Scratching the MMO itch

I know with DaoC people run their own private servers - many of which are very modified, but there are some that are completely normal.

I know the "Is this a right thing do?" question arises, but I am just throwing it out there.
 
Tek7 said:
That being said, my main reason for not buying Guild Wars is simple: My gaming budget at the moment is zero.
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I had a feeling that was the case. Like I said earlier, it all comes down to whether or not you want to spend any money at all. However I just wanted to let you know it is actually quite cheap and a great deal for what you get.

That being said tho, I'm afraid I'm not much on other MMOs. I only have enough life for 1 MMO at a time.
 
Odale said:
I know with DaoC people run their own private servers - many of which are very modified, but there are some that are completely normal.

I know the "Is this a right thing do?" question arises, but I am just throwing it out there.
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Aye, private servers are (to my knowledge) always a violation of the Terms of Service of a game. Now if a game's official servers shut down permanently, that would be a different story, but the DAoC servers (AFAIK) are still online.
 
Tek7 said:
Aye, private servers are (to my knowledge) always a violation of the Terms of Service of a game. Now if a game's official servers shut down permanently, that would be a different story, but the DAoC servers (AFAIK) are still online.
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Actually it is more of a properties/copyright violation as it falls under reverse engineering. However there are certain clauses that make it questionable. For instance you can't really lock in a file formats and protocols, which is why open office is able to read and write office documents, wmp can play music from an itunes server, etc. I think wine is covered somewhat as the file format it is executing is of an open, established standard.
 
So I haven't heard anyone mention Anarchy Online yet. What do the MMO experts among you think of AO?

EDIT: I should probably mention that I favor sci-fi MMO game over fantasy MMOs.
 
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I did like AO. Once you read up on the game, and reroll a few times, it grows on you. I think there's a site (AOFroobs.com?) that has a forum for newbies. I do recommend that game since it's free. It's a lot of instanced gameplay, but TONS of options for tweaking your character through implants and such. But yesh, it's ugly. :)
 
I recently did a round with AO last month actually. The depth is overwhelming and even with a veteran friend walking me through it, I was just discouraged by how much there was to know in order to do well. That coupled with the massive zones that take forever to cross and the boring combat at low levels, I just couldn't hang. It sure does have a great Sci-Fi feel to it.
 
Boring combat and lots of running in AO? I may have to pass then. Those are two reasons I lost interest in WoW. (Don't flame me for that comment; my max character level in WoW was 48 or 49. I never played through any endgame content.)

After looking at many, many MMO games last night, I'm realizing that the game I'm looking for probably doesn't exist yet. I put MMOs down in 2007 for several reasons. My primary reason was financial, but the secondary reason was the low time-to-fun ratio.

When I pick up a game like Team Fortress 2, I'm in direct control of my character and only a short distance to interacting (i.e. shooting at or healing) another player. Aside from respawn times (which are necessary to balance the game), I spend almost all my time immersed in and focused on the game.

When I played World of Warcraft, far too much of my time was sent watching the backside of my running Dwarf Hunter. I would sometimes hold a book in one hand, set my character on auto-run, and just nudge him left or right with my mouse. (I'm not making this up.) The times I wasn't reading a book, I was chatting in the guild channel. But I have an IRC client for group chat and I don't pay $15 a month for IRC.

I still miss the persistent worlds, the deeper social experience, and the sense of exploration in MMOs. I just don't think I'll get over my beefs with MMOs to sustain interest or the will to pay $15 a month (even after I find employment) until some clever developer finds a way to (or advances in technology allow developers to) fix several key flaws of the current base MMO game model.

I'll still keep my eyes on betas. I'll still glance at WoW now and then (if only because I know so many people who play it and I sometimes feel like the kid who has to miss the class field trip to go to the dentist and get new braces). I'll still visit Spirit of Elijah/Elisha celebration events if my schedule and circumstances allow.

But it's going to take a major step forward (and a job) to draw me back into MMOs on a long-term basis. Until then, I'll scratch the occasional itch with a MMO beta (there's certainly enough of them at any given time) or a free-to-play MMO.

FPS games are still my first pick for a multiplayer experience on the PC.
 
You might want to wait and try wow after they release the next patch in the fall. You'll be able to get a normal mount at 20, epic mount at 40, and flying mount at 60. Plus the normal flying mount will be increased from 60% to 150%.

I can't remember when you tried it last, but they've already reduced the amount of XP required to level to 70 and also increased the XP rewards from quests. The game has drastically changed from what it used to be, but you can level easily now.

Also, if you really dislike travel, you might want to try a mage. Mages get an ability to teleport to the major capital cities, so getting around is a snap. They also have very high dps allowing you to kill quickly. Of course the tradeoff is that they're ultra squishy and die extremely easily if you're not careful.
 
Not sure if you looking for this type or not. I've been playing SAGA MMORTS for a little over a year. Started in open beta. They have greatly improved the graphics. Server is stable almost all the time which was huge issue back in beginning ( I quite every Monday after frustrating weekend, lol). You can pvp, pve, have guild wars, duel quest or quest by self. They are coming out with World Conflict (waiting, waiting, waiting). Free to play, but full version to join guild, do raids, etc. I'm mainly sticking with it because I have a good guild going. Gotten some positive response to my Proverbial Principles weekly mailout. You don't have to spend money. You can buy units ingame for resources you produce. Even ones people a paid cash for. The sell via card packs. Second hand retailers sell for cash or resources which is nice since ingame gold, wood, stone don't cost 'real money', which I think was your point. Anway, playsaga.com is the site.

Hope you find the game your looking for.

repfarm
a good name is more desirable than riches
Proverbs 22:1
 
Odale said:
He was a hunter, so he had Aspect of the whatever to get him moving.
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Cheetah. It was Aspect of the Cheetah. It was one of the main reasons I decided to roll a Hunter. I only discovered the wonder of collecting pets later. (I never did tame Humar. Oh well.)

I think Aspect of the Cheetah gave a 30% speed boost? (How do I remember all this stuff?) I still spent too much time running from point A to point B.

To Blizzard's credit, World of Warcraft probably has the prettiest world to run around in. That will change once we see more MMOs based on Unreal Engine 3, though.
 
Tek7 said:
Cheetah. It was Aspect of the Cheetah. It was one of the main reasons I decided to roll a Hunter. I only discovered the wonder of collecting pets later. (I never did tame Humar. Oh well.)

I think Aspect of the Cheetah gave a 30% speed boost? (How do I remember all this stuff?) I still spent too much time running from point A to point B.

To Blizzard's credit, World of Warcraft probably has the prettiest world to run around in. That will change once we see more MMOs based on Unreal Engine 3, though.
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The engine has less to do with prettiness as to the ability of the artist. Most people (me included) just can't draw or model worth squat. Once you factor in that you need to get the highest quality with the least amount of vertices it becomes dramatically harder. You can create stunning levels and models on old engines. For a good example look at Beyond the Red Line, which uses a game engine originally written nearly a decade earlier. You can load a huge, complex model into virtually any engine and it will look stunning. The problem is shipping a game that most people can play without crippling their system. Usually companies can achieve this by shipping multiple resolutions of texture, lower polygon models and disabling shaders (for instance depth of field and motion blur).
 
I found WoW to be fairly ugly. o.o

Now LOTRO, that was a reason to crank on the DX10.

But back to the topic, have you looked into Runes of Magic?
 
repfarm said:
Not sure if you looking for this type or not. I've been playing SAGA MMORTS for a little over a year.
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SAGA looks pretty cool for what it is, but I'm more interested in a MMORPG than a MMORTS. I might still give it a whirl, though.

Thanks for the recommendation and welcome to the forums. :)
 
I almost installed FreeRealms earlier today, but wasn't willing to install a Firefox add-on from Sony Online Entertainment after that whole rootkit debacle. I have no idea whether the add-on would scan private information on my computer; since it's Sony and since they need to make money off FreeRealms somehow, I'm not willing to take that chance.

I'm probably being paranoid, but that's just me. :)

After spending a few hours over the last week reading about MMO games, the itch is slowly subsiding. Chances are looking very good that I'll lose interest in MMO games again before I find one that scratches the itch--and it's probably just as well. There are only so many hours in a day and I need to spend quite a few of them looking for a job (not to mention online responsibilities, writing, reading, etc.).

In case this thread gets assigned to the second page of forum threads and, thereafter, the archives, I'm going to take this opportunity to thank everyone who suggested games and offered opinions on various titles: Thank you.
 
I have been playing Luna Online, which is fun and has some really unique elements... Like dating dungeons, taking care of a farm with a "family" you and your friends create etc... It's also EXTREMELY cute but... There are some problems with it too... It has some veryyyyy adulterous themes - like very scantily clad characters and it even goes so far as to have a launcher image of two girls kissing... But if you are spiritually mature enough to handle these bad points, it is really something interesting ^^
 
I decided to give Free Realms a try and think I'll be exploring that world a little further. I don't think it's going to steal any time from Team Fortress 2 or Left 4 Dead, but it'll be a nice diversion for when I feel like playing a MMO.

I've created a separate thread about Free Realms in the Tribe of Judah General Discussion Forum to see if anyone else in ToJ plays.

If members of other affiliates (or any other Christian gamers) play, please feel free to start a new thread and/or add me to your in-game Friends list. My character name is Jab Airwalk (a not-so-subtle tribute to Alice in Wonderland).
 
nothing will ever replace UO pre T2A or Everquest 1 pre Luclin or Daoc pre expansions..and rumor has it that they are going to bring back a Classic EQ server pre luclin permanent and a Origins server DAOC..of so I am there! Meanwhile I still play EQ2
 
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