Casual MMOs?

[Aereldor]

So I decided I wanted to give MMOs a go again, and the general consensus was Guild Wars 2. I checked it out - the main story was boring as fuck, none of the players so much as spoke, I couldn't reach any of the guilds, no LFG results after 3+ hours... Game seems dead. Are there any games out there where I could find people to play and hang out with? 

 

 

[Twolf]

Personally play PSO2, new version of it coming out later this year though (PSO2:New Genesis or just NGS for abbreviation). That said characters can transfer back and forth between the original (current) version and the updated game easily... though with some of the mechanics changing and levels not transferring over (it's a seamless transition between the 2 but the levels for your character will be saved differently for each version)... it's fun though not as heavily populated currently as most people are just waiting for NGS at this point rather than finishing out the content that's still being released.  So may be better just waiting for the launch of NGS rather than trying to jump into it's current incarnation unless you're really bored   other than that, I can't think of any other F2P ones out there that have a reasonable player base. WoW, Final Fantasy, and Elder Scrolls are pretty much the top 3 currently but all 3 are subscription based. No release date for NGS yet, just "2021", currently in closed beta in Japan only, so probably be closer to Q3.

[jaslion]

Guild wars 2. I don't know what the problem is as I have no issues with lfg even for original content like dungeons. Yeah the original story is pretty boring till you get to level 50 and basically from there on it's an upwards curve but it's still a time commitment. Normally you shouldn't have any problem. Also depends on the time you are playing and what region you selected. Server doesn't matter as the game groups you with everyone and there are only a handful of actually abandoned maps in the game due to them either not having anything to do or being obnoxious (looking at you tangled depths). There is also basically no power creep so you don't need to worry if you run the basic 2012 stuff and want to do other content. The only tryhard part I've found is the raiding community but that is because it was made specifically for that crowd hence why we have fractals which are a lot more chill and just fun content that you can make as easy or hard as you wish.

 

Wow is ancient and does expect you to keep up with it as it has serious powercreep. It's a fun game but it does feel very dated. That and the sub isn't nice. I had my fun playing it but it felt like I had to keep getting the new content and had to keep getting new gear as my old one kept getting powercrept. Also basically means that old zones are just not played as they got power and lootcrept

 

Black desert online has fun combat but it's Asian mmo influences are pretty noticeable and it does expect you to play it a ton

 

Final fantasy 14 is a really nice mmo just the sub sucks. Pretty comparable to gw but it does loose a fair bit of it's appeal if you aren't already a bit into final fantasy. Would also recommend

[Aereldor]

2 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Guild wars 2. I don't know what the problem is as I have no issues with lfg even for original content like dungeons. Yeah the original story is pretty boring till you get to level 50 and basically from there on it's an upwards curve but it's still a time commitment. Normally you shouldn't have any problem. Also depends on the time you are playing and what region you selected. Server doesn't matter as the game groups you with everyone and there are only a handful of actually abandoned maps in the game due to them either not having anything to do or being obnoxious (looking at you tangled depths). There is also basically no power creep so you don't need to worry if you run the basic 2012 stuff and want to do other content. The only tryhard part I've found is the raiding community but that is because it was made specifically for that crowd hence why we have fractals which are a lot more chill and just fun content that you can make as easy or hard as you wish.

 

Wow is ancient and does expect you to keep up with it as it has serious powercreep. It's a fun game but it does feel very dated. That and the sub isn't nice. I had my fun playing it but it felt like I had to keep getting the new content and had to keep getting new gear as my old one kept getting powercrept. Also basically means that old zones are just not played as they got power and lootcrept

 

Black desert online has fun combat but it's Asian mmo influences are pretty noticeable and it does expect you to play it a ton

 

Final fantasy 14 is a really nice mmo just the sub sucks. Pretty comparable to gw but it does loose a fair bit of it's appeal if you aren't already a bit into final fantasy. Would also recommend

Yeah WOW was very unfriendly to a newcomer, I tried to get into it on no less than 5 occasions. I could give GW2 another chance - with a free account it won't let me change servers though

[jaslion]

5 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

Yeah WOW was very unfriendly to a newcomer, I tried to get into it on no less than 5 occasions. I could give GW2 another chance - with a free account it won't let me change servers though

Server changes don't matter. That only matters for world versus world as that is a server vs server siege mode. The game groups all servers of a regio (Europe, America or Asia) together so all players can play together in the same region. Was changed pretty early on with their megaservers update.

[porina]

I'll throw in FFXIV for consideration. There's been many changes recently for the free trial and main story quest. Currently you can use the free trial (no payment required) for the base game and 1st expansion Heavensward. The original story was grindy (filler) in places, and they've trimmed the fat. While I've not done the slimmed version, I hear progression is faster so you're less likely to get bogged down. A notable limitation of the free trial is you can't join a Free Company (guild), which might limit some interaction aspects if that is a particular focus.

[Vishera]

Well,There is Conqueror's Blade which is combo of casual MMOs and Mount&Blade/Total War,

You fight wars with your friends in your Kingdom or your clan and gain territory if you win a war.

There are also battles that are not part of wars.

It's a unique fun game that i recommend,just don't charge the enemy straight on,on your own,or your units will get butchered.

[tatte]

GW2 is more a "show up and play with people without worrying about parties" (dungeons are long ago abandoned content, GW2 has substituted them with other stuff like Fractals/Strike Missions). The open world itself is full of regular events that require several people, but doesn't force you to be a part of a group. Just show up. Some maps are locked behind doing the first steps of story content, but once you complete those/get someone to help you teleport there, you don't actually need to play the story. An MMO doesn't get much more casual than GW2. It's just a bit of an oddball to understand how it works, and pretty smooth after that.

 

If that still doesn't work for you, I too would suggest FFXIV. Playing a DPS will have a bit longer queues, but you can play most of the game (certainly all of the F2P content) without worrying too much about how much you actually contribute. In later content you will be expected to know how to play your DPS class, but by then you either have learned to enjoy the game, or have moved on. (And I suspect you still get away with story required content , people know people in those may just the trying to get through the game, and the community overall is great). 

 

If you really just want to play with people, without any worrisome weight tied to your performance (casual), GW2 is still likely the best match. It just doesn't play like traditional MMOs (forget dungeons.) Most maps have periodically spawning events/chains of events, many change depending on player activity. HoT maps in particular have multigroup events that require that several conditions are simultaneously fulfilled or the map event fails. And most of these are timed: they go on and fail if no one works on them. Guilds can plan participation in these, but they'll keep happening all day every day regardless. Even if you lean towards PvP, the WvWvW three-way-(multi)server-PvP delivers. You can join the ~50 member hordes clashing with other similarly large hordes, or roam by yourself. Daily activity gives you softer daily shifting PvP content: sometimes it's a running race, sometimes you threw kegs to score points. The game's so old there's tons of variety available.

 

TL;DR: Most of the stuff you find a queue for in GW2, is practically abandoned content. The game is 99% "just show up", with the twist that if it's your first time, you often can't tell the major events apart from other randomly occurring chains of events. Stuff happens all the time, everywhere.

[YoMz]

new one, probably Phantasy Star Online 2
tried and tested long running one would probably be Final Fantasy XIV

there is one I've personally been waiting for, but I don't think it will come out until another 2 years... Ashes Of Creation, baby...

[Skipple]

7 hours ago, porina said:

I'll throw in FFXIV for consideration

I second this. As someone who has no experience with prior FF games, I found the story and writing in Final Fantasy XIV to be one of the most intriguing in an MMO I have ever played. That first playthrough of the main storyline is phenomenal, even if you never get into endgame. Along with this the combat, leveling and gearing system is so much fun. Has a dedicated and helpful community that welcomes new players which is a lot more than you can say about other MMOs. Highly recommend. 

[mag914]

World of Warcraft and PSO2 although PSO2: New Genesis is coming out soon!

[nightninja87]

runescape 3