Engaging MMORPG?

Hi,

For a while I`ve been wanting to get into an MMORPG. A while ago I played EQ1 and enjoyed it for a bit, but found it very tedious.

From what I have seen from MMORPG's they lack an ingredient I find essential for my enjoyment: Adventure

I like lots of character detail, solving puzzles and mysteries, doing engaging quests (not just goto the land of random spawning monsters to retreive bland item X), a bit of role playing, interesting combat (without dull old grinding).

I think what I am asking for is the moon on a stick.

Are all MMORPGs just a grind?

BrainDanceR said:

Are all MMORPGs just a grind?

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Yes. All graphical ones.

What you seek isn't going to EVER be found in an MMORPG. At least if i understand what you are talking about. For example, there can't be quests like "go to x and kill y and the land will be forever free" type thing, because then only one person/group could ever do it. The best you can get with a multiplayer game is "go to x and kill y, and you'll get spiffy stuff". And lots of people will end up with the same spiffy stuff.

The only way to have truly epic gaming is one on one GM/group interaction, and that is never gonna happen in an MMORPG.

But you can get past the grind a lot if you are in a good, active guild. Sure the grind is still there, but if you are chatting and joking around in the guild chat channel, doing RP type stuff, it can be quite fun. We used to do "guild quests", which were quite fun as well.

You might have a better time if you were to look at it from a social standpoint. The MMORPGs i played on before had crowded, fully functional towns that actually mimics a real life population. People constantly bartering their goods, groups hanging out and chatting near shops. It even comes complete with con artists, beggars and even a few whores. Some of the buildings even becoming headquarters for underground deals. This is what made people stick around. It took me a very long time to level (It takes me 5 months what a power leveler would do in less than a week), but that wasn't the point anyway, and i enjoyed myself through the whole thing.

If all you're doing is rushing through levels, that's pretty boring indeed.

If you want more social interaction and actual 'RP,' you might want to check out a MUD. Have you ever played one? Text-based has its advantages, and they're much more social than graphical MMOs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simutronics

I think what I am after is a cross between a MMORPG and Oblivion (hey I can dream, can't I?)

I know this would be a huge ask - the amount of coding and design to do this would be massive.

Perhaps something like NWN2 would be better, its not a MMORPG but instead an RPG you can play in a group...

I would say stay away from any and all MUDS. I hit cap on more than a few of them, and its usually MUCH more tedious than any MMORPG. The amount of time it takes to hit cap isnt anywhere near as long typically, but the leveling can be very, very boring.

You could try WoW, though endgame is nothing but PvP and raiding typically. There is a lot of smaller single person/smallgroup content that was added with the current expansion, however.

Personally, I'd try to hold out for some of the newer games to be released. Hellgate: London is going to sort of be an action based FPS-esque MMORPG.

Theres also Age of Conan thats coming up that has no "turn based actions" in it. Another words, it plays nearly exactly like a console action game. You hit a button and you swing your sword from different directions depending on the buttons you press. You can set up little combo's out of the swings that are unique to each class. Its definitely more engaging and has a more of an "active" feel to it than traditional MMORPG's.

Mostly for better creativity in online games, I'd say look towards the future. Some of the older ones have done things right, but they are almost fundamentally the same sort of games that have been published for years. One nice leap about WoW was the fact that you can just about level to cap by doing a metric ton of small quests as you travel from area to area. This greatly limits the grind feeling.

Yeah, all MMO's are a grind - that's how they make keep you in and make money.

I think WoW is the most engaging. Biggest ding to WoW is lack of character customization. But everythign else is there - decent quests, gameplay, etc.

If you liked EQ (as did I, except for the amount of required group action and grinding time), I think you should look into one of the following traditional MMORPGs- Vanguard, EQ2, or WoW.

Personally, I (and about 7million others) think that WoW is the best of those three. All are mature, and have some nice features. EQ2 has good player housing for instance, but has a lot of the original EQ's weaknesses. While no MMORPG will ever give you the feeling you are the /only/ hero, WoW does a good job at providing you an epic role, even in the first 20 levels. There are the standard fetch quests, but are also quest chains that make you the central focus of an ongoing struggle, and the hero when it is completed. I highly suggest getting the Burning Crusade expansion, so you will have access to the two new races as well. It also changes and moves up the "end game" so to speak, as the raids are now 25 person instead of 40 person, and before you even get to those at level 70, there are plenty of level 70 "heroic" dungeons made for 5 very skilled players, and a high end 10 person mini-raid. There is also a considerable amount of content that can be attempted either solo or in a group, which will remove the tedium you felt in EQ.

If you decide to play WoW, I suggest playing on a Roleplay server, for the interaction you'll experience. It really makes the game to have all sorts of player-driven RP going on in cities and the like. I suggest either Steamwheedle Cartel (for a more established server. I play here Alliance side) or Moon Guard (for a newer, younger server. I have my Horde characters here).

There are other MMO on the horizon like Age of Conan and Warhammer Online, but as they have not been released yet we can't make judgments. For now I think, unless you want a /very/ group dependent game, I suggest World of Warcraft

[[Shameless Plug]] And if you want a copy of the Collector's Edition of the Burning Crusade, I have one for sale [[/Shameless Plug]]

Neist said:

I would say stay away from any and all MUDS. I hit cap on more than a few of them, and its usually MUCH more tedious than any MMORPG. The amount of time it takes to hit cap isnt anywhere near as long typically, but the leveling can be very, very boring.

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You've been playing the wrong MUDs. In the good MUDs, leveling is secondary to socializing, or should be at least.

Thanks for the tips peeps.

While I do like the RP element - the most importanf thing is an interesting storyline, something thats probably always going to be missing from MMORPGs.

What that I feel RPGs must have:

Interesting storyline, puzzles, etc. I would hate repeative quests.
character development - i enjoy making my character look how I like, and giving him/her a personality/querks,etc
the "fun" of leveling up!
combat - tactics and variation would be fun here - click click click = zzz zzz zzz.
Social interaction - but I also like being able to do quests by myself.

spugnor said:

What you seek isn't going to EVER be found in an MMORPG. At least if i understand what you are talking about. For example, there can't be quests like "go to x and kill y and the land will be forever free" type thing, because then only one person/group could ever do it. The best you can get with a multiplayer game is "go to x and kill y, and you'll get spiffy stuff". And lots of people will end up with the same spiffy stuff.

The only way to have truly epic gaming is one on one GM/group interaction, and that is never gonna happen in an MMORPG.

But you can get past the grind a lot if you are in a good, active guild. Sure the grind is still there, but if you are chatting and joking around in the guild chat channel, doing RP type stuff, it can be quite fun. We used to do "guild quests", which were quite fun as well.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't necessarily say this will ALWAYS be this way.

I'm fairly new to the gaming world, as it applies to the online environment; roughly two years or more. But, I'm also quite adaptive and resourceful, and so in that two years I've done my research.

I play/played a few FPS over the years, and two years ago got in at the beginning of The Matrix Online (MMORPG). Now, when they began, there were globally (server-wide) changing events, via puzzles and adventures through what you call GM/Group Interaction. Shortly after, though, Monolith sold their IP to SOE and things changed rapidly and tremendously. Suffice to say, the Live-type events never quite made a full recovery, as SOE cut all funding for that department. But the developers and community persevered and have made a somewhat notable story develop, change and interact with the player community through a similar --but not to quite the same scale-- method as described above.

Sadly, my time is utterly limited now and I'm no longer able to get involved with that community as I would like, but I'm still quite attached to a group of gamers --anywhere from 50-100 active individuals in our "Guild/Faction"-- (As I was their leader for a time) who still play that title and most are thoroughly engaged (most the time). Now, in 2007, developers seem to be coming to grips with this "engaging environment".

Age of Conan is in beta, currently, and has some VERY impressive features which seem to have stayed their course through the development process; the ability to wage siege wars, with your clan against another clans "castle" is just one of the many. So, even though this is a mostly player driven content, through player vs player elements, you could imagine the type of engaging content which can --and may-- be developed around instances such as this.

There's also another title, but currently in development, which will seek to 'engage' the player base; even more so inline with what is being described. The title is Stargate Worlds. This title is just entering the post-preparation stage and has transitioned into full development so it's unknown at this time to what extent this type of player inclusion will be covered or included; but the quality of content they're reaching for can surely make great advances into a more immersive, epic, contributing, interactive, engaging, adventurous , and connected play-style. They've (read: Dev's) speculated to many puzzle related quests which can/will effect dire instances, even so far as entire "Worlds" which at one point or another will have been untouched by the entire player-base until someone figures out a/the way to get there.

So, in conclusion, I don't think developers have completely given up on trying to have a relative and changing environment, just that until now it's been quite the task to accomplish successfully --and without hampering development time, budgets or integrity of the product.

If you have a good imagination, or at least care about stimulating it, you ought to at least consider a MUD.

CHECK - Interesting storyline, puzzles, etc. I would hate repeative quests.
CHECK - character development - i enjoy making my character look how I like, and giving him/her a personality/querks,etc
CHECK - the "fun" of leveling up!
CHECK - combat - tactics and variation would be fun here - click click click = zzz zzz zzz.
CHECK PLUS - Social interaction

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but I also like being able to do quests by myself.

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Some quests could be solo, but you can do anything alone. You can hunt alone, wander alone, etc.

The thing I hate most about MUDs is the crazy obsession with cybersex. The dumbest god-damn thing in the world.

I'll try a MUD then, seems like it could be what im after...

Can you recommend any Neptune?

Thanks

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