Mmorpg

Barinthus · March 8, 2004, 13:47

Have anybody ever tried out a MMORPG? As a former mudder, I have always daydreamed about such games and lo and behold here they are.

Any particular MMORPG stands out? I've heard complaints about several. I'm curious about Shadowbane myself but I haven't tried it out - I doubt I'd have time for that.

How many hours per week do you usually spend playing a MMORPG? The way I figure it, I have pretty much around 3 to 4 free hours everyday during weekdays so obviously I don't want to burn them all on an online game when I should be having a life.

Skanky Burns · March 8, 2004, 14:06

These games are generally designed so you can spend as much time as possible playing them.

Verto · March 8, 2004, 19:35

I never really got into them. My brother got into Anarchy Online, which I would occasionally play. Once you got enough strength where you could kill creatures bigger than rodents, it was mildly interesting. It wasn't all that I expected. There wasn't as much player-to-player interaction, although I'm sure there are guilds and other groups that one could join for this. Perhaps it was just the storyline, etc of Anarchy Online, but I just wasn't that interested in it.

Rasputin · March 8, 2004, 20:44

whats a MMORPG???

Verto · March 8, 2004, 20:50

Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games.

Everquest, Anarchy Online, Star Wars: Galaxies.

Those games that are solely online, that cost about 15$ a month.

Rasputin · March 8, 2004, 20:55

ta

General Ludd · March 8, 2004, 20:57

I've played Shadowbane, EverQuest, Ultima Online (very, very briefly), Dark Age of Camelot, and WWI Online (if you can call that an RPG) and, erm, whatever that microsoft one is called - only the first incarnation of it.

Of those, I would say that Dark Age of Camelot is best all around, and EverQuest the worst (Although it has a certain nastalgic appeal to me, because it was my first MMORPG).

Shadowbane is good if you don't want to spend alot of time leveling your character... but the catch is that the main feature (PvP and nation building) is rather quite pointless because there are no reasources, and no reason for nations to fight eachother than merely wanting to fight. PvP can also be hard to find sometimes, depending where your nation is located, ect...

Because of this, Shadowbane has turned into a level treadmill that is, perhaps, even worse than games like Everquest which have mind numbingly slow character progression. The only difference is that in shadowbane, you are constantly rerolling new characters and going through the process repeatedly (albeit, rapidly), because there isn't much else to do.

By the way, if you do try out shadowbane and you're into roleplaying a chaos oriented character, check out Morloch's Vengeance on the Mourning server. Although i don't play anymore, I'm still a member of that guild.

WWII Online is good fun if you are a fan of combat sims. If you are limited by time, you might not be able to experience it in it's full potential - the massive, planned out attacks (ie. tank collumns that collect tank reservers from town way behind enemy line and converge on a single point in mass numbers, or mass bombing runs that have planes flying across most of europe) but you can still take part in "quick action" by spawning for defense, or at attacking field bases.

Verto · March 8, 2004, 21:14

Quote:

Originally posted by Osweld
and, erm, whatever that microsoft one is called - only the first incarnation of it.

You mean Dungeon Siege, the game I get constant advertisement for on Apolyton?

bipolarbear · March 8, 2004, 22:36

Isn't there already a thread like this? I think I remember it, I was asking lots of questions...or something kinda sorta like that.

General Ludd · March 8, 2004, 22:54

Quote:

Originally posted by Verto

You mean Dungeon Siege, the game I get constant advertisement for on Apolyton?

No, that isn't a MMORPG.

It started with an A I think.... hummm....

Asheron's Call - that's it.

Decent game with a nice open world that can be fun to explore. But poor setting (player races basically being european, arab, and chinese cliches, and the monsters big ugly weird things) and no open PvP.

And about Dark Age of Camelot - One of it's nicest features, I think, are the three seperate factions you can play under. Each one has their own races, clases, and land - it's like three games in one, almost. And despite there not beign open PvP, there are still frontier lands that are fought over by the different factions, and controling land and relics can give your faction bonuses like extra experience or more damage, ect.. It's basically a very good compromise of game elements, including a bit of everything.

I believe World of Warcraft will be taking a similiar aproach.

Dis · March 8, 2004, 23:09

Asheron's Call also has a second game out.

Dungeon Seige is NOT a mmorpg. Just a regular single player game (it probably has multiplayer as well).

I've been meaning to get Everquest, but never got around to it. I really don't think I'll like it that much.

Everquest 2 is a maybe. But it comes out the same month as another biggie- world of warcraft.

WOW looks like it may be the very first mmorpg I buy. But I'll still wait for reviews and check it out at my brother's house before buying.

The main problem I have is price. $15 a month is too much.

Verto · March 8, 2004, 23:11

Quote:

No, that isn't a MMORPG.

Shows you how effective popups are.

Barinthus · March 9, 2004, 01:08

Ah, thanks, guys. Yeah I have to agree re: prices - I'm used to mud for free so I'm a bit resistent to the idea of paying for a MMORPG other than the software itself.

Rasputin · March 9, 2004, 01:37

ive heard lots about asherons call, and was looknig into it.

what would be good is a mmorpg that you pay once for and dont ahve montyl fees for ....

Skanky Burns · March 9, 2004, 02:12

But then the pay once mmorpg's tend to have their continued development cut off quite quickly compared to the mmorpg's that are a source of income for their developers. The monthly fee ones tend to have continued developer support for years.

Rasputin · March 9, 2004, 02:45

i guess there are advantages

General Ludd · March 9, 2004, 08:08

There are some that allow yout to download the software and just pay the monthyl subscription. Planetside does this, i think, and possibly WW2 Online.

There's also some free MMORPGs, but they are usually pretty crappy. Planeshift is the only one that comes close to the quality of the retail ones.

Skanky Burns · March 9, 2004, 08:55

Woohoo, free mmorpg!!!
/me starts downloading now.

Verto · March 9, 2004, 09:11

I'll give it a shot as well.

General Ludd · March 11, 2004, 22:21

So... how do you like Planeshift? I never got around to trying it out, really.

Rasputin · March 11, 2004, 23:56

freebies ???? woohooo ..... downlaoding now

Skanky Burns · March 12, 2004, 01:10

I couldn't get it to connect, but from reading the website it was still in alpha mode. All you could do was run around and jump and climb things - no combat at all nor any economy. :shrug:

pg · March 12, 2004, 02:46

don't play mmorpgs if you want to have a life. in just a few months of everquest(played when it first came out) i learned quickly to have the most fun you have the live in everquest as much as possible(one reason being if you don't you can't stay the same level as your friends). i quit shortly after i figured this out. mmorpgs are very fun and addictive especially the first one you play but ultimately unrewarding imo. the level treadmill is too much after a while also.

Skanky Burns · March 12, 2004, 02:58

But if you don't want to have a life...

bipolarbear · March 12, 2004, 03:06

Yeha, I knew a kid in middle school, who seroiusly quit middle school, so he could play that game. I also heard that some people died playing Everquest, b/c they never left their computers to get food.

Rasputin · March 12, 2004, 03:14

Quote:

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
I couldn't get it to connect, but from reading the website it was still in alpha mode. All you could do was run around and jump and climb things - no combat at all nor any economy. :shrug:

i joinjed and conenctd no problems, but as you say not much to do yet///

Skanky Burns · March 12, 2004, 04:46

My only experience of mmorpg is Dransik, because that was being offered for free. It was in beta for about a year, and I played for a few months there. Twas fun, but the major things I like doing such as becoming a skilled blacksmith or carpenter weren't very well balanced. You could chop down an entire forest and get a massive amount of logs, but due to low sawing skills only end up with 10 pieces of board. Even worse, then trying to carpent the boards into a club (worth less than the boards themselves, mind you) not only failed almost all the time, but generally only gave you 1 experience point for your effort. Considering you got 100-200 exp each time you cut a tree down...

I hear the balance is better now.

It was quite amusing the time I started a new character. The first time around I mined for ore and then used it all up trying to level my blacksmithing skill. The only money I had was from selling spider or bat meat, and as such I was very poor. The second time around though, I mined and then sold all the ore for a massive profit rather than wasting it on experience. I was soon running around in chainmail with the best weapon while everyone around was struggling to afford leather armour.

It was fun being 1337.

Skanky Burns · March 12, 2004, 05:01

http://tibia.4players.de/home/

This one is described as fully free. It has older-style graphics but may just be decent. I'm giving it a go, anyhow.

Rasputin · March 12, 2004, 05:15

let us know how you go

Skanky Burns · March 12, 2004, 07:09

Not too bad so far. I'm hunting rabbits at the moment, you get 2 gold per bit of meat from them plus 2 gold per rabbit skin. One quirk of the game is that rabbits are considered "containers" like a bag because they are holding meat or carrots when you kill them. A side-effect of this is that you can store many rabbit skins inside the one rabbit. So there I am, carrying around a rabbit filled with rabbits.

I was collecting blueberries too before, but you get 3 per bush and only 1 gold for every 5 you sell. So I am still collecting them, but eating them now to get health instead. Selling them seems to be largely a waste of time.

Rats are more dangerous than rabbits - they attack back. I killed a few though and went up 1 point in club fighting. I don't know what triggers this or how long until I level again.