I started playing MMORPGs with Everquest in 1999. I played EQ1 for about 5 years and then I joined a closed beta test for a game called World of Warcaft (maybe you have heard of it) and I enjoyed WoW for about 1.5 years including my 6 months of Closed beta.
I have played most of the games listed to the left here and none have been able to keep me playing for long.
I wish I would've stuck around in UO. My friends kept telling me how much fun they were having, but I'd already caught the FPS bug at that time.
I tried Asheron's Call and EverQuest, but I'd have to say FFXI was probably the first MMORPG that I really played for any length of time. (>1yr in FFXI, <3mo's/ea for AC or EQ).
I'm comfortable in saying that I've been in and out of MMO's for about 8-9 years. I'd say I've been 'hardcore' into MMO's for about 5 years though.
My meaning for 'Hardcore' = >20 hours or more a week w/ multiple accounts for a game and often playing more than 1 game.
I started playing MMORPGs with Everquest in 1999. I played EQ1 for about 5 years and then I joined a closed beta test for a game called World of Warcaft (maybe you have heard of it) and I enjoyed WoW for about 1.5 years including my 6 months of Closed beta. I have played most of the games listed to the left here and none have been able to keep me playing for long.
I tried WoW back then as well but I could never get into it. I think maybe it's because the game is geared to mostly 10-15 year olds perhaps. But it had lots of potential. I just thought it was a total rip off of EQ. But UO did pave the way for MMO's today.
Tdogskal ..........have you tried Rohan or Requiem or AoC yet? if not ...I think you would enjoy playing them. I think in the next year those 3 games will really take off . But it will depend on how the open beta's go and what they add for content to make game play even better. But the closed beta's I had a blast playing.
8 years, started off with some crappy free to play mmos that I played for like a few weeks each can not remember the names of them though only that they sucked lol, my first proper mmo that I played was Shattered galaxy, but Planetside was the first mmo I played for more than a year ( 2 years on and off) so I count that as my first since the others are not really worth mentioning.
Have not played an mmo for almost a year now there just isn't anything decent out there. waiting on TCOS and Jumpgate atm. If Warhammer gets good reviews I might try it, I always wanted to try DAOC but I missed it in its hayday so never bothered, even though War looks WoW like if its RvR is good Ill give it a shot.
The first real MMO was UO and I started with it right after release. For the fellow that thought he played DAoC in 1995, there was NO DAoC at that time, there was no Mythic at that time. Whatever you were smoking it has addled your mind.
I agree, I have never had the fun I had in the original UO in any other game yet. Namely the skill system let you make your character into anything you wanted to. One reason I ditched EQ soon after it came out.
__________________________________________________ In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
13 years now for me. First MMO I ever beta tested was Dark Age of Camelot in 1995 or 94 been so long I forget LOL next was Everquest played for 7 years. LOL 472 real life days invested into EQ so sad
You do realize DAOC wasnt in testing till 2000 right?
Like many others here, I started with Ultima Online beta so thats about 11 years for me I stuck with UO for 5 solid years, and it remains my favorite MMO to date. I am pretty sure nothing will surpass the experiences I had in that game. It cannot be matched for sheer variety of things to do, and trouble to get in. Damm, now Im making myself homesick
I have played most major MMO's that have come out since, from AC through Warhammer beta. I have had some good times, but UO will always hold the #1 spot in my gamer heart
To be completely honest, the reason a lot of time I think UO was so good was because it was.... 2d.
I've played a LOT of mmo's, and the only other one that REALLY got me involved hard core was Ragnarok Online. Maybe it's community? I don't really know, but I don't think it was so much the skill system in UO. Maybe the fast paced battles? PVP was like no other...hmmm. I just really can't pinpoint it. I would say it was the way the community came together to be honest. RO had something of the same, but I think that the majority of early UO players were an older than average group. Somewhere between 20-28 would be my guess.
I guess I'll have to make a poll in the UO forum. But I started playing in T2A which was 7th grade for me. And then I got all my friends addicted. Middle school was awesome.
End of 1992 for me. I went to Electronics Boutique and saw a game with a cool box. The game was Yserbius and was bundled in The Imagination Network software. I walked to the other end of the mall to Radio Shack and bought a computer to play it on. Once I got home and installed it, I played for an hour and immediately bumped my service up to unlimited access.
Drumroll please....Unlimited was 120.00 a MONTH..not counting long distance dialup charges (I had a local number to call) and $7.00 an hour for after hours access (7AM-6PM) HAHAHA. Damn my bills were 500-600 a month for that game...lol..(I played a lot a during non-prime hours so I could stay ahead of my friends)
End of 1992 for me. I went to Electronics Boutique and saw a game with a cool box. The game was Yserbius and was bundled in The Imagination Network software. I walked to the other end of the mall to Radio Shack and bought a computer to play it on. Once I got home and installed it, I played for an hour and immediately bumped my service up to unlimited access. Drumroll please....Unlimited was 120.00 a MONTH..not counting long distance dialup charges (I had a local number to call) and $7.00 an hour for after hours access (7AM-6PM) HAHAHA. Damn my bills were 500-600 a month for that game...lol..(I played a lot a during non-prime hours so I could stay ahead of my friends) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImagiNation_Network (see the section on Pricing for those who don't believe me regarding my numbers) My primary character was Fluffy Bunywabit the Troll Knight....wow that wasa long time ago... Then I did a couple of MUDs and/or 2D games that were un remarkable. Then The Realm...and on it went.
You know it is sad when people don't realize that they have it so much cheaper today then we had it back in the day. Today they think that paying $15 a month for a service is expensive. Well they should try paying by the hour the way it was back then. I remember my father about had a heart attack the first AOL bill he got. LOL! I can tell you that things changed really quick at our house when it came to the computer and the Internet.
End of 1992 for me. I went to Electronics Boutique and saw a game with a cool box. The game was Yserbius and was bundled in The Imagination Network software. I walked to the other end of the mall to Radio Shack and bought a computer to play it on. Once I got home and installed it, I played for an hour and immediately bumped my service up to unlimited access. Drumroll please....Unlimited was 120.00 a MONTH..not counting long distance dialup charges (I had a local number to call) and $7.00 an hour for after hours access (7AM-6PM) HAHAHA. Damn my bills were 500-600 a month for that game...lol..(I played a lot a during non-prime hours so I could stay ahead of my friends) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImagiNation_Network (see the section on Pricing for those who don't believe me regarding my numbers) My primary character was Fluffy Bunywabit the Troll Knight....wow that wasa long time ago... Then I did a couple of MUDs and/or 2D games that were un remarkable. Then The Realm...and on it went.
You know it is sad when people don't realize that they have it so much cheaper today then we had it back in the day. Today they think that paying $15 a month for a service is expensive. Well they should try paying by the hour the way it was back then. I remember my father about had a heart attack the first AOL bill he got. LOL! I can tell you that things changed really quick at our house when it came to the computer and the Internet.
I didn't play Yserbius, but I too was one of those screamed at by the parents. For me it was Never Winter Nights on AOL. Thankfully it was very difficult to stay connected to it so it didn't last long, but I managed to get a bill similar to what Digna saw. lol Yeah, my folks didn't let that go on for much longer.
I hopped around various MUDs (Exodus ftw!) until eventually getting sucked in by EQ, and the rest is history.
Comments
I started playing MMORPGs with Everquest in 1999. I played EQ1 for about 5 years and then I joined a closed beta test for a game called World of Warcaft (maybe you have heard of it) and I enjoyed WoW for about 1.5 years including my 6 months of Closed beta.
I have played most of the games listed to the left here and none have been able to keep me playing for long.
Sooner or Later
I wish I would've stuck around in UO. My friends kept telling me how much fun they were having, but I'd already caught the FPS bug at that time.
I tried Asheron's Call and EverQuest, but I'd have to say FFXI was probably the first MMORPG that I really played for any length of time. (>1yr in FFXI, <3mo's/ea for AC or EQ).
I'm comfortable in saying that I've been in and out of MMO's for about 8-9 years. I'd say I've been 'hardcore' into MMO's for about 5 years though.
My meaning for 'Hardcore' = >20 hours or more a week w/ multiple accounts for a game and often playing more than 1 game.
Tdogskal ..........have you tried Rohan or Requiem or AoC yet? if not ...I think you would enjoy playing them. I think in the next year those 3 games will really take off . But it will depend on how the open beta's go and what they add for content to make game play even better. But the closed beta's I had a blast playing.
Around 4 years it seems, although I just realized it's more like 3 years... My first MMO was WoW.
8 years, started off with some crappy free to play mmos that I played for like a few weeks each can not remember the names of them though only that they sucked lol, my first proper mmo that I played was Shattered galaxy, but Planetside was the first mmo I played for more than a year ( 2 years on and off) so I count that as my first since the others are not really worth mentioning.
Have not played an mmo for almost a year now there just isn't anything decent out there. waiting on TCOS and Jumpgate atm. If Warhammer gets good reviews I might try it, I always wanted to try DAOC but I missed it in its hayday so never bothered, even though War looks WoW like if its RvR is good Ill give it a shot.
The first real MMO was UO and I started with it right after release. For the fellow that thought he played DAoC in 1995, there was NO DAoC at that time, there was no Mythic at that time. Whatever you were smoking it has addled your mind.
I agree, I have never had the fun I had in the original UO in any other game yet. Namely the skill system let you make your character into anything you wanted to. One reason I ditched EQ soon after it came out.
Ever since I was 8...
__________________________________________________
In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
Since 1997 so... 11 years
Maybe your thinking UO?
Like many others here, I started with Ultima Online beta so thats about 11 years for me
I stuck with UO for 5 solid years, and it remains my favorite MMO to date. I am pretty sure nothing will surpass the experiences I had in that game. It cannot be matched for sheer variety of things to do, and trouble to get in. Damm, now Im making myself homesick 
I have played most major MMO's that have come out since, from AC through Warhammer beta. I have had some good times, but UO will always hold the #1 spot in my gamer heart
To be completely honest, the reason a lot of time I think UO was so good was because it was.... 2d.
I've played a LOT of mmo's, and the only other one that REALLY got me involved hard core was Ragnarok Online. Maybe it's community? I don't really know, but I don't think it was so much the skill system in UO. Maybe the fast paced battles? PVP was like no other...hmmm. I just really can't pinpoint it. I would say it was the way the community came together to be honest. RO had something of the same, but I think that the majority of early UO players were an older than average group. Somewhere between 20-28 would be my guess.
I guess I'll have to make a poll in the UO forum. But I started playing in T2A which was 7th grade for me. And then I got all my friends addicted. Middle school was awesome.
-=Magicite=-
around 7 yrs for both me and my wife (we always play mmos together)
My god has horns.... nah, I don't think he is real either.
End of 1992 for me. I went to Electronics Boutique and saw a game with a cool box. The game was Yserbius and was bundled in The Imagination Network software. I walked to the other end of the mall to Radio Shack and bought a computer to play it on. Once I got home and installed it, I played for an hour and immediately bumped my service up to unlimited access.
Drumroll please....Unlimited was 120.00 a MONTH..not counting long distance dialup charges (I had a local number to call) and $7.00 an hour for after hours access (7AM-6PM) HAHAHA. Damn my bills were 500-600 a month for that game...lol..(I played a lot a during non-prime hours so I could stay ahead of my friends)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImagiNation_Network (see the section on Pricing for those who don't believe me regarding my numbers)
My primary character was Fluffy Bunywabit the Troll Knight....wow that wasa long time ago...
Then I did a couple of MUDs and/or 2D games that were un remarkable. Then The Realm...and on it went.
You know it is sad when people don't realize that they have it so much cheaper today then we had it back in the day. Today they think that paying $15 a month for a service is expensive. Well they should try paying by the hour the way it was back then. I remember my father about had a heart attack the first AOL bill he got. LOL! I can tell you that things changed really quick at our house when it came to the computer and the Internet.
I've been playing MMO's since 2000 starting with Ultima Online at the age of 15.
If you count text based such as GEmstone, about 20 years.....
Otherwise, about 12 years.
Have played online mmorpg's since 1998.
Time flies when your having fun.
Hey Teala I was one of those Father's!!!
O told my son's to go get a job if they wanted to use the dial up modem!!!
too long since early 1997 UO Atlantic Homebase Minoc:)
You know it is sad when people don't realize that they have it so much cheaper today then we had it back in the day. Today they think that paying $15 a month for a service is expensive. Well they should try paying by the hour the way it was back then. I remember my father about had a heart attack the first AOL bill he got. LOL! I can tell you that things changed really quick at our house when it came to the computer and the Internet.
I didn't play Yserbius, but I too was one of those screamed at by the parents. For me it was Never Winter Nights on AOL. Thankfully it was very difficult to stay connected to it so it didn't last long, but I managed to get a bill similar to what Digna saw. lol Yeah, my folks didn't let that go on for much longer.
I hopped around various MUDs (Exodus ftw!) until eventually getting sucked in by EQ, and the rest is history.
One month after the launch of DAOC, so 7 years.