MMORPG recommendations.

[BloatedGuppy]

Been considering giving tera a go for a while now, but I've been swayed (probably wrongly) by internet posts claiming its a bit wonky... by that I mean the character design could be labled as "questionable" or "likely to involve imprisonment in most western countries"

Is this just internet reaction blowing shit out of all proportion? And is tera worth giving a few months to?

Tera's loli fixation aside, it was generally praised for its action combat and graphics and reviled for its grindy game play and anachronistic design. It's very much a throwback MMO. If you put little emphasis on world building, storytelling, quest design, etc, and just want meatier combat, Tera could be a game for you.

Especially if you're into twelve year old cat girls in short skirts. =\

 

[Kiardras]

OK thanks for the tips. Might give it a blast. I had assumed it was overblown complaining, but I had seen a lot - smell bullshit often enough and you start to believe it hah!

I won't worry in that case.

 

[Asita]

Guild Wars 2 is pretty good, and thankfully they've reverted their attempt to streamline the final chapter in the vanilla story (which ended up making it a confusing mess of continuity errors). Fair warning though, it's about to release its first major expansion (Heart of Thorns), which plays heavily off of its Living World content (which all takes place after the main storyline). The first season of which is inaccessible at present but for which a recap cinematic is available, and the second season is purchasable as a microtransaction.

SWTOR is pretty fun in its own right, but if it seems at all entertaining I would recommend making a purchase somewhere along the line (cartel coins or a single month subscription) just to bump your account up to Preferred rather than Free status. Among other things, you're more likely to find character slots on the player auction house within the credit cap for Preferred players than you are to find them within the credit cap for Free Players.

 

[ecoho]

Good day to you, Escapists.
For a few days now I've felt an urge to play an MMORPG. But, for all my knowledge in other genres, I am simply lost when it comes to MMO's.

I am looking for a MMORPG that:
1. Is either Buy-to-Play (i.e. buy it once and play without subscription) or Free-to-Play.
2. Doesn't have weird problems. Example: I tried playing Dungeon Fighter Online, but it crashed 100% of the time. I found out that I need to select English as my systems default language. I haven't done so because it would've lead to problems with other software.

Games I've had my eye on are Skyforge and Guild Wars 2 and I'd like to hear your opinion on them, but I will be more than grateful for other recommendations.

So, will you help the guy out? Thank you.

if you have a roaming IP address be aware you will have to re affirm your account every time you log in for guild wars 2, just keep that in mind.

rift went free to play and is a pretty good game, and SWSTOR is fun but you'd be better off subbing for it.

hope this helps.

 

[Silvanus]

Guild Wars 2 would be my vote. The first expansion-- Heart of Thorns-- is coming soon, and if you're a new buyer, you can buy it with the original game bundled with it without extra cost.

GW2 is BTP, but has the wonkiest method of post-release content distribution ever created (the content is all seasonal/temporary...despite the game being out for years, if I returned today I'd find it largely unchanged), and provides little impetus for continued play once you've checked out all the zones and leveled a couple of characters to cap (which is a speedy process). The game succeeds in not being a punishing treadmill, but consequentially also succeeds in having precious little staying power.

This is no longer true. During the last "Living World" season, each episode was permanently unlocked on your account upon release, so nothing was lost. The same will certainly be true for future releases.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

This is no longer true. During the last "Living World" season, each episode was permanently unlocked on your account upon release, so nothing was lost. The same will certainly be true for future releases.

Interesting to know. Since they made aggressive use of phasing, how is this even possible? Do you just phase yourself into solo instances of story content and then phase out again once you're done?

I liked GW2 but the effort they'd put into content like Halloween events only to have the content disappear after one week absolutely boggled me. If they'd just released a new zone or something on the same schedule it would've been a far greater value proposition for them and for their audience.

 

[Silvanus]

Interesting to know. Since they made aggressive use of phasing, how is this even possible? Do you just phase yourself into solo instances of story content and then phase out again once you're done?

That's about the long and the short of it. You (along with others if you're partied) play the story sections in instanced areas. If the story takes you to new maps (which Season 2 did twice), those new maps are unlocked fully for open-world exploration as well, but replaying the story will still instance you.

I liked GW2 but the effort they'd put into content like Halloween events only to have the content disappear after one week absolutely boggled me. If they'd just released a new zone or something on the same schedule it would've been a far greater value proposition for them and for their audience.

No argument from me there. Halloween & Wintersday are the only ones which are still temporary, though if GW1 is anything to go by, they'll return yearly.

 

[Asita]

Guild Wars 2 would be my vote. The first expansion-- Heart of Thorns-- is coming soon, and if you're a new buyer, you can buy it with the original game bundled with it without extra cost.

Oh yeah, I forgot that part. It's a wonderful deal for new players. Even more so considering that they've got another promotion going on so that if you get Heart of Thorns before it launches they throw in an extra character slot. Kinda meh for people who already have the original game, but awesome if you're just getting the game now.

 

[NinjaTank56]

A word of warning if you're thinking about Guild Wars 2. In-case you didn't know, there's an expansion coming out pretty soon, titled Heart of Thorns. The issue with Heart of Thorns is that, it's priced like a stand-alone expansion, meaning that whether or not you own the base game, it will cost you $50. Their justification for this is that the base game and expansion are bundled together. The problem I have with this, is that you get no benefits for having already purchased the base game. So, if you wanted to play with the new class, you'd have to either buy another character slot with real money, or delete an existing character.

Obviously if you're just planning on getting the expansion, and haven't played the base game, then there not much to complain about. So its up to you if you think the $50 is worth it for what you get. I had a lot of fun with the game, but I don't think I will be returning until the expansion gets a price drop.

Edit- kind of ninja'ed.

 

[visiblenoise]

I have some thoughts on the Guild Wars 2 PvE. I enjoyed it for a few months, but for the entire time I was waiting for it to build up to a more enjoyable experience. It did a decent job of keeping me playing (cool environments, flashy combat), but when I realized the entire game was very much going to be more of what I had already been through, I lost all interest. I think a lot of it has to do with the level scaling - you can grow in level, but you don't really ever feel much more powerful, regardless of what you're fighting.

The story and the voice acting gave off a PG sort of vibe. Despite all the supposed scourges and apocalypses happening across the land, the "cutscenes" always felt like they belonged more in a kid's show.

Maybe I didn't give it a fair chance.

 

[happyninja42]

Well if you have your eye on Skyforge then you may as well jump in and see how you like it.

Just... stay off the EU server unless you can communicate in at least 3 languages.

Yeah, I'm enjoying that game so far. It's fairly stable, and very few significant system issues that I've encountered at all. It's still Open Beta so it's not perfect, but what is there is pretty as hell, and plays well for me. Plus, I like the idea of being an immortal being who is actually responsible for taking care of his followers, and directly coming to their aid when things happen, instead of just "working in mysterious ways" like some other deities.

You have to be patient with the progression though, it's not a game that you are going to plow through and unlock all the classes in a week, and then be super awesome at them. It's a steady climb to godhood.

 

[FalloutJack]

Apparently, Wildstar is going F2P sometime in October. My girlfriend highly recommends it. I'll be playing once it does...cuz I hate subscriptions.

 

[Kiardras]

Yeah, I'm eagerly awaiting it going FTP. Can't afford subs any longer, I can just about manage a cosmetic item once a month tops.

 

[Vigormortis]

I've had the same thoughts as well, OP. I've been harboring a small but growing interest in getting into an MMO.

Earth and Beyond was the last one I truly loved to play, given that I prefer science fiction settings to sword-and-sorcery fantasy settings. (and this being one of the primary reasons I've avoided the genre for so long) I'm not really into Star Wars enough for TOR to interest me, and I've already tried the near impenetrable Eve: Online a few times, but it's player base is just too unforgiving and too entrenched. I'd also like to avoid any with subs, if at all possible, but I'm not above playing them if my choices are limited.

Any suggestions?

 

[Kiardras]

Made it to level 15 on tera, quite like the gameplay, tutorial is ok. Graphics are pretty, quests are about standard. Armour designs are interesting, to say the least, and the kid race is just bloody creepy.

 

[Aetrion]

I would recommend Guild Wars 2 or The Secret World.

Guild Wars 2 is pretty nice, very elegant systems, very easy to get into, a lot of depth to explore.

The Secret World has a great story to explore if you're tired of the standard fantasy stuff.


Never quite understood what people see in Tera, it's so cluttered and clunky.