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!

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

As an ex-Turbinite, nice to hear DDO praise these days. LOTRO is still around too.

I've been playing Star Citizen lately: actually a game now, and not a scam. Obviously sci-fi and not fantasy, but it's pretty great, especially with non-combat activities.

[–] Lurker 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I've been avoiding everything with star as the first word because I can't remember which is which anymore. I usually skip on the sci-fi ones, but I'll look into star citizen tonight just because of your reccomendation.

Ddo is still very active and surprisingly social. I love my guild. Every now and then you can grab all the dlc and most of the other stuff for free or extremely cheap, so I'm playing the expansions I always wanted but couldn't afford. I'm close to unlocking artificer and I can't wait for that to be my first reincarnation. Combat feels familiar and functional, dare I say fun at times. The challenge is there, and so is the need for a good party. Easy enough to solo, but you'll want to take on those more challenging quests eventually. Exploration is still a 10/10 in this game, in my humble opinion. Korthos island still feels like home. The dragon in the tutorial is still just as awesome. Love love love this game and love that it's still so great.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

I wouldn't count Star Citizen as an MMO game just yet. It is mostly sim, with barely any story based content. In its current state, it is more of a chatroom with mostly rudimentary gameplay loops that let you earn cash to buy ships.

The missions and profession loops are pretty barebones still. The events are too janky to properly enjoy yet. The armor sets are detailed yet entirely forgettable. The ships are customizable with basically just a handful of weapon archetypes, that don't really have any visual impact externally.

The ships themselves are awesome though, and it will take you hours just to tour around in all of them. The landing zones are jaw dropping, and their public transit transitions are cool without getting tedious, but the only real gameplay there is shopping.

It has come together in a pretty fun loop lately, by hunting NPCs criminals to steal some drugs, physically loading them into your own ship in a sort of 3d Tetris with tractor beams, selling the drugs at sketchy PvP hotspots, sometimes unintentionally committing other crimes in the process and getting hunted by bounty hunting players, and being sent to and then breaking out of jail.

Aside from that, the game is mostly spectacle right now, which your can experience vicariously from their most recent demo reel:

https://youtu.be/nWm_OhIKms8

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Everquest emulated servers are still a thing.

p99, pQuarm, TAKP, etc

Brutally difficult, no hand holding, more like a D&D sandbox than anything else.

[–] Lurker 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Absolutely. I need to give ever quest a serious shot.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I played MMOs for years and years since I was a kid. I started with Mu Online and Knight Online. Then Lineage II C3-C5, then WoW. Maybe 14 years. Now that I work and have a SO, I’ve been searching for a good mmo to cling on for 2-3 years with no success. There’s nothing that I feel excited about. Maybe it’s the phase in life I’m at. I think it’s part that and the fact that there’s no actual novelty. MMOs are now byproducts of gaming recycling facilities lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

We're kind of in a drought right now. I'm hopeful about Ashes of Creation, but we'll see how it goes. My community was interested until it became clear just how hard they meant to go on the pvp thing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I mostly play FFXIV. Although after 4000+ hours I don't have a lot more to do lol, so I've been enjoying GW2 a bit until I get the itch to commit to something and go back.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think you are in my FC lol. If not you are of the same ilk.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

We are out there, watching the catgirls and light armor human females.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I’m not even sure if it’s still around but I cut my teeth on Asheron’s Call back in the day. Was the best and worst game I’ve ever played. “Worst”because I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.

[–] Lurker 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

This is one I'm not familiar with! Or remembering anyway. Looks like there are still private servers going of you want to scratch that itch. There was also a sequel, and maybe a couple others? I didn't do much research because I'm pretending to work. Going to check it out!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

AC was released in late 1999, I started playing in August of 2000 and played till around 04, took a break on and off for several years and in 2014 I came back and and played till they shut the servers down in 2017…

Even played for about a year on one of the emulators around 2019-2020…

It’s the only MMO I’ve played—and I have thousands of hours in GW2, hundreds in WoW, and hundreds more over Warhammer Online, Aion, Lineage 2, DAOC, RS Classic, New World, and I’m sure several others I forget now—that truly scratched that itch for me.

You can make whatever type of character you want and the best armor in the game is loot gen.

There were like, 14 years of monthly updates…

I will say, getting used to Decal and all of the plugins will make your head spin that those programs were allowed during retail…

It has been the one MMO that I want to suggest to everyone, but it’s kinda hard to get into and even during the height of its popularity the servers never had more than like 10k people online at a time…

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

What server did you call home, friend?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

I was on Darktide, but, I was an Anti back in the early days and was never part of any RPK monarchies like Blood…

I was in Schattenkind -> Fists of Vengeance -> Samite -> Killer Whale -> Art of War… then went on hiatus and when I came back in like 2014 I joined Charlie Chans and I’m still hanging out with those guys

[–] Lurker 4 points 11 months ago

I just want the mmo experience books and anime promised me. Someone isekai me.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I'm a huge fan of Project:Gorgon, I try not to recommend it too much but I have to mention it since you've said you used to play Runescape. The game's only slightly similiar but I've heard some Runescape players say it scratches the same itch. I'd classify it as a sort of mix between Runescape and a more usual MMORPG - you have a ton of skills that interact and build off of each other on one character, and you also have classes, builds and some group content.

Since you mentioned character expression - have you considered Path of exile? That game is well known for it's massive skill tree and build variety. Alternatively you could check out the Ascension private WoW server - it's based on being able to pick skills and passives from any class when you level up.

If you've enjoyed Albion, why not try EVE online too? Those two games are in a league of their own honestly, nothing else had got my hands shaking and heart pounding quite like sitting on my ass in the comfort of my home playing a spaceship game hahaha.

If you want something with nice graphics like Black Desert, that's going to be tough, generally newer MMOs on modern engines are few and far between. Maybe New World is your best bet.

[–] Lurker 2 points 11 months ago

While I'll of those are excellent options I'm actually most interested in project gorgon of all things.

Even online interests me for sure, but I'm very scared of it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Last MMO I enjoyed was New World. It has its issues but it can be enjoyable if you take your time with it. No idea how's the expansion as I didn't feel like it warrants the price tag but once it's discounted I'm back in!

Otherwise I tried most of the big ones and nothing really holds me as it used to anymore. I hope something new comes around that'd grab me again but unfortunately nothing on the horizon particularly excites me. Blue Protocol seems nice, but I don't watch it too closely. Sure looks pretty though.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

DayZ managed to suck me in for a good 1800 hours. I made the switch to Linux full time so the anti-cheat stuff for DayZ did not work, so i have not been back in a good while. I am unsure as to the state of the world there.

What I liked about it is its openness and freedom to do what you like. you start with nothing and build your character as you wander about. most RP happens when interacting with people; some are being themselves, others invent interesting characters, and some are just D-bags.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

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

[–] Lurker 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

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

[–] Lurker 2 points 11 months ago

That is incredibly good to know ahead of time. I'm really excited to check it out.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

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

[–] Lurker 2 points 11 months ago

New world seems like it's really turning itself around. I'll pick it up eventually, it looks like it has some awesome potential.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Dark Age of Camelot has a free server called Eden if you don't mind mid 2000s graphics

[–] Lurker 2 points 11 months ago

I had completely forgotten about that one. Mid 2000s graphics are my bread and butter.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Guild Wars 2

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

I considered GW2 but I prefer Champions of Regnum. Lighter, faster, way more intense pvp.

[–] Lurker 1 points 11 months ago

Day z interests me a lot. I guess I had kind of assumed it would have failed by now and forgot to keep looking. I may check it out when I get home.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

I tend to only like big RvR open pvp, as this always generates new content. Then I am also after something cheap and not pay to win, so it has to be f2p of some form. I also want full 3D, as I like relaxing scenery. Only a few mmos match this, so in the end I found Champions of Regnum.

[–] Lurker 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Commenting to add that I do currently have lost ark, phantasy star new genesis, and rift installed, while nothing has grabbed me yet, i am looking forward to playing a bit more of them.

Oh, and the terrible digimon mmo. Maybe I'll like it this time.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

TIL Rift is still around.

[–] Lurker 1 points 11 months ago

Honestly isn't half bad, from my limited perspective. It plays well, looks fine, and has an easy interface.

Forgot I still have everquest installed. Got to check hat out some more too.

[–] Lurker 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I'm totally desperate to pick xiv up, but I'm pretty sure I've used my free trial and the subscription fee isn't something I can do right now. I think this is as close as a perfect mmo will get for me depending on how the community and group play is. I have no recollection of the free trial, so I think I signed up and forgot and it won't let me use it again lol. I probably didn't have a computer that could actually handle it and forgot. I'm going to look into it more tonight, I keep deciding this one needs to be played, maybe I can sign up for a new trial with a different email and card?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

If you bought the base game then you aren't eligible for the free trial anymore unfortunately.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The xiv free trial isn't based on time; you can play through the base game and the first expansion on a trial, your jobs are capped at 60, and you have some social restrictions.

Definitely recommend going through the site for the trial rather than steam, as there are sales on expansions that don't go on steam. I don't think you need a card to do the trial?

[–] Lurker 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

That is great to know! I will be downloading and trying that tonight with any luck. It honestly looks amazing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Best story of any MMO I've played, best music of any MMO I've played. I am least confident in the ARR storyline, and it's still pretty decent. It's just less so in comparison, so I'd definitely recommend letting yourself read stuff and watch cutscenes and get invested in the characters. It pays off.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I've been playing Albion Online and enjoying it as a chill game to play while consuming other media.

It certainly attracts a certain type of g*mer given it's pitch and mechanics.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'd be interested how you manage to play Albion as a chill game?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Go gather and craft, tend to the farm, blow through a dungeon maybe.

Not as chill if you're in the pvp zones, but then you get that thrill

[–] Lurker 1 points 11 months ago

I really loved the idea of it, but never got super into it. It had a lot of the things I loved about runescape, a lot of new things to love, but wasn't for me. Maybe I'll try again at some point