Pleas help me pick a MMOG.

[jedi55]

Hi,

After three long years I've finally plucked up the courage to play a MMOG.

I was wondering which one I should pick:



Everquest 1 or 2

City of Heroes

Star Wars Galaxies



I'm quite shy, so I'd prefer to work solo most of the time, is that possible with MMOG's?

I'd really appreciate any help you could give me, thanks.

[MartyG]

MMOs definitely work better as a group, that's where most of the fun is. Otherwise you may as just well play an offline game that doesn't have the monthly fees (.hack might well suit). You will be able to progress going solo, but it will be a lot slower progress, and some quests require you to be in a party to complete.

I'd go with Everquest 2 for the moment, it's a very polished game with a lot of scope for creating interesting characters.

[Paul3704]

I'm thinking about getting one as well. Let me know which you choose and I'll start one as well. Might be handy getting into one with another newbie, unless you don't want to which is fine.

I tried Eve online, but couldn't get into it. Looking for something with a little bit more scope.

[Super Stu]

Ah, good opportunity to plug: www.pieinc.co.uk

MMOs are all about being in a group, as Marty alluded to. I think who you meet in these games make or break them, and thankfully we've met some fantastic people over the 2 years we've been together. We're currently in 3 games at the moment, EVE (~90 members atm), Star Wars Galaxies (down to about 30, as we're getting ready for...) and World of Warcraft (have about 20 waiting to play), which goes live in the US later on today - keep an eye on the thread in the online forum to see which server we choose.

I wouldn't worry about being shy, the whole point of these games is that you're playing out someone that you aren't, as it were. Even when in SWG we had 80 members, it was still a very personal thing, and everyone knew everyone else.

Sadly, SWG is no longer the game I started in aug 2003, they've completely spoilt the direction. As such, if you're itching to play right now, EQ2 is probably your best bet (although bear in mind it does like a good PC). If you don't mind the mild potch, then US WoW launches later today, with the EU launch (where we'll be moving to) expected early 2005.

You're far, far better off in a clan, though.

[MartyG]

Absolutely - some of the stories we have from when we played JumpGate as the clan ZX81 and then the creation of PIE could be legendary (although probably quite boring if you weren't there at the time).

JumpGate is a kind of online Elite, it's getting very long in the tooth now and there aren't a lot of people playing it, yet for some reason I keep a subscription to it. One of our members would get attacked by a loner pirate, ZX81 would then get a mass party together and go hunting, with voice comms it was easy to co-ordinate attacks. Ultimately the success of ZX81 led to its downfall as the pirate groups started to fear our size and growing powerbase, even though we were a trading clan, and the group broke up because the leader wouldn't back down from a war most people didn't want.

This is when PIE Inc was born, which has subsequently moved through to Eve (and has been a very successful clan on that game), then to SWG and now to WoW.

It does seem eventually that MMOs dry up and become boring, unless new content is continually pushed into the game, eventually you realise you're doing the same thing day in day out, which is why you need a clan to keep the role play going, and keep things interesting. Without a clan I would say you're far more llikely to give up out of bordom.

[VR46]

good topic and one of those things I always think "must try that".

Played Everquest last year for few weeks but soon got bored (playing solo not in group) everyone else had mega stats and it was quite intimidating but if you put the time in it does improve, I would suggest trying a "newish" release not one that's been out for years to make it a bit easier on you.

Be prepared to put in some serious hours though.

[Super Stu]

Indeed, I really miss Jumpgate. You're absolutely right though, the longevity of these things live and die on the ability of the devs to create new content. As such, I'd agree in avoiding more established games such as SWG (which sadly has been devoid of content for quite some time). EVE is a terribly hard game to get into, especially now that politics rules the roost. If you like your roleplay though, you could do far worse than to get involved in the huge war that PIE is at the forefront of (either side, of course - depends whether you'd rather be the skanky terrorists or the holier-than-thou Empire).

As to whether you give EQ2 or WoW a go is probably six and half a dozen. They're both brand new and both seem to have good ideas. As it happens, our faith in SOE has been tainted somewhat given their treatment of SWG, but it's a different team doing EQ2 so I'm sure it'll be fine. Both are quest driven, have factional roleplay and look damn good. We became aware of WoW prior to EQ2 though, and a lot of us share a fondness of the various offline Warcraft RTS games anyway, hence my guild's decision on which of thesse two to play.

Those thinking that perhaps either EQ2 or WoW are merely fancy looking EQ-a-likes should look more closely, however. The gaming mechanics of WoW in particular, whilst a little hard to describe, are immensely clever, and whilst I didn't beta EQ2 for as long, the same appeared to be the case there, too.

As always with these games, though, you'll need to put the time in. I was unemployed back when I played EVE and SWG, so ended up putting in some rather ridiculous hours, but am working full time so this is no longer the case. Not to worry though, as WoW has devised a clever fatigue system, where in setting off you initially gain xp at a rate of 120%. Over time (hours) this starts to drop considerably, necessitating an 8 hour rest before you're back to 120%. Basically, this stops people power levelling all day long, and allows those who can only put a few hours in after work to compete on a level playing field, as such players will likely always be hovering around 120%.

As mentioned though, content is king and unless you involve yourself somehow, I just don't think these games will offer anything to keep you coming back. We actually ended up fostering the storyline in EVE, along with a rival clan, and thankfully the devs picked up on it and now involve both PIE and Oracle in prime fiction events. It'll be this kind of thing which will keep you coming back for more.

Anyway, heh, my posts on this subject end up rather long, so I'll stop there ;p Shout if you have any questions though.

[Tobal]

If your where going to cut your teeth on MMO, the WoW or FFxi would be a good place to start, WoW has some really good ideas that as said separate it from the crowd and i would most likly go to that but i only have time for 1 MMOrpg(which is FFxi), as for FFxi its more cookie cutter but has brilliant fighting system which is well balanced but the major problem with it is the game its basically unsoloable to exp(outside of beastmaster), you have to party and unless your in a Linkshell(read- guild) or a desirable job (Mages, Tank or a Ranger) then getting parties 40-60's becomes a right pain, and theres the problem of 'best exp' mentality that rules the game

in short because the japanese had the game for 2 years they've had the cash by the time the rest of the world joined to exp on mobs for chain 250+exp, that unless you have top equipment would be to hard do and downtime from fighting such mobs would be high and so everyone is set to getting top equipment and partying in areas estiblished by elite with topgear. But apart from that is easy game to get into and there is ALOT of content and good story behind it mission's.

[Magnakai]

To be blunt, most MMORPG are dreadfully tedious past hour 10-20 or so if you're playing on your own, though I hear that WoW has good soloing implemented. Don't quote me on that, though.

You will end up grouping if you play something like FFXI, as it's quite literally impossible to solo and make decent progress once you hit level 9-10.

The first MMORPG that I spent serious time in was Ragnarok Online, which is pretty simple, and thus quite newbie friendly, but is also quite immature. I wouldn't get into it if you're looking for longevity, and to be honest there are better choices even for accessability these days.

I briefly tried Everquest but found it nothing more than a chore. I couldn't see the appeal at all.

The next one I played properly was FFXI. Despite what is undoubtedly an unintuitive control system at first, it became quite an addiction. The party system is just short of fantastic. If you have a good party together, you can also get into a trancelike state hunting monsters and chatting merrily. There's quite an advanced FFXI presence on these forums, so that could be a help.

A friend of mine has spent a lot of time with SWG, and from his experience and that of many other people around the net, I've been seriously put off it. Jump To Lightspeed does appeal to the Wing Commander/X-Wing freak in me, but that's something else.
Another alternative is to just not engage in MMORPGs at all. When my FFXI beta account lapsed, I chose not to spend the extensive time required to fully enjoy it.
You really have to have the time to spare. It's up to you... if you're happily unemployed or just plain don't value your free time, then getting into an MMORPG is a perfectly entertaining timesink. You won't get anything out of it, like you would learning an instrument or reading a book, at least nothing that you wouldn't find on an internet forum, but you may perceive it as being more fun. I certainly did for a while, and it was a fun unique experience.

Oh, and out of the games you've listed, I'd go for the simplicity of City Of Heroes. Also consider World of Warcraft. It sounds like it's pretty solo-friendly.

[Darwock]

You won't get anything out of it, like you would learning an instrument or reading a book, at least nothing that you wouldn't find on an internet forum, but you may perceive it as being more fun. I certainly did for a while, and it was a fun unique experience.

Frankly speaking, that's a bizarre statement to make about one particular genre on a videogames forum. The same is true of every bit of entertainment software ever made. You can get as much out of an MMORPG as you can out of Rez, for example.

[Super Stu]

Arguably more so - I've gone for piss-ups with many of my clan, the same can't be said for the end of level bosses on Rez. Yes, frankly, the post is largely bizarre. Whilst I acknowledge is all too easy to get sucked into these games, the tone of your post suggests it's a bad thing. Furthermore, I'm inclined to take offence at "if you don't value your time".

Anyway, if soloing is your thing, I'd suggest SWG. A buffed, armoured master swordsman can kill anything in the game, which should immediately set the alarm bells ringing. Soloing will only get you so far in WoW, and you're missing the entire point of an MMO to do so tbh.

[SUMIRE]

I played Star Wars Galaxies since launch and recently cancelled.

The problems with SWG are many, from the awful combat system that is now been re-written from scratch to the lack of interesting quests and content.

The whole thing a rather lonely experience for a new player. I found 99% of people unwilling to group as the game favours the "loner" approach as some templates are way too powerfull. Most people are pre-occupied with becoming a Jedi, which is really the main goal of the game. Incidently, once you become a Jedi in SWG there is nothing to do from a quest or gameplay point of view...hence why I left.

The whole Jedi system was recently revamped as people complained about the sheer amount of them. PVP is dominated by Jedi, if you aint a Jedi, forget it. If you want to become a Jedi....well look forward to an extremely lonely time killing billions of creatures to get the exp. I think someone said it would take the average person two years to become a Jedi Knight now!

Jump to Lightspeed was the final straw for me. I was hoping for fixes to the game I had bought and was playing, but the devs time went into producing another product.

Many proffessions have been borked from launch over a year ago, and still nothing has been done......anyway, what I'm trying to say is....don't bother.


I think the new Everquest 2 is what an un-rushed SWG should have been. If I was going to play any game of this type I would go for Everquest 2.

The only trouble with games like this is I found I missed out on other gaming as I didnt want to get "left behind".

[RobRoy]

I have played numerous MMOs (Asherons Call, Starwars Galaxies, City of Heros, Eve online) and by far the best of these has been Lineage 2 (www.lineage2.com) its a world based on Humans, orcs, dwarfs, elves and dark elves.

Pretty much the standard hack and slash affair. progressing through levels. gaining new skills.

Grouping isnt a must if you pick one of the Mage classes and there is also a Player v Player theme through the game.

There are castle seiges where a clan trys to take an NPC controlled castle or a player controlled castle. these get hundereds of people all playing at the same time to achieve the goal of taking the castle or defending the castle.

A new european server has just opened called Teon which basically means there are no really high players yet on the server, which is nice and fresh

Check out the website. they have details on the races and different classes you can be.

if you have any more questions post here or give me a PM :P

[Darwock]

Arguably more so - I've gone for piss-ups with many of my clan, the same can't be said for the end of level bosses on Rez

Yeah I tried going out for a beer with Mars[Giga]... it was a good laugh until it was his turn to buy the round - then he tried to shut down, trapping us all in the system.

boom boom.

[Magnakai]

Ah, yeah, you've got a good point. I guess it's the lack of an ending that really traps me. Maybe I need to change my perspective...