So, I've been without an MMO to call home for around 5-6 months now. I've been playing a lot of League, though I don't really enjoy it at all. It's just that every MMO I played or tried just wasn't all that great.
- I played WoW for over 10 years! But, with the release of patch 6.0 and Draenor... I just can't stand the game anymore. They took every class and simplified them so much, that you really can't go wrong anymore -- so it's just the same boring rotation over and over, instead of adapting your rotation to the situation at hand. They also took away Fistweaving, which was my favorite thing ever. So, WoW just doesn't hold much appeal for me anymore, even though I dearly miss it.
- I tried GW2 and loved it, played for like half a year, but once I got a couple classes to max level and ran out of things to do... I just started burning out. Sure, the Fractals (which were new when I quit) were fun, but doing the same handful of instances over and over is only fun for so long. The PvP was great, and WvW was awesome... but I just got bored. I enjoy PvE, and GW2's PvE just wasn't there; it was either pathetically easy, or stupidly repetitive.
- Tried RIFT, but just couldn't really get into it. Soul system was interesting, but the combat kind of fell flat.
- I tried FFXIV, and while it was interesting at first (I bought it because I loved Final Fantasy, and I had heard great things about it)... I just couldn't get beyond level 35. I was playing a Monk, who had the lowest GCDs in the game, yet the combat still felt sluggish and repetitive. Not only that, but the fights just weren't that interesting; I did the Ifrit fight with no issues at all, and got to the earth elemental boss... he was just such a pushover, though most people in my group couldn't handle it. That, combined with the snail speed combat (3s GCD... just absurd), just burned me out so fast.
- Tried TERA, and while the combat was fun at first, it quickly became repetitive and boring, and it felt like I was playing a porno or something, which I really didn't like.
- I tried Wildstar, and absolutely loved it. The art style was perfect, the Aurin were absolutely adorable (my main race), the characters all had personality, the humor was awesome... but then there's the combat. You have 8 buttons (which is what made me burn out in GW2 and FFXIV), and I knew it was a bad idea to buy it, but I did anyway. The combat was so simplistic that it hurt. There was no complexity, there was no thought, nothing. You just kind of mashed buttons and won. The raids made dungeons in WoW look hard, which was really saying something. It just wasn't fun to have no challenge whatsoever. I played from the day the game launched into headstart to June of 2015
(so, a year), and quit when I just couldn't handle it anymore.
- I tried EVE, and it's just not my kind of game. I prefer a game where I'm directly in control, not one where I'm watching a ship fly around as I click every now and then. Quit within an hour.
I just don't know what to do anymore. It seems like every game these days is made for kids who can't be bothered to lift a finger to do anything, much less play a video game. So, challenge isn't a thing anymore, and no game really requires you to think at all. Games I used to love are now dead and gone, replaced my some shell of its former self, and even companies like Nintendo are slowly slipping into the DLC and F2P scamfest. It's almost enough to make me cry, watching the hobby I've loved since my childhood slowly die in front of me, and knowing there's nothing I can do.
So, are there any good MMOs out there anymore? One with engaging, complex combat and encounters; with a bright, cartoony animation style; with a good, engaging story that's actually relevant to the game; with a development staff that actually gives a damn about anything other than money... Just a good game, you know? Do any even exist anymore? : /
Comments
Aion has a more conservative approach when it comes to the combat system, but it has a skill system featuring reactive styles and style chains. Another big plus is the ability to fly. TERA on the other hand has a very good action combat system that gives you a lot of control.
My personal MMOs of choice are Elder Scrolls Online and Star Wars The Old Republic. Both have great storytelling and have tons of content to explore.
If you can get over kinda clunky combat and want to experience a great story that requires a little bit of thinking, Secret World is the way to go.
I've found Elder Scrolls Online enjoyable once a week like a 2-3 hours session a week. But my go to mmo is definetly The secret world and it has been that for more than a year now.
Lucid Dreams
The devs certainly care about their game; it's made by a company that has been awarded a community favorite. It's an indie game; you are in space flying around as a spaceship (captain), but you actually get to fly the ship. There is a free trial and the download is somewhere around 500 megabytes, I think. I've contributed heavily to the game's PvE content over the years.
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Authored 139 missions in Vendetta Online and 6 tracks in Distance
SWTOR... I've never actually tried it, but I've done a lot of research on it. It looks kind of like WoW, but with a bit more simplistic combat -- though it seems like the questing and lore is great.
I was in the beta for ESO though, and I got bored within a couple hours. So I know that it won't really do anything for me.
It's not that they nerfed them... it's just that the bosses are very predictable, not at all hard to play around, and the mechanics are just incredibly simple. When everything is a telegraph, there's not much more to playing the game than just dodging red. I honestly had more trouble in a couple WoW dungeons (old ones, where you couldn't just chainpull everything) than I did in the Wildstar raids.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
This post is all my opinion, but I welcome debate on anything i have put, however, personal slander / name calling belongs in game where of course you're welcome to call me names im often found lounging about in EvE online.
Use this code for 21days trial in eve online https://secure.eveonline.com/trial/?invc=d385aff2-794a-44a4-96f1-3967ccf6d720&action=buddy
I'm not playing anything atm myself and can't really find a game, also WoW was one of my faves back in the old days. Making a new character in WoW is just face roll leveling for 2 weeks and no challenge at all these days. Too bad really, endgame in WoW is kind of so and so and Blizzard feels that they shouldn't invest too much time at this game anymore
The first 50 levels you can play just with a sub. I wouldn't advise buying quest packs unless you really wanna make all classes.
I always thought the game got alot better around level 30, and funny the game is only free till 30'ish unless you wanna grind it.
No change in the combo system. F2p was quite restrictive at the switch, but after a few changes it's pretty good now - until the endgame, since a big chunk of the endgame (Khitai) is sub-only. But they hinted earlier, that they're planning some changes with that restriction this year.
And I think AoC and LotRO weren't mentioned, because OP said "... with a bright, cartoony animation style ..." which is not applied onto them - luckily