I would also point out that pretty much any MMO is much, much more fun when played with a good group of friends than when it isn’t. If you know people in an MMO, join up with them.
I like cheesy metaphors. They prevent me from thinking too deeply. My cheesy metaphor on playing MMOs is that they are like poker. You don’t play poker for the rigorous skill required or the intricate game mechanics. The best MMOs are the ones that know when to get out of the way.
Lum has a really strong point. So strong that it’s almost reason enough to go with City of Heroes (assuming you pick the proper server), so that you can look up all the folks around these parts who are already playing. Nothing eases the initial MMO shock like having someone who’ll take the time to explain to you how the “obvious” controls/choices/interaction paradigms work, and can help steer you around the always present pitfalls at low levels.
Unless, of course, you have other, more “personal” friends on one of the other games, in which case they would be worth checking out for the same reason.
You on crack? My Ice/Invulnerability tanker solos better than my hovering Assault Rifle/Energy blaster does. Even my level 12 Defender and level 10 Controller can solo groups of even cons.[/quote]
I wish…
Anyway, I played a Dark/Dark Defender and couldn’t do diddly inside or outside a group. Go game balance. Woo.
You on crack? My Ice/Invulnerability tanker solos better than my hovering Assault Rifle/Energy blaster does. Even my level 12 Defender and level 10 Controller can solo groups of even cons.[/quote]
I wish…
Anyway, I played a Dark/Dark Defender and couldn’t do diddly inside or outside a group. Go game balance. Woo.[/quote]
Two dark/dark defenders in my SG levelling incredibly fast solo, and I’ve grouped with at least one of them and they were a perfectly fine asset to the group.
Maybe the power set just simply didn’t match your play style well?
Hey Walt, hate to shoot ya down but none of those games are solo freindly[/quote]
It may not be that newbie friendly, but I’ll strongly disagree with you that SWG isn’t solo-friendly. I only played it almost exclusively solo, and maxed out characters.
Boring combat? I guess you weren’t playing as a scrapper or blaster then, because I find combat pretty fun. Maybe your problem was you picked an archetype that didn’t have the setup you wanted for you playstyle. In any case, it doesn’t really seem like you gave it much of a fair chance.
Also, the comment about equipment really shows that you may be more of a monty haul player. :P
Let us know when you get up to about level 18-20 or so. Things get harder for solo play if you like to do instanced missions. You can still be fine killing randoms on the maps though, since you can find a spot that is level appropriate for yourself instead of being stuck with whatever the instanced generated you (usually your current level enemies, and groups of 1 minion and 1 lieutenant or 3 minions).
I admit that I did not give SWG the time to Max out any professions. For me, as a PvPer that would have to grind every class to become Jedi I lost interest in the game fast. :)
My guildmates however play SWG exclusively now, and have finsihed templates. From their opinion, “someone who has not played an MMO before would feel daunted by the challenges of SWG at first.”
If I recall, was not the tutorial also broken in SWG?
Did it get fixed?
I admit that I did not give SWG the time to Max out any professions. For me, as a PvPer that would have to grind every class to become Jedi I lost interest in the game fast. [/quote]
They’ve actually changed the process for becoming a Jedi from the crazy max unrelated professions grind to something more quest driven, I believe.
My guildmates however play SWG exclusively now, and have finsihed templates. From their opinion, “someone who has not played an MMO before would feel daunted by the challenges of SWG at first.” If I recall, was not the tutorial also broken in SWG?
The tutorial worked fine for me a year ago - don’t know if it’s been changed. Like I said, I wouldn’t say it’s newbie-friendly – agree with your friends that it certainly wasn’t initially, at least, since it’s one of the most complicated MMOs out there, since there’s a lot you can do. That makes it more interesting to me, however.
hahaha, good one.
I’d have to agree with Walter above when he says there is an influx of new players into DAOC. For the first time in a long time I’m seeim level 9, level 11, level 17 characters roaming about, asking questions, forming groups, etc. It does not take that long, either, to get to around 20 where there are a lot of players thanks to /level. It is a time sink though, and at high levels it is a grind (though a grind I happen to actually kinda like atm). The worst of these grinds though are ML raids, and even those can be ok with the right people. You only have to do the grind full-bore if you are into high-level RvR, where it becomes pretty much mandatory. But you can definitely have a blast getting up to 20-24 and RvR in Thidranki (BG1) or 30-35 in Caledonia (BG3). And in New Frontiers you’ll be able to RvR from levle 1 on, though realm point experience won’t kick in until the level 20 BG I think. In any event there’s a lot of low level value there IMO.
Right now, as I run my level 50 Reaver through the ML grind in between RvR stuff, I’m playing a bunch of level 20-ish characters and they’re a blast. But yes a guild is nearly essential after level 25-30 IMO. You can solo effectively though with many classes and frankly grouping with pick up folks is pretty darn easy these days.
hahaha, good one.[/quote]
Bowling to Columbine sucked.
fileplanet and lucasarts/sony/whoever is offering a 14 day free trial for SWG apparently. 2GB download though… I’m almost tempted to try it.
Yes, and paradoxically this is a major strenght of DAoC. The fact that the system allows you to still enjoy with other peoples even if you never meet them before.
This is something that only DAoC does at best in my experience. You are still enforced between a few areas but it’s the only game where it’s relatively easy to join groups and have fun.
hahaha, good one.[/quote]
Bowling to Columbine sucked.[/quote]
Never heard of it.
Don’t listen to him. We spent about four pages arguing with him about this. The conclusion was that he either played it for all of fifteen minutes, or didn’t quite make it through the installer.[/quote]
Yeah, Ebonstone can’t even make an argument why any of these games are bad, so don’t listen to his remarks. He just has an axe to grind.
I think any of those choices you have are good ones. It really all just comes down to what setting you like and what kind of MMOG you want. If you want a grind, get EQ or FFXI.
From what you said about Planetside and comparing it to Deus Ex, PS is NOT at all like that. Your skill matters greatly in your shooting ability. You don’t raise “accuracy” or anything like that. It’s still very much a twitch game.
I have looked at ads in CGM and many screenshots across the web for all of the games you mentioned, yuri, and agree with Ebonstone that all four stink of sheep shit.
I keep meaning to start a thread about which MMORPGs play best solo as I am looking for something to do with the little bit of freetime I do not have, but this one has covered that nicely. Hooray!
Huh. I’m playing a Dark/Dark Defender and have been effective both solo and with a group.
Your mileage apparently may vary.
Huh. I’m playing a Dark/Dark Defender and have been effective both solo and with a group.
Your mileage apparently may vary.[/quote]
Maybe it was just foul luck, but my abilities would bounce (got resisted) more than 50% of the time. I was out of mana (ability juice or whatever it’s called) before most fights were over.
Like I said, I was playing a Dark/Dark defender. In my opinion, the gameplay I experienced was excruciatingly boring. Maybe I didn’t pick one for me, you’re right. But I didn’t feel like re-rolling again either.
Let’s talk equipment.
When I finish a gaming session, I tend to reflect a moment upon what my character accomplished during the time I played. I do this with any game–Rise of Nations, EV Nova, DAoC, Anarchy Online, etc–usually as my HDD crunches and moans and clears the Virtual memory (512MB of RAM is a bitch, yes).
In the case of Rise of Nations, I like to decide when the battle turned in my favor, and like to think about what I did right and wrong during the game. For EV Nova, my mind is generally buzzing with ideas for trade routes, or weapon setups to best capture other ships, or whatnot.
For DAoC and Anarchy Online, like any MMO, I can sit back and think about what level I am–though I’ve found with leveling, the grass is always greener–you’re never thinking about what level you ARE, but what level you NEED to be.
However, in most of my gaming sessions, I manage to upgrade a piece of my character’s equipment. This is a real accomplishment. This makes me proud–to know I went toe-to-toe with a nasty monster and was lucky enough to win the roll, to know I risked my character not just for experience, but to hunt down a special item I knew would enhance my performance. Pieces of equipment in MMOs are like periods at the end of setences for me–without them, things just seem to drift. Without them, the stuff before it seems to lose some of its oomph.
That’s a big reason I didn’t like CoH. Fight, fight, fight? That’s any MMO, yes. But in other MMOs, that fighting wasn’t always about exp–in CoH, it was. And that, my friends, defines the grind.
Yes, and paradoxically this is a major strenght of DAoC. The fact that the system allows you to still enjoy with other peoples even if you never meet them before.
This is something that only DAoC does at best in my experience. You are still enforced between a few areas but it’s the only game where it’s relatively easy to join groups and have fun.[/quote]
It’s worth noting that this is generally only true if you play on a high population server, and more likely to be true if you play Albion. My own experiences were much the opposite - the servers tended to be clique-ish, and if you didn’t know people, they didn’t want anything to do with you, no matter your character’s skill set.