I’m back for my annual month on FFXIV, but I honestly admit I’m growing a bit tired of the gameplay loop, the “omg you’re the main hero !!” story and the sometimes very weird community. I love the world setting though, so I usually stick around anyway.
I would love to give GW2 more chances, but I’m not totally vibing with the combat system; plus, I wish art direction went a little differently, the game is not exactly holding up well these days (but I admit that square-enix is quite a high standard in that regard: even FFXI still looks artistically coherent, two decades and a half later).
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Trying to hold onto my desire to play FFXIV since I have a personal large house and years invested
But honestly the recent expansion having the worst story we’ve seen in a final fantasy ANYTHING alongside multiple staff members pretending Wuk Lamat’s voice acting was acceptable (and the large portion of the player base that will call you a transphobe for that opinion) has me seriously considering if this is the end of the line for me
Tried picking up GW2 but tank controls disgust me
What about gw2 “tank” controls disgust you?
There arguably isn’t even the concept of a tank in gw2.
Tank controls for movement: forward/back with only “turn” right instead of “strafe”
Resident Evil controls
You can easily change that in the settings. Agreed that it’s not a good default though
Tried that, didn’t work, uninstalled 10m later
lol, it’s worked for me for years.
You can rebind a/d to strafe left/right instead. Most players do.
I haven’t played Dawntrail yet, but I have to admit that I felt something was troubling the game even in earlier expansions: as I finished both ShB and EW I couldn’t help but be left with a state of “oh, tome grinding… again… in the same exact way as all the other expansions”. No one seemed to care, however, so I thought it was my problem. And it’s a big shame, because I expected differently from Dawntrail: from what I heard, it feels more like the character going on a vacation than anything, with really just the same gameplay loop.
Another thing I was expecting from Dawntrail, apart from big gameplay changes, is to redefine the story more significantly: FFXIV up to Endwalker was a great story, but sometimes I couldn’t help it but feel like I didn’t want to be so central to everything: it’s great when MMOs make you feel like “a hero from the sidelines” because there’s less immersion breaking (and FFXI did this succesfully, if I recall). I think writers really dug themselves in too deep of a hole:
spoiler
how the hell do you write a threat that feels significant after you’ve talked about universes, ancestral gods from previous eras trying to destroy everything, etcetera? I understand that resetting everything to the point of no one having any recollection of the Hero of Light would have required a lot of writing, but maybe it would’ve been better - having EW’s ending trigger a sort of memory-wipe similar to that of FFXIV 1.0’s story.
From what I hear - reason I haven’t played it yet - is that Dawntrail is fram from such expectations. I agree that once you try FFXIV’s legacy controls you can’t go back. Same thing goes for gamepad optimization.
You just need a way to rationalize it. For me, I focused on the fact that the praise the Warrior of Light usually receives is in the vein of never giving up, not that they are just plain powerful. As such, I don’t view my character as any more powerful than any of the Scions, or Raubahn. I think the narrative of Shadowbringers and Endwalker support that idea. That fight with Zeno’s at the end was just pure willpower at the end, neither had any strength left and they still fought till they couldn’t move.
Been playing GW2 since beta, but haven’t been that active since I had my a baby. I’ve played thousands of hours, have over 40k AP, was even mildly famous in the community for a bit, but I just haven’t had the time for any games lately. It’s still my favorite though, I love the art, the music, the player centric design and how they really try to make a fun experience and not waste your time. I tried Star Trek Online because I heard they had screen writers from the shows writing some of the content, and had enough fun to max a couple of characters and upgrade a ship or two and then they raised the level cap on me and made it all obsolete. I quit. I have no patience to put up with that kind of crap. I’ve been spoiled by GW2’s design philosophy, and they’ve proved worthy of my trust and time. I recommend it to anyone looking for an MMO.
Wow, that’s quality armor!
By Droknar’s hammer, what a savings!
GW2 is the first MMO i out over 2k hours into. It’s a shame that the last few years have felt pretty meh. I haven’t been playing seriously since PoF, life got busy, and the narrative just wasn’t hitting with me. Also the desert maps weren’t that great imo. I guess i have more problems than I expected with it.
Wakfu. MMO in a kinda cutesy animation style. Combat is turn based, very final fantasy tactics (which I enjoy), and actually quite complex. You can spend ages min maxing your build.
There’s an actual lore and storyline (and crazy enough an entire TV show). Harvesting and crafting professions that are fun and useful. A kind of player housing. Mounts. All shop items are cosmetic or resets only.
It’s a great game that’s been around for a long time and isn’t going anywhere.
Jump on the Ogrest server, which is the most active international server today.
Played many over the years and while playing think of how GW2 implemented this specific thing and become nostalgic for GW2 and start playing that again. New world was fun for a while, but I missed magic (literally), so I started gw2 again and went through two expansions over 4 months, burned out and am now 1.5 years MMO sober.
GW2 is cool like that. No subs, respects your time, many players drop in and out every few years. It’s getting old but I hope it never dies. I might start it up again this weekend…
Re-subbed to WoW for a month, for the huge 20th Anniversary Event. Since I’ve played so much earlier in the year (another event and expansion launch), I’m not interested in continuing after the sub runs out. There are a few more achievements I’ll finish, but otherwise I’m kinda done.
FF14 is the only other MMO I’ve played, have like 650 hours on Steam, and I think I’m in the middle of the Stormblood campaign. It’s been a while since I played it, but some day I’ll make it to Endwalker.
I’m growing a bit tired of the gameplay loop
The last MMO I properly played was Black Desert Online. It is an absolutely amazing game but with disgusting monetisation. It did however also become a dangerous addiction in my life. It is currently free on steam I believe though!
Since that experience I haven’t really played any MMOs, I tried out Throne and Liberty a few weeks ago and that was the most boring couple of hours of my life this year.
As a huge Guild Wars 1 fan, GW2 was one of the biggest disappointments ever.
Eve online because I hate myself
I’ve been playing for the past year and I’m about to quit. It really demands so much time and being on coms. I want an MMO that I can play while I have videos or a movie going on the other monitor.
I couldn’t think of an amusement park MMO that would allow me to sit on a wormhole all day listening for an activation and watching youtube and not feel like I’m wasting money by not playing. the beautiful thing about eve is it requires as much of your time and attention as you’re willing to give and it never feels like you’re not progressing.
I feel almost the exact opposite. I don’t feel any progression and I do not enjoy the PvP elements of the game at all. I’m glad that you enjoy it, though.
Edit: by comparison, I’ve recently started playing Deep Rock Galactic and feel a great sense of progression without the game-ending effects of PvP. Losing a ship in Eve is a guaranteed time loss.
Eve is a hardcore full loot PvP game with real stakes, if that isn’t your jam then Eve isn’t.
The moment to moment game play is garbage but it’s those moments of risking it all for glory that still get the heart racing and the hands shaking no matter how seasoned you are that’s something literally no other game has been able to do for me.
I hope you at least played with friends because I couldn’t think of anything worse or more boring than joining a large faceless null sec feeder corp and grinding PvE for a year in peace time.
Not playing it, but AoC seems to have a lot of potential.
I’ve recently gotten into New World: Aeternum. I’m on console so my MMORPG options are limited but I’m really enjoying it. There’s dungeons, raids, world bosses, collecting, crafting and more.
I’m not really a fan of MMORPGs, both due to the gameplay (MMOs are grindy by nature and the hotkey-driven autocombat of most MMORPGs isn’t interesting enough to sustain that for me) and because of often aggressive monetization.
I do like some MMOs in other genres, though. Path of Exile is an action RPG with drop-in multiplayer and a rudimentary built-in trading system. It’s basically Diablo 3 in good. Plus, its monetization system is one of the fairest I’ve seen so far, with the only MTXes that offer gameplay benefits being on sale literally every other weekend.
Path of Exile 2 (currently in closed beta) is basically the same with a tweaked skill system and a soulslike dodge roll mechanic that you’re expected to use. Pretty decent, a bit slower-paced than the first one.
I should also pick up Warframe again one of these days. The repetitive nature of MMOs isn’t as bad when it’s a mobility-focused third-person shooter. And IIRC, there’s not much you can get with MTX that you can’t also get through gameplay somehow. Plus, it’s also a game that you can just play singleplayer if you want.
I tried WoW, GW2, ESO, NW and nothing stuck. I guess MMOs are not for me.
I started playing GW2 at the end of 2023 an been having a blast with it! I played WoW for a decade until the combo of Shadowlands and the Acti-Blizz allegations soured me on that company forever. I tried FFXIV with everyone going over to that game and the story was good but the button bloat pushed me away from really getting into it. I then had that MMO itch at the end of 2023 again and decided to try GW2 and it’s been great. Fun story, good gameplay and most importantly no subscription. It’s so nice to be able to play with breaks and come back whenever you want to with no need to open up your wallet every time, just buy the expansions and Living Worlds once and you are done!
I played a lot of MMOs during childhood but they’re not fun anymore to me. I hop on FF14 when a new expansion drops, play for like a month and go play something else. I miss the big group content sometimes but my schtick nowadays are these 4-player multiplayer games with actual good combat, maybe with like a lobby of more people to interact.
Looking forward to the new monster hunter and ER Nightreign next year. Also Destiny 2 is my guilty pleasure. The gunplay is godlike, so satisfying but omg Bungie fumbled so hard, I legit hate this company.
Palia, which is the closest I can get to a cozy, friendly MMORPG with a decent community. The lack of enemies doesn’t bother me, and I like feeling that I don’t need to grind for gear or status. That being said, the game desperately needs more content. I’m on hiatus at the moment.
As far as the others go, Everquest and World of Warcraft were/are still my favorites but I haven’t played them in years. MMORPGs are a dying breed, and today most if not all of them bring very little to the table. They don’t make 'em like they used to, that’s for sure.
These days, I prefer single player RPGs where choices matter, or games that have base-building elements and open world survival. I really don’t care for playing with other murder hobos anymore.
