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best "casual" mmorpg for a family?

evilhumanevilhuman Member UncommonPosts: 55
Hey all,

So my kids are getting into the age where they are playing Fortnite nonstop, I want to introduce them to the awesome world of MMORPGs.
But I havn't kept up with the releases in years so would really appreciate any tips that you could provide.

* 4 players should be able to do most content in the game and most content as a group, dungeon crawling with bosses etc. (2 adults 2 kids)
* Casual, with this I mean not "korean grind" to lvl up. difficult game and difficult fights are more than OK.
* Don't care if it is f2p or not.

Neverwinter?
Elder Scrolls Online?
FFXIV?
Rift?
Kingdom under fire 2?
DDO?

I don't know how 4 man friendly these games are- or any other game suggestions you might have please feel free.





realle appreciate any input.

«1

Comments

  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,882
    edited April 2020
    What age the kids are?

    If they're younger, then Wizard 101, but based on your list of games they're not that young.

    It's been some time since I played, but I think Elder Scrolls Online's normal group size was 4 so that would be good for you.
     
  • TruvidiennTruvidienn Member UncommonPosts: 320
    ESO is perfect. Four man dungeons. 
  • UngoodUngood Member LegendaryPosts: 7,517
    I would say GW2.

    It has WvW/PvP, so they can still get their PvP fix if they want.
    AlBQuirky
    Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.

  • ScorchienScorchien Member LegendaryPosts: 8,914
    EQ2 would be a good option also , great dungeons , Boss fights , and loot ..

      Lots of classes to choose from , and its an actual MMO
    Gdemami
  • AmatheAmathe Member LegendaryPosts: 7,630
    The new City of Heroes server would be perfect.
    AlBQuirky

    EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests

  • MightyUncleanMightyUnclean Member EpicPosts: 3,531
    Wizard 101 if they're younger, WoW if they're a bit older.
    AlBQuirky
  • TokkenTokken Member EpicPosts: 3,547
    Runescape

    Proud MMORPG.com member since March 2004!  Make PvE GREAT Again!

  • ScorchienScorchien Member LegendaryPosts: 8,914
    Actually il add SWTOR would be great for 4 also
    Amathe
  • NeblessNebless Member RarePosts: 1,835
    edited April 2020
    evilhuman said:

    * 4 players should be able to do most content in the game and most content as a group, dungeon crawling with bosses etc. (2 adults 2 kids)
    * Casual, with this I mean not "korean grind" to lvl up. difficult game and difficult fights are more than OK.
    * Don't care if it is f2p or not.

    Neverwinter?

    DDO?

    I don't know how 4 man friendly these games are- or any other game suggestions you might have please feel free.

    I'll hit the 2 above first.

    - Neverwinter's normal content will be too easy as a 4 person group, heck it become's real easy just with a duo.  Now it does have dungeons and if you're all the right class mix you'd be able to run them as a group, but you're talking about a lot of easy stuff, just to do a few dungeons.

    - DDO.   A good amount of content that's free (74 lvl 1-10 dungeons, 24 lvl 11-20 dungeons).  This one you could probably get away with just having 1 person have a sub and just buy dungeon packs for the rest.  Some people just want to level so they don't care about the content and others only play what they want to / like so you may or may not be looking at wanting to play all the content.

    This would work great with your group, since D&D was originally set up for group play.  So it's not too easy, the 1 sub would be able to unlock the content on the dungeons elite setting (2 levels above posted level) and you'd just run them that way.   The game also has festivals through out the year with the Pirate one and the Halloween one's being fun to play.

    I'd add Lord of the Rings Online to your list.

    - LotRO has a feature (Fellowship maneuvers) that add's to group play.  The F2p part is a bit lacking as it's just the first 4 regions and then you'd have to purchase regions or sub after to continue questing, so that one you might be looking at 4 subs to get the most out of it.  Everyone has to buy the expansions, but the sub's will give you 500 store points each month you can use towards them.

    I'd say base play will be really easy as a foursome, but there's bosses, skirmishes etc... that would challenge you.

    It also has quite a few festivals through out the year for something to do.  Plus if each player takes a different craft set you'd all be able to support each other.

    Now I don't know about the maturity level of your kids but you might look at Age of Conan.

    - Age of Conan.  Rated M for mature for blood, content, nudity etc...

    Totally f2p up to max level with some optional area's you can buy if you want to.  And sadly you don't get a lot of extra's with a sub anyway although the standard, 'sub once to unlock those annoying f2p restrictions' is there.

    Standard content would be easy as a foursome, but each region does have a harder setting so that would be an option if you want to challenge yourselves.  It has raids, dungeons etc.... and there's content you have to group for so you'd have a ready made set up as players can be thin on the ground most of the while.

    Has PvE and Pvp

    And my last 2

    - Pirates of the Burning Sea.  Totally F2p up to max.  Some content will be easy as a foursome, but there's group content and some of the normal content is fairly hard solo so there's that too.   Has both PvE and Pvp.

    - Star Wars Galaxies: Legends.  This is a legit EMU that has the base game and all of the expansions from the original game and is the NGE version.  Lot's of group content so while the base stuff will be a breeze you can find harder stuff.  F2p.

    Has PvE and Pvp, ground and space.


    SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter

  • Crazycuban3Crazycuban3 Member UncommonPosts: 13
    My little brother was the same way, fortnite all day and I got him hooked on GW2... if they play fortnite then they will probably like the more vibrant and colorful aesthetic of GW2, also it is a pretty simple mmo to pick up with a large community. Also these fortnnite kids love their “skins” so the fashion element of GW2 fit right into that
  • delete5230delete5230 Member EpicPosts: 7,081
    edited April 2020
    ALL of them.
    Infact their so easy, if you popped a new born baby make him/her an account.  

    As long as they can see, they can play.
  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    edited April 2020

    I honestly do not think the young generation of FN players will like any good mmorpg but who knows just maybe.Typically young people are attracted to popularity,if a game isn't popular they won't be interested so my gut would say that 90% of the kids would only be attracted to Wow because it is popular.If the kids were truly INTO playing a real mmorpg then great,you and your family will have some long enduring fun of trials and tribulations.

    I am always biased towards FFXI,it just has way too much to offer ,so many unique classes but of course the end game is very difficult and would take time to learn the various class abilities and know what works and what is needed.
    The cool thing is FFXI gives you Trust npc's to unlock doing mini quests and missions.You keep these forever and can summon them to fight with you and your group.

    So 4 family can add in 2 trusts to form a 6 man group and trusts cover most classes you would need.Early on you'll have access to a max of 3 then unlock 4 and 5 so you could in essence solo early with you+3 trusts and as you unlock more you plus 4 or 5 trusts.

    Once you get level 30 you can unlock more classes.A BST "Beastmaster" class can have a pet that around level 75-78 is VERY strong,making in essence you and the pet 2 total players.Beforehand you have to learn how to TAME pets,so in game creatures become your pet and they are just like they are in game.Summoner is another pet class,you summon Avatars but works different than BST with mp costs and such.

    If was going to play a more linear questing game with dungeons i would pick EQ2 because you can also hire mercenaries albeit that might be locked behind a paywall but not sure.You see EQ2 is free to play so you could have 4 family and 2 mercs to form your 6 man party.The game is very much free to play aside from two things,you will be limited in baggage space and you cannot wear the elite gear which you would need to fight elite content.There is a workaround that most players were doing and that is play for FREE until you get to a point you need to use the best gear then people would pay small unlock fees to unlock each gear for a time period,i don't remember how long i think it is  a month.
    SO EQ2 is a very cost effective game to play that can also be played entirely for free and still play 80-90% of the game.

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • AAAMEOWAAAMEOW Member RarePosts: 1,600
    edited April 2020
    ALL of them.
    Infact their so easy, if you popped a new born baby make him/her an account.  

    As long as they can see, they can play.
    I bet you never beat any hard raid, hard dungeon, or become high rank in in any mmorpg.

    I'm not saying anything wrong with your comment.  But it is a big denial most mmorpg actually offer hard challenge if people actually want hard challenge.
  • delete5230delete5230 Member EpicPosts: 7,081
    edited April 2020
    AAAMEOW said:
    ALL of them.
    Infact their so easy, if you popped a new born baby make him/her an account.  

    As long as they can see, they can play.
    I bet you never beat any hard raid, hard dungeon, or become high rank in in any mmorpg.

    I'm not saying anything wrong with your comment.  But it is a big denial most mmorpg actually offer hard challenge if people actually want hard challenge.
    So your saying you have to play 99% of a game in "baby mode" to satisfy your 1% your talking about. 

    Where's the enjoyment ?


    It's like being in a 28 mile marathon with a sports car, getting out and running the last 100 yards :)

    Some of you people are out of your mind how you think.
    Gdemami
  • TEKK3NTEKK3N Member RarePosts: 1,115
    edited April 2020
    I don't know why no one is suggesting WoW retail.

    For us veterans it might be a bit redundant, but for newbies in particular kids who are used to colorful and quirky games like Fortnite, I think is perfect.

    It has lots of skins (probably more than Fortnite), It's challenging enough but casual at the same time, it requires a group of 5, and it has an Artstyle that easily appeal to kids and grown ups.

    They wouldn't like Classic though, just stick with retail.
  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    TEKK3N said:
    I don't know why no one is suggesting WoW retail.

    For us veterans it might be a bit redundant, but for newbies in particular kids who are used to colorful and quirky games like Fortnite, I think is perfect.

    It has lots of skins (probably more than Fortnite), It's challenging enough but casual at the same time, it requires a group of 5, and it has an Artstyle that easily appeal to kids and grown ups.

    They wouldn't like Classic though, just stick with retail.
    To me Wow is a worse version of EQ2 that is why i would go EQ2 over Wow any day.

    EQ2  also can be played 90% for free without having to buy the game.Blizzard still wants a lot of money up front.I have played both and would never consider Wow over EQ2 other than 2 reasons.

    1 Your friends are playing Wow
    2 You just need to see other players hanging around but this is a double edged.You won't see many people aside from your group in a auto dungeon finder.

    In reality,games like these Wow/EQ2 games can be soloed most of the time which defeats the purpose of a mmorpg and having your family in there,eq2 just reinforces the group idea a bit mroe than Wow.

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749
    Wizard 101 used to be a regular answer for "family MMORPG", but after Fortnite probably they'd find it slow and maybe boring even.

    Neverwinter might be a good fit, casual with smooth and pretty fast leveling, can group all the time, either with a random 5th player or just the 4 of you.

    GW2 could work too.
    evilhuman said:
    I don't know how 4 man friendly these games are- or any other game suggestions you might have please feel free.
    I used to suggest LotRO any time I can, but sadly it has plenty of 3-man instances, where you'd have to leave one out...

    Other than that, I believe most games are "4 man friendly", with a default group size of 5 or 6.
  • AlBQuirkyAlBQuirky Member EpicPosts: 7,432
    Another Wizard101 suggestion. You said "kids", so I think many of us went to smaller children. What are their ages, if I may ask?

    Wizard101 was built for children. It has tight chat settings and anyone who says they're under 13 can only say "canned phrases" like "Hi!", or "Want to group?", or "OK."

    The gist of the game is that you play a young wizard in a magical world that was blown apart and created a spiral of separate worlds, each with its own theme. You join a magic school and learn spells (as cards) and go out and quest.

    Wizard101 is a card deck building game. Your spells are your cards and use one each round of battle. It is quit slow paced and may not fit your kids' Fortnite frenzy. But then again, maybe it would?

    Check it out and see what you think. I think it's $9.99/month for a subscription and they have special "family plans", or at least did when I played heavily 10 years ago. A couple of my Wizard101 friends used family plans :)

    - Al

    Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.
    - FARGIN_WAR


  • evilhumanevilhuman Member UncommonPosts: 55
    Hi all,

    I keep reading all comments so you know.

    they're early teen,I am not sure a game like Wizard101 since I am looking for a game all four of us can play and enjoy and not them on their own.
    ESO sounds interesting since it has dungeons catered for 4 players. (there is also a "standalone" expansion coming out in May?)

    NWN I have not played but it seems interesting from what you tell, would be able to handle endgame quests/dungeons on our own?
    EQ2 was a huge lvl grind back when I played it at launch.



    However! I am an old CoH/CoV player with hundreds of hours invested- what's this about new server? official?  :o





    thank you all!
  • AAAMEOWAAAMEOW Member RarePosts: 1,600
    AAAMEOW said:
    ALL of them.
    Infact their so easy, if you popped a new born baby make him/her an account.  

    As long as they can see, they can play.
    I bet you never beat any hard raid, hard dungeon, or become high rank in in any mmorpg.

    I'm not saying anything wrong with your comment.  But it is a big denial most mmorpg actually offer hard challenge if people actually want hard challenge.
    So your saying you have to play 99% of a game in "baby mode" to satisfy your 1% your talking about. 

    Where's the enjoyment ?


    It's like being in a 28 mile marathon with a sports car, getting out and running the last 100 yards :)

    Some of you people are out of your mind how you think.
    How do you think people have thousands of game time when it only take you 50 hours to reach max level?

    You literally can spend 10-20 hours every week just doing dungeon/raids/pvp.

    I'm not saying there are anything wrong with your comment.  I get mmorpg are very time consuming.  People don't want to waste time doing what they don't want to do.  And usually leveling a character in an mmorpg isn't challenging.

  • AlBQuirkyAlBQuirky Member EpicPosts: 7,432
    evilhuman said:
    Hi all,

    I keep reading all comments so you know.

    they're early teen,I am not sure a game like Wizard101 since I am looking for a game all four of us can play and enjoy and not them on their own.
    ESO sounds interesting since it has dungeons catered for 4 players. (there is also a "standalone" expansion coming out in May?)

    NWN I have not played but it seems interesting from what you tell, would be able to handle endgame quests/dungeons on our own?
    EQ2 was a huge lvl grind back when I played it at launch.



    However! I am an old CoH/CoV player with hundreds of hours invested- what's this about new server? official?  :o





    thank you all!
    I'm 57 and enjoy Wizard101 in spurts. But it is very geared towards children.

    As for City of Heroes, there are a few private servers, nothing "official." The story went that some person(s) had decoded the server code and was running a private, invite only server for about 6 years. Someone leaked that server out and all heck happened. They made their cracked server code available and a handful of private servers appeared.

    Here is a link to the thread here that follows that a bit:
    https://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/480773/fully-functioning-city-of-heroes-code-released-public-server-now-open/p1

    Here is a "CoH server list" on MassivelyOP:
    https://massivelyop.com/2019/05/21/city-of-heroes-reddit-shards-homecoming-multibox/

    Good luck :)
    evilhuman

    - Al

    Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.
    - FARGIN_WAR


  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,882
    edited April 2020
    evilhuman said:

    they're early teen,I am not sure a game like Wizard101 since I am looking for a game all four of us can play and enjoy and not them on their own.
    ESO sounds interesting since it has dungeons catered for 4 players. (there is also a "standalone" expansion coming out in May?)
    Wizard 101 is good enough game for adults for more casual play. It's an actual game, not just a child's playground.

    The issue with Wizard 101 is that if you have something like 15 year old boys they're unlikely to want a slow-paced game where you get quests to do stuff like save fairies in Unicorn Way. Adults are usually ok with it since there's a good enough game under that childish stuff, especially many older females seem to like it for whatever reason.
    AlBQuirky
     
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    If they're Fornite players you shoud probably stay away from the old-fashioned tab-target, 10s of skills on many hotbars type of MMORPG. They'd find that a tough and boring transition.

    I would recommend either ESO or GW2 since they're much more modern with a limited number of skills to manage and are more action-combat oriented with active blocking and dodging.

    Of those two ESO is more open class friendly. They still have classes but most of the skills in the game you can learn and use are available to all classes. GW2 is class-locked.
    evilhuman[Deleted User]AlBQuirky
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  • evilhumanevilhuman Member UncommonPosts: 55
    Iselin said:
    stay away from the old-fashioned tab-target, 10s of skills on many hotbars type of MMORPG. They'd find that a tough and boring transition.



    I think you make a very valid point here, thanks!
  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,882
    edited April 2020
    evilhuman said:
    Iselin said:
    stay away from the old-fashioned tab-target, 10s of skills on many hotbars type of MMORPG. They'd find that a tough and boring transition.



    I think you make a very valid point here, thanks!
    I think transition to any MMO would be very tough for them. You'll just have to treat it as trying to introduce them to a different type of game, or abandon alltogether.

    Unless you want to try something like Destiny or Division those would have gameplay somewhat similar to Fortnite yet MMO elements. ESO, GW2 and other actiony MMOs are too far away from Fortnite.
     
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