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MMO with lots of "twinkability" or allowing for unique playstyles
Hi all, I am wanting to download a new MMO and thought I would ask here before I disappoint myself. I tried searching around but it seems hard to put this request into a few keywords.
Okay, let me explain. Did any of you play Anarchy Online? I played that game, and I really loved it. But I never played the endgame. What I had the most fun with was making twinks for the level locked dungeons. I loved AO so much because, at least at the lower levels, twinking allowed you to improve your character SO MUCH, to the point that the very "strongest" possible configuration at those levels has undoubtedly never been created.
Examples from other games (though most of these games did not have what I was looking for, I just tried to force it)
Runescape - I always tried the weird pure builds... obby maul pure, defense pure, low HP pure, etc.
Maplestory - I loved my high HP warrior (though unfortunately it could hardly kill anything unless I wanted to sit there PGing it to death), I also liked scrolling but it was too luck-based
EQ2 - I was very happy to level lock and get as many AAs as possible, get a full set of MC with great adornments, etc, unfortunately the mentor system just killed this and made it pointless. And the raid-centric endgame turned me off.
Just for some examples of the playstyle I am talking about.
The main focus here is avoiding the process of leveling to X level, putting on the standard level-locked gear for that level, with the automatically added abilities/stats for that level, and only one real effective skill tree for that level, leaving you with a very expected, predictable, unimpressive strength... while still maintaining the level-based, skill-based, gear-based system.
TL;DR, I would like a game that allows me to, at almost any level, stop grinding/gaining levels and then improve my character through other means, like highly customizeable gear, stat systems with lots of possibilities, etc... in order to be able to defeat very tough content, bosses, gigantic hordes of enemies, etc, around or above that level range, which untwinked characters would stand no hope against.
Thanks for reading 
Comments
EQ1 on Fippy Darkpaw sounds like a good match. I'd recommend the vert blue mod to go with it.
Maybe Vanguard is like this but I don't know from personal experience.
Thanks for the suggestion, I was curious about EQ1 actually, downloading now.
Is it only the classic subscription model? That's a bummer, I'm totally a poor college student but if I like it enough I guess I might be up for P2P
Hm...you *could* look into Mabinogi (Free To Play). Mabinogi is a tad more skill-based than the average point&click, and rather than being so depending on levels you *can* be efficient early on, although it can take a little while to get used to everything. Gear has no level at all, you wear whatever you want , dye your armor or robe. As far as leveling goes. Tthere are levels but they are mainly a way to gain AP (Ability Points) to raise any skills you want (there are no classes). The game may appear to be "grindy" past level 30, but you can rebirth every 3 weeks for free which resets your level but you get to keep all your AP and skill ranks/gear, etc.
Major downside: It's usually recommanded to spend at least once around $15-20 for a mount/flying mount + another pet for combat. It REALLY helps.
Eat ramen noodles instead of a combo meal from Jack in the Box about 3 times a month and it equals out
EDIT:
Oh and again, I'd ***highly recommend*** you install the vert blue ui mod asap. The ui that comes with the game is very terrible.