A decent (preferably free) mmo?

[idarkphoenixi]

I know this is a question that only comes up a thousand times a week but things change with time, new games are always being released and well...I'm bored and normally leave the escapist open in a tab so screw it.

I hit the mmo barrier that tends to crop up from time to time. It happened with WoW and now happened again with ToR. You level and level your character, having a blast the whole way. But then it happens: You hit the level cap and now the grind starts all over again, except this time much much worse.

If you know mmo's you probably know what I'm talking about, tiered gearing:

Say you finish a dungeon, well congrats you just earned 5 tickets. Want to get more? Well now you need to wait until tomorrow, be sure to show up and then you'll have 10 whole tickets! Hey, come check out our store where you can trade in tickets for awesome gear. Want that kick-ass looking helmet? Well that'll just be 150 tickets please.

It's at that point where I literally feel like a rat in a Skinner box. Little more than a mindless robot, performing the same task over and over again for a minor reward that might lead to something bigger.
The community seems to change too, when leveling up everyone was so polite and pleased to help each other out. Lot's of greetings and handing out tips. Now it's all about the grind not the fun. Shut up just finish this dungeon, skip the cutscene. Oh you want advice?? No room for noobs here, kick him out!

I wanted to make a new character and start afresh. Tried hitting the RP server for the heck of it but to put it mildly: EA sucks and they've ruined any chance of me wanting to come back.

So that leaves me looking for something new. I'm not usually one for mmo's, the first one I tried was WoW (well actually the technical first was Runescape but hey, everyone played that game when I was a kid). Then I was talked into ToR by a friend who abandoned me within a week. However mmo's seem to work quite well for me right now, I don't have a huge about of money to throw around on Steam in hopes one game with click and let's face it, mmo's are professional time-wasters.
So if anyone can throw some suggestions out there I'd appreciate it. Subscription games are probably out of the window, although I'm interested in GW2 and might pick that up at some point (one-off payments are acceptable). Hopefully it doesn't feel too grindy and has a respected community.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Wizardry Online looks pretty awesome. But I have crappy satellite internet so I can't connect to and play it(not that I could even run it, on my 7 year old craptop). But it looks pretty awesome, I say give it a once over.

 

[Saviordd1]

I know this is a question that only comes up a thousand times a week but things change with time, new games are always being released and well...I'm bored and normally leave the escapist open in a tab so screw it.

I hit the mmo barrier that tends to crop up from time to time. It happened with WoW and now happened again with ToR. You level and level your character, having a blast the whole way. But then it happens: You hit the level cap and now the grind starts all over again, except this time much much worse.

If you know mmo's you probably know what I'm talking about, tiered gearing:

Say you finish a dungeon, well congrats you just earned 5 tickets. Want to get more? Well now you need to wait until tomorrow, be sure to show up and then you'll have 10 whole tickets! Hey, come check out our store where you can trade in tickets for awesome gear. Want that kick-ass looking helmet? Well that'll just be 150 tickets please.

It's at that point where I literally feel like a rat in a Skinner box. Little more than a mindless robot, performing the same task over and over again for a minor reward that might lead to something bigger.
The community seems to change too, when leveling up everyone was so polite and pleased to help each other out. Lot's of greetings and handing out tips. Now it's all about the grind not the fun. Shut up just finish this dungeon, skip the cutscene. Oh you want advice?? No room for noobs here, kick him out!

I wanted to make a new character and start afresh. Tried hitting the RP server for the heck of it but to put it mildly: EA sucks and they've ruined any chance of me wanting to come back.

So that leaves me looking for something new. I'm not usually one for mmo's, the first one I tried was WoW (well actually the technical first was Runescape but hey, everyone played that game when I was a kid). Then I was talked into ToR by a friend who abandoned me within a week. However mmo's seem to work quite well for me right now, I don't have a huge about of money to throw around on Steam in hopes one game with click and let's face it, mmo's are professional time-wasters.
So if anyone can throw some suggestions out there I'd appreciate it. Subscription games are probably out of the window, although I'm interested in GW2 and might pick that up at some point (one-off payments are acceptable). Hopefully it doesn't feel too grindy and has a respected community.

I'd honestly suggest going to the other faction in TOR if you can handle it.

I leveled up a trooper (worst mistake of my life) but then switched over to Sith Warrior, great experience.

Besides that Star Trek Online is really good if you can get into it. I'd suggest having friends from the start though.

And of course Planetside 2 is an always excellent choice. (If your computer can handle it)

 

[Glaice]

Path of Exile - http://www.pathofexile.com

If you like dungeon crawling in the vein of Diablo 2/3, this is up your alley.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Path of Exile - http://www.pathofexile.com

If you like dungeon crawling in the vein of Diablo 2/3, this is up your alley.

Yeah, Path of Exile is actually really good. Way way better than Diablo 3 IMO, and closer in tone and style to Diablo 2.

PoE was the only one I was going to really suggest among the "MMOS", though for other Free-to-Play games, I also recommend trying Hawken (mech combat). It's better balanced than MechWarrior Online currently, more stable, and it's easy to just jump in and jump out of the action.

I'd want to recommend Tribes: Ascent, but I honestly haven't touched it in several months.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

I'd honestly suggest going to the other faction in TOR if you can handle it.

I leveled up a trooper (worst mistake of my life) but then switched over to Sith Warrior, great experience.

Besides that Star Trek Online is really good if you can get into it. I'd suggest having friends from the start though.

And of course Planetside 2 is an always excellent choice. (If your computer can handle it)

Funny enough Sith Warrior was the one I completed the storyline with. I'm sure I'm not the first to say it but Republic characters suck.

I think I have a month or so left so I might try go back and try someone else after a short refresher break until my time is up.

 

[gamernerdtg2]

Dude - Vindictus. I'm stoked about this game and the only reason I don't have it on my PC is because I don't have enough horses to run it. You should check out the gameplay on YouTube, and yes it's FREE!

 

[gamernerdtg2]

Well.... I may be able to run Vindictus with what I have... but we'll see. You should definitely try it!

 

[Angelblaze]

Dude - Vindictus. I'm stoked about this game and the only reason I don't have it on my PC is because I don't have enough horses to run it. You should check out the gameplay on YouTube, and yes it's FREE!

NOPE NOPE NOPE.

Speaking as someone that's played Vindictus, it's hosted by Nexon.




Need I really say more? It's NEXON.

The game itself may be okay, but God help you if you run into a problem of any kind that can't be solved with the help of other players, like Nexon banning you for no particular reason like they did after 3 different updates (This also happened on most of their other games like Dungeon Fighter Online as well.) tickets take 3 months upward in order to get answered and frankly, I'd suggest anyone except Nexon and OGPlanet in terms of service providers game wise, as one of Nexon's games has gone without an update for approximately half a year.


AND NO I DON'T JUST MEAN PLAYABLE CONTENT UPDATE.

Group of people have gone as far to post child pornography on those forums to get some type of information about what the state of the non-updated game is just to get help. That should tell you right there why you should stay away from Nexon.


OT: Tera Rising, Hawken, El Sword, Rusty Hearts.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

It's at that point where I literally feel like a rat in a Skinner box. Little more than a mindless robot, performing the same task over and over again for a minor reward that might lead to something bigger.

The community seems to change too, when leveling up everyone was so polite and pleased to help each other out. Lot's of greetings and handing out tips. Now it's all about the grind not the fun. Shut up just finish this dungeon, skip the cutscene. Oh you want advice?? No room for noobs here, kick him out!

My advice? Wait. You're in a situation right now where it's GW2 or nothing, and even GW2 is in a bit of a lull. Every other MMO out there is either in steady decline, is in doldrums, is hugely progression based, or you've already played/exhausted.

Keep an eye on ESO, Wildstar, possibly Neverwinter, and Titan. Perhaps also WOD if your tastes run to the hardcore, but I suspect they do not. When you do find a new MMO that tickles your fancy, find a nice, casual "family" guild that takes things slow and does not treat the game as a second job. Play with them. It will extend the life of the game and your enjoyment of it significantly. If you're having trouble finding one, let me know, and if we're playing the same game maybe we can find one together, because that's my preferred play-style as well. Like you, I love MMOs, but I eventually burn out because of all the bullshit.

 

[gamernerdtg2]

Dude - Vindictus. I'm stoked about this game and the only reason I don't have it on my PC is because I don't have enough horses to run it. You should check out the gameplay on YouTube, and yes it's FREE!

NOPE NOPE NOPE.

Speaking as someone that's played Vindictus, it's hosted by Nexon.




Need I really say more? It's NEXON.

The game itself may be okay, but God help you if you run into a problem of any kind that can't be solved with the help of other players, like Nexon banning you for no particular reason like they did after 3 different updates (This also happened on most of their other games like Dungeon Fighter Online as well.) tickets take 3 months upward in order to get answered and frankly, I'd suggest anyone except Nexon and OGPlanet in terms of service providers game wise, as one of Nexon's games has gone without an update for approximately half a year.


AND NO I DON'T JUST MEAN PLAYABLE CONTENT UPDATE.

Group of people have gone as far to post child pornography on those forums to get some type of information about what the state of the non-updated game is just to get help. That should tell you right there why you should stay away from Nexon.


OT: Tera Rising, Hawken, El Sword, Rusty Hearts.

Good looking out! I appreciate that. I think the game looks great but it's not worth what you're saying here! I wish they could port it over to the consoles...OK so no Nexon then.

 

[Hakazaba]

I know most people will just blow it off, but after playing gw2 and tor for a while and being bored by the familiar formula i stumbled upon http://www.wakfu.com i gave it a go and have been addicted to it ever since.

 

[CriticalMiss]

I've never been able to stick with an MMO so my opinions are probably less valuable than others but I'm throwing them out there anyway.

I gave Runescape a second go a year or two ago and it has had some pretty major changes since the times of yore (2004 ish) so maybe you could try it out again? Not sure if it's still the same as I saw a video on YouTube that was making out that there had been yet another large update, so maybe give it a go if it's still free. Can't hurt right?

Spiral Knights is another game I tried and it seemed okay, it's free and on Steam but didn't seem to really go in to the complexity of something like WoW although maybe it gets more so later on? You can also find a browser based version on Kongregate methinks.

And Realm of the Mad God. It's quite fun, but doesn't really follow in the footsteps of any MMO. Perma-death, heavily stylised pixel graphics, general chaos. It's not graphics intensive and probably won't keep you captivated for hours at a time but it's a good pick-up-and-play kind of MMO.

 

[Glaice]

Also maybe World of Tanks - http://www.worldoftanks.com

15 on 15 tank combat. Decent game, terrible forums. Also gets really grindy past tier 6.

 

[Rad Party God]

The Lord of The Rings Online [http://store.steampowered.com/app/212500/?snr=1_7_15__13] and Dungeons & Dragons Online [http://store.steampowered.com/app/206480/?snr=1_7_15__13] are some of my personal favorite MMOs, DDO is not much of an MMO per say, but I like it, because it's the closest I'll ever get to play a Zelda MMO and it's gameplay is actually pretty good. Before Swtor, Lotro was the king of storytelling in an MMO (some say it's still is). Both are F2P, it's possible to unlock most of the game via in-game currency by just playing, but it's preferable to spend a few bucks to buy those points or if you have a few more bucks to spare, buy the latest expansion from either game and you'll unlock most of it.

Also Aion & Tera are pretty good too and definitely are among the golden standard of F2P offerings (as in, $0 to play the whole thing), but those have the exact same problem you describe about the "skinner box" thing, great leveling stuff and then it turns into a second grind at the end-game, not to mention a few problems with gold spammers (especially on Aion).

Also The Secret World [http://store.steampowered.com/app/215280/] is simply awesome, it's my current addiction right now, many critisize it for having that typical dreaded end game grind, but the way to get there is simply one of the best experiences I've ever had with any MMO, also, you just need to buy the game once, no subscription needed.

Everquest 2. [http://store.steampowered.com/app/201230/?snr=1_7_15__13] Oh boy, what a game we have here, being just 2 weeks older than WoW (and it shows), it has waaaaaaay more content than WoW would ever dream of (we're talking about 12 expansions so far... and counting). If you ever get past the (rightfully so) dated graphics, it's an absolutely amazing adventure, one that'll take you months to even begin to scratch that end-game surface.

It also has the absolute best housing system any MMO could've wished for. This game is F2P in a similar "a la carte" fashion like Lotro & DDO, this game had some serious restrictions back then, comparable to Swtor's, but SOE has lightened 'em up, so you can pick any race and class combination you want and start questing right away; be warned though, the only restriction they still haven't lifted yet is the mastery of some spells and equipment, but otherwise, it's an absolute blast to play.

 

[Saviordd1]

I'd honestly suggest going to the other faction in TOR if you can handle it.

I leveled up a trooper (worst mistake of my life) but then switched over to Sith Warrior, great experience.

Besides that Star Trek Online is really good if you can get into it. I'd suggest having friends from the start though.

And of course Planetside 2 is an always excellent choice. (If your computer can handle it)

Funny enough Sith Warrior was the one I completed the storyline with. I'm sure I'm not the first to say it but Republic characters suck.

I think I have a month or so left so I might try go back and try someone else after a short refresher break until my time is up.

Suck is a strong word, disappointing is better.

The Troopers first act is actually really good, great motivation.

It just sorta flops on its back after that.


From what I hear though the Jedi Knight is pretty good though.

 

[Twyce]

I'll also throw my hat in the ring for The Secret World.

I played it for awhile and it was a decent game. Interesting concept and fun. I stopped playing due to technical issues, but I highly suggest looking into it.

 

[saintdane05]

Does anyone know if DCU online is worth getting?

 

[splayfoot1]

guild wars 2 has some of the best combat I've seen in an MMO, but I got bored with it pretty quickly. If you are into PvP, you will most likely enjoy it a lot more, but the PvE content didn't have nearly enough variety for my liking.