Suggest a Subscription MMO

[Mid Boss]

I don't like free MMOs. I tried to get back into Star Trek online but, while I love the ship combat, I hate the free to play business model. I'm not naive enough to believe that a game that costs a fortune to maintain and expand should be free. But I also can't stand the constant nickle and diming "free" mmos subject you to. And it's in your face at every turn in Star Trek Online. Has me kinda pissed.

I just want a game that I can plop about 15 dollars or less down on a month and the company gets the hell out of my face and slinks back into the shadows satiated so I can play the damn game.

I know the subscription model is going the way of the dodo. But there has to be some still out there. I know of the biggest ones, WoW etc. Suggest to me some lesser known ones please.

 

[Xarathox]

Guild Wars 2 is free to play, but you do have to "buy" the actual game (and the expansion packs) to get it. Doesn't have the F2P microtransaction bullshit and is stupid fun.

Not sure if Age of Conan is still subscription based anymore, but I enjoyed that one when I played it.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

Guild Wars 2 is free to play, but you do have to "buy" the actual game (and the expansion packs) to get it. Doesn't have the F2P microtransaction bullshit and is stupid fun.

If you have to buy the game it's not really Free to Play.

RIFT is a pretty good subscription MMO. It's high quality in terms of polish, and gets pretty frequent updates. I personally found it rather dull and uninspired, but perhaps you may feel differently. There is a sort of 'free trial' in place I believe so you can try it before you take the plunge.

 

[Xarathox]

Guild Wars 2 is free to play, but you do have to "buy" the actual game (and the expansion packs) to get it. Doesn't have the F2P microtransaction bullshit and is stupid fun.

If you have to buy the game it's not really Free to Play.

RIFT is a pretty good subscription MMO. It's high quality in terms of polish, and gets pretty frequent updates. I personally found it rather dull and uninspired, but perhaps you may feel differently. There is a sort of 'free trial' in place I believe so you can try it before you take the plunge.

Yeah, it's kind of "it is and isn't". It's subscription free, so it's more like buying a mulitplayer game that's built around an MMO template, so it isn't restricted like console designed games.

 

[shrekfan246]

Really? While actually in the game, I hardly ever see the free-to-play business model being "pushed in my face" in Star Trek Online, unless you actually open up the in-game shop. And I think you can buy a subscription or such so that you automatically get a bunch of bonuses and don't need to care about whatever motive they might be pushing on you. You can do the same thing with The Old Republic or Lord of the Rings Online, I believe. Unless you're looking for one that doesn't have a free-to-play shop in the first place, which just seems like a silly stipulation to me.

EVE Online and World of Warcraft would probably be the best ones, just because they've been around so long that they have more polish than anything else you'll find. I don't know how EVE is, but WoW is pretty boring if you don't have friends to go into it with, though, or don't make friends with a guild. But I guess that's probably how most MMOs get, since they're based around interacting with other players.

Guild Wars 2, as previously mentioned, is a buy-once, play-forever type thing. I've heard varied opinions on it that it's all right, but gets boring pretty quickly, but who knows?

TERA went free-to-play, but apart from the bank inventory and number of character slots, it doesn't look like there's really a lot of restrictions on it. Don't have any personal experience with it, though.

 

[DefunctTheory]

EVE Online and World of Warcraft would probably be the best ones, just because they've been around so long that they have more polish than anything else you'll find. I don't know how EVE is, but WoW is pretty boring if you don't have friends to go into it with, though, or don't make friends with a guild.

EVE without friends is absolutely terrifying. The only thing more terrifying is playing with your friends. Any time another ship shows up on your sensors is terrifying, actually.

If you want a game with very little developer interference though, EVE Online is they way to go. You basically pay to play in a big sandbox with thousands of other people.

Hell, after a year or so, you can actually even play for free (You can buy time from other players. Its weird). And that's always good.

 

[Akytalusia]

DDO, or dungeons and dragons online. it requires a subscription to play with everything temporarily unlocked as long as you keep paying the subscription, otherwise it's F2P and you could unlock all the content manually/permanently by buying only the content you want to play. either way, you'll be dropping cash on it, and it's the best mmo i've found.

 

[Silvianoshei]

Well if you're willing to wait a few months Final Fantasy XIV:A Realm Reborn will have a subscription fee.

This. ARR is pretty fun as far as traditional MMO experiences go. They've done a pretty great job on it.

 

[IndomitableSam]

Thirded for FFXIV. I've pretty much decided it'll be FF over ESO. Also, the game itself is being advertised as only about $30, and I think the monthly fee is less than $15 as well. Closed beta started last week, and it should be out for the summer. No beta leaks yet, though. Everyone seems really dedicated.

 

[VanQ]

Thirded for FFXIV. I've pretty much decided it'll be FF over ESO. Also, the game itself is being advertised as only about $30, and I think the monthly fee is less than $15 as well. Closed beta started last week, and it should be out for the summer. No beta leaks yet, though. Everyone seems really dedicated.

I have a mate in closed beta constantly leaking info and screenshots to me. Between that and what I've read about the game I'm pretty much sold on FFXIV. I'm really looking forward to getting into this game, it looks gorgeous and has many of the trappings of the traditional MMOs that had me hooked to Tibia and Ultima Online back in the day.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

I'm not much for MMO's but lately I've been playing Star Wars: The Old Republic and it's been a blast.

The fact that it's fully voiced for everything cannot be overstated, it really helps to make quests NOT feel like a chore, which they don't - at least not for me.

The classes are all pretty unique and each one is fully voiced, with a different actor. Let me re-state that: Each 'class' has a different voice actor, for both the male and female version. That's like 16 people, which is pretty crazy. There's a story for each class and from the ones I've tried so far they're all very engaging (except maybe the special agent for the imperial side, it's kind of meh)

It's free-to-play...kind of. You technically could play the whole thing without paying for a sub but it would take a hell of a lot of grinding, f2p's have a significantly reduced exp gain you see and they have many, many, many more reduced benefits. This is after all an EA game so you will get the usual bullshit. That said, I'm at least enjoying it.

 

[Keiichi Morisato]

if you don't mind some really wonky and absurd rules and mythology SWTORP, i started playing but most of my decisions kept bringing me to the dark side even though i knew it should. like i became close friends with the leader of an entire race who hated the Jedi in order to patch things up between each other, only to find out that it was a dark side decision because we became "family" due to a ceremony. the more i helped people and honestly made choices the more my meter went to the dark side. so i stopped playing and i don't care for the star wars universe any longer.

 

[IndomitableSam]

I have a mate in closed beta constantly leaking info and screenshots to me. Between that and what I've read about the game I'm pretty much sold on FFXIV. I'm really looking forward to getting into this game, it looks gorgeous and has many of the trappings of the traditional MMOs that had me hooked to Tibia and Ultima Online back in the day.

Lucky you. I'll have to wait and keep searching for leaks as I won't ask for them on here.

I played FFXI for a number of years and really loved it, and now I'm finally settled enouh into my own life and home that it's time for another MMO and I want the atmosphere more than anything and I always missed FF, even when playing WoW.

That and housing. I heard a rumor you can share housing with people and make them look like taverns, inns, shops, etc. I know they won't function as such officially, but the fact you can have a giant furnished house and invite people into it... happy me.

 

[Darmy647]

I really dont understand how you cant play a game simply because you hate the free-to-play model. Maybe it makes you feel good inside that your paying monthly? I dont know. Sorry lol, i really just dont get that. I mean, elaboration on it may sound better, but just to hate the model enough to never play it....mmk.

You could try terra....wait...nevermind, that JUST went free to play...welll fuck. WoW i guess.

 

[Atlys]

I hear Final Fantasy 11 is pretty fun. It's kind of old but constantly getting updates, and it even has a new expansion coming out soon. (or it is already out, I don't know exactly.)

I just picked up the 14 day trial yesterday so I'm going to give it a look.