What is a good fun MMORPG?

[Talal Provides]

Vindictus is pretty fun, it's kind of like Diablo on the Source engine with Havok physics, but there's something weird about it to me, and that's the fact that it's the prequel to Mabinogi. Vindictus is dark and brutal and violent, and Mabinogi is like dissolving sugar in maple syrup and drinking it by the glass.

 

[pulse2]

Dear Escapists, I have one quest at the moment, and that is to find a great new mmorpg. I seek one that is actually fun to play instead of mindless hours randomly attacking wolves in forests that all look exactly the same. This is also a big part, I need one that is free, I can't afford $15 and I mean that literally. There is a TL DNR (Too long did not read) version at the very end.

I would enjoy a great story that I can think about while I am out on my adventures. Alas, not many MMORPG's have a story, let alone a fun interesting one, so I would enjoy one that has a great story line for the characters. Although I am not too worried about having this in a MMORPG, if I want story I would probably buy a more offline oriented game.

Game play, I would not like the Game play to be the exact same thing I have seen before, you know what I mean. Point, click, mash buttons 2-3-4-5 then mash buttons 6-7. Although I am willing to overlook this if the game can make up for it in other aspects.

Visual Appeal, this is probably a large part for me, I don't know why but I would really like the game to have a great visual appeal and variety in the scenery. I don't want to hike through the same form of forest each time I find a new area, I want to be able to venture onto mountains, into valleys and have fun finding, observing and enjoying some great places.

Replay Value, I would like the game to feel at least a little fresh when I start playing every now and again, so I don't feel like I'm doing the exact same thing I was doing 10 levels ago. A big part of this is also repetitiveness, I've played the game Maple Story so I know how painful grinding and repetitiveness can be, and I would like to find a game that doesn't always have me grinding through levels.

Anything Else: I don't want to feel like I'm playing World of Warcraft please.

TL DNR I would enjoy a game that is visually stunning as well as fun, and it won't let me feel bored after the first 20 levels. (Optional) The game has a good story. (Optional) The game play is creative and not generic.

Thanks for any help given at all, basically I just want a fun mmorpg.

EDIT: No one mention anything that costs a monthly fee, nor Allods, Maplestory and Flyff.

DC Universe I heard was good

 

[Talal Provides]

Also, if you don't like elves, Global Agenda is the perfect game for you.

 

[BENZOOKA]

MMO's are evil as a whole. but RIFT seems very interesting. That's my offer. I don't think it's out until the first of March or something, though.

 

[Da_Schwartz]

City of Heros. Best damn MMO that nobody plays. GFX and nice, smaller sized game but meaty in content. A Hero, villian, and Rouge Cities basically 3 full games, strong community, interesting stories, not an endless endless grind and power cusomtizations are pretty cool. Plus pvp....create your own missions for you and others to play, seasonal events, veteran awards for long term players, I could go on and on. It will always be my Fav MMO even though i don't really play that often 6 years later. Yes..it's also older then WoW.

 

[aznj03]

With Guild Wars they get you with the fact that each expansion you have to pay for, which the development team tends to have you holding money off every month just like any other MMORPG.

you should be able to get the game and all expansions for 30-40 US if you look around enough. I think they also released a collection of all 4 games. I got all 4 last year for 26 and change, but I had to actually leave the house for that lol.

 

[Savagezion]

With Guild Wars they get you with the fact that each expansion you have to pay for, which the development team tends to have you holding money off every month just like any other MMORPG.

What franchise offers free expansions? What money do the devs have you holding off every month? They have came out with 4 releases in past 6 years. That isn't even making you hold out money every year.

Walmart has all the expansions for 30-40 bucks. That is ~10 bucks per game. And each game has enough content to hold up as a standalone title. GW doesn't recycle their content like most MMOs. Every expansion adds a full standalone campaign complete with all new weapons, armor, classes/skills, mechanics even all set in a new map that that particular campaign is completed in.

As for the OP, are you familiar with the 4 suit concept? Are you more:
Explorer Player (Spade)
Social Player (Heart)
Achievement/Title/Badge Player (Diamond)
PVP player (Club)

I personally am mostly spade, with heart and club tendencies. Diamond is just not part of my playstyle. Guild Wars is great for Spades and Clubs. But I would say that for Hearts and Diamonds this is not it's strong suit for comparison. Sure, there is stuff there but other games out there are better suited I would imagine. For Hearts it can be a huge pain in the ass finding a decent guild that is stable in the sea of guilds. For Diamonds there is some really cool stuff but most of it is purely aesthetic. But some people invest ridiculous amount on retarded looking obsidian armor just to show it off that they have it. There is definitely something there for hearts and diamonds but many other games probably have them beat.

 

[Vikor243]

May I recommend Final Fantasy 11? The game is a subscription-based game and comes with 30 day Free Trial. It is an outdated game but the game is being consistently updated.