The Glade 4.0

Post-EQ2, I find that I like my freedom from raiding and online obligations and all, but I know eventually I will be pulled into another MMO is some form or fashion.

If/When I return to them it will be almost certainly be on a casual basis, doing pick up groups & soloing, or (at the most) a guild that does occasional raiding.

So, I thought I'd do a little info-gathering here for some suggestions.


1.) Do you currently play an MMO?

2.) If so, which one?

3.) Do you foresee yourself sticking with this MMO for the long-term?

4.) If not, which MMO do you think you will move to?

5.) Does your current MMO or your planned future MMO cater to a casual experience?

I play LotRO. Very casual friendly. Even free(kinda). The entire epic story line will be available to everyone after the next patch, which is pretty cool. I can see myself sticking with this one for quite some time. At least until The Old Republic comes out.

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Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

I play EQ1, although am currently on a hiatus due to work and bad wrists. I see myself sticking it out for the long term, none of the others appeal to me. I played EQ2 several times, and WoW for two years. My experience is very casual, and I feel like EQ offers more than the other MMOs on a casual front these days.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

Speaking of WoW:

I've tried three times in the past to get into it, and never lasted for more than my free month.

My main hang ups were the art style and the overall lost feeling I got from starting new in a world that was already so well-established.

With Cataclysm coming out, do you feel it worth me pursuing trying the game again, or would the expansion not offer enough to make the experience fundamentally different from my previous attempts?

No. There is nothing good about WoW unless you like arena pvp.

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Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

Yes, I'm looking forward to cataclysm. However, I've also played 10 characters to 80. This isn't the first time Raltar and I have disagreed on stuff.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Art style is going to remain the same in Cata... if anything this expansion is a lot more colorful than the pretty drab and savage Wrath of the Lich King look.

Start of a new expansion is a good time to not get overwhelmed by an already established world, especially since WoW is about as end-game focused as they come. If you don't care about lore much, the pre-Cata zones can basically just be plowed through and ignored. Those from the original game are being redone for Cata anyway, so there is that. It won't help you with the history of things any, but you'd be just as caught up as the rest of the game with how things are now.

I wouldn't expect major changes at the end game though, not from PVE at least. You'll have other options for PVP in the form of battlegrounds actually counting as high end PVP via rated BGs. On the PVE front I expect it will be a little bit more difficult a game, though most people consider that an improvement over the ease of Wrath. 10 man raids will be a lot more viable of an option, too, if that is a concern. If you haven't been to the end game at any point, this paragraph probably doesn't matter to you either way. :p

Cata would probably be your best chance to fit into WoW, though that's through virtue solely of it being a new expansion and not as a result of any characteristics of the expansion itself.

I'm looking forward to it a lot, especially possibly if my guild ends up focusing more on 10s... but we'll see. Rocky trails ahead for many guilds as far as adjusting to the 10s or 25s and the new raid lockout system goes. My current guild's been together for about 3.5 years and for the first time I feel a bit uncertain about how the future will go. We shall see.

In other MMO news, I'm given LotRO online a try on a ridiculously casual basis. It's about last on my entertainment queue which atm is pretty full with preparations for Cataclysm (and then leveling a million characters from 80 to 85 afterwards). I did the LotRO free trial about a year or two ago and was decently happy with the game, however. Especially that I hear you can solo a lot of the interesting content before max level?

They've changed the epic story for Volume 1 to include a buff based on how many people are in your group. If you are solo, you get a buff that gives you 300+% health and power, 200+% damage and healing and -35% incoming damage from all sources so you can get the epic story line without having to find a group(which is nearly impossible these days). The more people the group, the less benefits the buff gives until you have a full group, in which case you get no buff. It's a really nice change, but the epic volume 2 hasn't been updated like this, so you're still going to need to find a group for it all. From what I've heard, Volume 3 doesn't have nearly as many group quests, but I haven't done any of volume 3 because I'm still trying to find people to do volume 2 with(my ultimate hope is that they give the buff for volume 2 as well, but that hasn't happened yet).

The epic quest line is where you get the biggest chunk of story, with most other quests just being basic MMO kill this and find this type quests. After the next patch, everyone(f2p and vip alike) get the entire epic quest line available to them. Plus, they are putting in repeatable quests doable by everyone regardless of account type to help you level up without having to buy quest packs for individual zones. Right now, f2p is capped at 50, but after the patch, you'll be able to hit 65 regardless of account type as well.

_________________
Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

At this point, I'm toying with the idea of either trying out WoW again once Cat hits, or going with Rift.

LotRO involves subject matter I am interested in, but I hear the game community is pretty much dead or is dying, which doesn't really bode well for long terms involvement.

I will mention that in terms of community and population, House of Thule has really benefited the EQ1 community.

A lot of the static, upper level zones now have 70-80 people in them on a regular basis, and the group game is a lot more robust than it was- Casuals have a ton of content, and the rewards are becoming more in line with raid stuff.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

That's not true.

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Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

I'm currently playing EQ1 again and planning to stick with it. When EQNext arrives, we'll see.

Of the other games I;ve played:

DDO: insufficient fidelity to the D&D system in general

WoW: Played twice and cancelled twice. Inability to develop character at max level beyond gear is an insurmountable problem IMO

EQ2: Overall a very good game. Biggest problems are class balance, too many abilities to employ them all effectively, and oversimplification of character abilities since SF came out

EQ1: Best MMO ever; in fact any future MMO will be hard-pressed to match it simply because the playerbase will never be duplicated. Only major weakness is the fact that so much nostalgic content has been rendere essentially obsolete

Vanguard: Enormous potential, enormous waste thereof. Game's major technical issues killed the playerbase and any chance of meaningful development. If this game were somehow reinvigorated I might play again seriously. The "feel" is fantastic.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

EQNext is on my radar as well, but it's probably late 2011 at least. And as promising at it looks, I am a bit apprehensive given that it is coming from the same crew behind the helm of current EQ2 (which I am currently on the outs with due to various ****).

I tried DDO and hated it, so no go for me.

No alternate advancement beyond max level in WoW is a bit of a concern, actually. The one big selling point in my book on WoW however (if I can overcome my gag reflex when looking at the graphics), is that it is insanely casual friendly, which is all I really want out of an MMO at this point.

EQ1 back during its golden age was indeed the best thing around, and it is a never-ending source of nostalgia. However, it had a ton of problems, and for me, I'm afraid it suffers from a case of "you can't go back."

DE's assessment of Vanguard is spot-on. Great potential, terrible execution. Man that game was buggy as hell. Not to mention empty.

Not sure what I'll do. Right now, I'm kind of leaning toward trying WoW again (for the simple fact that I already have the base version and first expansion, + RL friends already playing), and am already somewhat familiar with it. But, my track record with sticking with the game is terrible, and I'm not sure if Lich King and Cat can change that. Perhaps the art direction/design will grow on me, but so far I haven't been terribly impressed.

I tried going back to EQ1, wasn't keen on the changes. I think it was the fact that I kept wanting it to be familiar (and lots of things were, spells, etc), but so much was added in my absence that it felt like a new game using old mechanics. Not really happy with the population, etc., either; it's not a game I want to solo in (even with mercs making it faster/giving options other than bow-kite or farm lblues) and the population (even on Trak) at low levels remains dead because the levelling speed is so preposterous now. Regular group or GTFO, felt like.

I'm also playing STO, which I have mixed feelings about. Again, it's not a game I like to solo (seeing a trend here?) but I have a regular group for it two nights a week. The writing for new content has gotten *really* good, lately, giving a fantastic ST feel.. but the mechanics of the game still get in the way in annoying ways with some frequency, particularly with groups. Really frustrating, in all honesty, because of the wasted potential there. Cryptic is no Flying Lab Studios, despite how desperately they want to be.

Speaking of FLS, I've been dipping my toe back into Pirates of the Burning Sea (see my recent thread). This game is, in a way, what STO desperately wants to do, but without the license and on a flat plane. Group mechanics are way better, the dialog/quest system doesn't get in the way of making grouping a fun experience, the writing is fairly varied and interesting and the RvR/PvP backdrop provides an interesting motivator and raison d'etre.

I don't see STO lasting too much longer, honestly, for me and my group. I'd love for it to be a fun group game, but increasingly, the frustration at its issues is becoming a deal-breaker. I'd classify it as casual friendly, though, particularly if you like to solo.

PotBS, on the other hand, is likely to keep my attention in some form or another, for a while to come. The variety of options for playing it, along with F2P, means it's an easy game to put a couple hours into here and there and find something to get out of it. The real question is whether I'll dive headlong back into it the way I did when it first came out, getting involved in the economic and RvR games instead of simply finishing out my questing (which I discovered I'm shockingly far behind on after a few years, now) and doing just enough open sea hunting and occasional dailies to support a couple hours of PvP a week or something.

MMOs on the horizon that feature prominently on my radar? I've got a lot of hopes for EQNext. If it delivers on some things, I'll be sold. If not, I'll probably poke my head around and then go elsewhere. I'm also interested in what happens with SW:tOR, though the news from that hasn't been very consistent as far as how it makes me react. Again, there's some intriguing promise in many of the developer's design goals, but my faith in Bioware being able to deliver on them is middling, at best. Whereas I think EQNext is for the community to ruin by pushing for things that are out of step with what I want, I feel like SW:tOR is for Bioware to ruin by not having the experience to get right.

If you were to give me a couple hundred million dollars and told me to draft a dream team to create my perfect MMO, though, let me tell you -- a shocking number of my hires would be poached from FLS.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Currently playing WoW and LOTRO. Spend much more time in WoW.

IMHO, WoW is hands down the best designed MMO that's been released to date, as a whole package. I personally like the art work for it, along with the story lines. But it's definately an MMOG, not an MMORPG. But beyond the art/story, what really makes WoW work IMHO is the game mechanics and interface. There is plenty of complexity, withough being overboard and tedious, and lots of various class/race combos to please most every type of player.

Other MMOs I've played over the years:
EQ1
EQ2
Earth & Beyond
Eve Online
CoH/CoV
Champions Online (Lifetime Member)
DAoC
Star Wars Galaxies
Anarchy Online
Asheron's Call 2
Age of Conan
Guild Wars
Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Tabula Rasa
Ultima Online
Vanguard

Think what I am going to do for now is dive in and try WoW one more time, as well as check out LotRO (F2P is a nice incentive).

Sucks that I can only use my auth key once (I already purchased the WoW Battle Chest earlier in the year), and have to repurchase the same **** I already bought, but eh, that's they way it goes. Ended up just biting the bullet and getting the full enchilada of digital downloads (base game + both current expansions + digital pre-order of Cat) + 3 mons subscription. This way, if my interest wanes agin, I'll have all the stuff already downloaded should I decide to return.

What I'm wondering is, can I re-access my old WoW account, or do I just have to start fresh? I would they'd keep your characters for the people who take breaks and come back.

Also, my old WoW account (pre-battle.net merge) was authenticator-enabled, but when I click on that on the battle.net all it does it send me to a link where I can buy an authenticator. If I have to re-purchase one of those just to add that feature onto my account again, then that's a really raw deal. I'm hoping that once this patch from hell finishes downloading, I can go into my account via the game and reset all this crap.

You can reaccess your old account, and it will retain the old stuff. It will also allow you to redownload.

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Grenade 3 Sports Drink. It's fire in the hole.. Your hole!

Yeah, this. I know because I got a boatload of what turned out to be phishing emails saying that my 5-years inactive WoW account's password or email link had been changed. When I called Blizzard customer service, I had a bit of a problem...I didn't remember my WoW account name, and the email I thought had been associated with the account had never been linked to it...but having my original account activation key helped them to figure out that I had not been hacked, my account was still there, sleeping away, unaltered. They did try a little to get me to re-link my WoW account to a new Battlenet account, but since I'm not playing any Blizzard titles atm, I didn't see the need.

I dunno what it is about MMOs, but none of the games I've tried seem to have the staying power Everquest 1 had for me. Even WoW, which I played with some of the people that kept me in EQ1 for so long couldn't keep my interest. Maybe it was the fact that life moved on for everyone, and nobody could spend the same amount of late-night time together that we had in EQ1, and I found myself soloing more than I really wanted.

Loved the look of Lineage2, hated the grind, and disliked the reliance on players to provide most of the story. Plus, my guild had some totally stupid guild drama that came with the influx of FPS players who didn't know any better. This game instilled in me a lasting hate for gold farmers, something I didn't mind in EQ1.

Vanguard had so much potential...but it wasnt ready at release, and it cost the game's playerbase far too much...I didn't leave the game until most of the playerbase did...I felt it became a Single Player Online game, and that didn't appeal. Perhaps it got better with the server consolidations, but I still don't feel the urge

Loved LoTRO, but again found myself spending too much time by myself late at night and got bored. If anything, this is the game I might go back to first...but it hasn't happened yet.

Age of Conan...again, victim of being released too early. Lots of potential, but the bugs killed off the interest, and lonely servers pushed me over the edge to uninstall.

Got very heavy into Champions Online, bought a lifetime membership...and burned myself out with alts. Again fell victim to my playtimes meaning I tended to play by myself too much...and there were only so many times I could re-experience the same starting content over and over again.

Everquest 1 somehow had everything I needed to keep my interest, all at the right times. But I just don't feel the urge to start it up again, even though I did read the EQ1 threads about the progression server for a bit.

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Women are from Hoboken, men are from Trenton. ~ Jimmy Kimmel

I'll check out the new Star Wars one when it comes out because it's such a big deal kinda MMO. And it's Bioware, one of the few companies I give the benefit of the doubt too. Still, I have low expectations because I'm bitter and jaded after Warhammer Online!

Speaking of which, WHO was a great game at the time I played. Lots of fun, but probably that had a lot to do with the people I played with.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Can I put in a plug for Shards of Dalaya? Old EQ engine and graphics, zones and feel, better story line and nicely improved world. But, not a cheap emulator where you can hack, give yourself levels, etc. Rynar has played, I know. Might give you what you need in terms of feeling like EQ again. And, if you still have EQ sitting around, don't even have to download or buy anything.

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

1.) Do you currently play an MMO? - No.
2.) If so, which one? - See (1).
3.) Do you foresee yourself sticking with this MMO for the long-term? - See (1)
4.) If not, which MMO do you think you will move to? - I'll try SWTOR, maybe.
5.) Does your current MMO or your planned future MMO cater to a casual experience? - I hope so.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
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1.) Do you currently play an MMO? Yes

2.) If so, which one? LotRO

3.) Do you foresee yourself sticking with this MMO for the long-term? Yes, lifetime subscriber

4.) If not, which MMO do you think you will move to? I might put it down for a bit to try EQ Next or the SWtOR, but I will always come back (see #3)

5.) Does your current MMO or your planned future MMO cater to a casual experience? Yes, none of the epic storyline requires raiding, most can be solo'd, you will need a group for some parts. However, as the storyline progresses, the older storyline content that was group based is being given a solo option. Also, raid gear is generally just superior enough to non-raid gear to keep raiders happy, but not so superior as to make non-raiders gimped in other content.

Answers:
1. Yes
2. EQ1
3. Probably
4. I'm intrigued by EQNext, but not getting my hopes up after Vanguard crushed my hopes
5. Depends on what you mean by "cater" and how you define 'casual'. Like most games, new content is always end-game focused, however there have been several fundamental changes to game play that have made it appealing to casual players (at least me, and I'm as casual as they come).

I've come to realize that EQ1 is just about the only shot I have at enjoying an MMO. Vanguard would be my first choice, even in it's currrent state if there were others playing it, and there was a sufficient support community outside of it.

EQ1 has 11 years of content to be explored and re-explored. I know many find that boring, but I rather enjoy that aspect of the game. Almost nothing after Planes of Power interests me from a plot/storyline/lore standpoint. To me the original game, kunark, and velious were the best of what that game had to offer. I started losing interest when it started going sci-fi (luclin, aliens, etc...). Nothing quite like killing dragons (particularly named boss mob dragons) to make your day. =) . I'm trying (not always successfully) to get experience (i.e. levels, new items, etc...) as a byproduct of playing the game, instead of playing the game with the primary purpose TO get those things. In EQ experience is so easy to come by these days, if you just find some things to do along the way, the experience will come. This is one of the very few (maybe ONLY) things I actually liked about WoW.

I absolutely abhor the competitive guild and individual races to be the first to level XX, or the first to finish all the content or whatever. And I don't know if I can handle another let down like Vanguard was, so I'm not getting my hopes up too high for EQ Next, however, if it is based on the more traditional storylines from the first 3 expansions of EQ1 (i.e. dragons and orcs and elves and wizards and trolls), I'll probably give it a try, but not likely until it's been out for a while.

If I lose interest in EQ1 again, I might consider out LoTRO again now that it's F2P. I love the environment of that game. I'm not sure why I stopped playing, other than possibly because I didn't know anyone else playing at the time, and just kind of lost interest.

I'm considering trying out EVE online as well since my WoW is cancelled and my EQ2 will be cancelled as well if I ever get around to it. EQ1 is on a different station name because I screwed up creating the account for EQ2. I've never tried a non-fantasy MMO and I'd like to.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

EVE-Online is strange.

I'm not saying it's not good. But it's very different. It didn't hold my attention for more than 2-3 months--but it could have, I barey scratched the surface of the game. Thing is,it has a built in time-sink...you CANNOT level faster by any means, your skills being worked on are on hard timers, unaffected by your experience.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
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