Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
DDO, Vanguard, EQ2, Rift/WoW - advice please!
TLDR poll for you =P
Looking for a place to stay while I patientlylol wait for EQN news. Recently resubbed to WoW and as usual regret it! The game is never going to be what I once loved, no matter how many times I go back. WoW has become my abusive ex-bf I think....
DDO - Strongly interested in DDO, I like that they have a druid and I found their dungeons fairly interesting. I could see myself playing it and enjoying.
- Is the entire game just based on an open area with dungeon portals?
- Is there any open world or is it just instance based?
- Would it be better to sub or buy an expansion and play free?
Vanguard - Many people here pop up in many threads saying play Vanguard. I don't mind the game, I played it for a bit awhile ago. The insane 300+ms sucks as well as always having garbage frames. My main question though, is where is everyone? Playing by myself was why I left.
EQ2 - I liked this game for a bit, but the constant harassment from SOE drove me away. Bought my class/race and they went free. bought expansion so out came another one. Can't even wear gear unless I pay for it, can't use AH thing unless I pay, can't lock level unless I pay. Is this game worth subbing to? Does everyone just play alone with mercs like EQ1?
Rift/WoW - FREE ASIDE...Should I just stick with WoW over all the other stuff? I like my Druid and Rift "souls" weren't very interesting. I guess I don't see why I'd get involved in Rift when I've got my WoW characters. The two games just seem too similar for me.
By all means, suggest something else, I'd be happy to look! I like supporting/healing, grouping, shapeshifters, long walks on the beach, PvP and I love cats. I love every kind of cat.
Comments
What do you play? Do you enjoy it? Have you played any of these? Did you enjoy them? You also have a mind
I suggest Vanguard a lot. I don't play it currently. I have heard that the FTP brought back more players. I left before it went FTP because of pop and the game being much better with other people.
If you can get a few people to play with you it is really fun. The problem is coordinating it.
Vanguard is one of those games that is in a bad loop. It has so much of what a lot pf people want. The problem is the pop is low and the game needs a large pop because of world size and soloing being more difficult as you level--for a lot of classes. The low pop keeps people away. The low pop is also the problem.
The game has never been able to build traction after the bad launch.
I think it is a game everyone should play for a few months (3-6). It has a lot to offer and some very interesting classes. I understand the pop will drive people away. Giving it a few months though can be very enjoyable.
--John Ruskin
This one's tough, since you seem to either dislike soloing or have played too much of a game listed already. I played GW2 for a good six months before I even thought about other games again, and it's still fun, but the one thing from your list of requirements GW2 is not strong in would be support/healing. Honestly, my healer guardian has saved many a life including using shielding wards in boss fights, BUT if you're looking for huge green numbers, GW2 doesn't really have them. Grouping is easy and fun though.
I wouldn't recommend going back to WoW. Sure, I have lots of characters there on several servers myself, but going back just makes you realize how dependent you are on familiarity and how much trouble the industry must be in for so many people to stay in Azeroth. Again, however, I have not set foot back in WoW since the GW2 beta, I'm not even interested anymore (Cata didn't help).
Have you tried Neverwinter? Some people are saying a lot of bad things about the cash shop, but I doubt it would be an issue until much later in the game, and there is a sort of auto-grouping feature in the game like GW2, where you can heal anyone fighting zone mobs and feel pretty damn helpful. The cleric class is also good at dealing damage from what I've played. Best healer I've played in years.
Otherwise, I'm not sure of many games left where people group a lot. If you have gaming friends, you could always start a new game with them or start a thread in Looking for Game to see if anyone wants to venture out with you.
like yourself ive played them all as well pretty solidly off and on for years and the only one that i feel like has good quality is wow and i keep going back to it after all these games continue to just lose subs or die off until they are free. WOW for myself seems to be about the only game out there right now that has polish quality and a overall team that actually seems to get their own playerbase. Vanguard is still sorta on life support witha very small team adding in tiny bug fixes and class issues and EQ2 is just old dated and went through about 4 identity crisis revamps over the years. While it has polished zones and classes its slow and boring combat for me that lacks any thing other than grinding AAs to be ready for end game and it seems like you have to worry about that instead of just fluid leveling and having fun.
Rift well just dont even get me started on them that game i go back to for a week or two tops until im totally just disgusted with it and leave as fast as I can. Another game worth mentioning is LOTR online here (I know you didnt for whatever reason is your own) but they have sped up combat a lot and things flow much more fluid but the large class revamp isnt until the expansion so its still not 100% polished yet , though the combat has gotten faster than Rift and EQ2 for sure.
Honestly if you want a quality game to play stick to wow , they have already started making posts about losing 2 million subs and have big plans to address that stuff so I think they are probably going to be the only studio to actually release a quality expansion and address the reason people are leaving , plus you don't have to be nickel and dime to death with free to play.
I never liked WoW so maybe I'm not the best to give advice, but I will anyway.
I've played LOTRO for years and continue to play it off and on. The story is top-notch, maybe the best in any MMO in my opinion. Despite being an older game, on a high end system with everything on ultra high the game still looks good. I recently upgraded my computer and now play on ultra high and game looks so much better. Also, the community is just so helpful and friendly for the most part. Being away for so long, I was an expansion behind and needed some help with a problem. Some random player spent over an hour sorting out my problem with me. The big negative for me is the lackluster combat, however. I am a lifer so don't touch the f2p, but I have friends who use the f2p and they claim it is easy to play without spending much or any money. They are on a limited budget so they can't spend money anyway.
Since launch I've been playing GW2 and consider it one of the best games I've ever played. Around here this game is polarizing and you will get " Game is fail" and also "This game is amazing". For casual type gamers who really don't care about raiding, gear, and stats it is a lot of fun. If you are all about stats and raiding, no, this game will not be something you like. The GW2 world is amazing and allows for a lot of exploration and just roaming around to find a hidden cave or that vista atop the mountain. This is b2p and not f2p, but I consider the amount of content and continual updates for this game well worth the full buy price I paid, which was $60. I believe it is cheaper at this point, however.
I really dont believe you can go wrong with either of those choices.
I actually still have EQ2 on my system and tried getting back into the game, but I just don't like the way the game is looking and turned off by the f2p model. Rift was a solid game when I played it for a month during a Steam Sale and I was debating about trying to get back in to it, but I look at LOTRO as a traditional quest-hub game and do not feel I need to play Rift. Anyway, you felt Rift was too much like WoW.
Vanguard is an odd bird. It is a game many, including me, want to like but it refuses to be wooed. I remember trying to start up with a group from here called After Hours. That didnt last long. The first day in game I got stuck in a rock. There were constant annoying bugs/glitches in a game that has been out for years. For a game that is group oriented with a low population means playing will be frustrating at times. If I felt the population had increased I might give it another chance, but I don't want to be eyeing this dungeon only to realize I have spent an hour trying to get a group and no one is around..
Hope this helps a bit.
Thanks soo much for the informative replies, really helped me out.
I actually did have 2 friends that I took to VG. Both quit. One hated the lag and the other just lost interest, so I was alone. Game really had potential, it's just a lost cause I think. I'll log in and look around again.
Also in regards to why LOTRO wasn't listed. You remember there was an expac released recently, yea? It received so much hate and I saw so many posts since then saying the game was RUINEDFOREVER that I never looked at it again. I guess it never crossed my mind when posting this. I will go install that since you guys seem to like it.
GW2. Own it. Played it. Multiple characters to 50+. One max level support boon storm mesmer in full exotics. Still strongly dislike the game as a support/community minded player. Was it worth the B2P? Absolutely! Polished game, pretty world, loved GW1 lore, so this was interesting. Given it many hours and months trying to make it work, and just can't.
Oh and yes I played Neverwinter. Was in beta and have both beta horses lol. I liked it but this cash shop stuff and feedback from people here convinced me to leave. Was gonna buy a little companion to support the game until I saw the thing was like $30. Their prices are crazy! I did feel helpful healing people as I ran by. Made me grin to have people run to my aid afterwards.
Thanks for clearing up the EQ2/Rift concerns, I will certainly skip them both. I do hope Blizz intends to get their act together after the shitty MoP release, losing subs and reworking Titan. Give me a special BC or Vanilla server already!
EDIT- Loled cause top poll votes are for Rift/EQ2.
If you jump into Vanguard again, feel free to send me a tell, or a mail if I'm not on this character; same name. If I'm not in the middle of a guild activity I'm always down to jump on an alt and help out!
I've always enjoyed the game, but I tend to not let little bugs bother me. I started gaming on original pre-Kunark EQ so I'm just used to the old school feel i guess. They just replaced the entire network layer of the engine to start getting rid of all the network lag and released a brand new 50+ group dungeon with like 19 bosses and a 24-man raid encounter. There's certainly still work to be done, something as big as gutting and rewriting the engine is complicated and a lot of work, but it's definitely not just on life support, the devs are pretty dedicated.
If vanguard doesnt fills your soul, play eve online... it is hard to learn but is a good game.
Vanguard and eve are the bests game atm
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
imo in the current state of the mmo market, RIFT is the best choice. at least it is for me. i left wow after 8 years (with rl friends and many guild mates) and i m having lots of fun already in RIFT.
Great game, great f2p model, great offer by raptr (RIFT+Storm Legion+30 Days free sub).
OP:
After reading your posts you are very, very negative about every game. You have MMORPG burnout and I can see with 100% certainty that none of the games listed in your poll will work out for you.
Id recommend taking a break from the genre. Go play something different, dust off your favorite Civ game or something.
if you really enjoy dungeons and theorycrafting look to DDO and rift. there are some very, VERY good dungeons in DDO... though i find there are fillers as well. less known is the fact that in DDO there's a good deal of character tweaking and theorycrafting.
there is no open world in ddo though. if there was i'd probably be playing it. it's also based off of ed3 D&D myt favourite iteration. another problem is that a few of the classes are roundabouts unplayable outside of a group, so if you are like me and sometimes havent got time to LFG and do a group then you have to be careful what class you play. also the AI of the "NPC companions" (rent-a-pets) is kinda bad.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
Dwight D Eisenhower
My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.
Henry Rollins
Yet you are recommending Rift? If WoW is outdated and Rift's combat is a step backwards from WoW (not to mention its game world/lore, presentation, and questing) then Rift is even more outdated, no? Thats one of Rift's problems, its not really a step forward from WoW. For as good of a concept as the soul system is the combat just isnt as engaging as WoW's. Rift's invasions are cool but thats really all the game has to offer imo. Everything is else just bland. (almost forgot the housing, the housing is awesome...Rift's strongest point. But EQ2's is a better and in an overall better game)
I'd never been much of a fan of WoW but just recently began playing it again and actually loving it this time around. I have normally been a hardcore PvP only type of guy but never really gave wow a chance.
Tried RIFT--- It was decent but the combat is much much less fluid than WoW and honestly I had less fun in it than I did Warhammer online. I really liked RIFT's idea but the overall feel was bleh to me.
REALLY want to try GW2 but just not looking to drop the cash on the game that I'm not sure if I'll play, as I have a lot of other things I'm spending on currently. Gw2 would be the only other game I see myself potentially enjoying.
If you need a WoW buddy let me know! :P
If you like Hardcore PvP (full loot) First/third person MMO-- try Darkfall Unholy Wars. it's not as good as the first one to me but it's a change from themepark.
TL;DR--- I'd reccomend sticking with WoW if you're not going to try Darkfall, or possibly even EvE. Need a gaming buddy for one of those games hit me up, looking to try out new games all the time!
Its absolutely worth the DL to try out. Even if you only play for five minutes. Im not a fan personally but there are people that swear by it and who knows, you could be the next one of those.
World. Of. Warcraft.
Other games offer something, but none offer as much. It's not the game it once was, but it's still the king. IMHO.
Playing | GW2
Wanting | Pantheon
Watching | Crowfall
Retired | WAR, Cabal, MO, CO, SHK, WoW, FFXIV: ARR
DL it. I will stand by what I typed earlier. If you like MMOs you should play it 3-6 months. It offers almost everything, not PVP, that people want. The implementation is one of the killers though. I just think it is one of those games that people should try before it goes away.
--John Ruskin
i'm certainly in the "other" category
All of those games, and I played everyone aren't good options. I would start looking at more modern games there are some quality games out there that will grab you, if only for a little while
I'm pretty much awaiting elder scrolls atm, but I have occupied the last year or so on GW2, Wartune, Aurora World, and now just started on Dragon's Prophet
EQN I am awaiting as well, so I have 2 games I will definetly be trying in the future
Unfortunately all game for over a decade now have all made the same mistakes with the top being
-lack of endgame/content
-way overpowered classes
-faction instability
-way too short of a period to max level
And sadly all of these things are the easiest things to fix either previous to launch and during launch yet no gaming company does it
Currently playing:
Rift
Played:
SWToR, Aion,EQ, Dark Age of Camelot
World of Warcraft, AoC