Looking for a good MMORPG to keep me busy until WoW, need advice !

[Amair_sc]

Hello guys and gals !

I am currently looking to join a good mmorpg, unfortunately I have not found one that sounded really captivating yet.

MY experience with the genre has been extensive but only with 1 game. I played Asheron's Call for 2 years and had a blast, however I lost interest in leveling in coral row with the various mage templates about 6-8 months ago.

I am looking for something with nice graphics and solid gameplay but above all, I want a game that has a good storyline and that rewards players who invest a lot of time in the game (only got 2 classes in my next semester). I got SWG for christmas, but from reading the player reviews I get the impression that the game has not come anywhere close to its full potential yet. While becoming a jedi sounds great and sure looks like it takes a lot of time and patience it appears that there is little reason to want to become a jedi at this point in the game's evolution (I might be very wrong, please correct me if I am). Basically I have heard from many people that SWG has great gameplay and graphics but lacks storyline and purpose once you have mastered the classes.

Another MMORPG I have been inquiring about has been FFXI. This one seems to have a deeper story line and to be more combat oriented (although you can still take part in the tradeskills and have a good time), the graphics are supposedly not quite as good as SWG and the gameplay, well, I heard it really sucks until you get accustomed to the interface. Also, I read in many places that relatively few north americans play this game, not that it is a bad thing but I could see this being a problem if I cannot communicated with say, 60% of the player base (kinda takes out a lot of the player interaction). Generally speaking, the reviews for FFXI score higher than the reviews for SWG.

Like I said, I am looking for something to keep me busy 'til may, thats when WoW comes out and I will definetly going to be checking that game out! I realy need you suggestions and input as I have no idea which mmorpgs are hot and which ones are not at the moment. I also do not feel like trying 3 of them out, realizing they all are bad and wasting a lot of student $ in the process.

Thanks for reading !

 

[Rocko[DPC]]

Well... I think I've played every MMORPG made except Anarchy Online. And I think they all equally suck, some more than others. With that said:

As far as SWG lacking storyline and purpose once you master the classes... I think every MMORPG is like that anyway. This is where PvP takes over. Its only boring because youre fighting the same mobs with poor AI over and over again. If you challenge other players and compete in PvP, the fun lasts much longer.

FFXI is in my opinion the best yet, but ONLY IF you dont want to PvP. If you plan on PvP, there is none, forget it! I havent heard that few north americans play the game, but it doesnt really matter anyway. Pretty much everyone in the civilized world speaks english anyway. But I never really noticed this when I played it, so I'm guessing its not a very accurate figure.

I dont have any suggestions, because as I said I really hate them all. Theyre all just time sinks with no end goal, and at the end you always say to yourself 'wtf did I just waste my time for playing this crap...' Spend the time you have taking 2 grad classes. You'll thank yourself later.

 

[CrashOveride]

My friends who play MMORPGs really like FFXI but some of them quite because they didn't like how longit took to lvl compared to EQ... the graphics are soooo much better though. And there are a number of north americans that play it, but there are a lot of asians because it came out over there first.

It has by far the best graphics out of any MMORPG (or RPG for that matter) that I have seen and seems to have more of a storyline than EQ...

 

[El-Scotto]

the language barrier isnt really as bad as people say it is, i once got recruited into an all japanese speaking group, none of them knew english, but we pretty muh communicated through a bunch of emotes and everything worked out, ive actually been in a lot worse of a group with english speaking players

 

[Smartiepants]

Yeah and you can learn to speak sing too

 

[Axis]

SWG is really gotten better withing the last 2 months. I reccomend it. Also, DAOC jst released "Trials of Atlantis" and it is also a good one.

PM me if you get into SWG.

 

[El-Scotto]

also i heard ac has changedd alot in the last couple months, there is a new expansion coming out and a graphics update in the future too.

 

[Gregory_WE]

Yeah I haven't played AC for a while but I might pick it up depending on what they end up doing with the expansion. Breaking away from Microsoft was a huge step for the game. With Turbine controlling everything now, I think it'll make the game even better. I hope the expansion comes out before WoW though.

 

[Krowa 02]

Wow I cant believe AC still has life, even after the 2nd one completely failed. I liked AC but I never really got into it to much. If this update is decent maybe it would hold you off until WOW before it comes out. but you have milked that game dry (maybe it can bring some life back to your expectations?)

Personally im a recovering EQ addict (I quit ages ago after playing for a year and a half from August 99) and to this day I still get cravings for it, so you could go that route (dont recomend it) but its an option.

I may also try FFXI again (got bored of it but I still get cravings for it too!) so I would suggest FFXI first then try EQ (if you really really get bored)