Looking for an MMO that isn't like Diablo

[Trinket to Ride]

I've been looking to try an MMO for a while now. The idea of so many people playing together seems cool, but I have yet to find one I like. All the ones I've tried seem to similar to a genre I hate; the Diablo clone. (By that, I mean clicky-clicky hotkey loot-em-ups.) Here's what I'm looking for:

-Low loot levels (I hate breaking the flow of gameplay every five seconds to compare stats)
-Non-fantasy setting (sci-fi is preferred)
-Combat that isn't just hotkey'd skills
-Good amount of player customization (I like to dress up)
-Somewhat friendly community
-Not subscription based (f2p is preferred obviously, but something where you can get the full experience for like $30 or less is doable.)

So far, the two games that have come closest to what I want is Defiance. It's SO CLOSE to being exactly what I want, except for how limited player customization is, how scarce and ugly outfits are, and is still just a bit too loot-heavy.

Does something like what I'm looking for exist?

 

[Scootinfroodie]

Phantasy Star Online 2 for me so far has been pretty loose with the gear swapping, only issue is that its a lengthy install because its not released here. PSO-world has a full guide on how to get it though
The game is one of those science fantasy types, laser swords and spacemagic and rocket launchers.

Character customization is really extensive to start off with and theres a lot of costumes to collect. if you're willing to drop money on the game, there's further customization options.

There are hotkey'd skills but they sit more in the realm of buffs if you arent a Force (spacewizard) and melee abilities come from fairly simplistic combos. with ranged skills you have lmb/rmb bound to attack and 1 ability by default but can switch to 2 more abilities with shift.
All abilities and attacks can be aimed to some extent. For melee attacks your position determines elevation but for all applicable ranged attacks you can full-on aim by switching modes.

As far as the community and MMO-ness, i havent interacted too much with the community but the english speaking folks seem pretty friendly. I dont speak Japanese very well so i cant communicate with the rest of the pop. The game is instance based, but some sections of levels and particular missions will have you in the same area as, or paired up with, other people

For loot, you'll get a fair number of weapons but between grinders (stat upgrades for weapons) and the need to obtain higher rarity weapons to upgrade past a certain point, you shouldnt be constantly comparing. Junk weaponsn can be sold or fed to your mag, which is like a little pokemon style robot that can heal summon and attack once you unlock all the functions for it

Only other game I can think of is Warframe and that's more a co-op game than an MMO. It still has progression and you get weapons through crafting. Community can b a bit iffy though.

 

[Prime_Hunter_H01]

What you are looking for is not unified into one game.

Most MMOs aren't as "twitchy" as Diablo so changing gear is often but not Diablo of upgrading 5 times per dungeon. Though if you want to do something elderscrolls like and have a single steel sword you use until you find one made of Ebony, then most MMOs wont fit this criteria.

For Customization and Scifi you would Probably want Eve but others on this site can tell you more about it. Because I have heard mixed things about the community and all I know is that its a sandbox space ship mmo.

Tera still Hotkeyes but it uses a reticule so its not a stat based rotation of skills you do have to have skill and planning to aim and hit with the skills, It actually is an action game style MMO.

The ones that come close do require a subscription or a heavy cash shop investment.

Your best bet is probably Guild Wars 2 since it has a good character creator, is buy once and no sub fee, as far as I am in to the game you aren't swapping out weapons constantly to upgrade though like I said up top most MMOs aren't field upgrade games as you usually look through gear in a natural lull in the action like in a town where you cans sort through items. And I have not seen too many bad people in chat and the game systems do prevent a lot of "selfish" game-play so even if they try its hard for players to affect your experience. BUT, it is still a fantasy MMO, and while it does place some importance on position and movement as well as having a small pool of skills that you are required to think about to use, it is still basically a tab target hotkey mmo.

Some one else may find an mmo that suits your criteria, but you may need to allow a little wiggle room with one or two of your points there because all the ones i can think of may hit many but still miss some of your requirements there.

captcha: done that
I mean I guess I have been there.

 

[Aeshi]

Warframe sounds like it'd be right up your alley, Spiral Knights would also be worth a look at and if you liked Defiance then Firefall might be worth trying out as well.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Hmmmm.. have you looked into Secret World? It's still got the skill bar hot key combat, but it's more about selecting skills from a variety of options in a way that they work together well rather than just babysitting cooldowns on the newest skill you gained. There is loot but it's not something you need to pay super close attention to or monitor outside of occasional upgrading (and it's usually pretty obvious when you have to do so). It's not set in a typical fantasy setting (or a fantasy setting at all), and it skews heavily towards dressing up and at least getting immersed in the world and story as well as actual RPing. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the biggest or most active player base anymore, but the players who are still around are pretty nice and fairly helpful. Oh, and it's buy to play with a low entry price and a cash shop that is pretty inconsequential unless you want to look really fancy.

 

[Rayce Archer]

If you don't mind lots of very Korean weirdness, the Gunz franchise may be what you want. And it's free so if you hate it, you're not out anything.

I was also in the US beta of Black Prophecy, which is a free German Space MMO that's more Freelancer than Eve. The intro mission is quite long and very well designed, but after that the game kind of breaks down into randomized "go kill X enemies" missions and PVP, which wasn't very mature when I played. Worth your time if the campaign is extended or PVP is now richer. The game looks really good and plays well. Mission areas are non-instanced, so if you're doing an objective you can get help from other faction players, and enemy factions can gank you, which is either really fun or really annoying, depending on how you feel about non-instanced MMO play.

 

[pyramid head grape]

Seeing as Guild Wars 2 is the only MMO I've plaed I'd have to reccomend that!

 

[Artaneius]

Ultima Online isn't very hotkey based. And it's pretty much absolute freedom. You can be or do whatever you want, even kill other players and take their stuff.

 

[pyramid head grape]

Ultima Online isn't very hotkey based. And it's pretty much absolute freedom. You can be or do whatever you want, even kill other players and take their stuff.

I've heard ultima Online is pretty good myself! from a collection of mates!