Your first ever MMO experience

[Tuesday Night Fever]

At first I thought it was WoW (November 23, 2004)... but it as actually City of Heroes (April 28, 2004). I was there on launch day for both, but couldn't remember which actually came first. Had to wiki it.

My first experience with MMOs sucked sooooooo bad. Don't get me wrong, City of Heroes was fucking awesome (to this day, the MMO that I probably had the most overall fun with over the years)... but patching it was awful.

Back in April of '04 I was still on a 56k dialup connection. When they released a patch for CoH, it took me days straight to download it. That meant that for days nobody could use the home phone line. If someone accidentally picked up the phone or I had a connection hiccup, that means getting potentially pushed back hours in total download time since it would revert back to the last point where it saved my progress in the patch download.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

City of Heroes is what finally pushed me into upgrading my connection.

 

[josemlopes]

I dont remeber what was the game but it was terrible. I joined the game and I am greeted with a shit load of people just staring at something, some facing north, others south, etc...

The same empty look in every character, most of them clipping through each other. Their usernames floating on top of their characters turning an empty space of air into a ball of letters. Some NPC's here and there, none of them actually doing anything that matters other then looking forward.

It killed all the immersion there could ever be, but there couldnt be any since the HUD was so cluttered and big that made it seem like it was made for an RTS instead of a third-person game.

Then the combat came, the enemy just stood there waiting for me, when I came close I clicked him and that was it... That was a fight, one click. Congratulations MMO, you are probably the most disjointed, convoluted and boring piece of entertainment that I ever played

 

[eimatshya]

Ultima Online: the Second Age. I was 12 or 13 at the time, and it took a lot of convincing to get my mom to let me play it. Once I did I was all excited 'cause everything I had read about it made it sound super cool. The artwork during installation was wonderfully evocative, and I was sure I would love the game. I logged on, made my character and found myself in the middle of a medieval city full of other players. Great! Then a dude in plate armor rode by on a horse and chopped my head off as he rode by. After I de-ghosted myself and found my way back to my body in the plain gray robe provided by the healer who rezzed me only to discover that someone had taken all my starting gear. OK, so this game would be harder than I thought. The next month or two consisted of me getting PKed a lot, but there were some pretty cool parts, too, like getting an axe, using it to chop down a tree, collecting the wood, making kindling from it, starting a fire from the kindling, and using it cook the fish I had caught earlier.

Then Everquest came out, and I jumped ship for that. It wasn't as sandboxy as UO, but was a lot more fun to explore. Also its PVP server was lot more forgiving since you only lost all the money you had on you and one equipped item, rather than everything, when someone ganked you. Furthermore, there were a lot fewer PKs running around, so leaving town wasn't like leaving the Green Zone in Baghdad.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

That would be WoW.

I bought the game and on the box, it said that the game came with a free 30 day subscription.

That was complete bullshit. There was no code for a free 30 days. Just the game, manual, and guest codes for friends.

I ended up making new accounts over and over again until I eventually gave up and never played it again.

The experince was fun while it lasted, but I'm still sour that I didn't get my 30 day trial. That was one summer I want to get back.

 

[MrPhyntch]

My first MMO was a simple, F2P mmo called TerraWorld Online. To my knowledge it's still up and running. It was just a simple top-down point and click adventure thing. Not particularly engrossing compared to most modern MMOs, but it was great when I was on dial-up.

It was also the game that got me into CTF game modes. Quite fun when I was younger and good for the occasional nostalgia trip (although I haven't been there in years). It also did certain things right that most MMO's don't to this day (noob island being set apart from the mainland, giving new players a place to stay and learn the basics without being harassed by the more experienced veterans).

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

FFXI was my first, and it holds a special place in my heart. I had no other MMOs to compare it to, so I didn't see it as grindy or frustrating. (This was also partly because I had a group of real life friends that I played with and we did everything in game together.) I had never been so immersed in a game; to this day, when I hear the music from that game, it brings me straight back.

I was playing it through several terrible points in my life, but I don't think it contributed. If I hadn't been playing FFXI, I would have had something else I was trying to distract myself with.

I started losing interest in the game after finally getting into an endgame linkshell. I'd already completed all the missions for every city and expansion at that point, and endgame was just needless drama and bickering and being told to play the game in ways I didn't enjoy. (I was a Corsair who liked doing damage. I hated being told to sub White Mage and sit in the back with the other mages.) So I stopped.

I tried various F2P MMOs for the next year or so (NeoSteam, Perfect World, LotRO, Champions Online), but nothing stuck. I became really excited for FFXIV, which promised to be a more user-friendly FFXI; I was hyped for a year. Then it came out, and it was a crushing disappointment. (I'm keeping an eye on 2.0, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.)

So I promised to never get excited for an MMO again. Not a month later (around November 2010) GW2 caught my eye, and my resolve faded. I was tentatively hopeful, since I could see the differences in how ArenaNet talked with their fans compared to Square Enix.

SWTOR came out in the meantime, so I played it for a couple months. I loved the Imperial Agent storyline but was neutral to the rest of the game, so when the story ended, I stopped playing. Still one of my favorite BioWare or Star Wars stories ever.

And then GW2 finally came out, and I've hardly touched another game since then. I am loving the hell out of it. It's not a perfect game, but comes closer than any other MMO I've played. It doesn't feel as immersive as FFXI, though that might be because I'm less innocent and receptive, but it's way more fun. I also don't feel as compelled to play it, which is a good thing for me. I log in every couple nights, play for a few hours, and log out feeling satisfied. Which is all I want from an MMO at this point in my life.

 

[FrozenCones]

Vanilla WoW was my first. I had the game for about a month before I even played it. I didnt have a credit card to set up an account with and game time cards were an unknown thing to most gaming outlets. For those wondering I picked it up in November 2004 when the game was first released.
I went through all the expansions as both "hardcore raider" and "weekend warrior". I still play casually to do LFR and faction grinds.

Other MMOs ive tried.

Age of Conan
Warhammer Online
RIFT
DaoC
DC Universive
EvE
SW:ToR


and then back to WoW....

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

That would be WoW.

I bought the game and on the box, it said that the game came with a free 30 day subscription.

That was complete bullshit. There was no code for a free 30 days. Just the game, manual, and guest codes for friends.

I ended up making new accounts over and over again until I eventually gave up and never played it again.

The experince was fun while it lasted, but I'm still sour that I didn't get my 30 day trial. That was one summer I want to get back.

What?

I've never played WoW, but if it works the way it does in other MMOs, you don't get a code for a free trial. Your free trial starts as soon as you create your account and register the game. They just don't start billing you until the first 30 days have passed.

 

[Snownine]

My first MMO experience was with Runescape back in the day. I did not have any prejudices beforehand.I do most of my gaming alone but what I do really like about mmorpgs like World of Warcraft is the cooperation element that comes with the territory. Questing, raiding, and running dungeons with friends and guild members is a great deal of fun. Being an integral part of a team, working hard side by side with your comrades in arms to overcome a challenge is a very rewarding experience.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

That would be WoW.

I bought the game and on the box, it said that the game came with a free 30 day subscription.

That was complete bullshit. There was no code for a free 30 days. Just the game, manual, and guest codes for friends.

I ended up making new accounts over and over again until I eventually gave up and never played it again.

The experince was fun while it lasted, but I'm still sour that I didn't get my 30 day trial. That was one summer I want to get back.

What?

I've never played WoW, but if it works the way it does in other MMOs, you don't get a code for a free trial. Your free trial starts as soon as you create your account and register the game. They just don't start billing you until the first 30 days have passed.

Well, that didn't happen to me. Once I started the game and made an account, it only gave me the normal 10 day trial. Nothing more.

Oh well. It doesn't matter to me, anymore. I have no desire to play it again and I already gave the disc to my friend. He has been enjoying it for a good while now.

 

[iblis666]

my first mmo was UO and it was glorious, it was a game awash in psychotic humanity trying to kill each other and everything in the world. I then left after a few years for FFXI and though it was ok I didnt get the same freedom that i was used to and left as soon as WoW was out then stayed in that game until a year after cataclysm. Then i jumped between free games until a year ago I heard someone say that eve was like UO in ships and it is and I love it and so play EVE and Guild Wars 2 now.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

The first proper MMO I played was Meridian 59. A first person MMO of ye olden days. I wasn't prejudiced against MMOs at all back then because they were completely new.
The entire concept of playing with tons of other players in a huge open world, with no rules and no laws, was amazing. It was very cutthroat. There weren't any NPCs with ? marks above their heads to offer quests. No bound gear, no level requirements, no safe zones, everything was cutthroat. To me, it was really what MMOs are supposed to be about. Since then, they've mostly turned into sub par story telling. Games that'd be better as singleplayer.
At this point, I am immediately turned off by MMOs because I've played many over the years and after they refused to progress as a genre, I basically lost interest. The only one I played for any long period of time and enjoyed of more recent years was City of Heroes but that was taken out back recently and shot.
While I never write off an MMO for sucking just by being an MMO, they almost always do, at least from my perspective. Perhaps someday the genre will step it up.

 

[deanospimoni]

My first MMO was Everquest. As far as I can recall I didn't even know what the term meant prior to playing that game. The thing that really caught my interest about that game was the bigness of the world. That's what always draws me into MMO games. Being able to wander about the world, getting a feel for it's "history", meeting strangers who might be future friends or enemies, it was all great. After that I played Everquest 2, WoW, DC Universe Online, DDO briefly, Rift, Tera, and Guild Wars 2. Before I played Everquest I have some vague recollection of an isometric dungeon crawl oriented MMO called Dark Age, I think. Hardly played it and it hardly left the kind of impression that EQ did. After I played Guild Wars 2, I decided that I'm pretty much done with MMORPGs. I didn't hate the game, but the problems that I have with MMOs have never seemed to subside. The main problem is that I am not the hero of the story that the game is telling. The MMO aspect by it's very nature works against the RPG aspect. I want to be proven wrong, because I've had a lot of fun times in MMOs and I would like to again some day.

 

[PrimitiveJudge]

Everquest was my first. Honestly I think it tore me to shreds. The option to do whatever at my first time was awesome, however on my second month playing, I was almost banned from the game (probation) cause apparently swearing, training, environmental killing, character names and training Oasis specs on AFK sitting DM's is a bad thing. haha. Yes he died it was not till a few hours later i received a message on how Illegal I am acting. Could not play for a month

Oh and the Minotaur Hero in Steamfont Mountains got me into loads of trouble

 

[DementedSheep]

I think my first MMO was runescape. As for what I thought of it...well I didn?t have many games to play and it was free and something to do.
I've played many different MMO's on and off since then, they don?t usually hold my interest for long. Most dedicated I've ever been to one was Guild Wars and that?s a very unMMOish MMO.

 

[wabbbit]

Sad to say that the first MMO I played was most likely Runescape back in early 2006.
I remember it being addictive but it was somewhat fun, i can understand why people play MMO's for ages. The annoying thing is that everyone wants you to be in a clan or PvP. (That was the ones that didn't just stand in the square typing "cyber?"!)

I still remember going upto the "Wilderness" in the north for an adventure as a low-level player, at one point I came across another player with amazing sword and armour who started sprinting at me. Thinking I was about to die I tried to get my guy to sprint away. After about 20 seconds I ran out of energy and he got right next to me. I thought he was going to kill me but instead gave me some mithril armour and swords and then escorted me back to the safety of the town.


Remember when gamers used to be decent, pepperidge farm remembers.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Star Wars Galaxies.

The game had very few events for half its life so it got rather dull at times, but it honestly had one of the most well built universes I've ever seen. The space combat was impressive, felt real, and just felt Star Wars. I still remember doing circles around a Corellian Corvette in my YT-1300 as my guild mates were running around the ship putting out fires.

All the best gear was player created at the time and it made the player economy soar. It made crafting a worthy profession and add the fact you can drop houses down onto the world you could actually have a shop players could go to.

Jedi were awe inspiring. Taking months and months of hard work to unlock and even then you couldn't go around slicing up things with your lightsabers. Showing off too much got you on a bounty hunter lists were player bounty hunters could see if they could track you down and eliminate you.

It was just a lot of fun, great experience. I really wish they would take the multitude of events that are created these days with the world of SWG.

 

[Serinanth]

I guess I am dating myself here but as a few others my first MMO existed before the term MMO existed, before the internet as most of you know it existed.

Batmud... what a great game, I was a Draconian alchemist. Batmud is still up and running today which is pretty amazing.

I passed on UO but I was there during the EQ launch. This was still back before all you noobkock assholes figured out the internet and there was actually role playing on non RP servers. Serinanth was the the only dark elf living in Faydwer on the Rodcet Knife server. I still remember the day the guards only glared at me threateningly instead of killing me on sight, when I could actually go up the elevator and wander through Kelethin, people thought I was a guide or that I had a costume on, this was well before any thought of betrayal quests even existed.

And then some one told me about the Drizzt books =)

Wholly hell what is it with the shingles captcha?!

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

Nothing else has appealed to me thus far. I might have tried out GW2 if it had a 'try it out' option, as there's no way in hell I am shelling out ~£50 for a game I might not even like, but mostly because all of the 'greatest MMO ever' and 'revolutionises the genre' talk has done more to put me off it than make me want to play.

You know, I got to talk about GW2 earlier in this thread and all I had to say was critique - let me redeem this.
~50,- have so far given me 275 hours of good enough entertainment. 315 even, if I count across all characters.

I'm not bashing the game, don't get me wrong. But ~50 is a lot of money to spend, especially from the perspective of a college student with no job. It's simply not worth the risk of me shelling out the cash and then hating the game.

 

[SecondPrize]

The first MMO I played was the Matrix Online. The launch was a mess and there was a definite lack of varying pve content but I had a lot of fun with it and I still prefer many of its systems and features to any new MMO. I hate rolling alts, why can't I just have the one character I've invested so much into just respec to anything? Three factions was sweet (Merv 4 Life) and i've not had as much fun in open world pvp in any game since. Punting. Combat was... well interlock had its limitations but it worked very well for 1v1 fights and the combat actually felt like you were fighting, I've never been able to really get into any hotbar combat mmo since. and /snake, they might have been better off working on other areas but the amount of emotes/stances/dances that game had is still unparalleled.