In Pictures: 20 MMOGs You Should Explore, Part 2

[Snipergod87]

I am disappointed they didn't include Earth and Beyond . Which was killed off by EA, and now being run by fans legaly.

 

[casperstouch]

Included in the Pics was Aion by NcSoft, but skipped was Guild Wars, by NcSoft. Which has no monthly fee, and allows to still gain experience with party members at all levels. This makes it a far better game.

 

[zak_mckraken]

[citation][nom]casperstouch[/nom]Included in the Pics was Aion by NcSoft, but skipped was Guild Wars, by NcSoft. Which has no monthly fee, and allows to still gain experience with party members at all levels. This makes it a far better game.[/citation]
This is part 2. Go read part 1.

 

[jaghpanther]

Ah, Ultima. I still have the collection.

 

[Darkerson]

Anybody addicted to this genre or wanting to try for free, and I really do mean free, should try out Shards of Dalaya. This is based on EQ but is incredibly challenging and massively addictive. www.shardsofdalaya.com for the MMOG of you rlife.

I played that one back when they were still called Winter's Roar. Its pretty neat customized version of EverQuest 1 with a lot of the annoying things removed. Dammit, now I think I need to go dig up my old copy of EQ trilogy and reinstall it so I can get on SoD. At least until beta 5 starts up for Rift next week.

 

[Nimmist]

[citation][nom]bens1[/nom]Personally I'm not a big fan of MMORPG's, but I would be interested in a MMORTS. Does such a thing exist?ThanksBen[/citation]
End of Nations is in the works
http://www.endofnations.com/en/

 

[ill_take_two]

I've played many of the titles mentioned here Everquest, WoW, Neverwinter Nights and Aion just to name a few. I must say no game has kept me more interested than Guild Wars. I hate monthly fees b/c i tend to like to take monthly breaks from time to time. I know it doesn't pertain to this roundup but i'd just like to mention although its not out yet and Anet has a hush about the release date. I think this will be (one of) the best MMORPG's of all time. Check out some of the video's and see for yourselves. http://www.guildwars2.com/en/

 

[snoogins]

I don't mind playing mmorpgs, but the price tag on most of them just keeps me away.

To the people that say a fps only lasts 3 months, I'd have to disagree.

 

[lazymangaka]

I like Free-to-play games in theory. The idea of being freed from the restrictive subscription fees of "The Man" sounds like a great one. Microtransactions, however, seem to always end up fleecing you for more than a subscription ever would if you truly want to enjoy everything the game has to offer.

I'll be sticking with subscriptions for the time being.

 

[lazymangaka]

[citation][nom]snoogins[/nom]To the people that say a fps only lasts 3 months, I'd have to disagree.[/citation]

I'm curious what you're still doing in a FPS after 3 months. By that point you've certainly beaten the single player component and played every type of multiplayer match on every available map. Short of playing the game in a truly competitive fashion--which you may well be doing--I would lose interest long before the 90 day mark simply due to lack of content.

 

[popatim]

As for Ultima being the first graphical MMORPG I beleive Legends of Kesmai has that claim to fame; which still can be played and for free. Snafu if you're out there landsofkes.com has been waiting for you to play again.

 

[snoogins]

[citation][nom]lazymangaka[/nom]I'm curious what you're still doing in a FPS after 3 months. By that point you've certainly beaten the single player component and played every type of multiplayer match on every available map. Short of playing the game in a truly competitive fashion--which you may well be doing--I would lose interest long before the 90 day mark simply due to lack of content.[/citation]

To be honest I normally don't even play the single player portion of most fps games. I enjoy the social aspect of playing with other people, employing different strategies, excelling at the game as a whole.

I guess if you buy a fps, play the single player once, then play the multiplayer alone - then you have a point. However, if you embrace the social aspect that is a part of the games, the re-playability is pretty much endless.

 

[Rahbot]

Try Rappelz, DDO, Age of Conan, there is quite a few others that are free to play. I play Rappelz like a everyday for 8 hours aday. Can you say I have no life. Well you could say I have no life.

 

[AstroTC]

Im looking forward to Dragon Nest...I think its gonna be a really good game if a proper company gets hold of it.

 

[edilee]

[citation][nom]rpgplayer[/nom]best pvp content has to be DAoC[/citation]

This...best MMO period if you ask me...STILL.

 

[killerclick]

Why are publishers pushing these games so hard? Now they are developing KOTOR MMO so instead of a gripping, dramatic story full of twists and turns I get to play with characters like Left Nutz and Right Nutz who are l33t and will pwn my a55. Look, I play computer games because I don't like to play with people, same reason I read books and watch movies (more interesting than people). If... if I play multiplayer games, it's either some tactical shooter where you get the benefits of intelligence without the drawbacks of personality or Second Life where you don't really 'play' anything.

I hate this MMO trend, instead of concentrating on AI and storylines, the developers want to push me back to the playground with all those idiots all over again. Enough!

 

[aznguy0028]

[citation][nom]kathiki[/nom]i would say you still have not experienced the fun of pvp against other players while having to use more than 30 skills at your disposal, nor the fact that you also need to have played the other classes and subclasses to be able to know their potential, their weaknesses and their strong points...aren't all games repetitive after some time? are most games of the fps genre a 20-30 hours of experience for 60-80 euros? isn't that a major rip-off?[/citation]
I agree with some stuff you said. PvP-ing in MMO's are super fun. I once had a character on Vaizel in Aion that was very feared in PvP, it's nothing more than a rush when you see another player coming at you, only having seconds to react on which skills to use to fight against their class!

However, I don't agree on your FPS views. Battlefield Bad Company 2 is a great example of a great FPS game that did it right. I logged over 250 hours on that game so far, with multiple free map packs and great server populations and game modes, it does it all. But you are right with other shooters though. Crysis, COD series, I've played them all, and it's only really worth 20-30 hours and then you're bored and done.

 

[silverblue]

CounterStrike is an example of an FPS (albeit a mod) that people devote a lot of time to. Trust me... the guy who hacked my Steam account logged 180 hours before Steam grabbed it back for me (and no, I still have no idea how they got hold of it in the first place).

 

[Marcus52]

[citation][nom]helldog3105[/nom]"By May 2007, SOE had squired all assets from Sigil and retained over half of the Vanguard development team."I love how you put this. What Sony supposedly did was this. They called a meeting and told the development team to come out to the parking lot. When everyone was there, they told half of the team they were fired and to go home. From what I understand they weren't even allowed back into the build to take their personal effects, they were mailed to them. Yeah, I want to support a game that treats it's developers that bad. Gotta love big companies.[/citation]

I have very little respect for the opinion of someone that judges a company based on what that person acknowledges is rumor, and bashes all big companies in the process.

 

[Marcus52]

[citation][nom]snoogins[/nom]I don't mind playing mmorpgs, but the price tag on most of them just keeps me away.To the people that say a fps only lasts 3 months, I'd have to disagree.[/citation]

A FPS lasts me about a week.

I guess I'm unusual, but I play them through once, and have no desire to play them again. I have no desire to go multiplayer with a FPS either. Compared to the price of the same amount of movie time it's still cheap and I don't mind paying it, but calling MMOGs expensive makes no sense. We are talking, 2 movie tickets (no popcorn or anything else), or 2 meals at a fast-food joint. Make yourself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich twice a month instead of going to Whataburger and you'll pay for that WoW subscription.

The problem, for most people, is not the cost, but that most people don't manage their money beyond paying their bills just enough on time to prevent from getting in to trouble. I've done it both ways, folks, and let me tell you it will give you more of a sense of financial freedom to budget your money, even for the little things, than go along not realizing how much you spend on sodas, snacks, and convenience food. I'll never forget the first time I kept record of my expenses, and saw how much money I was spending on beer. When you realize you could make payments on a new car for what you are spending on beer (and still drink a few beers in a month, too), then it puts things in to perspective.

We all want our instant-gratification goodies, and there's nothing wrong with that, and some people really can't afford $15/month for a game, but I doubt that few of the people that read Tomshardware fit in that category. Manage your money, plan your life, it will help you tremendously.

 

[silverblue]

One problem with most MMOs is that you're still paying a full sub even if you can't play too often. I suppose that's the price you must pay, pun not intended of course.

 

[fencer55]

The true enjoyment in playing an MMORPG can only be had if you get into a good clan, guild, or corporation. Using a headset with a microphone to speak with your clanmates really makes the game much more fun. Some MMORPGs have steep learning curves, Eve Online is almost impossible to learn without experienced players to guide you from the start. When you consider the amount of entertainment you get for $15 a month, it really isn't that expensive.

This list has some real stinkers on it and fails to mention some of the best MMORPGs out there. I've played or beta tested over 20 MMORPGs in the past 12 years, and I loved Dark Age of Camelot, Jumpgate, City of Heroes, Eve, and I'm currently playing Fallen Earth, an awesome sci-fi game with motorcycles and dune buggies for transportation. Anyway, you can get a free trial for most MMO's so try one, but definitely try to join a guild to maximize your enjoyment.

 

[jerreece]

Asheron's Call! Wow cool that it made your list, let alone #2 on the list. I played that game for a LONG time right after it came out. Left it for years, and played it again for a while. Actually met my wife while playing that game. Interesting story there.

Unfortunately, last I played that game you could get to Level 900, and half the players in the game used bot programs to play for them so they could go to work.

 

[Guest]

lol I used to bot in Asheron's Call. It was natural for people to bot if they wanted to compete on the Darktide Server.

AC's pvp was pretty fun. Battle Mage that can fastcast and kill you in 2 shots in like less than 10 seconds is a hilarious concept.

 

[jalek]

SOE's focusing on stability NOW for Vanguard? It was insane in beta watching leaves render on trees in the distance one at a time, then avoiding rocks on slopes so you didn't fall in and get stuck. It launched like that, and with the lack of state saves, the several-hour rollbacks if a client crashed drove many away.

Gotta give them credit for not abandoning it I suppose.