never done it outside of tabletop.
4. Star Wars Galaxies (SWGemu Finalizer server)
The world is great, hey it's old Star Wars! Missions are rather uninspired and boring. The gameplay seems typical click & wait, though there are macros and the combat allows for queueing commands which is a nice touch. (This is the so called pre-Combat Upgrade version.) Character system is skill based similarly to OSRS and EVE, but fixes the issue of everyone eventually having everything by imposing a limit on the total skill points used. Learning the game is difficult, tutorial videos are of mixed quality, while the SWGemu client seems rather unpolished, bugged and has bad performance. Healing and vendors are player driven, which is quite cool. There looks to be a great game here somewhere, but I may have missed the opportunity when the game originally came out.
Best moments.
Best moments.
- Entering the Mos Eisley cantina and seeing people dancing, playing music just so other players can restore their Mind wounds.
- Similarly, standing in line for a doctor in medbay, who then gives me a free buff to stats as I'm a new player and haven't got even close to the expect amount of money for a tip.
5. Ultima Online Outlands
I never played Ultima so I don't know much about the world, and Outlands is a completely new map. Character system is skill based, and like SWG it has a cap (same game designer yo!) which is excellent for character diversification. Gameplay is click & wait, but a lot of things can be scripted and hotkeyed. PvP is open world & full loot and I feel this is becoming a crucial element to keep me interested in an MMO. In this game, it even encourages people to group up randomly in dungeons just to defend against other players. The economy seems mostly player driven, and there are player vendors, though I have a hard time determining which loot is valuable and which isn't. Tutorials are all over the place just like for SWG, though I find it a bit easier to learn as the community appears bigger and more responsive.
Best moments.
Best moments.
- Getting out of the Shelter Island (newbie no-PvP zone), and getting killed almost immediately. The next day, going to the same area and getting killed by the same player again! This time I put up a fight, and he gave me back my items as well as gifted me a horse!
- Looking to buy some iron (for my blacksmith), by traveling directly to the mountains and asking miners there.
When recommending me what to try next, I have a couple of guidelines.
- If the MMO is great for solo-play, and doesn't incentivize player interaction, then I won't play it. I'll just go and play a better single player game.
- If the game "gets good in the endgame", and it takes more than 2 days of play to get to the end game, I won't play it.
- Ideally, the game should run on an old Linux laptop, but it's not a requirement.
