Pets? No, I was cursed with the hat collection of Ragnarok Online, by the time I stopped playing I had done all the quest for hats in the game while making friends.
This is what I’ve played, or at least what I remember playing. Good part of it was because a friend or girlfriend wanted to play it with me.
Ragnarok Online (mostly private servers)
Grand Chase
MapleStory
Flyff
Perfect World
Ragnarok Online 2 Gate of the World (briefly)
Eden Eternal
Neverwinter
Tree of Savior
This one ate up so much more of my time than it deserved. Me and few friends probably dedicated at least a year to this game and it’s honestly not even good, but it’s about the people you play with I guess.
@coralinecastell Speaking of Tera, I took these when I went back a few months ago. It’s my favorite place in the game and I think some of them came out pretty good.
https://imgur.com/a/bNXIU2q
I played MMOs. I like them too much. So I had to quit because I was never playing single player games. MMOs suck up all my time if I want to make any progression in whatever the goal is.
After quitting MMOs, I actually planned to start buying and playing games on steam and playing those single player games. I do play some of the games and have a good time. But my plans changed yet again when I saw how there were a large number of early access games are bad and how micro-transactions have been forced into single player games.
Now, I’ve recently gone back to playing retro games. NES, SNES, Playstation, Playstation 2, etc. There are a lot of old games that I was interested in and never played. And even games I want to play again. I’m guessing that by the time I get through all those old games over many years, maybe early access steam games will be in a playable state and micro-transactions will be removed.
And that is the path I’ve taken to leave the curse of MMOs. Play a few steam games and catch up on old games.
Amazing!! I love them. Really impressive how well-built the game world is, especially compared to the more generic MMOs. Thanks so much for sharing, gave me some huge nostalgia right there.
And speaking of New World… ALPHA SIGN UPS STARTED YESTERDAY!
@Enki your hat collection reminded me of my book collection in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Gotta. Read. All. Books! 
I especially like the turtle hat 
(second column last row) and the sunny hat 
(around the middle, second to last row). Could you actually wear them in-game? 
Yes, fashion was a big part of it! And that’s just a portion of all the hats there is now, initially they were only obtainable through quests, boss/monster drops or events and later via ROPs (microtransactions), now there are also costume hats. I did own both turtle and sun ones in a server I played though. 
The fun part for me was doing the quests; gathering itens, finding hidden npcs, all that stuff and the feeling of accomplishing something at the end. Even some private servers had modified new hats and new quests for you to collect and complete.
@Truly
It was kinda like that for me as well, started playing because some friends but they didn’t quite like the game, so I was left behind. I enjoyed the class system of the game, so I wanted to play some more. Later I made some more friends in the game and had a year or two of fun playing it. Like most MMOs, this one had its flaws and administrative problems. We eventually stopped playing, but like you said, the important part of MMOs is the friendships you have and the new ones you make.
Okay, I’ve played TERA a bit, and if I had a better income I’d love to play FFXIV. But the one I have invested way too much time into and always enjoyed was (and is) Star Wars The Old Republic. The story of the classes always interested me, and I liked the combat well enough. I still go back every so often and play more.
I started with Runescape 18 years ago and WoW after that. Runescape was a trip back then 
Haha, thanks. That took me by surprise, we’ve been married 10 years now.
Oooh boy I totally forgot about Star Wars The Old Republic!
I have a dear friend who’s positively addicted to it. She doesn’t play or own many games, so when she gets hooked on one like that it’s truly something.
I thought about playing it some time but, despite knowing the game itself is good, I’m not very familiar or interested in the SW universe. Which reminds me that I tried the LotR MMO only to be surprised by how bad the mechanics and progression were despite me being super invested in the universe itself. 
@Nyctus ah, yeah! Do people still play Runescape, btw?
ofc i bought the collectors edition just to get this! 
but yea, MMO’s is too much of a time-sink or drain, nothing better than having the enjoyment of a game that can end up like a full time job on its own
I’m a huge star wars fan, so that’s what drew me to the game in the first place. Stayed because I loved the game though. It’s pretty free to play friendly overall, and though I used to be a subscriber for a bit, I haven’t played the expansions, and have heard good things about them.
i keep lying to myself trying to convince me that i still like mmo but the truth is i used too… i’m still looking for an mmo that would become my main game like it used to be back in the day but i just cant… none of the mmo i try feel the “mmhole” in my soul i guess
I am necro’ing this thread for 2 reasons:
First, how do you think the year has been for MMO’s? Anything new adding itself to the genera? Did folks ever see New World?
Related Query: Do you think that the ‘player burnout’ or MMO fatigue contributes to the perpetual attempts of games to enter the market, because even though any given MMO isn’t going to reach the success of one of the big dogs, there are enough people who had to step away from the big dogs for one reason or another that they can be successful in the short term by attracting those folks alone?
I myself spent a lot of time on Guild Wars 2, but nothing too crazy, probably only like 200 hours in a 1 year period… but as I mentioned a lot of the games that I have logged a ton of hours into have a lot of the ‘good qualities of an MMO’.
I tried The Secret world (lol) and though I loved the world but it being an MMO did nothing for me, and made all the things I don’t like about an MMO stand out more.
So I want to ask you: the good MMO playing chronies out there, what do you consider the traits of a good MMO? What is the core of the experience you are looking for?
Previously mentioned was the
Only thing that caught my eye was Temtem.
Today was the first day I’ve ever heard of it.
Yes, I left WOW a long time ago and looked for something to scratch the itch per say. I moved to Aion but that was only in the interim. Now, I don’t really play MMOs because Aion was a Korean MMO. AKA grindy AF. People would still be looking for something different that can take their interest. And really, it doesn’t necessarily need to last too long as burnout happens relatively quick once end game is reached.
A little harder to answer, but community, story, experience, reasonable progression, and combat mechanics.
A bad any one of those can break the enjoyment easily.
Personally, I want it to be fun. I want it to be something that is simple to pick up, but not overall simple.
The simplification of skills in world of Warcraft is what broke it for me.
The excessive gear grinding, breakage, and integrated PVPVE is what broke Aion for me.
I never really enjoyed playing Guild Wars 2. I loved the jumping puzzles and will probably log in again for the Christmas one. I think it was the combat that was lackluster. Oh, and the community and crafting a bit too.
Each game did some things right in my opinion. But each one had things that did not go right.
What drew me to SWTOR was the story. every class had a different story filled with light and dark side choices, and each story was absolutely awesome. A second thing that was nice was how it was not grindy at all. If you completed all of the quests (and really not even all of them) you would level up as needed and be able to move on perfectly fine.
So I have a 30 day trial for FFXIV that I haven’t started yet. I’m really interested to though, as lots of people seem to love it and I am interested in the economy and game style of a fully P2P MMO.
Yikes when, in the name of God, this I start this thread? Alrighty then let’s necro this.
Yeah, Columbus did and then he killed all the indians as “thank you”. Haha! Bitter historical jokes aside: no idea what happened since then and the latest update seems to have been in June, during Alpha.
I played The Elder Scrolls online with a friend this year and it was outstanding. Highly recommend it, unlike any MMO I’ve ever played and I bloody hate Skyrim. I hope I have time to play more soon!
Sincerely I think the MMO genre is a dying genre. I say this because it requires a profound real-time time investment. It’s not only online but also usually requires a lot of timing, planing, being online at precise times for specific events, and a varying amount of cash in order to fully “enjoy”.
Don’t feel like it’s the kind of game for a generation who’s working 2/3 jobs to afford living with their parents while they pay off their huge student’s debt.
Then again I might be either a) misinformed b) pessimistic or both. We’ll know in time.
On the technical side, very simply: Brazilian servers. if you got that, you got me to try it. The end.
Regarding everything else: friends who also play the same game or an active, generous and open community that might take me into their gilds! I used to love partaking in guilds and, as a very personal trait of my personality, I adore getting to know new people, online or in person.
I don’t care much about cosmetics but a pet-peeve is gender-locked classes. Why can’t I be a female warrior?
@Vindace (tagging you as you mentioned the same thing above): ever since I tried out ESO I realized that – and really, I’m sorry for saying this, everyone – perhaps paid or subscription-based MMOs work better, money-wise, then F2P with P2W elements. Pretty sure several of you won’t agree, and that’s fine, it’s just a feeling I got from playing ESO and it opened my eyes to how well economy can be based when you have a more fixed income from your player-base.
(Not to say a change in income is the ONE thing that will make all MMOs great, because it won’t. Administration, events, moderators, servers, etc, play a hell of a bigger role.)
This. Yes.
Wizard101
Great games but the card packs money sink for pets and mounts. Sigh. Also, the customer service is awful, salty, petty company policies for glitches they allow and don’t fix. All the while, the for real money shop items are getting worse and more expensive. KingIsle - you scuk.
Lord of the Rings Online
Would play again, I love that world but no idea how I’d like the different skill tree mechanics now.
Fairyland Online 1 & 2
You can still download and play the first game. The 2nd one tried something different, the players weren’t happy (I was!) and then lawyers, copyright. T_T
Rift and Aion
Dabbled. The character creation is so awesome! I could have played with those features alone all the day long.
Final Fantaxy XI
biggest sigh I tried so hard and got so far. Then I gave up a toxic friend and had to delete my character. Still love that world. Aht Urghan - a good place to die at Level 30 (it’s a level 75 area). The job system, meh. The grind, ugh. The world, yum! Lake side relaxation. Water to splash. Sheep to fight. Bird men to run from… ha ha. I miss it, in spite of the tainted memories. Most importantly, you got to talk to Cid and fly in Airships. I mean, that’s living. 
That’s because developers focus on quality instead of quantity. The hottest new OP thing will only be a best seller for a limited time until you have to nerf it or risk bleeding players.
Oh yeah. Played it for almost for two years an eternity ago i wonder how would it hold up today for me …
Haha! You brought up an update to the thread eh?
First, how do you think the year has been for MMO’s?
Not too good. Anthem, Fallout 76. Bless Online. And many others that faded from memory. I didn’t play any of them. But just seeing the online gameplay and twitch streamers, its easy to see where things failed.
2018 is still holding some games like Monster Hunter: World, Destiny 2(?), and Elder Scrolls Online (some say is fixed), and now WoW Classic.
Anything new adding itself to the general?
Well. There are only RPG and shooter mmos that make it into the mainstream. So seems same old same old to me. I’m glad FPS has Overwatch vs. Battlefield vs. Call of Duty vs. Star Wars Battlefront etc. etc. Plenty of competition so the genre can get better and better weeding out games from companies making bad decisions.
Do you think that the ‘player burnout’ or MMO fatigue contributes to the perpetual attempts of games to enter the market
I think plenty of people want to play MMOs. Of anything, there is microtransaction burnout from people that give up on MMOs. Gamers still want to play fun games with their friends.
A problem is when a game becomes the pinnacle of some genre. Angry birds took over catapult games. Fortnite took over battle royale. League of Legends took over mobas. And World of Warcraft used to own the rpg genre. So when a game becomes the pinnacle of a genre, new developers try to clone it and the clone fails. Or the developers try to improve it and the improvements are bad and the game fails. Basically if some company owns a genre most gamers are playing, that genre limits player growth in similar games, it sucks players away from other games to one game and so squashes competition for 2-10 years. Thankfully, this has not stopped Asia from constantly churning out MMOs to maybe create a competitor.
what do you consider the traits of a good MMO? What is the core of the experience you are looking for?
What a difficult question! What do I find fun in an MMO? I know that gameplay > appearance. So if gameplay is fun somehow, I’ll find things to do.
I myself spent a lot of time on Guild Wars 2
I liked the world very much, especially when I could solo or join people without being in a group. Then I wanted Legendary Armor. Failed raids constantly for months. Got like…3 of those raid things. Hated raids because no matter how good I was, the rest of the large group needed to be competent too. So then I did PvP for Legendary Armor. I got 2 pieces of Legendary Armor before I quit the game. I did pretty well in pvp because you didn’t need to buy anything, thankfully. But I hated it so much. I even hated it while winning. Not fun (to me!). Doing PvP made me realize, what am I doing this for? Why am I playing an MMO? Shouldn’t I play things that are fun? Is this game just habit forming? Then I decided to walk away and go back to single player games.
But at least the story was interesting and I liked exploring it.
PS. I haven’t heard of New World.
PPS. Since I’ve been out of the MMO scene, I’m probably wrong. Be forgiving of my opinions.
