MMO questions

[comicstar100]

Lately all I've been hearing from friends of mine is how great MMOs are and that I'm missing out. Obviously the most famous choice is world of war craft but I'm really not into that game seems too much like D & D. I'm a star wars fan and and love comics so I was thinking about Star Wars Galaxies or City of Heroes/Villains. What can anyone tell me about these two games? I have read some not good feedback on Galaxies but every video of seen of it looks really fun. City of heroes always looked awesome but DC online and Champions online will soon bring the super hero experience to consoles. What do you guys think?

[the_coldest_sun]

sure. go for it.

[2-4-5_Trioxin]

City of heroes/villians are awful, the only praise you hear about them is the character creation. But the games themselves are incredibly boring. Everything looks exactly the same, you fight the same guys, use the same tactics and aside from the first 5 minutes of being able to fly I didnt have any fun really.

Star wars galaxies I havent played since when it was first out and it wasnt to bad aside from glitches and ugly graphics. It was hard and chalenging, especially consider I had a jedi but then they patched the game so you could just roll a jedi instead of going through all this crap I did to get one and I got tired of it pretty quick. It must not be that big anymore because they havent had a expansion in along time.

If comics and stuff are your bag then waiting for this might be the thing to do for you and it should be easy to play for you, especially since it runs on ps3 and pc the controls and interface Im sure will be streamlined so console users can keep pace with pc users. http://dcuo.station.sony.com/

If you want to play something now though World of warcraft would be good to cut your teeth on since its very streamlined and is simple to play. I played it along time and recently reactivated my account for when new expansion comes so I can check it out. But like any blizzard game it has a ton of charm and very well polished. If you want to try it out for free my account has a couple 14 day free trials I can use, just pm me with your name and email address and you can try it free, Ill have blizzard send you a invite to try it.

Or if you dont want something that costs a fee these games once you buy them are free to play online and not that bad really considering you dont pay a monthly fee to play them. http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=72496

Or if you want to play something to try thats totally free this is. Its got cutsey graphics and isnt very in depth but it has the basics of what most MMO games are.
http://www.roseonlinegame.com/

[the_coldest_sun]

I've really enjoyed World of Warcraft for the most part. It's the first MMO I've ever tried, and it's a really great game for first time MMO players because it is so intuitive and easy to understand. After creating your character, you're placed in a starting zone where NPCs introduce you to quests and beginner's notes appear on the screen every time you experience something new in the game (notes can be turned off, but they're great for first timers). Plus in the starting zone, there are other players running around as well. Some are just like you, new to the game and MMOs altogether. Joining up with other "newbies" is a fun way to play the game, because you learn together and help each other out (in combat and with knowledge). However, if you prefer to play solo that's okay too. Like I said before, NPCs and notes will get you on your way.

Later in the game, it can get a little boring or repetitive depending on your gaming style. If all you do is quest, you'll start to notice the objectives don't differ much. It's usually "kill certain number of one type of creature", or "collect certain number of items creatures drop", etc. Or you can form groups of 5 players and run through dungeons. Dungeons (or more commonly referred to as Instances) are lengthy zones that contain bosses throughout that require a group of five to take them down since they are stronger than average enemies. Instances are fun because they require social interaction and team work to complete successfully. Plus you get to really learn about your Class' main function (ie Priests keep everyone alive by healing; Warriors make sure all enemies stay focused on themselves to make the Priest's job easier, etc).

Some people play strictly for Player vs Player. There are various Battlegrounds you can join which have different objectives like "Capture the Flag" or "Invade/occupy the most enemy territories within the time limit" type of thing. Then there are Arenas in which you create smaller teams (2v2-5v5) to compete in gladiator-like battles. So if you take advantage of quests, instances, arenas, and battlegrounds, it'll take longer for you to get as bored as someone who doesn't. (I quested most of my playing time and didn't discover Battlegrounds or enter Instances until late in the game). There is more to do in the game than what I've mentioned but this'll do for now.

Guild Wars is another MMO I've tried that was pretty intuitive as well. The combat system is fun and the graphics look great taking on a more realistic fantasy approach (while WoW is more cartoon fantasy). Also unnlike WoW which has a $15/month fee, Guild Wars only contains a one-time fee: buying the game!

There are however a few things I disliked about Guild Wars. Part of the fun of WoW is the chance meetings with random players while out and about in the world. Guild Wars only allows you to meet players in towns and cities, and when you exit to enter the world, that zone is created specifically for you to prevent other players from interfering with your gameplay. Let me clarify, other players can enter the same zone but they will get a their OWN copy of that zone. So you're basically playing in an empty world with NPCs and enemies and quest givers, but unlike WoW there is no opportunity for chance meetings with other players while outside of towns and cities. I like enjoy WoW's social aspect and sometimes meeting a random player while on a quest will build into a friendship or at least a team-up to complete the same quest. You can team-up in Guild Wars to complete quests too, but you have to team-up while in a town or city first, then enter the world where you both appear together.

Both World of Warcraft and Guild Wars are great games that offer a lot to do and teach the basics of MMOs. The above are just based on my experiences and opinions, so I'm not trying to say one sucks or is better over the other. Some people prefer one, some people prefer the other. Some people prefer both or something different altogether. Like you, you're less interested in fantasy and more interested in scifi/superhero. I haven't played any of the games you mentioned so I don't have a personal opinion of them although I've heard many bad things about City of Heroes/Villains, mostly about its repetitiveness and lack of content. But before you shell out money for any complete game, try a trial version first. It really does help you figure out which MMO is right for you. I don't think Guild Wars has one and I'm not sure about Star Wars Galaxies or CoH/V, but WoW certainly does along with Lord of the Rings Online, EVE Online, and that Rose game 2-4-5 mentioned. Do a google search for "[game name] trial" and that should help you out. That's what I did when researching MMOs for the first time.

[Tobias March]

I'm playing City of Heroes on the European server still and am switching to Warhammer as it has a dedicated Australian server (which is where I live now).

This is because CoH is a purely social thing for me. I have friends who play it and I talk to them on skype as we play. The gameplay itself is quite repetitive. If you like superheroes it's a treat initially, escpecially the character creation which is this game's main appeal. Create some characters, mayber try out ideas you had for comic books in an online environment. That can be fun.

However, the missions themselves are very similar and as mentioned above, the design of different 'instances' is quite repetitive. Player versus Player is not as common in CoH as in WoW and I have never been 'ganked' (the meaning of which I had to look up on wikipedia last week) - so that's another possible plus.

[metr0man]

Ignore Star Wars Galaxies.

From what I hear it sucks ass and its population is dwindling.

Without a population, an MMO is nothing. Playing with other players is why MMOs are fun to begin with.

if you want Star Wars... Bioware is making a Star Wars MMO based on their "Knights of the Old Republic" franchise, much loved by fans and critics. WAIT FOR THIS.

As far as superheroes go, You can give City of Heroes a shot, but Champions Online is basically a BETTER version of City of Heroes. DC Online may also be good.

I'd say try City of Heroes/Villains FREE TRIAL.

[El_Shamro]

I suggest you look through this site (http://mmohub.org/) and this site (http://www.gameogre.com/). There may be some overlap, but between these two, you should have a very extensive list of MMOs of varying genres.