So, I guess in the end familiarity breeds boredom.
I’ve recently started rolling new characters on WoW because I’m just tired of the same instances over and over (and over) again at end-game. I’m also a little tired of … Well, not feeling very immersive. It just seems like rotational button-pushing now.
So, I need a new game. Preferably something a low-end machine can handle. In general I prefer world-lore to shinies, I like playing mystical types (although more for the ‘mystical’ angle than the ‘I can throw fireballs’ angle), and I appreciate game detail. Obviously, I’m becoming tired of repetitiveness (and yes, I know it’s nature-of-the-beast on MMO’s, but some are better than others).
I’m in a similar boat. I got my rogue Nikarus to level 80, and then just got bored with level 80 stuff. I had levelled up a horde and an alliance character to 80, and I was utterly sick of questing.
So I have cancelled my WoW subscription as of a week ago.
I’m playing two games right now. I’ve tried both out before, but I’ve never really played EVE enough to get a few for the game before, and City of Heroes has a lot of new stuff, plus an expansion coming out soon.
EVE Online is the first one, but if you prefer mystical types, its not the game for you. It is a space game, where your character really is a spaceship more than a person. You can fly a huge number of different ships and do all kinds of stuff, but there’s not really any structure to hang onto in game, which is what has made me struggle with the game. I am enjoying it only cause I got into a cool corporation.
City of Heroes is the second game, which I have really enjoyed getting back into. If you enjoy customization, COH has to rank towards the top of the list of most customizable MMOs. There is a HUGE number of options for your character’s appearance, clothing, etc.
In addition, you can choice from one of 12 archetypes, and each Archetype has 6-8 primary powersets and as many secondary powersets. There is a ton of fun to be had just trying out different powerset combos. You can create your own superhero or supervillain missions with the Mission Architect feature. Create your own enemies. There are plenty of possibilities for a mystical sort of character.
Also, maybe Lord of the Rings online would be interesting to you. I enjoyed the early levels but got bored later on. I only tried it for a few weeks, but it was kinda cool.
Play LotRO. It’s exactly what you appear to be looking for. Immersive. World lore over PHAT LEWT. Runnable on what is today a “low end” machine (Though it still looks pretty gorgeous if you can crank the settings all the way.) Mystical type characters are present but largely missing the “I can throw fireballs” thing. Except the Runekeeper. Stupid Runekeepers. My lore-based hate for them knows no bounds.
Might I mention that your post and board-name are amazingly appropriate together?
I played CoH some time back, and I may go back to it. The big turn-off for me was that it seemed to be all ‘go into building, kill everything there’. Constant combat missions, while interesting in an action sense, just doesn’t feel very superheroic to me; or at the very least not very comic-book superheroic.
Also, could you elaborate a little as to why you’re suggesting that particular MMO?
You could try DDO-Dungeons and Dragons Online. D&D and fantasy generally go together.
It’s pretty interactive, fun and, since it’s based roughly on 3.5 rules, almost endless build possibilities between the classes and races. Plus, these days you can play for free - which can make for an extended trial, b/c, seriously, who can really experience a game in 7-10 days?
Dungeons and Dragons Online was fun for about a month. The free content should last you about that long, and the game was more based around the story of quests and such rather than collecting gear.
The one thing that managed to ruin it for me, gamewise (I also had problems with billing, but this won’t apply to most people; the card you pay with must be from the same country you’re in and I bounce around a lot), was being sent to rescue the same stupid chick from the same gang of evildoers three times in a row. Does that still happen or have they fixed it?
I’ve played and liked CoH. We called it CoX at the time, because the villain side expansion was out.
Hands down the very best visual customizing options I’ve ever seen. You can look like almost anything you can imagine that’s at least vaguely humanoid shaped.
Most solo friendly game I’ve seen, even more so than WoW.
Shortly after I quit due to moving out of a broadband-ready area, I heard they released something where players can design missions and make them available for other players to do. I really wanted to try that. I’d expect there to be a lot of crap, but I’d also expect to find some really awesome missions/arcs available as well. If that system worked out, it’s practically endless content.
APB’s character customization blows it out of the water. I didn’t think it was possible, since City’s designer is very, very good, but APB’s is ridiculously flexible and comprehensive in ways City only wishes it was.
However, APB is a MMOFPS in the spirit of Grand Theft Auto (the original creator of GTA designed APB) and as such probably isn’t what the OP is looking for. But it looks awesome enough that it finally tipped me over the edge to Windows 7, which I’ve been on the fence about for months.
Depends on what you’re doing. If you’re doing scanner/newspaper missions they’re all fairly repetitive since they’re just randomly selected stock missions to fill up time and contact gaps. If you’re actually doing story arcs from contacts you shouldn’t be rescuing the same person 3+ times unless there’s a good plot reason for it. The coming expansion (Going Rogue) is supposed to be even more story-driven in its missions with the revamped world of Praetoria which will be a study in shades of gray. Is a safe, secure Utopia worth the loss of freedom or is the Resistance justified in disrupting the lives of Praetoria’s citizens to force freedom upon them, through violence if need be?
Wasn’t LotRO going free to play (with benefits for those with cash)? Has that happened yet? I got bored with the game and thought they terribly mishandled the Monster Character PvP game (which started out fun but got worse in a hurry the older the game got) but for free it’d be worth checking out so the OP can make their own choices.
Are there any MMOs that are playable via satellite high speed internet? That may be my only option for the foreseeable future. The phone and cable companies do not appear to be in any hurry to bring service out to where I live…
It’s not free yet, that’s scheduled for sometime this fall; The functionality is currently in beta.
As for Freep/Creep play (That’s Free Peoples vs …uh…Creeps, I guess.), it’s always been an afterthought to the game. It’s not well supported, and if you want PvP, I strongly suggest you stay the hell away from LotRO, because it’s not designed for you, and it will just annoy the people who like the game the way it is when you show up and start complaining about how badly the PvP sucks.
PvP is pretty much OFFICIALLY the redheaded stepchild of LotRO, so don’t go there expecting anything different.
Ironically, the MvP game was the only time I’ve ever enjoyed PvP in a MMORPG. For the first couple months it was great fun. Then it became obvious that the developers had no real plan on how to handle the number of maxed level PCs with high end loot and all their traits who had nothing else to do but PvP and each of whom was worth at least monster players if not more or the rampant cheating via 3rd party voice chat software.
