I'm sure a lot of you are very sick of this question. Like me, you've probably remained on the hunt for that perfect mmo experience for 10+ years. I'm not sure if there's anything else for me to find I haven't looked into, but I still really want to hear from the lemmy community on this. I'm not just looking for reccomendations for me, but also just wanting to know what you like. I'm expecting this to go about the same as the reddit threads asking the same thing, but I think the conversation is still worth having!
As for what I like, I was a classic runescape player before moving onto guid wars 2, but my all time favorite is dungeons and dragons online. I value character expression above almost everything else, and ddo is pretty good about giving you the same freedoms you would have in pen and paper did. Despite its shortcomings, this alone is why I keep going back to ddo over things like gw2 or elder scrolls online. With eso, and most others, I feel like my character is the same as everyone else's. Ddo makes my roll as a Rouge or cleric feel much more rewarding, and I still feel like I'm playing an individual custom character.
Honorable mentions would go to Black desert online for its amazing graphics and game play, and Albion online for being one of the most unique and interesting mmo experiences I've had in a while.
I don't think there is currently anything out that will be 100% what I like, but anything new to explore is welcome. Of course the goal here isn't really to find anything new, I just want to hear your thoughts on some of your favorites.
I'm bad with acronyms so I would appreciate it if you said the games real name at least once. Throw whatever you want at me even if it's way off topic. Upcoming or in development games are fine too!
Played wow for 7 years and a little ffxi, but hands down the best MMO today is ffxiv. Gathering in particular has a lot of classic vibes, the job system beats out class and they've come very far since ARR
FFXIV has almost no "character expression" in the sense that OP means it, though. Every character of your job and level is mechanically identical, except for what gear you have equipped, and gear is not very interesting.
This is very true. Fun game. Probably my favorite MMO, but probably not going to scratch the itch OP described. Races have negligible stat differences, classes do not have trees or talent points or ANY kind of build customization, and one character can freely change classes as often as they want while keeping all their gear and level. Once in a while the game lets you pick an absolutely pointless dialog option and otherwise you are a silent protagonist. Each class or job has a very specific way it is meant to be played and there is no room for deviation. You press the skills exactly when your job is supposed to and that’s that
You are totally correct, but I keep deciding its the best option anyway? I appreciate the reccomendation either way, I don't think anything is going to give me everything I want. :p some games like dungeons and dragons online give me bits and pieces, that can be enough. Ffxiv looks like it's gonna be a ton of fun, I really appreciate the reccomendations and advice.
It is a ton of fun. My recommendation is to take it slow and play at your own pace. Take in the story and characters. It plays like a solo RPG where you can see other players and group up for dungeon/raid content. Just don’t start paying for it until you have milked the trial dry. I think you can level every job except the latest few to level 70 before you run out of free trial. As soon as you pay for one month, though, you lose the trial for good
That is incredibly good to know ahead of time. I'm really excited to check it out.
I suppose for RP you would satisfy that with a different character and only sticking to certain jobs. You are not forced to do all jobs on the same character, but I do see your point. Dyes only go so far