By Jim Rossignol on June 16th, 2008 at 1:54 pm.
Regular readers will probably have figured out that there’s quite a bit of Killing Beasts going on behind the scenes here at RPS, even if we’re not heavy MMO heads. I’m currently juggling Age Of Conan with my usual Eve habits, and worrying about what will happen if Jumpgate Evolution is any good. Alec is probably considering playing World Of Warcraft for another three years, and Kieron has been playing a free Korean MMO, which I’ll be joining him so that we can talk about it a bit later in the week. It’s only John that isn’t virtual’d up at the moment. He’s probably waiting for his reprise as the world’s greatest healer class player in Champions Online, or something.
But that’s enough about us. We want to know about you. Are you playing an MMO? If so which one? (Is anyone playing Horizons, pictured above? Because that frog thing looks ace, even though the game was definitely terrible.) Are you in a guild? Do play endgame stuff? And most importantly of all: which upcoming MMO are you most excited about, and why? (We need to know, so we can pester the right people, you see…)
Speak your brains!
16/06/2008 at 14:01 MCHN says:
No.
02/02/2012 at 16:27 Alexander Norris says:
No.
16/06/2008 at 14:04 The Sombrero Kid says:
i’m playing the mmo where i goto work every day and grind from 9 till 5 and then go home and sleep, it’s rubbish and i’d rather play wow but i can’t afford the money or the time + my girlfriend wont let me :(
16/06/2008 at 14:05 davidAlpha says:
game: EVE online
Guild: Firmus Ixion alliance – FIX
Alliance warfare / 0.0 warfare can be seen as “endgame” stuff but I think its more than that.
Most excited about: eh, … is the dwarven fortress mmorpg coming along anytime soon? No? Ok ill stick with EVE then.
16/06/2008 at 14:05 Jim Rossignol says:
The Real Life MMO is too expensive, and bugged.
16/06/2008 at 14:07 Ian says:
Well I’m only about 6 weeks into the first MMO I’ve ever played, World of Warcraft. I’ve yet to touch Burning Crusade and obviously Wrath of the Lich King is coming too so I should be getting my MMO fix for ages yet.
Especially given that with two mid-level characters (a level 40 Dwarf and level 37 Orc) I’m still still tempted to start more so I can try different classes for different gameplay, even if much of the grinding will be the same.
16/06/2008 at 14:07 surprise says:
No, not playing any at the moment.
The problem is that more often than not the CORE-Mechanism is just unfun. The seperation to the character to apparent.
I hope that APB with its racing and gunning can pull me in.
And maybe I should give Tabula Rasa another try.
16/06/2008 at 14:08 fluffy bunny says:
Not unless you count Guild Wars, which I am soon going to uninstall anyway.
16/06/2008 at 14:09 Joe says:
No. I hate the idea that I have to pay such obscene amounts for a game. I’ve spent hundreds of hours with Baldur’s Gate II and picked that up for £25 and MMOs can’t rival that.
It is a lose-lose situation for the consumer. Example:
I buy Age of Conan for £30 and get a month free. I either enjoy it and oblige myself into paying £10 (or whatever) monthly in order to carry on enjoying something I’ve already bought (coming to £120 a year, which is enough for me to buy a new GPU and enjoy games that would actually use the damn thing instead of looking like arse).
OR
I hate it, don’t renew my subscription and end up paying £30 for a game I can ONLY play for a month. Great.
It’s horrible because it divides me. What happens if I buy a game for £30, play it and don’t enjoy but then later decide to come back to it? By this point the game world is dead more often than not as the life expectancy of MMOs is so short.
Or what if I like it, but then cancel for a bit and then decide to come back at a later date? I’ve lost all my progress and am therefore forced to play constantly or not at all.
Personally, I’ll stick with subscription free games that I can pick up, play, put down and pick up again as and when I wish.
On the other hand, Twilight Heroes is fun, free and indie:
http://www.twilightheroes.com/index2.php
16/06/2008 at 14:11 Dan says:
I’m still addicted to WoW. Have been for almost 3 years now. I’m leader of a raiding guild, raiding 3 evenings per week, and are currently half way through Black Temple and have cleared Mount Hyjal. That said, it is getting a little boring these days, and I never log on unless it’s a raid night. The grind really is a grind now.
I’ve been playing a bit of LotRO too when I get the chance. Slowly leveling a character and enjoying the story, especially how they’ve weaved the player’s journey with the Fellowship’s. I don’t think I’ll go for the end game there, though, one guild is more than enough work.
As for future stuff, I’m obviously really interested in what’s coming in the Lich King expansion for WoW. I’m also looking forward to seeing what BioWare can do with their MMO, and what Turbine are going to do with their wads of cash from Time Warner (although it better not be the rumoured Harry Potter MMO, which sounds horrible).
16/06/2008 at 14:12 Radiant says:
Where do people find the time?
16/06/2008 at 14:13 Butler` says:
Currently AoC whilst I (and the rest of the world) waits for WOTLK.
You can’t call yourself a PC gamer and not play an MMO these days :\
16/06/2008 at 14:20 nakke says:
Nope, I want to have time to IRC and play other games too.
16/06/2008 at 14:20 Fat says:
I play WoW again, after getting to 56 in AoC and being disappointed in the lack of content at that point of the game.
@Joe, that’s not really the case. MMOs live on for many years, look… sure some fluctuate, but WoW is almost 4 years old now, Lineage 2 is over 4 (by my count), SWG… i don’t even know, but OLD. Some older ones are around and probably have bigger sub numbers than the latter 2, but i L2 was my first MMO so i haven’t played many that were pre-2004.
Sure i can see your point though, i have played Jagged Alliance 2 on and off for 9 years now. It was probably the only game i played at all for the first 2 years i had it i think. Cost me about £25.
But there is a lot more of a feel of progression (imo) in an MMO, even if it realy just a disguised treadmill effect. The social aspect (so many people to play with/fight) adds a lot for me. I value fighting people over AI, which is why i like PvP in any MMO i play.
But yeah, AoC… i bought it after playing the Closed Beta for quite a few months, had tested many classes and thought it was a pretty good release client. Sadly i never got to 55 in beta, so when i did in release i discovered there was f**k all quests. :/ … so yeah, £25 for 2 weeks play. Though there’s always the option of coming back later, which i may.
WoW on the other hand has kept me busy in 90% of my gaming time for the past 3.5 years. I compare this to other games (especially offliners) which cost upwards fo £30 in some cases and i complete in a week or 2 anyway. This is one of the reasons i got rid of my 360, i didn’t find much replayability in the games i kept getting for it and thought the online Live stuff was pretty cack… totally not worth the extra money you have to pay to even play a game you already bought, online.
Anyway, short version : I see your point, but if you’re into the genre and have kept up to date with the progress of the MMO you’re looking at, then you generally won’t be disappointed when it’s released. AoC aside of course. :P
Edit – Sorry for ramble/walls of text.
16/06/2008 at 14:25 Alarik says:
You can’t call yourself a PC gamer and not play an MMO these days :\
Why not?
I don’t play any and don’t plan to play any.
16/06/2008 at 14:26 Nick says:
Still play WoW on occasion. It’s incredibly dull, now, but then I’ve poured hundreds upon hundreds of hours into it, so I can’t really fault it.
Looking forward to APB!
16/06/2008 at 14:28 JoeFreakinRussell says:
Nope, don’t play any really. If I did, I would go for the ones that look the most fun – City of Heroes/Villains would be the best bet for me. I’ve contemplated buying it many a time, but I could really do with a free trial before I take the plunge. Unfortunately, due to the age of the thing, there doesn’t seem to be any trials around. Anybody please correct me if I’m wrong!
16/06/2008 at 14:30 Jim Rossignol says:
Everyone who isn’t playing an MMO should play MMORPG Tycoon.
16/06/2008 at 14:31 Ian says:
@Radiant: I can’t speak for the people who play the insane amounts of hours, but it’s surprising how fast you can level in WoW just playing an hour or two a day.
16/06/2008 at 14:31 Strelok says:
so why play MMOS?
aren’t we hardcore enough to do with the real thing – non-graphical interfaced chats like forums and comment threads?
16/06/2008 at 14:34 Ben Abraham says:
I played wow for about 18 months until I stopped to write this little thing called a thesis. Plus I couldn’t seem to find an even half-decent guild, so the timing seemed right to give it up.
That was about 2 months ago, and I’ve been clean ever since. My name is Ben, and I’m a wow-aholic. =P
(Not really but I couldn’t resist making the joke.)
@JR – MMORPG Tycoon is excellent stuff.
16/06/2008 at 14:35 roryok says:
Nope. Hardly get time to game, and when I do it’s to escape the world, not to go meet everyone in it again in elf form.
That said, I read something last year about a zombie MMO, where all the players were survivors and zombies were AI controlled. THAT would be something I’d play.
So in closing, maybe I’ve just not so into the orcs and elves thing.
16/06/2008 at 14:41 ape says:
I briefly played Everquest for a little under an hour several years ago. I haven’t played any since and do not plan to. With a myriad of games I should play and the fact that I never finnish them I really don’t see how it could spend time killing virtual monsters and talking in abreviations for hours on end. Besides I played Bioshock and have had my fill of pointless grinding letdowns.
Edit: EVE looks great by the way.
16/06/2008 at 14:44 Gap Gen says:
Last MMO I played was Planetarion (NationStates doesn’t really count). It was pretty good fun, even when my galaxy erupted into a Germans-vs-Americans civil war and I got to be galactic commander by virtue of being neither American nor German.
16/06/2008 at 14:45 18Rabbit says:
Since EQ came out I was always in an MMO of some sort but over the last few years that has changed. Maybe I’m just getting old. I would like to try AoC (which I have to upgrade my PC for, but it’s past time for that anyway) but I couldn’t care less about WoW. I think I got to level 47 or so in WoW and it just never really grabbed me.
I think you guys should largely ignore MMO’s here even though they are PC games. There are hundreds of other sites that cover MMO’s to death. I come here to learn about upcoming PC titles and great PC games that I might have missed and I think that’s what you guys should stick with because you do a great job of it.
16/06/2008 at 14:48 ape says:
I second that 18Rabbit.
16/06/2008 at 14:49 MisterBritish says:
Nope. Looking forward to The Secret World though, since that nice Mr Tornquist is behind it.
Actually slightly dissapointed that it’s an MMO and not a quality singleplayer adventure. Still, contemporary Lovecraftian setting and ARG stuff in and outside the game should be fun.
16/06/2008 at 14:52 Albides says:
Nope. I don’t do MMOs. I’m not a very social person, and when the social element is removed from an online game, you don’t usually have much left other than grinding and walking around and stuff, which isn’t cool.
Also, I am a cheapskate and would not pay monthly for the continued enjoyment of a game, no matter how good. Unless it gives me sex.
I’m actually quite shocked at the low-level of MMO players in this thread. I thought I was some sort of deviant gamer for not playing them.
16/06/2008 at 14:53 Mooey Poo says:
MMNO
16/06/2008 at 14:54 PetitPiteux says:
Playing eve for a couple of month, about to begin pvp (perhaps in FW if my current corp is not up to it), waiting for World of Darkness (yeah, i am not in a hurry), and curious about the upcoming surnatural one from funcom…
About subscription: it was bothering me before i got into eve, now its ok ^^… There really is a lot of difference from single player (which i still love) and mmo, and having a stable source of income is kind of a necessity for the company. You just have to choose wisely who you give your money to (aka for eve: free client and expansion and a company which you know is not a major there for the money).
And even $30 for a month is not that bad given the number of single player game you finish in a week end and never touch again
16/06/2008 at 14:54 Mooey Poo says:
I hate games that don’t have a solid conclusion. I well-plotted, tight storytelling where you feel like you’re achieving something, usually against aliens and with a gun. But at least you feel like you’re achieving something.
16/06/2008 at 14:56 Mike says:
I don’t have the time at the moment. I would love to play LOTOR though and may try it this summer when I have more free time.
16/06/2008 at 14:56 Jon says:
I’ve returned to Eve after taking a 3 month break to focus on Uni work + exams. I always intended to come back but especially now that Faction Warfare has come out I’m very happy to be back.
16/06/2008 at 15:02 Jonas says:
I dabbled in Guild Wars a few weeks ago, but other things happened and I kinda lost interest. Now I’ve decided to be excited about Jumpgate for some reason, so we’ll see if that’s any good.
16/06/2008 at 15:03 Sanir says:
I resubscribed to EVE about three months ago, after having played for three months a year ago.
Not sure I’m going to renew my subscription. I haven’t logged in in the past few weeks except to change skills. I mean, I like the game, but one of the common jokes about EVE is its slow pace. It doesn’t bother me, but I feel that I could be doing other things (playing other games) instead – so I cancel my sub. A year later I’m bored with every “normal” game again because they lack persistence. I don’t want the results of my efforts to disappear when I finish the game, damn it!
I’ve considered getting into WoW, but I had a Guild Wars stint that lasted about a week last October and I was coming up to an area where I should be at level 20, yet I had barely gotten to 16 – and I just didn’t feel like doing all the quests needed for the XP; they just felt terribly repetitive and boring. I guess I don’t like the fantasy theme.
16/06/2008 at 15:04 Saul says:
I played WoW once at a LAN for about four hours. That pretty much put me off the whole concept. I started playing single-player games while the other guys WoWed the night away.
16/06/2008 at 15:04 bowl of snakes says:
I’ve played EQ, WoW to raiding level and it just became do damn inconvenient to play a game I can’t pause! when friends visit, phones ring, dogs bark, trees grow, shit flies, you either have to be a douche bag to your real friends, or be a douche bag to your imaginary friends in some deep dark cave that are depending on your ass to keep going.
You have to voluntarily become a shut-in to progress in the end game. People in a nursing home have more vibrant social lives! but, yeah, if i ever end up alone in a nursing home, I might just pick up WoW again. Right now there are still places i want to go, people i want to see, sleep i need to get.
16/06/2008 at 15:05 matchday2 says:
Football Manager Live count as MMO? Because that’s the one I’m waiting to start on MMO’s.
16/06/2008 at 15:06 Man Raised By Puffins says:
Nope, none of the MMOGs on offer have grabbed me as yet. Subscription fees are probably the big turn-off, but the fact that sword and sorcery settings don’t do much for me probably doesn’t help either.
That said, I’m interested in Bioware’s effort and The Secret World (Funcom’s next MMOG) has piqued my interest.
16/06/2008 at 15:07 Sam says:
Having quit Wow, i get my mmo kicks from a dabble in LOTRO being such a fan of the lore. I gave conan a try but i’m though with that now(may go back when they’ve finished it). I wish I hadn’t randomly come across this so i’m actually toying with the idea of giving Vanguard another shot after loving the promise of the beta.
16/06/2008 at 15:07 Andthensobecause says:
Was off WoW for 6 months. Resubscribed for 1. Got some purples. Realized if I wanted to play the game in any kind of progress oriented capacity, I would have to join a guild and start raiding. Couldn’t commit to 15-20hrs of week of set game time when it’s so pretty outside. Unsubscribed.
Waiting on Love.
16/06/2008 at 15:09 Ian says:
“But at least you feel like you’re achieving something.”
That’s the one thing that I still don’t like about WoW (and I suspect MMOs as a whole) even though I’m very much enjoying it.
Me: Yeah, so I just completed this quest where I had to kill a giant! I almost died when I tried it alone so I waited for my friend and we just about did it!
Other person: Haha, yeah, I remember when I first did that.
It helps to pretend you really are the first person to have played through some of the stuff, rather than the eight millionth person to have saved/revived a character or killed/stopped a hideous world-ruining beastie.
But then, similar can happen with single-player games. “Yeah I just ______ “(insert some awesome, cleverly-played way of killing something or doing an objective.)
Friend: “Really? I just shot it with my pistol.”
“…….”
16/06/2008 at 15:10 Kelduum says:
Eve Online.
I’m the Diplomatic Director for Eve University (Ivy League Alliance), so I’m one of the few who get to post on the Official-Shouty-Forums and annoy our enemies with reasoned arguments and better understanding of the mechanics than them.
For the last 4 years, we’ve trained the new people, and helped them on their way out into Lawless 0.0, Industry friendly Empire space, and now the new Faction Warfare stuff (which is starting to look rather fun), but the 1,000 active Corp members make Eve more of a social thing than anything else.
I think its safe to say that Eve isn’t like the typical MMO – with around 40,000 people playing it at once, in the same 5,000 or so star-systems, theres a good chance that anything you do (or don’t do) will have a reaction of some kind, even if its not immediately obvious.
I’ve played Anarchy Online, PlanetSide, City Of Heroes, Starwars Galaxies, WoW, Age of Conan and god knows what else, but not one of them (excluding PlanetSide until they broke it) has managed to keep me this interested.
I’m coming up to my 2nd year in Eve, and I’m still finding new stuff.
16/06/2008 at 15:10 Citizen Parker says:
I’ve never much cared for MMOs (City of Heroes flirtations aside), but there’s so many now in development I’m looking forward to:
- The Agency
- Champions Online
- CCP World of Darkness (I don’t care for the license – I’ve just heard so many great things about EVE but find myself unable to comprehend it)
16/06/2008 at 15:11 Archduke Goose says:
I play WoW and Eve, currently WoW more than eve, though mainly so I can actually -get- to outland and not be still sitting in the 0-60 areas when Wrath comes out. I don’t really have a preference, though I did drift away from WoW a bit when it got too repetitive, but my penchant for starting 12 characters almost simultaneously didn’t really help with that since there are only so many starting areas. I don’t really bother with PvP and haven’t got to the end-game to have an opinion around its content, but I think I’ll probably drift away from the game once I’ve maxed out levels on the characters I want to, because raids sound a bit too hectic for me.
As for Eve, I like it a lot, but the occasionally outright hostile community can be a bit much, and I’ve suffered because of its ‘learning cliff’ because asking for any advice on how to actually equip your ship out of the thousands of items available usually just warrants ‘lol l2p’ as a response. How are you supposed to know whether you want a shield relay over a passive resist buff over a regenerator? Also quite miffed to see that I hadn’t grinded enough faction rep to even participate in the expansion content yet, which stings like it stung to find out I couldn’t get my troll to ride a chocobo because silvermoon didn’t like me enough :( That said, I far prefer the sense of scale in Eve, and I really like that you can fly the bigger ships, and oddly in contrast to WoW, one of the reasons I wanted to play Eve in the first place (except the wholly natural urge to charge ones lasers and pew pew all over the enemy) was to get involved in the 0.0 pvp warfare and scheming.
16/06/2008 at 15:17 cyrenic says:
Not playing any MMO’s right now. (I quit WoW about a year ago after I realized they weren’t going anywhere with the new expansions.)
Greatly looking forward to Warhammer Online.
16/06/2008 at 15:17 cliffski says:
all MMos have become tedious cynical level grinds.
I don’t see the appeal of MMos where the only thing that matters is ‘leveling up’.
When people pay other people to play the game for them, you know something is wrong.
16/06/2008 at 15:19 Matthew Gallant says:
Played FFXI for two years, and got way too into it. HNMs, Dynamis, Sea, Sky, all of it. It ended up eating away way too much of my life, said good riddance and quit cold.
I doubt I’d ever play another MMORPG, but if I ever succumb to a new one I’d at least have the good sense to take it very casually.
16/06/2008 at 15:21 Matt says:
Another Evewhore here, for which I’m blaming you and your coverage of Trinity last year, JR.
I played a bit of GW back in the day but never got into it ‘properly’ – joining a guild of strangers and PvPing etc. – it was closer to just sitting on my sofa with friends and playing co-op. In that sense, EVE is the first MMO I’ve really played, possibly because I find the general crowd more likeable. Yes, I’m a snob.
MMOs are more enjoyable because of the sense of achievement – you’re achieving where others can see it, not just in your own sealed off world – but that’s the same reason why they suck up so much time. I sometimes find it difficult to relax in front of my 360 when I think of all the ISK I could be making instead…
bowl of snakes: agreed. It’s always annoying to have to back away from a PvP fight to answer the phone, and then I hate myself for feeling annoyed at real friends for interrupting a game.
16/06/2008 at 15:23 Matt N says:
No. I’ve never really found them appealing, too much grinding, not enough… everything else. I played WoW for a couple of months and EVE for a 2 week trial, but neither really hooked me.
16/06/2008 at 15:25 Sal says:
Playing:
Real Life…sucks
DDO…no guild
AoC….No guild
16/06/2008 at 15:27 Seniath says:
Currently playing EVE (and we all know whose fault that is), though imagine I’ll lapse back into WoW once WotLK comes out.
I was a hardcore raider back when I played WoW, a long-term member of the second best Horde guild on our server. At the time, we were up to Kael’thas, but I was just getting so bored by the whole raiding affair. That, alongside mounting workload led me to call it a day. Outside of raiding, the game held nothing for me, so it was easier to just quit than stop with the hardcore stuff.
16/06/2008 at 15:27 Lars Balker Rasmussen says:
No, I haven’t touched MMO’s since they were called MUDs…
(ah, how little has changed). Not that I don’t want to, but a man gotta know his limits.
What I worry about is a true war FPS-MMO, of cod4/bf2 graphical fidelity (and arcade-ish gameplay) with proper command structures, consequences for insubordination (we ARE taking that hill, corporal!), massive battlefields, complex missions and long campaigns. Then I may never emerge again…
16/06/2008 at 15:30 GibletHead2000 says:
The only MMO I’ve ever enjoyed (unless Kingdom of Loathing counts) was ATITD, and although I think it’s probably still a lot of fun (if you like that sort of thing) the ancient tech probably puts most people off.
I’d still be playing it, but I had to decide which two things I wanted to keep, in terms of Family, Work, or MMO. I don’t think it’s possible to make time for all three. I have enough trouble finding time to play Mass Effect atm.
A lot of my friends play Guild Wars though.
16/06/2008 at 15:31 Par Winzell says:
The next WoW expansion does have one substantial qualitative improvement over previous ones (and most MMO’s): all 25-man raiding content will be available, in parallel, as 10-man raiding content. This may sound like an esoteric point, but the logistical requirements in doing 10-man raiding are vastly easier to fill than 25-man, and the social dynamics of the guild can be similarly different.
So, for those many of us who play WoW more as a place to hang out with a bunch of good friends and less as a fiercely challenging gaming experience, this is very good news.
I try most big MMOs in their beta phase. So far nothing has much grabbed me since WoW, and before then I was one of the three people who played & loved Earth and Beyond.
I’m a shallow person however, and sooner or later massive amounts of bottled content & sentimentally rendered graphics will lure me away. I will give Warhammer a go for sure, but my guess is it’s WoW for another year at least.
16/06/2008 at 15:33 Caiman says:
I absolutely loved WoW when I first discovered it, and that addiction lasted for ages even though I only played it for an hour or two a day (after the initial 18-hour long day splurges while on vacation!). Got a Warrior to level 41, and a Warlock to 70, and then suddenly lost all interest.
Played EVE for the week-long trial. Loved it, but couldn’t find the time to continue.
Played Pirates of the Burning Sea for several weeks, got my toon to level 42, but then the server populations dropped off and I lost interest. Since the merge things have improved but the spark had gone, great game though.
So yes, I generally really enjoy MMOs, mostly for the exploration factor. WoW was especially good for this. But alas these days I just don’t have enough time.
16/06/2008 at 15:39 Eric says:
My wife and I have been playing Guild Wars together for almost a year. We’ve enjoyed playing co-op console (Champions: Return to Arms) and PC games (Dungeon Siege II, Sacred Gold), but wanted to play a game with a larger area to explore and more goodies. It makes a big difference that there is no monthly subscription. We can play when we like and skip a week or two to play a new game without feeling like we’re wasting a subscription. Also, on GW we can just go adventuring on our own with henchmen the same as we did on non-MMO games without having to interact with immature and/or power gamers. We like smucking monsters and gathering goodies, but it’s also a bit of virtual tourism. No interest at all in PvP which I think is what many would associate with Guild Wars.
16/06/2008 at 15:41 Meat Circus says:
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEVE
I blame Rossignol. For all things.
16/06/2008 at 15:43 Turin Turambar says:
I am playing right now Mass Effect, Grid, ET: Quake Wars and with Thief 3 and AC waiting.
So no MMOs.
16/06/2008 at 15:43 iain says:
I started with wow which I believe is still the benchmark for what is currently the ‘mmo standard’, even through I believe its a stale standard.
I played both the original game and its expansion through to the level caps and spent some time in a serious guild, going through the motions, before quiting.
After a few years break I’ve just picked up Age of Conan to play with some mates and nothings really changed, the games mostly wow with some incomplete additions tacked on. and a great big collection of bugs.
The combat system started out really well but it’s starting to get old. The Shield system supposedly doesn’t work, but even if it did I wouldn’t bother using it as awkward as it is. And between the crashes, glitches, and downtime I’ve had my patience strained past interest.
I’m doubtful at this point if I’ll bother subscribing as I’m not seeing anything in the game that will keep me interested enough to pay any more cash.
The genre could be so much more interesting stripped of all the fat thats been made standard since wow.
16/06/2008 at 15:45 Iain says:
I’ve been playing WoW on and off pretty much since it came out. I’m currently being evil by getting some of my real-life friends to play it with me, so that I’ve got a good excuse to level around half a dozen alts. (my character list: 70 Druid, 61 Hunter, 40 Mage, 30 Priest, 29 Rogue, 15 Paladin – plus a few other sub-40 characters knocking about on opposite faction servers)
It’s not the only thing I play by any means (I haven’t touched WoW in a week because I’ve been mainlining Mass Effect instead), but over the course of those three years I’ve probably sunk in over 1000 hours, and I can’t see myself giving up any time soon. It’s a good crutch to fall back on whenever there’s bugger all else coming out worth playing.
I wouldn’t consider myself a hardcore player – I generally don’t have the time for raiding or clambering up the PvP ladder, but a dozen or so hours a week is not untypical. I haven’t really done a lot of the high end instances or raids, but I’m not that fussed. I get more of a kick out of exploring the game world and levelling characters than slavishly hunting for the best loot. I am a Guild Officer, but the guild I’m in (the splendidly named Hanging With Me Gnomies) is pretty casual-friendly.
I’m sticking with WoW for at least a couple of months beyond WotLK, if only to hit the new level cap and see the new content, but I wouldn’t say there are any other upcoming MMOs out there which excite me. With all the other stuff I like to play, I wouldn’t have the time for a second MMO, anyway.
16/06/2008 at 15:49 Wallace says:
EVE Online, for about three years now, where I’m helping to lead a small pvp corporation. The “endgame” 0.0 warfare just doesn’t interest me in its current form, so we mainly operate in empire space. The new factional warfare content means we are now in a constant state of war, and it’s bloody awesome.
Just started Age of Conan, but right now I’m mucking about with the various classes until I find something I’m comfortable with.
Looking forward to Warhammer: Age of Reckoning; mainly because of the prospect of leveling up through pvp/rvr actions, and there’s still that part of me that spent most of his early teens playing with the miniatures.
16/06/2008 at 15:51 Shon says:
I played City of Heroes since it was in Beta. I stopped playing last year due to getting a divorce. I missed it a lot till I dug through my old games and started playing them. Games like Fallout and Alpha Centauri reminded me of how fun it was to play a game designed with one player in mind. Instead of trying to create content that appeals to all sorts of gaming styles and desires, these games cater to one particular vision. I have been catching up on modern single player games and found this website because I was no longer playing a MMO.
Now I look back at my time playing City of Heroes and realize how time intensive it was. Even though it is one of the more casual MMO’s out there, it is still a drain of work to level up and gain new enhancements. I have more time for hobbies or games that are geared towards entertaining me rather than rewarding me for time invested.
16/06/2008 at 15:55 Ohle says:
No MMOs here. I can barely find enough time to play the single-player stuff I like.
16/06/2008 at 15:57 eoy says:
I play WoW in SK Gaming (sk-gaming.com), currently ranked as the best guild in the world in terms of PVE progression, being the first to kill Kil’jaeden. Sometimes this means playing wow for 16 hours a day.
I tried a bit of Conan but that didn’t impress me too much, I mean how can you take a game seriously where females attack slower than males – and thereby do less dps?
I’m looking foreward to WotLK and pretty much nothing else, I play for PVE and there’s very few games that offers it on the same level that WoW does. Maybe this “secret” upcoming Blizzard MMO will change things a bit :)
16/06/2008 at 15:59 SwiftRanger says:
No MMO’s atm for me, looking forward to Darkfall Online or PlanetSide 2 if both ever come out though.
Playing Mythos beta and looking forward to Guild Wars 2 too but those aren’t MMO’s of course.
16/06/2008 at 16:03 Rook says:
I love Guild Wars, although I don’t play it as much as I used to. But it’s pretty annoying that it gets really overlooked by many people despite selling over 5 million boxed copies.
It’s one of the few MMOs that people really ought to be copying (less dependancy on GMs, servers etc which means no subscription fee, play with friends from all over the world without having to worry about which server you’re on, low level cap means you’re never really playing catchup but lots of skills to collect for all the hardcore grinders, decent PvP organistaion and semi-decent storyline – nightfall and eye of the north, the others… not so much)
I’m really really interested to see what they come up with for Guild Wars 2, although slightly hesitant as well since they’re going for a more open world WoW model than the heavily instanced world that they have at the moment
16/06/2008 at 16:05 Urre says:
No time indeed. I’m also rather afraid of MMO’s, as I’m the kind of feeble-minded sucker those things are designed for, and wouldn’t like to realize 3 years later that most of my free time (or even non-free) has gone into something like that.
16/06/2008 at 16:06 Arnulf says:
Final Fantasy XI Online
This is my primary MMORPG.
Actually I started with PlanetSide. I had fantasies about piloting a New Conglomerate tank through the wilderness with the occasional standoff against representatives of the enemy factions. Well, it was a cool game. Didn’t quite work out in the end for me.
I also tried Ultima Online. I was a huge Ultima fan since U4. But UO showed me the harsh realities and atrocious pitfalls of a massive multiplayer game in its early incarnation. I was stuck for one hour in a staircase. So I gave up.
I ditched FFXI for almost three years in favour of WOW.
Also tried EVE for two months.
But in the end I returned to FFXI. It just feels right somehow.
16/06/2008 at 16:08 dan^ says:
I’m currently playing Guild Wars and the EVE Online trial.
My dad plays Horizons.
16/06/2008 at 16:14 Muzman says:
Don’t play any myself and don’t really plan to.
I’m interested in them but I sorta feel like I’ve missed the boat. (it’s a bit like an underground nightclub; there’s a tiny window between not enough people to really sustain itself and too many. By the time I’ve read enough about what it’s like in a given MMO and think there’s enough people playing for it to be interesting I generally feel the moment has passed. Probably silly to think so, but there it is.)
I used to play a lot of Quake 2 DM of various sorts back in the day. That took a lot of commitment and time to be any good at and get the most out of. I really can’t find that sort of time now, never mind justifying to myself that I pay for something that seems to require even more time and commitment (again, perhaps a false impression not true of every MMO, but there it is).
Ones that have piqued my interest over the years (to actually play that is, rather than general gaming nerdery) are Eve and perhaps A Tale in the Desert. They seemed more open and dynamic than the others.
16/06/2008 at 16:15 Raskolnikov says:
Currently I’m playing the Warhammer beta. I tried AoC, had a lot of fun for a week, but it quickly became dull and I cancelled my account.
Apart from Warhammer, I’m looking forward to Champions, hopefully it’ll have more of a lasting appeal than City of Heroes had, which was a lot of fun for a while.
16/06/2008 at 16:17 b3n says:
Coming up on two years of City of Heroes, and still enjoying it, what with the tweaks they keep throwing my way every so often. Created a new character yesterday, something I hadn’t done in some months, and felt that lovely thrill of combining powers and aesthetics and walking everywhere.
It takes me a while to participate in the group aspects of any MMO, as I want to have a certain facility with the game first and not make any glaring mistakes in public, as it were.
So while I quite cheerfully play in both a league and in various pick-up groups in CoH, I didn’t get there in Lord of the Rings Online. I enjoyed the game, the world and the look were lovely, and I particularly enjoyed the way the story felt more prevalent than it does in CoH. But there were aspects of the crafting system and communication channels that I didn’t get, and so I never got into the social modes before the trial month ran out. I plan on heading back once CoH eventually bleeds dry.
16/06/2008 at 16:22 Mr Pink says:
I’ve been in the market for a free MMO recently. I’ve signed up for the Mythos beta, but since it’s still closed I’m awaiting an invite. It’ll be interesting to hear whether this free Korean one you’re trying is any good…
16/06/2008 at 16:27 Ian says:
“Sometimes this means playing wow for 16 hours a day.”
So of a given day, you might spend two thirds of it doing something which leaves just a third for eating, sleeping, washing, communication with other human beings, etc.?
I don’t think I’ve ever played any game that much in one day.
16/06/2008 at 16:33 Beefeater says:
I play 2 MMOs: Eve online (Hi Kelduum! My character’s Tan Shek in Eve Uni. Nice Laughing Boy avatar by the way) and Age of Conan. Probably don’t put enough effort or time in to get the most out of either, but I enjoy dabbling for a bit and soaking up the atmosphere. On the other hand, I don’t commit enough time to the games for it to be worth joining any guild that isn’t fairly relaxed or really to get to know new people. So I guess it depends on what you’re looking for; a mild diversion or a hobby. I fall into the former category.
Answering the question a couple have asked about finding time: I work a full time city job and spend most of my free time with my wife or my friends. This still leaves on average 7-8 hours personal time over the course of each week, if you include weekends. That’s quite enough to play one game a week, even an MMO, and even make a little progress*.
Most anticipated: Warhammer Age of Reckoning. If only to see, assuming it’s not a total disaster zone, whether any of that success will trickle down to revive GW’s flagging profits.
*However since I have hopeless self-control I usually play several in any one week and end up mucking about in each for less time than a metal-gear solid cutscene, thus making no progress at all in any of them. This suits me fine.
16/06/2008 at 16:33 Andthensobecause says:
@Ian: “I don’t think I’ve ever played any game that much in one day”
You may not have ever lived.
16/06/2008 at 16:35 Pidesco says:
I played a MUD with a buddie’s character for a few minutes, once.
That’s it.
16/06/2008 at 16:40 TychoCelchuuu says:
Nah, I haven’t played an MMO since I realized that I was paying monthly not to have any fun in WoW.
16/06/2008 at 16:40 Raptornas says:
I’ve played WoW for quite a while but never got into it, at all despite trying to almost force it I just wasn’t having any fun. I also played quite abit of planetside on and off which was great fun until they introduced those ridiculous stompy robots which ruined everything.
But it was Eve that was my major vice and I’m contemplating re-embarking on a major eve expedition again, all depends on how bored I get this summer.
16/06/2008 at 16:49 Dogman says:
I played WoW with a bunch of friends but found it to be a massive timesink that seriously impedes my ability to get work done so I stopped. I would consider playing one if they radically changed the game design away from grinding and gear, perhaps into something like PC-created quests or had GMs constantly online creating new content (like on some Neverwinter Nights servers).
Also Planetside was incredibly fun for a while but I kind of forgot about it eventually.
16/06/2008 at 16:51 Valentin Galea says:
No, I’m playing Sillent Hill 2 on the PC:P
Death to MMO’s!
16/06/2008 at 16:52 Bursar says:
Let’s think
Played Planetside until the expansion, then pretty much lost interest.
Played Eve for over a year, was in the Xetic Alliance (who remembers that eh?) which got crushed then kind of gave up.
Played WoW for over 2 years. Still login occasionally but new job means I don’t have time for the end game content my guild is now doing. It was nice helping build a guild up from scratch though in that time.
Currently on the 30day trial of AoC with a couple of mates from work. Only mid 20′s at the moment but it seems interesting.
Looking forward to Warhammer and will probably give that a go.
My wish is for a spiritual successor to Planetside to turn up. Nothing has quite beaten the times when our clan piled into a transport to take some heavily contested towers. Downing Ragnaros on WoW after 3 months of getting the guild ready was pretty sweet though.
16/06/2008 at 16:56 eoy says:
@lan:
well you obviously eat in front of your computer, but about communication with others I think you miss the point that in a situation where I raid 16h a day, I’m in a raid with 24 other likeminded people pushing towards the same goal, where there’s a fair bit of communication going on over voicechat. We’re also getting “payed” to play, and have sponsors such as AMD, ATI and Adidas.
It’s basically a very different game I’m playing compared to the majority.
16/06/2008 at 16:57 Frank says:
Does Kongregate count? Besides that, Bang! Howdy and Team Fortress 2 are as close as I’ve ever gone. A Fallout MMO would be damn cool, though.
16/06/2008 at 17:07 McTecman says:
Still an EVE subscriber, although I play ‘Goons in Space’ more than I play ‘EVE Online’, and quite passively at that.
Hmm, upcoming MMOs… The Agency, perhaps, and the not-much-known-about-if-actually WH40k MMO, but since we know nothing about it it’s hard to get excited about it, apart from the potential.
16/06/2008 at 17:19 Nuyan says:
Eve Online. Played WoW for 2 years before that, which I enjoyed, but I’ll never play a level/item-hunting MMO seriously again. Unlike WoW, Eve-Online is easier to play with some other games next to it, so I also play some singleplayer stuff and multiplayer fps.
Only upcoming MMO that could interest me is Darkfall Online, if it ever comes out. And World of Darkness of course.
16/06/2008 at 17:31 The Hammer says:
I’m still playing World of Warcraft at the moment.
I started off playing Guild Wars, but it was a holy grail for me: a free MMO. It was lovely for the first couple of months, and there was a lot of neat ideas in there (the two class system, the dying your weapons and armour…) but aesthetically, narratively, and occasionally mechanically it just didn’t provoke much interest from me.
After hearing that you could purchase game cards for World of Warcraft, I decided to give it a shot.
I now have two level 70s and am currently levelling up my first warrior and being a bastard twink (that is, using my top-level characters to finance my alt’s progress). Mage, shaman, and now warrior.
I play World of Warcraft because it is brilliant. It’s so wonderfully presented. Slick, user-friendly, technically undemanding but still beautifully designed, and also, gasp, because I like the world of Azeroth. Traditional it may be, but there is a lot of really nice stuff in the world, and as Eurogamer once said, it’s similar to Discworld in its approach to seriousness and humour.
I play on an RP server (when you say things in the gameworld, you act as your character would), and the most enjoyment I get out of the game is attending and running RP events, such as army raids on world locations, and D&D-style player-run quests where I use the raid warning system (a system that, when you use /rw as your prefix, allows you to type messages that flash up on the centre of the screen, accompanied by a noise) to communicate changes in the environment, preside over boss battles…I’m basically a dungeon master for a couple of hours. It’s really fun and keeps the ol’ imagination going.
PVE-wise, I’ve been in a couple of raids. Karazhan…I’ve taken down Magtheridon, and seen a couple of pre-TBC raid dungeons as well, but that’s not where the appeal lies for me. Far too much work. I prefer the standard five-man dungeons. They’re simpler, easier to RP in, and can be done in a day, rather than scheduled a week beforehand.
I like the idea of dailies (quests that you do each day) as it really expands on the solo content, but not as much as I’d like. I’d like there to be more end-game solo content in the expansion pack, and for there to be a real chance of getting some nice loot from that content (I’m not demanding that I should get top-tier stuff for killing a few mobs, but a few rare items to furnish myself with would be nice).
Exploration is also key. Whilst obviously not as immersive a world as Oblivion (WoW’s locations almost -always- have a reason, and the map system reveals parts of the world in chunks rather than a fog of war system – either is an annoyance, but eh), you still get some really nice sights, and some really nice surprises from WoW. I love traditional fantasy locations, so WoW really appeals to me that way.
So although I have endgame characters, I don’t really get involved in the majority of end-game stuff. I don’t think I’d play WoW as much without the whole RP angle, and it’s lovely communicating with other characters. Whilst the standard veers a lot from the very high, to the very low, I’ve experienced some really powerful moments in terms of drama, humour, and any other kind of emotion.
And when I’m not pretending I’m a grumpy gnome wizard, I’m chatting to people, er, OOCly (out-of-character, natch). You meet so many awesome people through MMOs, and, Dunbar’s Number, aside, I try to keep up friendships with each one of them. It’s great, and I genuinely wish I could meet these people in real life.
What am I looking forward to? Unless a Discworld MMO is announced, then Wrath of the Lich King and what lies in wait afterwards. I can’t wait for WoW to return to the fantasy, rather than the sci-fi approach it annoyingly took with Burning Crusade. Is it stopping me from playing other games? Yes. I haven’t finished Episode 2 yet, but I think that’s got to do with a growing lack of interest for other games too. If I’m not playing WoW, I’m playing browser games like Raptor Safari.
Anyway. Best wrap this up.
16/06/2008 at 17:41 Zuba says:
Used to play: Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, Asheron’s Call, EVE, brief run in FFXI.
Currently: WoW. Looking forward to the expansion, but hope to finish current end-game content before it does. Doing so is unlikely as we are currently on Illidan and given our track record we won’t make it to Kil’Jaeden before Wrath comes out. We’ve sped up of late though, so who knows?
16/06/2008 at 17:42 ran93r says:
Been playing WoW since Euro release, will be logging in shortly.
Guilded and raid 3-4 times a week, although only just getting back into that schedule after about a years break, still feels quite casual to me at the moment. 40 man raiding seemed hardcore, 25 man is like a party on teamspeak where everyone is cussing and drunk.
Have an active Conan sub but, well, meh!
Not quite what I was hoping for, nice but not as fresh as I imagined it would be, still in many ways an unpolished turd.
Recently expired subs include Turdula Rasa and LotRo.
Liked LotRo, just didn’t have the time to play as much as you would need to, happy that a deeds/titles clone is coming to WoW in Lich King.
Looking forward to Warhammer but words from the frontline are not doing much for my confidence in a AAA title.
Also be nice if Stargate Worlds didn’t turn out to be a huge pile of excrement.
16/06/2008 at 17:43 PaulMorel says:
I am dabbling in Dungeon Runners, the almost-free, almost-casual MMO from NCSoft.
I am a former WoW and CoH player. I have maxed out characters in both (not including recent expansions).
I REALLY want to get into a new MMO, but most of them are just too expensive. I tried EVE, but it just bored me to tears. I’d like to try Pirates of the Burning Sea, or Hellgate, but there are no substantive demos for either of those games, and I’m not willing to shell out even $20 for an MMO that could be complete crap.
So I am seeing what I can get out of Dungeon Runners for now. I know that it’s not a real MMO, but the simple truth is this: I don’t have time for a real MMO.
Oh, also, I am enjoying the MMO elements that are being added to FPSes like CoD IV and TF2.
16/06/2008 at 17:44 Fumarole says:
I do not play MMOs. I did play Guild Wars for awhile about two years ago, mostly because it wasn’t subscription based.
16/06/2008 at 17:48 MarvintheParanoidAndroid says:
Not playing any, and don’t ever really plan on doing.
I played Planetside during a free trial period, and enjoyed it. Guild Wars I also dabbled in, but that at least doesn’t have a monthly fee. It’s a pity, because I really like the look of EVE Online, Planetside and the City of Heroes/Villians games, but they just don’t seem compelling enough to justify paying monthly, and feeling obliged to sink large amounts of time into them to be sure of getting value for money.
Anyway, I’ve got more than enough single player games to get through as it is, as well as being an addict to Dystopia (awesome cyberpunk HL2 mod) and playing a fair bit of TF2/COD4/UT3 when I have nothing else to do. Multiplayer games like the Unreal series and Valve games are what I prefer, where you know you’re getting fantastic value for money as the game will be updated and modded for ages to come. Just look at all the massive (free) official additions to UT2004, the tonne of (free) mods for it, the plans for new (free) content in TF2, all the (free) mods for the Source engine… monthly fees just aren’t for me.
@The Hammer: just read the last paragraph of your post, a Discworld MMO would, however, be awesome. That I might make an exception for.
16/06/2008 at 17:53 matte_k says:
Used to play FFXI, mainly on the recommendation of a friend, but switched to EVE after trying the free 21 days via Steam. I like the fact it doesn’t require me to be on all hours the gods send to make any progress, I can play as much or as little as I like, if i’m prepared to pay the subscription. And it neatly fits the gap between other games if I get tired of them or if i’m waiting for release.
Haven’t logged in since Mass Effect came out though…
Also, why hasn’t anyone done a Wipeout MMO? Racing leagues, tournaments, in game cash prizes for upgrading the craft, Guilds/racing teams, buildable tracks (if you have the funds…)-surely there’s a way of doing it?
Looking forward to Funcom and Bioware’s new projects too.
16/06/2008 at 17:57 Flint says:
Are you playing an MMO? If so which one?
World of Warcraft. Graphical style, friendliness in gaming mechanics and general gameplay appeals to me the most (based on reading about the others).
Are you in a guild?
No, I’m a very antisocial, which is pretty ridiculous for a MMO.
Do play endgame stuff?
Nope. I’m a solo player through and through, I love just questing and developing my character in WoW. At the moment my (so far) only level 70 character’s end game consists of dailies in order to raise money so I can get my crafting profession in order before the next expansion, and the occasional rep grind because I’d really like a tabard.
And most importantly of all: which upcoming MMO are you most excited about, and why? (We need to know, so we can pester the right people, you see…)
Earth Eternal. It’s free and you get to play as a furry animal character instead of the bog-standard fantasy fare which is always a plus.
16/06/2008 at 17:59 Morph says:
Never played any MMOs. Playing with other people who aren’t in the same room has never really excited me, and I’d prefer an immersing single player experience than to listen to other people speak without vowels.
Having said that I am too much of a Warhammer lover to ignore WAR, and plan to start it with some friends to see how it goes.
16/06/2008 at 18:01 Stew says:
City of Heroes, still. Because no other MMO lets me make an invincible ninja robot and make sense doing so.
16/06/2008 at 18:04 KindredPhantom says:
Playing Guild Wars mostly, just finishing the Guild Wars games that i haven’t done so yet and doing quests i’ve missed etc.
I’m in a guild, a guild that was created when Guild Wars was still in open beta & sometimes i play end-game stuff with ‘em, usually pre-arranged as few are usually online.
16/06/2008 at 18:04 AllenJB says:
Last game I really seriously played was Neocron – tried a few other MMOs but never really got into any. Currently waiting on Fallen Earth (looks like not too much longer to wait!)
16/06/2008 at 18:11 yxxxx says:
Im currently playing an mmo not paying for it thought as its in beta :O
my brother is playing the free version of bounty bay online. Oh and i occasionally reinstall guild wars from time to time.
Cant really afford to play an mmo that isnt free and to be honest there isnt really any that take my fancy enought for me to want to pay for it every month.
The only mmo i really really liked was Auto Assault.
A great and under appreciated title if you ask me if somewhat flawed in places.
16/06/2008 at 18:13 ShimmerGeek says:
I’m playing World of Warcraft and City of Heroes/Villains atm.
I have two World of Warcraft accounts (one for Alliance – my main faction; and one for Horde; both on Moonglade EU) and one City of Heroes/Villains account (it used to be two; but I maxed out the slots to 36 when issue 12 came out and got rid of the second account; that’s on Union EU)
I mainly play World of Warcraft, because most of my friends play it – and I’m trying to get my Draenei Discipline Priest to 70 to join my Night Elf Survival Hunter before Wrath of the Lich King is released.
I’ve tried a lot of MMOs – EverQuest 2, EvE, Star Wars Galaxies, The Matrix Online and Tabula Rasa. None really struck me that much.
At the moment I’m just desperately levelling the Priest in World of Warcraft; but I’ll be picking up (and subscribing to) Champions Online as soon as it goes in.
16/06/2008 at 18:13 Harbour Master says:
No. And I doubt the impending arrival of child will do anything other than degrade the probability of ever starting up with one.
16/06/2008 at 18:17 Dave says:
Looking forward to BioWare’s new gig.
And I’m being intentionally vague here, but one of the other HeroEngine licensees has something in the works that looks like hilariously awesome good fun…
And I’m looking forward to Heroes’ Journey, partly due to company loyalty and partly due to its flavor (OM NOM NOM).
Mostly right now I’m playing TF2 though. Hmm, a Team Fortress type MMOFFPS could be sweet…
16/06/2008 at 18:18 Marcin says:
I tried just about everything, and I keep coming back to WoW. It’s just so polished and slick, and easy. However, after playing since beta I finally reached level cap and found my drive to play greatly decreased – I may finally be able to kick the habit since there’s nothing else to do (for me).
Greatly looking forward to Champions and APB. My time spent with Co* still dwarfs that of WoW. Any game with superjump automatically trumps any other game without :)
16/06/2008 at 18:26 Ted says:
No. I quit WoW a few months ago after eventually getting bored with it after having a subscription for years. No interest in much of anything else out there. My current computer won’t play Conan, but it’s possible I’ll check that out when I upgrade my PC.
16/06/2008 at 18:29 ScruffyLemming says:
Im in limbo at the moment, quit WoW around 5 months ago, tried AoC but its not different enough from WoW to keep me hooked. Im desperatley hoping that Huxley isnt gonna be a big steaming pile of llama droppings, MMOFPS’s make me a happy panda…
*looks into middle distance while having Planetside flashback*
16/06/2008 at 18:33 Servitor says:
I’m currently playing Lord of the Rings Online and enjoying it. I’m soloing, and I’m not in a guild. That’s what makes it doable for me; I don’t like dealing with guild drama or getting pressure from guildies to be on at certain times, etc. I can just log in and out when I please. Bliss.
16/06/2008 at 18:38 Matt says:
I started with little known Neocron, mainly because I liked the idea of it more than anything. A futuristic city, your own apartment, a huge expanse of wastelands and outposts to explore. All very exciting. But the game itself was rubbish, and we eventually resorted to just going down the sewers to kill noobs who were chasing after rats with stilettos. Only to be prawned by the good guys who would unnecessarily come down with their gigantic guns and power armour, when a quick whack round the ‘ead with a baseball bat would have probably done the trick.
Following this we got some funds together and got on a spaceship to Auxaris (PlanetSide’s world) and did much the same there, but replaced killing noobs with running around aimlessly shouting “Help!”. I quit PlanetSide about 2 years ago.
Since then I’ve given up on MMO’s. I used to like them for the fact that the two I played were relatively small, and not many people played them, so it made it more of an intimate experience. None of the modern MMO’s give me that excitement I had back then when I think about them, I guess I’m just waiting for another Neocron that actually plays well, but I’m quite happy to go without.
I have no apologies for length, or indeed, girth of this comment.
16/06/2008 at 18:42 CitizenErazed says:
EVE. EVE EVE EVE EVE. Although to be fair I play it far more for the group of people I’m playing with than the actual game at the moment – EVE is wonderful but after 3 years of it there’s only so much you can do.
16/06/2008 at 18:43 Dean says:
I just canceled my CoH account after keeping it running for over a year without logging in. I certainly always planned on going back and finally getting to 50, but… other games.
Since I got both a Wii and a 360 there’s just too big a backlog on all three platforms. And then Steam keeps selling me new games to futz around with.
I’m toying with trying LotRO, but then I just fire up one of the many single player games I have and play that instead.
16/06/2008 at 18:45 Seb Potter says:
I’ve played up to max level or close enough with multiple characters in each of WoW, EQ, EQ2, Guild Wars, City of Heroes, City of Villains, and Planetside. Then I tend to either get bored (I hate the idea of raid content, and therefore have little use for PVE guilds) or throw myself into PVP for a while then get bored.
My current addictions are Eve (damn you Roburky!) and Age of Conan. Eve will likely run and run for me, and AoC is a passing dalliance which may end unless FunCom can fix some showstopping bugs.
Coming up? Oooh, I’ll end up trying Champions, Huxley, APB, Warhammer, and Age of Darkness most likely. APB interests me the most, by a long way.
16/06/2008 at 18:47 Riotpoll says:
Playing Age of Conan at the moment and thoroughly enjoying it, just got to level 50 on Herald of Xotli (oh how I love being a glass-cannon) so no end game yet! In a tiny guild with some friends from Guild Wars, that I played up until the start of this year, mainly the pvp side of it as GW pve is easy peasy.
Also have a few characters on Cabal Online, such a pretty grind based game don’t play it at the moment though. (anyone who has seen the high end skill effects will know what I mean!)
I’ll no doubt be trying WAR, Guild Wars 2 and Champions in the future.
Also long summer holiday with bugger all to do until the end of September is great for mmo playing!
16/06/2008 at 19:05 BrokenSymmetry says:
Guild Wars. Usually I just clear a zone of all enemies, and then walk around admiring the beautiful environments and architecture.
16/06/2008 at 19:08 Deuteronomy says:
EVE Online. I enjoy the solo PvP trading game, but I doubt I’ll ever get into PvP combat aside from running modules into 0.0. I’ve pretty much hit a trading cap with my current ship. I have an industrial I’ve fitting and trained for, but I need a freighter to make any isk off of minerals and for tech II modules I could practically be using a fast frigate. The market also seems a lot tighter lately, prices are falling and it’s generally harder to sell at a decent profit.
16/06/2008 at 19:25 Trippin Ninja says:
Are you playing an MMO? If so which one?
Currently back on WoW after a 1 month break to check out AoC. AoC just couldn’t hook me, it was a mix of various things that I wont bother going into.
Are you in a guild?
I just joined a very small casual guild and Im really enjoying the company. I think not having a guild of cool people might of been what lead me to leave WoW in the first place. Even if we arent doing things together its nice to chat in guild chat every now and again. They are only in Karazhan but it doesn’t bother me, I found out I dont really care how far into progression I am, I just want to group up and kill some big baddies sometimes. This guild is perfect for me, I can play any way I want. And when raid time comes up its completely optional and Im guilt free if I decide not to join.
Do play endgame stuff?
I used to be hardcore raider but now Im way more casual. Hardcore raiding felt like a job, Im not sure how anyone can continue to play a game that way for a long period of time. If you weren’t raiding you were farming consumables or money for repairs, it literally allowed for me to do nothing else in game. As mentioned above Im much happier with my new guild thats very casual.
And most importantly of all: which upcoming MMO are you most excited about, and why? (We need to know, so we can pester the right people, you see…)
Obviously Im looking forward to Wrath of the Lich King. But theres three new MMOs on my radar at the moment, Champions, APB and Darkfall, that I will be keeping my eye on.
16/06/2008 at 19:36 Kareem says:
Uninstalled WoW at the start of my summer vacation so it doesn’t get bogged down by catassing and boredom. I played the raiding endgame for a while but realized I despised the system and didn’t want my play time governed by stringent schedules. Plus I want to play other games.
No upcoming MMO launch particularly excites me at this point. I’ll probably play Wrath of the Lich King when it comes out, get to the level cap, fiddle around for a bit, then move on again.
16/06/2008 at 19:41 Ray says:
Used to play a lot of Guild Wars, got quite into the PvP stuff but stopped playing about a year ago after skill balance issues and the addition of overpowered new skills from the Nightfall expansion meant the PvP meta became stale and boring. Currently looking forward to GW2, assuming the PvP is any good.
16/06/2008 at 19:41 Gobion says:
No not anymore :)
Since we made & ran Steel Law Online the urge to play MMOs has been completely burned out of me. Also if I am honest, not one of the MMOs on the market has really stratched the itch for me. I prefer a deep involved single player experience (Morrowind, Sins of a Solar Empire), or a small group experience (Alien Swarm), or a fun handheld experience.
Also, what with Chairman-y type stuff, making games, playing non-MMO games, writing roleplaying games etc I just don’t have the time and I also resent the way some MMOs can leech on your social lives.
Along the way I played Steel Law Online (obviously!), Anarchy Online, Neocron, Ultima Online, Planetside, Runescape, Puzzle Pirates, and others I can’t remember, so I’ve tried a few :D
That is one of the reasons that we as a team focus on the kind of games we do like Climate Challenge. As a developer I like making games that stretch my knowledge and push the boundaries. As a player I like to relax and be the focus of the attention or share it with a group of my mates :)
Gobion
16/06/2008 at 19:42 Vimesey says:
I used to play City of Villains, Everquest II, and Lord of the Rings Online, but none of them stuck except CoV, and even then not for long. I’m eagerly awaiting Champions Online and All Points Bulletin, whenever that comes out.
16/06/2008 at 19:48 Leeks! says:
I’m playing AoC in the moments I can spare between acting like an adult with dignity and self respect. I am in no guild as of yet. I’m quite enamored with the concept of the game, and I’m looking forward to when they make it stable, balance it, and finish adding all the content that should have been there at release.
16/06/2008 at 19:52 ViscountGrizzley says:
No
16/06/2008 at 20:05 restricted3 says:
Nope
16/06/2008 at 20:36 Erlam says:
I stopped playing WoW some months ago – I couldn’t stand how raid-centric the game was. I had two 70′s and a high 50′s, though.
I’m awaiting Warhammer Online, which looks (if it follows much of it’s claims) to be quite good. Level with PvP or PvE (or both); public quests; keep sieges; a PvP system balanced on the idea that any class can beat any class 1v1 (but some are better against others) rather than WoW’s “We’ve balanced it around 5v5. Wait, 3v3? It’s balanced around something. One of the arenas I think.”
Basically, I want a nice gritty world with good humour, a nice play balance, and a focus on PvP, with PvE as something else you can do, not something you have to do to compete in PvP.
16/06/2008 at 20:51 Radiant says:
What gets me about MMOs is that you’re paying money to essentially potter around for a few hours a night.
The main requirement for progression in an mmo [leveling] is time.
Don’t get me wrong I still play online FPSs like it’s 1998. To the point where the clan I’m in came third in Europe.
So I know about time spent online to achieve an aim.
But the amount of time needed to level and the mundane things you need to do is unfathomable for me. [and I make casual games so I know about mundane time wasters!]
And to /pay/ for it!
Actually, come to think of it, me saying I don’t play MMOs is a bit of a lie.
I do play Hattrick that online web based football management game as well as various fantasy football [soccer] games.
Those are MMOs too right?
16/06/2008 at 21:00 Phil H says:
On my first MMO, playing Hellgate since the tail end of the beta, ponied up for the Founder’s offer, so I’ll be in it for the long haul. Thankfully it is improving, if slowly. Though as I’ve strictly been playing PvE and no partying, that kinda takes the MM out of the equation a bit, no?
16/06/2008 at 21:00 Darius K. says:
Just started on City of Heroes, actually. Mostly because I have friends who live across the country who play, and it’s a nice social activity in a non-fantasy setting.
16/06/2008 at 21:10 Orin says:
I have to admit, MMOs don’t appeal to me at all. I mean, I love the concept. I just couldn’t really care less about them personally. (Which is a bit strange seeing as how I like the “vast adventure games”… but maybe I just like a game with an ending–no matter how bad, good, sad, happy, etc.–that doesn’t completely focus on leveling up. Contrary to popular belief, I do like a plot with my random video game violence. Sometimes.)
16/06/2008 at 21:28 arbitrary says:
Playing LotRO but waiting for Warhammer Online.
I think MMOs are pretty good VFM considering how many hours I pour into them for approx 2 years per game..
16/06/2008 at 21:28 Cargo Cult says:
Orin: I also find the concept of MMOs fascinating, but in the few attempts I’ve made at getting into them, I’ve been bored to tears.
With EVE, I could just see the optimisations, lag compensation, random dice-rolls and database queries chugging away behind the client – at no point did I feel remotely ‘connected’ to the world as I would with an online FPS. I’d press a button, and seconds later I’d see a pretty animation that would be randomly chosen from various odds. That, combined with the hyperspace-going-straight-through-planets and the whole accountancy-in-space theme behind the game, impressed me so little that I gave up after a few hours of a free trial. I like the idea, but the implementation is plain horrible.
Second Life? Eye-opening, in a delete-the-thing-and-never-want-to-go-back kind of way. Plus, even ignoring the perversions-writ-large, it looked and sounded horrible.
World of Warcraft? I am severely allergic to anything involving orcs, elves, wizards and goblins. I’d go into anaphylaxis if I even sat in front of a computer running the game. Eww!
And anyway, single-player gaming is the only true form of the art. Plus, I like the opportunities for travel it provides. ;-)
16/06/2008 at 21:34 Dan (WR) says:
Played DAoC for a year before giving up because of the time commitments and poor PvP. It was ludicrous that I had to get out of bed at 6.00 on a Weekend because my realm wanted to mount an attack and the only way to stop it degenerating into a stalemate was to start when everyone else was in bed. The PvE skills of MMORPGs don’t translate well to PvP either – it was a case of who gets off their CC spells first to leave people frozen and useless.
Planetside for a short while, but it just wasn’t good enough. It did provide me with one of my favourite gaming memories, when a battle of epic proportions came together across a bridge with little value – it was the only time I’ve played something that felt like war.
WoW’ed for a year, but was let down by the endgame. I was part of a small social guild that never had more than 20 people in it, and the most we could manage was usually Scholomance. There was so little we could do without messing around with guild alliances with boorish powergames, and people just started drifting away. Without the friends I’d made, it all became pointless. I will always have fond memories of it though. It was so well designed that I just enjoyed playing tourist. There were mornings where I could be found happily fishing off the coast of Azshara and watching the Sunrise.
Looking forward to… APB. Definately. I’d like to play Warhammer as I dabbled in PnP WFRPG, but it sounds all too traditional. I just don’t have enough time to commit to the traditional MMORPG model and keep up with the students and other workshy gits that make up most of the population.
16/06/2008 at 21:35 Biscuitry says:
EVE Online for me. Staggeringly addictive once you get over the learning
curvecliff-faceoverhang.But my heart will always be with Planetside. I stopped playing it about six months ago, but I long for the game it used to be.
16/06/2008 at 21:43 DigitalSignalX says:
I’m playing “Perfect World” a free to play, pay for perks MMO in the vein of NCSoft’s AION. It’s a persistent landscape that has instanced events combined with aerial elements of fighting and quests as well as on the ground. Graphics scale nicely for high end or low end systems, and player customization is best I’ve seen in any game. You can do quite well without paying a cent, the perks are mostly add-ons that just make things easier if you’re a more casual gamer. I wrote an old blog about it here.
16/06/2008 at 22:18 jbrandt says:
After about a nine-month break, I’m back to playing A Tale in the Desert. It’s the only MMORPG that has managed to interest me at all (aside from Seed, which died a sad and early death not long after a forced launch and which I never actually got a chance to play).
ATITD definitely has some shortcomings, as any regular player will be happy to explain. On the other hand, it provides a game experience unlike anything else out there. If there were other games that had the same sort of wide-open exploration combined with the ability to build lots of stuff, problem-solving, tests and puzzles, and skills based on actual player skill rather than pure stats (this is a big one, actually), I’d look into them, but from what I’ve seen, ATITD is pretty much the only game out there.
16/06/2008 at 22:20 KingMob says:
Looking forward to WAR and hoping to get a AoC buddy key if the WAR open beta doesn’t come first.
Other MMOs I’m looking forward to:
The Agency
THQ’s W40K MMO
Interplay’s Fallout MMO (I know they’re just exploiting the rights to keep the shop going, sigh)
Bioware’s ?? MMO
Champions Online (feel like I missed the boat with CoX, I’ll be happy to try this out if I can).
I recently played Hellgate and quit it, beta’d Requiem but don’t think I’d pick that up again or pay any money for it.
I may get sucked back into WoW when WotLK comes out but I hope not.
16/06/2008 at 22:35 some fag killing folk in plaza 1 sewers says:
No, I’m not ‘playing’ any and I’m not looking forward to any either – just like I’m not working and not looking for a job either. I’m sure commitment and routine are loads of fun for billions, but I just don’t get it. You guys keep at it though, thanks. Keeps me fed and keeps you out of my face.
16/06/2008 at 22:46 Gurrah says:
I started off with a few months of Planetside but quit due to the enormous lag/framelag issues. Two years of Guild Wars, bloody good time but it lost it’s appeal after having done almost everything the game had/has to offer. I tried Tabula Rasa for a month, it was ok but not what I was looking for. Gave D&D online a go but wasn’t able to run it properly, which later turned out to be a more or less busted HDD, but still, the first M was missing, I hardly ever saw anyone in town. I am currently on my first paid month of EVE and I am liking it so far, even though it has a LOT of flaws imho.
16/06/2008 at 22:47 quell meter says:
No. Tried WoW, recoiled in horror at the combat system (UT guy). And I’m so opposed to a persistent online identity that I pick a new username every time I post.
But as for whether you should cover them, I enjoy the weird stories: that big Eve scam, the dude griefing in Conan by kicking people off a bridge with a horse, etc. Great stuff.
I’m not a fan of new games journalism generally (I’d rather play myself or read a novel) but MMO-set stories really are dispatches from another world to me and can be fascinating.
16/06/2008 at 22:57 Stromko says:
I’ve tried out just about every major MMO, steered clear of most of the Korean ones (though I’ve enjoyed a lot of their non-formulaic games, Navy Field, Blitz1941, stuff like that). I play for a few weeks and then I quit, sometimes I’ll try them out multiple, separate times like I did Anarchy Online and Planetside, but they can never keep me around constantly.
Abides: “Also, I am a cheapskate and would not pay monthly for the continued enjoyment of a game, no matter how good. Unless it gives me sex.” — That’s why I’ve been subscribed to SecondLife all this while, I really can’t put it anymore succinctly. One man’s pathetic and pointless existence is another’s, uhh.. I’ll get back to you on that one.
16/06/2008 at 23:01 Arathain says:
I play City of Heroes/Villains, on a sort of 3 months on, 3-6 months off kind of way. I adore the game. I love the kinetic and flamboyant combat, the setting, the customisation, some of the great writing and the characters I create. In particular, though, I love that I can log on for a half hour here, a couple of hours there, every day or couple of days, or whatever, and feel like I’m achieving something. My life doesn’t allow plowing hours every day into any game.
I have severe alt-itis resulting in more low level characters than I can count and only one villain who made it to level 50, so end game stuff and persistent group socialising stuff is not for me. I solo or get on a PUG. I quite like not knowing how any team is going to work and having to adapt tactics on the fly.
The big drawback for me is that when I’m subscribed I play other games a lot less, so I take regular lengthy breaks to catch up on other cool stuff.
As for the future, I’m looking forward to giving Warhammer a go, as I love the setting, and I’m intrigued by the world PvP stuff. I’ve never got into PvP and this might give me the structure I need to give it a go.
16/06/2008 at 23:02 Alex Hopkinson says:
I keep my City Of Heroes & Villains account going for my MMO fix. Currently, the biffage is on (after 4 months of “off”).
16/06/2008 at 23:21 Scandalon says:
Unless you count the old BBS games (LotRD anyone?) the only MMO game I’ve ever played is contained in this very sentence. (i.e. What the heck do all these acronyms mean?).
My reasons are simply echoing most of the other likeminded on here: Time and money. (The lack thereof.)
16/06/2008 at 23:21 mpk says:
Hi, my name’s Jamie and I’m an EVE-a-holic. It’s been three years and I don’t see a way out that doesn’t involve WoW. So I think I’ll stay here, thank you very much :)
I played WoW on and off for a year or so, but the static world bored me after the freedoms offered by EVE.
16/06/2008 at 23:24 Deuteronomy says:
Really you can’t analyze EVE as if it was in the same category as any other MMO.
16/06/2008 at 23:39 AlpineViper says:
City of Heros/Villains for over 4 years (since beta) here. Still playing, though purposely limiting my time in it a bit more now.
Looking forward to Champions Online, and Maybe World of Darkness if it’s any good.
16/06/2008 at 23:42 SirNuke says:
I played WoW for about 6 hours during the open beta. Was bored out of my mind. No MMOs other than the a few minor web games.
17/06/2008 at 00:45 capital L says:
nope
17/06/2008 at 00:59 Severian says:
The only one I ever played was Guild Wars, because it had no monthly subscription fee. Eventually decided that 1) most people playing were too young/immature, 2) level-grinding without a definitive story (like single-player RPG’s) wasn’t worth my attention, 3) the best games were like crack and I was scared.
17/06/2008 at 02:01 luminosity says:
Guild Leader of a WoW guild with two bosses left in the game to kill. Can’t say that I’m really looking forward to anything but LK, though — my favourite part about WoW is levelling in fact, and challenging myself doing group quests solo. Being a Warlock may help there, though.
I can’t imagine wanting to take up more than one MMO though. It takes so long to get anything done in them, and while that’s great for making accomplishments really feel special (getting the server first Kael’thas kill and watching hundreds of people come crowding into the middle of the city to witness the event is something I’ll always remember), it also means that I inevitably fall behind on all the other games / movies / tv shows that I want to get into, until we clear through everything and wind down a little.
17/06/2008 at 02:16 Fedora.Pirate says:
Not playing an MMOG, I don’t see the attraction; you only ever interact with a few select people at a given time; Team Fortress 2 does that just the same and I find it far more fun.
17/06/2008 at 04:01 P.T. says:
No MMO for me. Can’t find the time to play the interesting single player games. I like playing against the designer in single player games, and if I need the team-based sum-is-greater-than-its-parts rush, I can just play a bit of Counter-Strike or Team Fortress.
17/06/2008 at 04:21 Thiefsie says:
I don’t have any intentions of playing an MMO and probably never will. Their direct correlation between paying monthly, and rewarding time spent… just don’t add up for me. I want a less involving online experience.
17/06/2008 at 04:47 RichPowers says:
No MMO here, though I’ve spent a pretty penny on the following ones in a desperate attempt to like the genre:
Everquest
Ultima Online
Dark Age of Camelot
WoW
PlanetSide
Guild Wars
MMOs, as they’re currently designed, are incompatible with my playstyle. I like my games action-packed, fast paced, and devoid of grind. Plus none of my friends PC game and I’ve never had a fun guild/clan (unfortunately), so the social aspect is lost on me.
17/06/2008 at 04:53 Thiefsie says:
I did however try Guild Wars for a bit, how could I not, it’s not an ongoing cost (well much) however it just boiled down to a boring as batshit light rpg, possibly like Diablo but minus the story and general cool and addictiveness)
17/06/2008 at 05:10 MeestaNob! says:
RPS, I think you need an embedded poll system for these kinds of posts.
And no. Reason? Games just don’t appeal enough to me to make ongoing payments (no, not even TF2 which I feel I have an unnaturally huge WANT ON for nearly every day after work.
17/06/2008 at 05:44 luckystriker says:
I played WoW for 3 years wonderfully depressing years. I’ve quit the habit and never going back to it.
17/06/2008 at 08:30 Batolemaeus says:
Eve for me.
I tried a lot of the current mmos (and i mean a LOT), but the only ones that really interested me were wurm online (mostly for the terraforming) and Eve.
In Eve i am playing in Morsus Mihi, a 2000 player spaceholding alliance in the north of New Eden. I’ve been with them for 1 1/2 years, and if nothing drastic changes inside, i’ll be with them for another few years.
I’m one of the guys who will stay until the last node shuts down. While Chribba mines the last bit of Veldspar before Eve closes, i’ll run my last scans with my exploration probes..
Interestingly, the devs are a part of why i am playing eve, too. They are not unreachable gods, but are quite active both on the forums and on the testserver. If you have very specific gameplay questions they often take the time to explain it to you. Despite the 200k+ subs, it still feels a lot smaller, more like a huge family..
17/06/2008 at 09:11 megamaj says:
For a couple of years, I am now playing Eternal Lands. It is a small, free MMORPG with a very constant player base. It is still under development; there are constantly things being changed and being added to it. The Client is open source, so a lot of people are contributing.
It is very unlike WoW – ok, there is the grind, but there are no instances, no raiding, no classes, and there is a lot more to it than fighting. There are pvp / pk areas, but most of the maps are non-pvp, so you can choose if you want to fight monsters or humans, or not at all. For non-fighters, a large part of the game are other skills like alchemy, manufacturing, crafting, engineering, tailoring etc.
The entry is more steep as in commercial MMORPGs, it is not as newbie-friendly, and you need to read / ask a lot at the beginning (but if you can read it is not a big issue, which keeps a lot of idiots out). The community is mainly adult and very helpful. Most of the players are long-term players with more than 2 years of playing time. It is far from perfect, but it somehow hooked me. Oh, and it’s free :D
17/06/2008 at 09:16 Larington says:
Followed my outfit from Planetside to Age of Conan recently, they’ve merged the two american servers into one, which meant quite a few of the werner players went there as well for the massive battles again. So last I checked Werner had become a ghost town.
I WILL play a spiritual successor to Planetside EVEN IF I HAVE TO MAKE IT MYSELF. When I’ve gotten through this game design course and found a way to worm the idea into a development company who’ll let me do it right. None of this one man mech crap that obviously wasn’t going to be easy to get right and shouldn’t have been attempted in the first place.
As it stands, planetside lost me the moment the devs started talking about deathmatch arenas… Outfit wars arenas fair enough, but deathmatch!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
I was very interested in the Agency, but now I’m starting to doubt SOEs ability to get its subsequent development right as they’ve developed a habit of screwing over the gameplay post launch (SW:G – NGE, Planetsides – BFRs, I’m sure they did something that caused a lot of controversy in EQ as well, but never played that).
17/06/2008 at 09:20 Jochen Scheisse says:
I tried Ultima Online, Warcraft and stuff like that. Not my cup of tea. I quite liked Doofus for the turn based combat and Armada Online, even though it’s not growing fast enough and has a very tedious grind. I will probably try the Doofus successor as soon as it’s out.
17/06/2008 at 11:34 H says:
Currently beta testing WAR, and I still have an active WoW account but haven’t played in two or three months. I tend to play and enjoy the low to mid range of stuff, restarting when I get too high. I avoid the higher end stuff, I just can’t stand it.
Currently looking forward, ish, to WAR. I keep thinking about touching AoC after I played the beta, but to be honest it didn’t grab me. Was happy to help in beta, but that’s it. Got a lot of mates playing though, which is the only reason I would play.
The only MMOesque game on the horizon I’m *really* looking forward to is the new Tribes-alike from Instant Action, the name of which has been forgotten by yours truly in a sea of clicking icons to bash orcs.
17/06/2008 at 12:46 Meestercat says:
I’m currently hooked on WoW, although I am also playing Eve Online: Skill Training Spreadsheet Edition.
I dare say I will have a go at WAR when it arrives though.
17/06/2008 at 12:55 Myros says:
As above, I keep EVE going as a skill training simulation … no idea why really.
Other than that Ibe played almost all of them at some point. Ive skipped the latest batch of fantasy based ones though, just plain tired of the fantasy genre mmo scene which has been ground to death in the grind of death.
Myros
17/06/2008 at 12:56 Jim Rossignol says:
“I WILL play a spiritual successor to Planetside EVEN IF I HAVE TO MAKE IT MYSELF.”
Brother!
17/06/2008 at 13:04 H says:
Yeah, what you said.
17/06/2008 at 13:14 kadayi says:
In answer to the original question, right now none. Personally having been involved in MMOs for some time I can honestly say that there isn’t anything presently out there that captures my imagination in terms of what it delivers. Eve is probably the closest title to what I’d like to see more of from future MMOs (gameworld persistence), but it’s not a game that appeals to me in terms of subject matter. I’ll probably give AoC a look at some point later in the year to check out the game tech, but it looks to be following the standard MMO grind/fairground ride model, which although incredibly successful isn’t particularly innovative in terms of moving the MO game space on, say compared to the rest of the games industry.
17/06/2008 at 13:28 RedRum says:
My first MMO was playing the Beta of Saga of Ryzom with my flatmate and loved it. Played that once released for about a year and then left and started playing WoW.
I’ve had a love/hate relationship with it ever since, taking time off every now and again to try out other games (COH, EVE, Planetside) but always end up coming back to WoW (mostly cos of the friends I’ve built up on it).
Looking forward to Warhammer basically, will definately give it a try and fingers crossed its good enough to stop me going back to WoW for good!
17/06/2008 at 13:40 silencer says:
I used to play the Japanese version of TalesWeaver. Being of Korean origin, it was grindalicious! Even so, it was free, and some people I knew were playing it too so it was still fun. Too bad they started restricting non-JP IP space (including mine, apparently) due to botters/hackers. :(
I also played 2Moons briefly, but immediately quit after someone hacked the game launcher splash page (among other things) to include some IE/RealPlayer exploit hosted on a suspicious Chinese domain.
17/06/2008 at 16:03 ron says:
i play wow because my sister works for blizzard so i dont have to pay the monthly fee.
17/06/2008 at 16:37 Mattress says:
I dunno. Gaming that’s truly involving requires a lot of free time. We all know that. MMO’s increase a gamers time commitment exponentially, without the same increase to potential rewards for the average person… I think.
MMO’s offer what is considered to be the greatest social experience in gaming. I don’t agree with that statement, but even if one were to; it could hardly be said MMO’s are a great social experience by itself.
I may well have been playing the wrong way, but when I tried World of Warcraft for a few weeks during it’s first year of release, I actually found the MMO to be quite a solitary experience interspersed by other people intruding on my play area, or teaming up with random and often unreliable strangers to “explore” a dungeon.
I’m saying gaming can’t be a social experience – years of Mario Kart and other console games have taught us otherwise. PC games too are great when networked, I remember a friend bringing me to a web cafe and though a baulked at the idea initially, playing Day of Defeat or that Warhammer RTS and being able to directly communicate with my team-mate/opponent really enhanced the experience. But I don’t feel that the current communication infrastructure in MMO’s is intuitive enough to allow for this to happen. Typing 60+words per minute whilst also playing a hectic, reflex dependent game is nothing but tedious, while voice communication in most iterations that I’ve played devolves into some whiny fourteen year old from Birmingham or somewhere broadcasting his own shouts and yelps to everyone…
I’d love to play MMO’s, the subscription isn’t a problem. I remember trying to play Planetside back in the day with neither a computer nor a connection up to the task. I also remembering trying a free trial of EVE a few years ago, enticed by all of Jim Rossignol’s stories I loaded it up, but after two-weeks of casual play (as casual play is all I’ll ever be able to afford) I found the learning curve too steep. The brilliant, fascinating and epic game, that I knew was there, lay beyond because the game didn’t cater for… I’m neither a casual or a hardcore gamer, I don’t know what word to attribute. I think I fall somewhere in between, where I wish for the depth and involvement of games enjoyed by hardcore audiences, but wish to only sacrifice the same amount of time as a casual gamer… So maybe it’s my fault, maybe I’m just not suited to MMOs…
17/06/2008 at 17:18 chesh says:
Been playing Final Fantasy XI since shortly after it’s North American PC launch. I do some endgaminess in it — but only things that can be scheduled, no camping dragons that only spawn every 21-24 hours (or worse). It’s a pretty flawed game but I still find it fun and I have a very solid group of friends there.
Chesh, on Midgardsormr, if anyone else happens to be there.
17/06/2008 at 19:31 Thelps says:
My MMO CV:
Ultima Online: 1.5 years
Everquest 1: 1 year
Everquest 2: 4-6 months
Final Fantasy XI: 9 months
Planetside: 6 months
World of Warcraft: 20 months
Age of Conan: Since release (almost 2 months)
Been in a world top 20 WoW guild, which resulted in Intel sending me some PC upgrades for free, which made me grin, since I subsequently quit WoW 3 months later. I resist the urge to chuckle evily.
17/06/2008 at 20:26 WhiteRabbit says:
I played Everquest back in 2004 and got hooked. It was my first MMORPG. Because of circumstances, I had to give it up. I would have stuck with it though if I had the choice.
I then got into WoW for about six months and was having some fun until I met my girlfriend, now wife.
She played City of Heroes / City of Villains, and I joined her. It was fun, but the UI was a little off. Not very easy to use. We quit due to lack of time.
When we had time again, I picked WoW up for a second time and she joined with me. We had a blast playing it. It’s a very good game, at least, for a few months. We got bored of it and canceled our subscriptions. Time was a major factor as well.
We are both looking forward to Warhammer Online. It’s going to change the MMO industry. WoW killer? Possibly. Don’t believe me? Look into it. All the crappy things that people complain about in WoW are taken care of in WAR. The dev team really cares about their game, and it shows.
18/06/2008 at 01:38 Cian says:
EVE, for the past 4 years (with a few breaks here and there). I’ve played in alot of different ways (some low scale mining, low sec mercenary work, group empire missioning and for the past 2 years, life in 0.0) and throughout the majority of that time have played with the same small group.
I’ve flirted with a few others, Guild Wars certainly attracted me, and with Cry Gaia, APB and The Agency (though the latter two I’ll observe from a distance first) coming, I think I might stop being so monogamous.
EVE is unique, and for that I love it, but it also means I’m open to other kinds of play experiences. I was very excited about Warhammer Online when it was orignally being developed by Climax, but have since lost all interest after the switch. Age of Conan interests me (especially as I have alot of confidence in Funcom), but my EVE habit forbids me from playing something unless it’s subscription free. If I’m ever to take up another sub based MMO, it will be through playing a trial first.
And just as a generalisation, MMO’s for me have been about the small group of people you actively play with. This has meant alot of affection for EVE, Guild Wars and Biosfear, but an abhorrence for people who demand more support for solo players and their ilk. I’d ask for them to be ostracised if that wasn’t what the antisocial buggers wanted.
18/06/2008 at 11:43 A.Nonny.Moose says:
I’m married and have a full time job.
I think that pretty much answers that….
18/06/2008 at 12:04 Nicolas says:
EVE Online, just started this week. I hate Jita.
18/06/2008 at 13:09 Surgeon says:
The last time I properly MMO’d was Planetside, for which I had a very unhealthy obsession. 16 hour gaming sessions were not uncommon.
I’m really not interested in non twitch MMO’s, so most of my time is spent waiting for something interesting to come along again.
I’ve great hopes for Jumpgate Evolution and APB looks interesting too. Whilst I hope that Huxley will be Planetside 2, I have a feeling I am going to be disappointed.
19/06/2008 at 09:28 Erik N says:
Still playing Guild Wars, and still not paying a monthly fee.
Can’t wait for GW2 to come out, as well as WAR
20/06/2008 at 21:15 Rocktart says:
After reading a review in Pc Gamer a l o ng time ago i bought a copy of Planetside. Few MMO’s have got close to the feeling of the bridge fight I got into when I logged in for the fitsr time.
However the Outfit I got into in Planetside turned into a Supergroup when City Of Heroes launched in the US. The long delay in launching City Of Heroes EU, and eventually launching within weeks of World of Warcraft (EU) took the wind of out of its sails and we switched to WoW. (I’m sure I’m missing an apostrophy in that sentence but I’m not sure where).
I’ve played WoW ever since, and I’ve been raiding for a couple of years now. We’re currently bashing heads against the last but 1 boss in WoW, M’uru.
I’ve tried many other MMO’s along the way but WoW keeps me coming back for a couple of reasons.
1. I’m in a good strong guild and have lots of friends in it.
2. There’s a comfortable familiarity to WoW now. This extends to the interface, the world and the gameplay. I know how it works, and so there’s very little barrier to enjoying the content or the banter. I’ve found the interface to be a real barrier to me in several other MMO’s I’ve tried, and learned which class does what, and which hydrid classes currently rule the roost in the 6th MMO I’ve triedthis year does get trying.
3. WoW is really well done. There’s regular new free content which has held interest and justified continuing to play for me.
I always find it interesting when playing other MMOs that you notice specific points which they do better. However the rest if the game doesn’t come close to WoW’s level of achievement. I’ve found very few been genuinely different and well done enough to hold my interest. Planetside, Eve and City of Heroes. The ship stuff in Pirates of the Burning sea was fun but I found the rest of the game played like a free Korean game. Who know’s what’s next, and if it will live up to the promise?
21/06/2008 at 23:03 Tabya says:
I played quite a lot of MMOs over the last years.
Currently I’m back to Everquest 2. I left it 3 years ago very disappointed. SOEs current promotion for former subscribers (2 month free play including all the Expansions) brought me back and so far I’m quite impressed.
Most of the “features” that made me leave are gone and I’m having fun so far. Very polished overall, allthough the german translation is still terrible, probably the worst I ever encountered in a mainstream game.
23/06/2008 at 12:06 Morgenhans says:
playing an MMO? yep. atm PotBS. before that over 3y EVE Online and 1 1/2y WoW but stopped playin both. also tried many many others.
greetings from germany