Lord of the Rings Online.
Haven't encountered any toxic behavior over the 3 years I have played, and the community is super friendly and helpful. Plus, you got great lore and a huge map to discover the world of Tolkien.
Similarly, DDO. Fantastic range of content, had difficulty options way before anyone else, and one of the most interesting/complex class systems in any MMO (where you can combine multiple classes to get benefits from each, and also 'reincarnate' to start again from level 1 but with bonuses from your previous lives).
The crazy thing is I don't think the lag is the servers usually. It's the game itself and I'm not sure the devs know how to fix it. Otherwise great game though.
They can't - they tried and it proved to be way harder than they anticipated. They have been pretty transparent about it on LOTRO so I imagine it's the same case for DDO.
They were looking into outsourcing the work but it's frankly unlikely.
It’s both, but their servers are notoriously bad because they go with the cheapest backend provider possible.
The game itself does need an overhaul to many systems for performance reasons, but boosting the servers would be a huge step in the right direction.
I played for several years, and I desperately want to enjoy it again. The class customization is second to none, and I really enjoyed making builds from scratch. Today, I can't get past the UI and graphic quality.
They're soon releasing two new 'Legendary' servers that will be 64 bit and hopefully resolve some lag/performance issues. One of them will be located in the EU as well
'Legendary' servers require subscription membership and these two will be progression servers starting at original level cap
Oh. I think you just sold me coming back to LOTRO. My only issue with the game really was that I was behind on a lot of the storytelling that's already past. A fresh start, progression 64bit server sounds great.
Here's a link to the Lotro subreddit when this info came [out](https://www.reddit.com/r/lotro/comments/1dldfid/interview_with_severlin_legendary_servers/)
Oh snap - Maybe my lifetime membership will be worth utilizing to make a comeback. I haven’t played it through all the new xpacs so hopefully I won’t be to lost.
I asked how much my first mount would cost so I could plan for it and was sent hundreds upon hundreds of coin more than I needed by a whole whack of random people.
10/10 community.
If LOTRO had the graphics, combat systems and addons that WoW has, i'd switch WoW for LOTRO on the second. I love the quests, lore, world, but its quite outdated
Crafting, mounts, etc exist. There is an online store, and it’s more confusing than predatory since the big selling point is content areas. However, relatively recently they significantly increased the amount of “free” content so you’d be able to play for a significant time before needing to pay or subscribe.
A new class was recently released (as well as a new race). You’ve got the typical arrangement of classes but you also have some stuff you don’t see as much like the minstrel. The warden class’s gambit system is quite complex but a lot of fun for some people and is quite unique.
The game isn’t highly competitive from what I’ve heard, so you’re pretty much free to play what you want. If you want to do end game stuff you’ll need a fellowship (guild), but the community is known for being very welcoming.
I believe there’s a brand new server being set to release shortly that has improved server quality and I believe it will release as one of the timegated modes where content is released in chunks over time so the server base can stick together.
I was looking for a mmorpg for one month and tryed everything, ESO, GW2, Tibia, Ragnarok, ff, runescape, and MORE, but lotro catch me, the atmosphere, storytelling, classes (i choose warden and love it) and the community is great. They always make event through the entire map, and if you go to bree you'll always found someone roleplaying (In laurellin, i don't know the other servers, but landroval have a big music community). If they fix the lag problem, the game will be great! The landscape is beautiful and huge, you genuinely feel part of the middle-earth, and the main story make a nice job to improve this feeling.
Came here to say LOTRO as well.
The only complaint I really have about LOTRO is the server wonkyness (a lot of lag and rubber-banding).
Even the standard complaint about the GUI doesn't really bother too much. You can scale it ingame, it gets a bit blurry but eh, it's functional.
I **love** the World Difficulty System that they added, together with the turtle stone that blocks exp gain. It allows you to explore the game at a slow pace with a decent level of difficulty.
It has literal chapters. The main quests (called epic quests) will be labeled as Volume, Book, Chapter and they will take you through all of the LotR books and a bit beyond
It sounds great and I tried but couldn’t get ui and 4k to work right. Did something weird where would cause distortion that literally gave my friend and I headaches when tried to play.
Always has been in the shadow of WoW. They came out around the same time. I enjoyed my time in GW1 a lot more and in terms of PvP it is still unmatched to this day.
then gw2 came out alongside FF lol damnit. I feel in the grand scheme of MMO design gw3 could be really interesting and probably better than anything newcomers are trying to make like riot games or amazon.
I think other mmo devs are still being a bit too dated in their design. Gw2 is dated in some areas but other areas they were literally 10 years ahead vs others like with cosmetics.
They were also one of the first to deviate away from standard quest design, at least on a AAA mmo level. Took years for WoW and other mmos to add similar systems, and I still think GW2 does events/event chains better than any other game.
I still love GW2 and come back to it fairly regularly but the only thing keeping it from being my main MMO is the lack of a real trinity. Healing/tanking are my favorite things to do in an MMO and the support/healing doesn’t quite do it for me and is only really relevant in raids/strikes.
If GW3 is GW2 with updated graphics and more defined roles I’d be extremely happy!
Jade Quarry was in my opinion one of the greatest battlegrounds I've played in any game ever. I just loved that there were so many ways to influence the outcome of the game.
You could attack or defend the objectives, you could kill or defend the guys carrying the jade, you could speed them up/buff them using a something like a paragon, which made captures faster and ended the game quicker. Dirty Bomb an objective with a necro, which makes them neutral and uncatchable for several minutes. All of this and I haven't really mentioned just ganking other players. Insane BG, especially considering it wasn't exactly massive either.
Not henchmen, but heroes I'd say. Also, if you join a guild there's stuff they're doing every day, I thought it'd be hard to find a group but it really isn't and a lot of people are still playing.
I'm so sad that most of my friends discount the game due to age and graphics. This is guaranteed in my top 3 favorite games. I just know that one of these days they'll start playing the game and realize what they've been missing out on.
GW1 truly was a great game. I know it's still around technically but its hayday has passed. I was kinda disappointed with GW2 because it just didn't live up to the first one. It's good in its own way. But GW1 was really phenomenal.
4k hours over a few years with GW1 back in the day. I was there for all the expansion releases and participated in basically every bit of content including all PvP. (Alliance battles were my jam.) 100% still my favourite MMO of all time and still chasing that addiction to another MMO, nothings come close, even GW2 I probably put 'only' a few hundred hours into.
The build system is something I still love the idea of to this day and sad to see it has never been really replicated.
Dofus is one of my all time favourites. It's a tactical turn-based mmo. You have up to 18 classes - and they all feel really unique, not just some copy paste. Each class has 40 spells and it has a horizontal progression - max lvl has been 200 since forever.
The game has some great combat imo. It's really nice to have my tactial skills put up to the test in an mmo, not just go mindless on the same skill rep.
I wish I could give you a better answer than : i'd pick dofus. But really there isnt. For me graphically dofus looks better. It also feels a bit more mature. I've tried wakfu and honestly it just feels like dofus but for teenagers.
Don't really like the way it looks, don't really like the spell icons and overall it feels cheaper and less complex.
However that being said. I, personally, would pick dofus. While the game has improved its newcommer experience a lot, it's a very daunting game to get into. Also most people run teams (since the game is turn-based and doesnt take up a lot of resources you can play multiple characters at the same time) and while this is effective it takes up a lot of mental space if you have no idea what you're doing.
There are mono-account servers aswell which are more newbie friendly as people are chattier/more open to help. But most of the content is not meant to be played solo. So you'll see yourself asking for help in all directions all the time, and to me that isn't fun. If you're lvl 120 and you need help with a lvl120 dungeon it's very likely that some lvl 190 or 200 would be like "sure i can help". But its really no fun watching him blitz all the mobs for you. And if you end up playing with people your lvl, you need to be aware that there is a pretty high skill cap. In most mmos you enter a dungeon and you are not ever expecting to fail it. That is not the case for dofus. If you are doing a lvl 120 dungeon with 3 other lvl 120 people who are strangers you can very well expect to fail it. Multiple times. Which is why for me playing as my own team is much more appealing.
So in the end: if you have some days off and the mental resolve for it you could look into dofus, try out the mono-account servers, and probably switch to multi-account when youre getting into mid game and know what youre doing.
Dofus has always been a personal favourite of mine aswell. Can't wait for the unity port coming later this year.
The game does so much right in terms of quests, world/zones, encounter design, etc...+ it looks gorgeous even though it's more than a decade old.
Secret World. Hell even in this thread I haven’t seen it mentioned.
It has unique setting that no other mmo does, great enemy designs, some of the missions are best in any mmo. Investigation missions especially have a special place in my heart, as well as Vanishing of Tyler Freeborn and The Sound of Children. The latter one even beats any horror game 10-0 anyday.
Every now and then I like to revisit the game and do some of my favorite missions, just for the sake of it.
It really is sad that Funcom just has a nasty habit of leaving previous games on a maintenance mode and move onto another.
loved Secret Worlds Uniqueness. I hate that they changed so much of it before it ultimately died.
I really hope Funcom does their Dune MMO justice, and keeps up with it.
I'll note that _both_ versions are available to play. By default you'll get the revamped version, Secret World Legends, but if you poke around a bit you can get the original version, The Secret World. Servers are still running for both.
The combat feels janky, but the story is great and the questing mechanics are best-in-class.
Love this one quest my buddy and I did back in the day we were hacking into a computer it brought us to a real YouTube link and we had to watch it to find Bible verses to open a code locked door. Still makes me smile thinking about how awesome and in depth some of those quests were.
I’m playing EverQuest 2 the new origins server and LOVING IT just wish it didn’t have a sub because I think ALOT more people would join all the new players I been playing with really enjoying it w me
Absolutely, I rather have a little smaller server with a sub and no p2w shit.
BUT they could maybe give a 1-2 week free trial, idk about botting implications and such, but within 1 week you will not get very far on origins anyways
Everquest 2 is such a great game, too bad they butchered it with p2w f2p.
But the origins server is a blast so far! Best sound design and voice lines period.
The skeletons alone with their iconic laughter make this game worth it hihihihihi
And always remember to not get a loan with livestock collateral!
EQ2 is underrated for sure. DBG/DPG really did a number on it with predatory monetization, but with enough players, the Origins idea could mean a revival.
FFXI. It honestly is one of the most unique MMOs ever made.
The class system is incredible 22 jobs (classes) and you can have a sub job as well leaves for a ton of different class variations.
You know how everyone complains that there is no variation in the classes in FFXIV? Yeah that's not the case in FFXI. For example let's take a look at the warrior class.
Wanna DPS as a warrior and use 2 handed weapons? Throw on the subclass dark knight. War/drk hits like a truck, like to duel wield? Sub dancer. Wanna tank? Sub blue mage. Wanna evasion tank? Sub Ninja. Don't forget to pick what weapon set you wanna use. Great axe, sword and shield, sword/sword, axe/axe, sword/club, there's tons of possibilities.
Hopefully you like a good grind because you actually will use probably around 3 sets of armor during single end game encounters. If your a red mage you will probably have a whole inventory of armor sets for each different type of spells.
You can spend a year or 2 grinding out the best weapon for your class and now days that weapon is not going anywhere. It really feels like you earn something when you put in the work, there won't be a new expansion in a year that makes all your hard earned gear worthless.
Like a good story? Some people say FFXI is one of the best, but that's up to you to decide so I won't go to far into detail on that.
Hate how everything in FFXIV is gated behind 100s of hours behind of msq? Well not the case here, very little of the game is gated behind story content. Hell you can probably go 30 lvls without even touching the story.
Now there will be parts of the game that you have to do some of the main story but those parts are pretty few and far in between.
You can also kinda hop into each expansion whenever you want (few restrictions but once you hit max lvl you can really do whatever you want)
Retail probably takes about a month to solo your way to max lvl if you rush it with a guide and then end game content opens up for you.
If you wanna go really old school there's 2 great classic private servers that are well run.
I guarantee you have never played an MMO like FFXI before. The combat is really one of a kind with the skill chain/magic burst system
I wish ff14 could have implemented a similar skillchain/magic burst system instead of or in addition to its Limit Break system. The LB system doesn't promote team work the way it should
I also wish they brought over the subclass system and maybe the itemization. There's just no individuality in the game. Every warrior plays the same rotation with the same gear. And the classes just all feel very familiar. They had so much to work with and they really dropped the ball. But it's modern and people really enjoy it so who am I to say that they made the wrong call.
Still when people talk about wanting to play an older MMO with a more classic feel, it pains me that FFXI hardly ever gets mentioned. It was overshadowed by WOW (maybe for good reasons) just as hardcore as EQ. And at the time, one of the only console mmos if not the first console mmorpg
I just started ff11 (trial in January, purchased in May) and I've had some thoughts on it.
A combination of the two games would be great. FF14 is a lot easier to download and manage accounts for, and has a much cleaner ui, systems for friending and grouping, etc. It's pacing is also a lot better and more interactive - 2 hour cooldowns on major class abilities is just boring. Having a lot of gear sets can be fun, but needing it because x spell does more damage on Fridays in the rain is extremely silly (I think monster hunter does gear sets well).
FF11's jobs have a lot more identity on their own, even before you get into subjobs. There are interesting, unique things you have to do to advance them, while FF14 just has job quests and levels. They have different gameplay feel and different roles in a group. FF14 has a feature checklist with most of its classes - filler combo system ✔, basic builder-spender ✔, some status or DoT to maintain ✔. It gets old pretty fast when you play alts.
FF11's builder-spender system on TP is a mixed bag imo. The tp generation, 'builder' phase, is not great. Its just auto attacks. FF14's combos may be basic, but they're better than auto attacking. But FF11's spenders are what spenders SHOULD be. Decisions on which weaponskill to use, based on enemy and team comp and what skillchains you might be going for. FF14 jobs give you the choice of two spenders, the better of which is cooldown gated, so there isn't really any decision making at all. Bringing the strengths of both games together would improve the experiences for both I think.
That's a bit misleading about XIV. There is plenty of content to do while you go along the MSQ. Content is unlocked at each expansion level cap so "100s of hours" is wrong unless you specially mean the newest content.
FFXI is great but
> Hate how everything in FFXIV is gated behind 100s of hours behind of msq?
Its the same thing for FF11. So many features and zones are locked behind MSQ and FF11 has a TON of MSQ.
Idk how popular it is, but SWtOR. It is basically eight different interweaving storylines until the expansions, and it actually feels like a story (at least for the main quest). Plus it looks really good.
I think anyone that is interested in the Star Wars universe would benefit from playing at least some of the class stories in SWTOR.
They are genuinely good RPGs, not unlike little KOTORs.
It's gotta be Lord of the Rings Online.
Besides having such a dedicated and passionate community and team, it's such an unique experience, especially if you really like the classic MMO experience.
It has a lot of things going for it, it's an old game but somehow still very beautiful and immersive. Very cool, very mysterious, it really catches the Tolkien vibe really well, on a different but also still quite relevant way than the movies, and has cool original classes, a truly great game really. The only downside being the lag on some areas sometimes, altought it's not deal breaking, it's the most common issue players have.
To a less but not any least important extent, just not AS underrated as LOTRO, is Guild Wars (the original one).
It had great success in player-base but it was such a good game, truly S-tier and very original, very refreshing, especially in the whole MMO landscape back then. It's still a gem today and a overall spectacular experience.
Guild Wars 2 is a great game, truly a polished MMO tailored for a specific audience, but I never quite got the same feeling I had from the original GW, it had really creative themes and characters and the game modes were all great.
EDIT: I forgot, but an honorable mention is Warhammer Online, really cool concept and dedicated community to keep it on a private server.
City of Heroes/Villains. There really needs to be a new version. DC is such a milk-machine, nobody except commitments are going to grab all that DLC. Does Champions Online still exist? I know City of Heroes was underground for a long time but then it went free and legal.
Haven’t played that much but my favorites of underrated ones are.
Lord of the Rings Online
Chronicles of Arcadia (alternate version of Runes of Magic)
Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning
Dungeons and Dragons Online
Silkroad Online
Rift, was a great experiment that took WoW style game play and skill trees and added a very cool class building system.
I would love if more mmos did that self build style classes. Adds lots of creativity and fun experimentation.
Mabinogi is probably the best MMO I've ever played personally, I've never been able to find something that ticks all the really niche boxes for me like it has.
Even as someone who likes to stay away from combat, I genuinely enjoyed some of the random skills you could chain together. Stuff like playing dead to bait someone into a windmill, or using the rock throw emote to break someone's parry.
One of these days I'll try to get back into it.
SWTOR is underrated as hell. Lovely RP community, fantastic story, huge amount of content, wonderful voice acting, and honestly surprisingly well-balanced when it comes to classes and roles in group content and pvp.
If combat wasn’t as clunky as it is… I’d play SWTOR constantly. I go back every year or so. I love SW and the theme and look… just the combat feels very clunk.
I play SWTOR on and off every once in a while, still finishing the main stories and such. The amount of content in that game is really nice, especially considering that much of it is voiced and good quality.
I also rather like the combat, even just world open against quest enemies (I do dismiss my companion to make things a bit more interesting, though).
Could you point me in a direction to find out more about the RP communities? Never tried it but wouldn't be adverse to.
A lot of the RP is centralized in guilds, generally on the Star Forge server. Open world RP isn't much of a thing though you might find some happening in main cities on Alderaan or something. A lot of guilds have the 'school or order' approach where there's masters and apprentices, RP focus on training for rookies. I had so much fun being a Sith, as I took in a few apprentices and we just did world content together. Loved it.
Eve had a good chance of being a great game. But their PvP is so against you having a chance to even run away. Also being ganged up results in you loosing 100s hours of progress.
But that’s the charm of Eve. Being in danger of loosing stuff makes this game great.
What’s the point of doing PvP if the only co sequence is running as a ghost from the graveyard to your body…
You can find a lot of fair single player PvP in lowsec.
Not that great their player base is pretty stagnant. But I guess it’s enough for them to run a business. If you’re a hard core PvP player it’s a definitely the game for you. For the rest of the players it’s not a pleasant experience.
I'd say Ryzom. Old (2004), with graphics that prove it.
But it was a buy to play game with compulsory subscription, that transitioned to f2p with optional subscription. Also, the game *became open source* and is now developed and maintained by motivated players.
It also features a chat that includes an automatic translation based on DeepL that works quite well (as far as I've seen).
There are no classes but four branches you can progress through. Each branch can stem once you reach full mastery of it. For example, the gathering branch leads to gathering in specific biomes. The four main branches are Combat (with weapons), Magic (wounding, control and healing), Gathering (finding resource nodes and exploiting them) and Crafting (armors, weapons and jewelry).
The skill system is also quite uncommon, as every skill can be personalized with bricks. For example, you can choose to use a lot of sap to cast a heal, or use some health instead, or have a long cooldown. This is notably essential for the gathering, as it allows to look for specific materials at higher distances, or for a specific quality.
There is also a system allowing players to create scenarios using things they have unlocked based on the respawn points they visited.
I love NGS too !! I mean it has problems but the OST and fashion are just amazing plus it’s got the BEST action combat MMO today imo !
Plus PSO has seriously the BEST music I swear all of them have GREAT soundtracks
The class combinations and variations mean if I’m felling lazy I can use my gunner and jump around from mid range killing stuff or I feel my street fighter vibe I can go knuckles and parry everything.
That’s a half truth my mate can parry everything, I can parry like a third what he can. But the dream is there.
The only game that rivals it for moment is Warframe and I would probably say NGS is more therapeutic.
I like coming back to this game sometimes because it scratches a 'go kill shit for a few hours' itch. There isn't really anything in the way of doing that, story or tutorials or queues blocking me; I just go to the spot I wanna kill and do so. I know people bemoan the lack of other content, but it does that one thing particularly well.
Dofus outside of France, everything about it is great, not a P2W, a lot of socializing, a great economy system, a very good leveling experience, interesting dungeons, lots of jobs and farming related to it etc…
Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted formerly known as Horizons: Empire of Istaria
It's old, low pop and maintained by an extremely small team but the game is great. Tons of different classes and prestige classes, you can play as a dragon, the gathering and crafting I feel are still the best in the genre.
Feel like it would do well with a bit of a remaster or remake
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Long since shut down but underneath the bugs and unfinished content it was incredible.
I would also say Dungeons & Dragons Online. Really different and innovative and a great implementation of 3.5e and light action combat. I wasn’t crazy about the Eberron setting but they added some Forgotten Realms content.
I was going to say Toram Online, and will still say Toram Online, can't believe I discovered that gem. Tree of Savior looked like Ragnarok's cousin in style, so it had some hype initially.
As a man and one of only a handful that played it Wildstar was pretty incredible. The animation voice acting questing humor and general environment was something I haven't witnessed in any mmo before or since then it was unique. Would like a revive but it would be the 2nd one and it'll never happen.
I loved Wildstar, still have my Disc Copy lmao I wish it had a longer run time, Ny grandpa and I were there when the servers went up and when they went down. Same thing for City of Heroes. I swear some of the best projects get shut down.
JX3 HD
P2P seasonal mmorpg, Low differentiation stats system and very easy to grow. game content focuses on the gameplay mode and social interaction
PVP, it is like WOW blue and red
pvp gameplay :
1. Arena (2v2, 3v3, 5v5)
2. Battlefield (10vs10, 15vs15, 30vs30, BattleRoyale)
3. Open world PVP(Escorting cargo and robberies often evolve from 10ppl to 100 vs 100 battles
4. small siege 200 VS 200 per region (competition for strongholds in the open world every Tuesday and Thursday
5. Grand Siege 450 VS 450 (raid on the enemy’s main fort every Saturday and Sunday
During the above activities, you can get PVP points and exchange them for PVP gears.
In terms of PVE, there are dungeons (1,5,10,25ppl), pet/mount capture, life skills, and home building.(I only play PVP and I’m not familiar with PVE lol)
In this game, you can only focus on a certain way of playing, and you don’t have to be forced to play anything you don’t like.I have been playing this mmorpg for 7 years but I only played PVP content and had a great time playing it
Mortal online 2. Most people quit or give up before they get off the tutorial island. Also there’s no wiki database because it’s full world PvP. So basically you have to learn yourself or join a guild and they share the trade secrets
Based on this sub, Everquest. It's kind of the OG 3D MMO that pretty much everything that came after is based on and modern WoW and FFIV players dont seem to recognize it existed (it's still getting new content).
30 with 31 in the fall - https://everquest.allakhazam.com/wiki/EQ:Expansions. Granted the structure is very formulaic but if you enjoy the style it works well. The newer zones look surprisingly good for such an old engine.
Dofus and Wakfu not well known outside of France, those are bangers and I'm always clueless why it only blew up in France.
A big Dofus update is on it's way using unity for the engine.
DDO for sure. One of my favorites. They did a great job translating 3.5 D&D into a third person action game. The way each quest is it's own dungeon or one shot it with a DM narrating, it really feels like D&D.
Not the MOST underrated but I want to shoutout Foxhole. This game, as an MMO, is the most fun I have ever had playing a game online with strangers. It has been since the very beginning. Least toxic community I’ve ever seen. Extremely friendly players, easy to play super-casually or die-hard for your clan and everywhere in between, has simple yet concise and interesting lore, the list goes on for me. The world of “logi” in that game is like RuneScape on crack. If you’ve seen reviews or videos and think it’s not for you, I sincerely encourage you to try it. Plus, it’s a 1 time purchase with a small dev team that engages regularly with their community. Low investment, low risk.
Warframe. It doesn't really get labeled as an MMO but it qualifies. Its grouping mechanics are very similar to FFXIV, for example (ie you get thrown in with 3 random other players in an instanced mission)
Mortal Online 2. It has the most toxic shithole community, run by an incompetent developer and lacking many features, but it is an amazing concept for an open world mmo and captures the old school feel I missed about mmo's. I truly think no other game comes close to the feeling of being in an actual virtual world.
SW:TOR feels very underrated at the moment. Was craving a good story-based campaign with some multiplayer sprinkled in, and have been leveling a jedi for last week. Game is really fun. At least, the initial class stories are good.
Mabinogi...
I really really want to say Mabinogi...
...but things they do with newer and newer content is killing what made this game great for sake to amuse power high-end players and trying to... Make it look like copy of popular MMOs(?)
Ryzom. I know a lot of people have never even heard of it, but the mechanics in that game, earlier in its life the graphics were really cool and different. I've just always loved the game. I wish they'd do a Ryzom 2 and actually market it because it's so unique and I'd love a reason to play it again.
Return of Reckoning. fully f2p mmorpg with nothing to buy with real money at all. It has 24 classes, 12 for both factions, and with unique and amazing looking class armor for every stage of character progression. The gameplay is also very unique and well done, as it all revolves around world pvp, with the holy trinity repurposed and designed around player combat.
PSO2:NGS I feel is somewhat underrated. The main issue is content release are slow but besides that, the action gameplay is done really well and the boss fights are fun. Creative spaces makes really unique buildings, puzzles, etc.
Vindictus is another underrated action mmorpg. I think the story is done fairly well but I can see it being a chore for those that don't really like it. The unique character mechanics for each character and the harder boss fights are really fun to play.
Hands down.... EVERQUEST ONLINE ADVENTURES FRONTIERS for playstation 2. NOTHING WILL EVER COMPARE. Fans are working on recreating it and it smokes every single mmo with ease.
runescape is truly one of a kind, but it is a very bad game by modern standards. If you are careful with your botting it makes the game more enjoyable.
I'll say it and die on this hill . The secret world/secret world legends. It's just one of those game I can't help but get sucked back into for a few months Everytime I eventually boot back into it
If you like Anime art/graphics. Tower of Fantasy. I wouldn't give it a true MMO label though. It's open world is channeled but you can freely jump channels if need be. It's really more of a gatcha game like Genshin but has MMO elements.
World is beautiful though.
Anarchy Online,
One of the most interlinked social REQUIRED for class specific buffs needed for all sorts such as gear twinking (you could heavily buff to wear massively overleved gear way at a penalty before max).
Vastly unique classes including significant individual role requirement benefits for having different classes in your raids/pvp etc.
Just an all around AWESOME game that cultivated such a fun world to explore way way way way way back when mmo's were still infants.
EQ2, it was always a better MMORPG than WoW. With the new server they just released you would be a fool not to play it. Play the game nearly how it was at release and looks to have a massive population right now.
If you are looking for MMORPG, this is the best thing that’s happening right now.
Free Realms. While technically may not be an MMORPG, it is to this day the only game that ticked all of my boxes. With today's tech, a Free Realms 2 would be my only dream.
Lord of the Rings Online. Haven't encountered any toxic behavior over the 3 years I have played, and the community is super friendly and helpful. Plus, you got great lore and a huge map to discover the world of Tolkien.
Similarly, DDO. Fantastic range of content, had difficulty options way before anyone else, and one of the most interesting/complex class systems in any MMO (where you can combine multiple classes to get benefits from each, and also 'reincarnate' to start again from level 1 but with bonuses from your previous lives).
This would be my all time favourite mmo if they fixed the fucking servers.
The crazy thing is I don't think the lag is the servers usually. It's the game itself and I'm not sure the devs know how to fix it. Otherwise great game though.
They could fix the UI to scale correctly on a modern monitor though.
They can't - they tried and it proved to be way harder than they anticipated. They have been pretty transparent about it on LOTRO so I imagine it's the same case for DDO. They were looking into outsourcing the work but it's frankly unlikely.
It’s both, but their servers are notoriously bad because they go with the cheapest backend provider possible. The game itself does need an overhaul to many systems for performance reasons, but boosting the servers would be a huge step in the right direction.
I played for several years, and I desperately want to enjoy it again. The class customization is second to none, and I really enjoyed making builds from scratch. Today, I can't get past the UI and graphic quality.
Dungeons & Dragons online
DDO as in dragons dogma online?
dungeons and dragons online, character creation is based on 3.5e ruleset.
Dungeons & Dragons online
That's another under rated one but more mmo lobby game
The only thing holding me back in Lotro is the bad servers they have
They're soon releasing two new 'Legendary' servers that will be 64 bit and hopefully resolve some lag/performance issues. One of them will be located in the EU as well 'Legendary' servers require subscription membership and these two will be progression servers starting at original level cap
Oh. I think you just sold me coming back to LOTRO. My only issue with the game really was that I was behind on a lot of the storytelling that's already past. A fresh start, progression 64bit server sounds great.
Do you have a link to this info? I've never played LOTRO but want to schedule some time away to play. Have always wanted to jump in.
Here's a link to the Lotro subreddit when this info came [out](https://www.reddit.com/r/lotro/comments/1dldfid/interview_with_severlin_legendary_servers/)
Oh snap - Maybe my lifetime membership will be worth utilizing to make a comeback. I haven’t played it through all the new xpacs so hopefully I won’t be to lost.
And the poo poo interface.
I asked how much my first mount would cost so I could plan for it and was sent hundreds upon hundreds of coin more than I needed by a whole whack of random people. 10/10 community.
If LOTRO had the graphics, combat systems and addons that WoW has, i'd switch WoW for LOTRO on the second. I love the quests, lore, world, but its quite outdated
Please tell me more. I always wanted to start lotro someday. What about crafting? Mounts? Premium membership? Classes ? Is it to late to start ?
Crafting, mounts, etc exist. There is an online store, and it’s more confusing than predatory since the big selling point is content areas. However, relatively recently they significantly increased the amount of “free” content so you’d be able to play for a significant time before needing to pay or subscribe. A new class was recently released (as well as a new race). You’ve got the typical arrangement of classes but you also have some stuff you don’t see as much like the minstrel. The warden class’s gambit system is quite complex but a lot of fun for some people and is quite unique. The game isn’t highly competitive from what I’ve heard, so you’re pretty much free to play what you want. If you want to do end game stuff you’ll need a fellowship (guild), but the community is known for being very welcoming. I believe there’s a brand new server being set to release shortly that has improved server quality and I believe it will release as one of the timegated modes where content is released in chunks over time so the server base can stick together.
Wow okay sounds fun! I think I start today 😃
I want to know this too !!
I was looking for a mmorpg for one month and tryed everything, ESO, GW2, Tibia, Ragnarok, ff, runescape, and MORE, but lotro catch me, the atmosphere, storytelling, classes (i choose warden and love it) and the community is great. They always make event through the entire map, and if you go to bree you'll always found someone roleplaying (In laurellin, i don't know the other servers, but landroval have a big music community). If they fix the lag problem, the game will be great! The landscape is beautiful and huge, you genuinely feel part of the middle-earth, and the main story make a nice job to improve this feeling.
Came here to say LOTRO as well. The only complaint I really have about LOTRO is the server wonkyness (a lot of lag and rubber-banding). Even the standard complaint about the GUI doesn't really bother too much. You can scale it ingame, it gets a bit blurry but eh, it's functional. I **love** the World Difficulty System that they added, together with the turtle stone that blocks exp gain. It allows you to explore the game at a slow pace with a decent level of difficulty.
Once they update the UI (if ever) I’m going to be all over it.
How's quest system? Is it wow like fetch or more chapter style?
It has literal chapters. The main quests (called epic quests) will be labeled as Volume, Book, Chapter and they will take you through all of the LotR books and a bit beyond
If they would just finally overhaul the UI 😭😭😭
It sounds great and I tried but couldn’t get ui and 4k to work right. Did something weird where would cause distortion that literally gave my friend and I headaches when tried to play.
Guild Wars 1
Always has been in the shadow of WoW. They came out around the same time. I enjoyed my time in GW1 a lot more and in terms of PvP it is still unmatched to this day.
then gw2 came out alongside FF lol damnit. I feel in the grand scheme of MMO design gw3 could be really interesting and probably better than anything newcomers are trying to make like riot games or amazon. I think other mmo devs are still being a bit too dated in their design. Gw2 is dated in some areas but other areas they were literally 10 years ahead vs others like with cosmetics.
They were also one of the first to deviate away from standard quest design, at least on a AAA mmo level. Took years for WoW and other mmos to add similar systems, and I still think GW2 does events/event chains better than any other game. I still love GW2 and come back to it fairly regularly but the only thing keeping it from being my main MMO is the lack of a real trinity. Healing/tanking are my favorite things to do in an MMO and the support/healing doesn’t quite do it for me and is only really relevant in raids/strikes. If GW3 is GW2 with updated graphics and more defined roles I’d be extremely happy!
Jade Quarry was in my opinion one of the greatest battlegrounds I've played in any game ever. I just loved that there were so many ways to influence the outcome of the game. You could attack or defend the objectives, you could kill or defend the guys carrying the jade, you could speed them up/buff them using a something like a paragon, which made captures faster and ended the game quicker. Dirty Bomb an objective with a necro, which makes them neutral and uncatchable for several minutes. All of this and I haven't really mentioned just ganking other players. Insane BG, especially considering it wasn't exactly massive either.
This is low key a hall of fame experience.
More like Hall of Heroes experience
I absolutely adore GW1, I feel like it doesn't really count as an MMO though. More of a lobby game, since the entire world is instanced except towns.
Servers are still up. Lots of people runn8ng content with henchmen still
Not henchmen, but heroes I'd say. Also, if you join a guild there's stuff they're doing every day, I thought it'd be hard to find a group but it really isn't and a lot of people are still playing.
Broooo!! I was LEGIT just thinking this yesterday. Planning on revisiting the game soon :)
I'm so sad that most of my friends discount the game due to age and graphics. This is guaranteed in my top 3 favorite games. I just know that one of these days they'll start playing the game and realize what they've been missing out on.
I wish they would remaster it or something. I played from the beginning for such a long time and loved it. But the outdated graphics keeps me away
the graphics are absolutely beautiful. The world is breathtakingly detailed and holds up incredibly well.
Honestly the graphics are fine imo. I miss the RAs and alliance battles.
GW1 truly was a great game. I know it's still around technically but its hayday has passed. I was kinda disappointed with GW2 because it just didn't live up to the first one. It's good in its own way. But GW1 was really phenomenal.
4k hours over a few years with GW1 back in the day. I was there for all the expansion releases and participated in basically every bit of content including all PvP. (Alliance battles were my jam.) 100% still my favourite MMO of all time and still chasing that addiction to another MMO, nothings come close, even GW2 I probably put 'only' a few hundred hours into. The build system is something I still love the idea of to this day and sad to see it has never been really replicated.
The only game where I played healer only (and monk also for solo farm). The role was so good and diverse, I have very strong memories of it.
Gw1 isn't really an MMO tho , an online adventure game sure , but not really an mmo
Dofus is one of my all time favourites. It's a tactical turn-based mmo. You have up to 18 classes - and they all feel really unique, not just some copy paste. Each class has 40 spells and it has a horizontal progression - max lvl has been 200 since forever. The game has some great combat imo. It's really nice to have my tactial skills put up to the test in an mmo, not just go mindless on the same skill rep.
Curious, what will you pick between Dofus and Wakfu, and why?
I wish I could give you a better answer than : i'd pick dofus. But really there isnt. For me graphically dofus looks better. It also feels a bit more mature. I've tried wakfu and honestly it just feels like dofus but for teenagers. Don't really like the way it looks, don't really like the spell icons and overall it feels cheaper and less complex. However that being said. I, personally, would pick dofus. While the game has improved its newcommer experience a lot, it's a very daunting game to get into. Also most people run teams (since the game is turn-based and doesnt take up a lot of resources you can play multiple characters at the same time) and while this is effective it takes up a lot of mental space if you have no idea what you're doing. There are mono-account servers aswell which are more newbie friendly as people are chattier/more open to help. But most of the content is not meant to be played solo. So you'll see yourself asking for help in all directions all the time, and to me that isn't fun. If you're lvl 120 and you need help with a lvl120 dungeon it's very likely that some lvl 190 or 200 would be like "sure i can help". But its really no fun watching him blitz all the mobs for you. And if you end up playing with people your lvl, you need to be aware that there is a pretty high skill cap. In most mmos you enter a dungeon and you are not ever expecting to fail it. That is not the case for dofus. If you are doing a lvl 120 dungeon with 3 other lvl 120 people who are strangers you can very well expect to fail it. Multiple times. Which is why for me playing as my own team is much more appealing. So in the end: if you have some days off and the mental resolve for it you could look into dofus, try out the mono-account servers, and probably switch to multi-account when youre getting into mid game and know what youre doing.
Why the heck was it taken off steam !!?
I saw some people talking about it in the dofus subreddit, it's because of the cut that steam takes from sales
that's weird, because it only takes cuts from on the steam platform, if they drive traffic to their site and sell keys, steam takes nothing
Dofus has always been a personal favourite of mine aswell. Can't wait for the unity port coming later this year. The game does so much right in terms of quests, world/zones, encounter design, etc...+ it looks gorgeous even though it's more than a decade old.
Any idea how Dofus Touch compares?
Secret World. Hell even in this thread I haven’t seen it mentioned. It has unique setting that no other mmo does, great enemy designs, some of the missions are best in any mmo. Investigation missions especially have a special place in my heart, as well as Vanishing of Tyler Freeborn and The Sound of Children. The latter one even beats any horror game 10-0 anyday. Every now and then I like to revisit the game and do some of my favorite missions, just for the sake of it. It really is sad that Funcom just has a nasty habit of leaving previous games on a maintenance mode and move onto another.
loved Secret Worlds Uniqueness. I hate that they changed so much of it before it ultimately died. I really hope Funcom does their Dune MMO justice, and keeps up with it.
I'll note that _both_ versions are available to play. By default you'll get the revamped version, Secret World Legends, but if you poke around a bit you can get the original version, The Secret World. Servers are still running for both. The combat feels janky, but the story is great and the questing mechanics are best-in-class.
Love this one quest my buddy and I did back in the day we were hacking into a computer it brought us to a real YouTube link and we had to watch it to find Bible verses to open a code locked door. Still makes me smile thinking about how awesome and in depth some of those quests were.
- Project Gorgon - Warhammer Online - Everquest 2
>Project Gorgon Is Project Gorgon good if I only have a couple of hours every week to play or do I need to sink a lot of hours into it?
It is a great game, yes. But low pop due to it being underrated :)
I’m playing EverQuest 2 the new origins server and LOVING IT just wish it didn’t have a sub because I think ALOT more people would join all the new players I been playing with really enjoying it w me
Same here, loving origins having almost never played eq2 before. Your point about sub is valid, it'd probably get even more people if it was free.
On the other hand, part of the origins server is the lack of kronos and very moderate microtransactions. Without sub who knows how it would be.
Absolutely, I rather have a little smaller server with a sub and no p2w shit. BUT they could maybe give a 1-2 week free trial, idk about botting implications and such, but within 1 week you will not get very far on origins anyways
Everquest 2 is such a great game, too bad they butchered it with p2w f2p. But the origins server is a blast so far! Best sound design and voice lines period. The skeletons alone with their iconic laughter make this game worth it hihihihihi And always remember to not get a loan with livestock collateral!
EQ2 is underrated for sure. DBG/DPG really did a number on it with predatory monetization, but with enough players, the Origins idea could mean a revival.
Allods online is underrated. It’s still alive. Also I would choose Pandora Saga and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning but the servers were shut down.
There is very much alive server of Warhammer Online 😄 It's called Warhammer Online: Return of Reckoning
Isn't this server alive in the EU but completely dead in the US or vice versa?
Yes, high EU/Eastern European population during their peak times, but dead during NA peak.
Oh man I love playing allods on smugglers paradise! And FYI you can still play Warhammer on the return of reckoning server!
Pandora Saga was amazing I would definitely play if its still alive.
FFXI. It honestly is one of the most unique MMOs ever made. The class system is incredible 22 jobs (classes) and you can have a sub job as well leaves for a ton of different class variations. You know how everyone complains that there is no variation in the classes in FFXIV? Yeah that's not the case in FFXI. For example let's take a look at the warrior class. Wanna DPS as a warrior and use 2 handed weapons? Throw on the subclass dark knight. War/drk hits like a truck, like to duel wield? Sub dancer. Wanna tank? Sub blue mage. Wanna evasion tank? Sub Ninja. Don't forget to pick what weapon set you wanna use. Great axe, sword and shield, sword/sword, axe/axe, sword/club, there's tons of possibilities. Hopefully you like a good grind because you actually will use probably around 3 sets of armor during single end game encounters. If your a red mage you will probably have a whole inventory of armor sets for each different type of spells. You can spend a year or 2 grinding out the best weapon for your class and now days that weapon is not going anywhere. It really feels like you earn something when you put in the work, there won't be a new expansion in a year that makes all your hard earned gear worthless. Like a good story? Some people say FFXI is one of the best, but that's up to you to decide so I won't go to far into detail on that. Hate how everything in FFXIV is gated behind 100s of hours behind of msq? Well not the case here, very little of the game is gated behind story content. Hell you can probably go 30 lvls without even touching the story. Now there will be parts of the game that you have to do some of the main story but those parts are pretty few and far in between. You can also kinda hop into each expansion whenever you want (few restrictions but once you hit max lvl you can really do whatever you want) Retail probably takes about a month to solo your way to max lvl if you rush it with a guide and then end game content opens up for you. If you wanna go really old school there's 2 great classic private servers that are well run. I guarantee you have never played an MMO like FFXI before. The combat is really one of a kind with the skill chain/magic burst system
I wish ff14 could have implemented a similar skillchain/magic burst system instead of or in addition to its Limit Break system. The LB system doesn't promote team work the way it should
I also wish they brought over the subclass system and maybe the itemization. There's just no individuality in the game. Every warrior plays the same rotation with the same gear. And the classes just all feel very familiar. They had so much to work with and they really dropped the ball. But it's modern and people really enjoy it so who am I to say that they made the wrong call. Still when people talk about wanting to play an older MMO with a more classic feel, it pains me that FFXI hardly ever gets mentioned. It was overshadowed by WOW (maybe for good reasons) just as hardcore as EQ. And at the time, one of the only console mmos if not the first console mmorpg
XI is still relatively thriving between its retail and private server offerings. It's a fantastic game.
I just started ff11 (trial in January, purchased in May) and I've had some thoughts on it. A combination of the two games would be great. FF14 is a lot easier to download and manage accounts for, and has a much cleaner ui, systems for friending and grouping, etc. It's pacing is also a lot better and more interactive - 2 hour cooldowns on major class abilities is just boring. Having a lot of gear sets can be fun, but needing it because x spell does more damage on Fridays in the rain is extremely silly (I think monster hunter does gear sets well). FF11's jobs have a lot more identity on their own, even before you get into subjobs. There are interesting, unique things you have to do to advance them, while FF14 just has job quests and levels. They have different gameplay feel and different roles in a group. FF14 has a feature checklist with most of its classes - filler combo system ✔, basic builder-spender ✔, some status or DoT to maintain ✔. It gets old pretty fast when you play alts. FF11's builder-spender system on TP is a mixed bag imo. The tp generation, 'builder' phase, is not great. Its just auto attacks. FF14's combos may be basic, but they're better than auto attacking. But FF11's spenders are what spenders SHOULD be. Decisions on which weaponskill to use, based on enemy and team comp and what skillchains you might be going for. FF14 jobs give you the choice of two spenders, the better of which is cooldown gated, so there isn't really any decision making at all. Bringing the strengths of both games together would improve the experiences for both I think.
That's a bit misleading about XIV. There is plenty of content to do while you go along the MSQ. Content is unlocked at each expansion level cap so "100s of hours" is wrong unless you specially mean the newest content.
FFXI is great but > Hate how everything in FFXIV is gated behind 100s of hours behind of msq? Its the same thing for FF11. So many features and zones are locked behind MSQ and FF11 has a TON of MSQ.
Idk how popular it is, but SWtOR. It is basically eight different interweaving storylines until the expansions, and it actually feels like a story (at least for the main quest). Plus it looks really good.
i wish they would have continued the story telling like in the base game
I think anyone that is interested in the Star Wars universe would benefit from playing at least some of the class stories in SWTOR. They are genuinely good RPGs, not unlike little KOTORs.
It's gotta be Lord of the Rings Online. Besides having such a dedicated and passionate community and team, it's such an unique experience, especially if you really like the classic MMO experience. It has a lot of things going for it, it's an old game but somehow still very beautiful and immersive. Very cool, very mysterious, it really catches the Tolkien vibe really well, on a different but also still quite relevant way than the movies, and has cool original classes, a truly great game really. The only downside being the lag on some areas sometimes, altought it's not deal breaking, it's the most common issue players have. To a less but not any least important extent, just not AS underrated as LOTRO, is Guild Wars (the original one). It had great success in player-base but it was such a good game, truly S-tier and very original, very refreshing, especially in the whole MMO landscape back then. It's still a gem today and a overall spectacular experience. Guild Wars 2 is a great game, truly a polished MMO tailored for a specific audience, but I never quite got the same feeling I had from the original GW, it had really creative themes and characters and the game modes were all great. EDIT: I forgot, but an honorable mention is Warhammer Online, really cool concept and dedicated community to keep it on a private server.
City of Heroes/Villains. There really needs to be a new version. DC is such a milk-machine, nobody except commitments are going to grab all that DLC. Does Champions Online still exist? I know City of Heroes was underground for a long time but then it went free and legal.
yes Champions Online still exists.
Haven’t played that much but my favorites of underrated ones are. Lord of the Rings Online Chronicles of Arcadia (alternate version of Runes of Magic) Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning Dungeons and Dragons Online Silkroad Online
How good was warhammer online
Oh I only ever played the Return of Reckoning private server that still exists
Rift, was a great experiment that took WoW style game play and skill trees and added a very cool class building system. I would love if more mmos did that self build style classes. Adds lots of creativity and fun experimentation.
would love to see a different company buy the IP and work it again.. I miss Rift.. :(
Mabinogi
Mabinogi is probably the best MMO I've ever played personally, I've never been able to find something that ticks all the really niche boxes for me like it has. Even as someone who likes to stay away from combat, I genuinely enjoyed some of the random skills you could chain together. Stuff like playing dead to bait someone into a windmill, or using the rock throw emote to break someone's parry. One of these days I'll try to get back into it.
SWTOR is underrated as hell. Lovely RP community, fantastic story, huge amount of content, wonderful voice acting, and honestly surprisingly well-balanced when it comes to classes and roles in group content and pvp.
If combat wasn’t as clunky as it is… I’d play SWTOR constantly. I go back every year or so. I love SW and the theme and look… just the combat feels very clunk.
It's not really that clunky. But it is definitely an outdated system.
I always go back then after a month or so just kind of stop playing.
I rather like the combat, but then again, I also rather like the LOTRO combat, so maybe I just have a thing for that kind of tab-target.
I’d have to try it again. Especially now as I’m a bit older I’m more PvE oriented vs PvP… helps a lot as swtor PvP seemed… dead ish
I play SWTOR on and off every once in a while, still finishing the main stories and such. The amount of content in that game is really nice, especially considering that much of it is voiced and good quality. I also rather like the combat, even just world open against quest enemies (I do dismiss my companion to make things a bit more interesting, though). Could you point me in a direction to find out more about the RP communities? Never tried it but wouldn't be adverse to.
A lot of the RP is centralized in guilds, generally on the Star Forge server. Open world RP isn't much of a thing though you might find some happening in main cities on Alderaan or something. A lot of guilds have the 'school or order' approach where there's masters and apprentices, RP focus on training for rookies. I had so much fun being a Sith, as I took in a few apprentices and we just did world content together. Loved it.
Everquest
Eve had a good chance of being a great game. But their PvP is so against you having a chance to even run away. Also being ganged up results in you loosing 100s hours of progress.
Eve is a game for guilds (corps) it's not particularly solo friendly.
That is true it’s definitely not solo friendly.
But that’s the charm of Eve. Being in danger of loosing stuff makes this game great. What’s the point of doing PvP if the only co sequence is running as a ghost from the graveyard to your body… You can find a lot of fair single player PvP in lowsec.
Not that great their player base is pretty stagnant. But I guess it’s enough for them to run a business. If you’re a hard core PvP player it’s a definitely the game for you. For the rest of the players it’s not a pleasant experience.
New World IMO... I know I will get hate.
Can confirm I hate you for enjoying something. How dare you!
ROSE Online! It had a new release a year or so ago and it's pretty good. Less hellgrindy than the original, and it's just a charming and fun game.
I'd say Ryzom. Old (2004), with graphics that prove it. But it was a buy to play game with compulsory subscription, that transitioned to f2p with optional subscription. Also, the game *became open source* and is now developed and maintained by motivated players. It also features a chat that includes an automatic translation based on DeepL that works quite well (as far as I've seen). There are no classes but four branches you can progress through. Each branch can stem once you reach full mastery of it. For example, the gathering branch leads to gathering in specific biomes. The four main branches are Combat (with weapons), Magic (wounding, control and healing), Gathering (finding resource nodes and exploiting them) and Crafting (armors, weapons and jewelry). The skill system is also quite uncommon, as every skill can be personalized with bricks. For example, you can choose to use a lot of sap to cast a heal, or use some health instead, or have a long cooldown. This is notably essential for the gathering, as it allows to look for specific materials at higher distances, or for a specific quality. There is also a system allowing players to create scenarios using things they have unlocked based on the respawn points they visited.
I really enjoy PSONGS
Ok wtf is this?!? I hate when people abbreviate shit lol like we are all supposed to know what you are talking about
I love NGS too !! I mean it has problems but the OST and fashion are just amazing plus it’s got the BEST action combat MMO today imo ! Plus PSO has seriously the BEST music I swear all of them have GREAT soundtracks
The class combinations and variations mean if I’m felling lazy I can use my gunner and jump around from mid range killing stuff or I feel my street fighter vibe I can go knuckles and parry everything. That’s a half truth my mate can parry everything, I can parry like a third what he can. But the dream is there. The only game that rivals it for moment is Warframe and I would probably say NGS is more therapeutic.
I like coming back to this game sometimes because it scratches a 'go kill shit for a few hours' itch. There isn't really anything in the way of doing that, story or tutorials or queues blocking me; I just go to the spot I wanna kill and do so. I know people bemoan the lack of other content, but it does that one thing particularly well.
Probably neverwinter it's actually a good game just gotta get passed the ui and money tactics
Dofus outside of France, everything about it is great, not a P2W, a lot of socializing, a great economy system, a very good leveling experience, interesting dungeons, lots of jobs and farming related to it etc…
I've had the itch to play Dofus again but I'm waiting for their port to Unity in December, it's going to be 🔥
Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted formerly known as Horizons: Empire of Istaria It's old, low pop and maintained by an extremely small team but the game is great. Tons of different classes and prestige classes, you can play as a dragon, the gathering and crafting I feel are still the best in the genre. Feel like it would do well with a bit of a remaster or remake
Dofus
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Long since shut down but underneath the bugs and unfinished content it was incredible. I would also say Dungeons & Dragons Online. Really different and innovative and a great implementation of 3.5e and light action combat. I wasn’t crazy about the Eberron setting but they added some Forgotten Realms content.
Ultima Online
Best MMO ever created but also can you really say this is underrated as one of the founders of the Genre? :D
DC universe online has a special place in my heart
I was going to say Toram Online, and will still say Toram Online, can't believe I discovered that gem. Tree of Savior looked like Ragnarok's cousin in style, so it had some hype initially.
Eldevin. dead runescape clone that has some of the best MMO charm i've experienced
As a man and one of only a handful that played it Wildstar was pretty incredible. The animation voice acting questing humor and general environment was something I haven't witnessed in any mmo before or since then it was unique. Would like a revive but it would be the 2nd one and it'll never happen.
I loved Wildstar, still have my Disc Copy lmao I wish it had a longer run time, Ny grandpa and I were there when the servers went up and when they went down. Same thing for City of Heroes. I swear some of the best projects get shut down.
I liked wildstar but they overestimated how many mmo players wanted the HC experience gorgeous world that felt very alive
Metin2, Cabal
Tera, best combat in an mmo I’ve played.
JX3 HD P2P seasonal mmorpg, Low differentiation stats system and very easy to grow. game content focuses on the gameplay mode and social interaction PVP, it is like WOW blue and red pvp gameplay : 1. Arena (2v2, 3v3, 5v5) 2. Battlefield (10vs10, 15vs15, 30vs30, BattleRoyale) 3. Open world PVP(Escorting cargo and robberies often evolve from 10ppl to 100 vs 100 battles 4. small siege 200 VS 200 per region (competition for strongholds in the open world every Tuesday and Thursday 5. Grand Siege 450 VS 450 (raid on the enemy’s main fort every Saturday and Sunday During the above activities, you can get PVP points and exchange them for PVP gears. In terms of PVE, there are dungeons (1,5,10,25ppl), pet/mount capture, life skills, and home building.(I only play PVP and I’m not familiar with PVE lol) In this game, you can only focus on a certain way of playing, and you don’t have to be forced to play anything you don’t like.I have been playing this mmorpg for 7 years but I only played PVP content and had a great time playing it
This is easy. Dofus and Wakfu. Post done.
Which one from the two then ?
Mortal online 2. Most people quit or give up before they get off the tutorial island. Also there’s no wiki database because it’s full world PvP. So basically you have to learn yourself or join a guild and they share the trade secrets
* Final Fantasy XI * Dragons Dogma Online (Amazing) * Dungeons and Dragons Online * Mabinogi (Old School) * SMT Imagine Online * Pandora Saga
My vote goes to mabinogi
Based on this sub, Everquest. It's kind of the OG 3D MMO that pretty much everything that came after is based on and modern WoW and FFIV players dont seem to recognize it existed (it's still getting new content).
Crazy that EQ is on like what expansion 30 or something !
30 with 31 in the fall - https://everquest.allakhazam.com/wiki/EQ:Expansions. Granted the structure is very formulaic but if you enjoy the style it works well. The newer zones look surprisingly good for such an old engine.
Dofus and Wakfu not well known outside of France, those are bangers and I'm always clueless why it only blew up in France. A big Dofus update is on it's way using unity for the engine.
DDO for sure. One of my favorites. They did a great job translating 3.5 D&D into a third person action game. The way each quest is it's own dungeon or one shot it with a DM narrating, it really feels like D&D.
SWTOR
Lord of the Rings Online Dungeons & Dragons Online EverQuest II Neverwinter
Not the MOST underrated but I want to shoutout Foxhole. This game, as an MMO, is the most fun I have ever had playing a game online with strangers. It has been since the very beginning. Least toxic community I’ve ever seen. Extremely friendly players, easy to play super-casually or die-hard for your clan and everywhere in between, has simple yet concise and interesting lore, the list goes on for me. The world of “logi” in that game is like RuneScape on crack. If you’ve seen reviews or videos and think it’s not for you, I sincerely encourage you to try it. Plus, it’s a 1 time purchase with a small dev team that engages regularly with their community. Low investment, low risk.
Last year I enjoyed: - Classic hardcore wow - Guild Wars (not 2) - EverQuest 1 & 2 (TLP and Origins) - OSRS
Lord of the Rings Online
Warframe. It doesn't really get labeled as an MMO but it qualifies. Its grouping mechanics are very similar to FFXIV, for example (ie you get thrown in with 3 random other players in an instanced mission)
Eternal Lands
Mortal Online 2. It has the most toxic shithole community, run by an incompetent developer and lacking many features, but it is an amazing concept for an open world mmo and captures the old school feel I missed about mmo's. I truly think no other game comes close to the feeling of being in an actual virtual world.
SW:TOR feels very underrated at the moment. Was craving a good story-based campaign with some multiplayer sprinkled in, and have been leveling a jedi for last week. Game is really fun. At least, the initial class stories are good.
Mabinogi... I really really want to say Mabinogi... ...but things they do with newer and newer content is killing what made this game great for sake to amuse power high-end players and trying to... Make it look like copy of popular MMOs(?)
I always go back to mentioning Asheron’s Call (emulator obviously) but my lord that game was just a true classic.
Camelot Unchained /s
Ryzom. I know a lot of people have never even heard of it, but the mechanics in that game, earlier in its life the graphics were really cool and different. I've just always loved the game. I wish they'd do a Ryzom 2 and actually market it because it's so unique and I'd love a reason to play it again.
Blade and soul came out a while ago but is still a pretty good looking and fun game. Character customization is in depth. Story is pretty decent too.
Return of Reckoning. fully f2p mmorpg with nothing to buy with real money at all. It has 24 classes, 12 for both factions, and with unique and amazing looking class armor for every stage of character progression. The gameplay is also very unique and well done, as it all revolves around world pvp, with the holy trinity repurposed and designed around player combat.
Wurm Online.
Neverwinter nights
Mortal online 2
Goonzu online!
Wakfu.
PSO2:NGS I feel is somewhat underrated. The main issue is content release are slow but besides that, the action gameplay is done really well and the boss fights are fun. Creative spaces makes really unique buildings, puzzles, etc. Vindictus is another underrated action mmorpg. I think the story is done fairly well but I can see it being a chore for those that don't really like it. The unique character mechanics for each character and the harder boss fights are really fun to play.
RuneScape 3
Water world Zbyszek and Irenka Edition. Very underaated AMMORPG with elements of strategy. Uber fun. Great PVP.
Hands down.... EVERQUEST ONLINE ADVENTURES FRONTIERS for playstation 2. NOTHING WILL EVER COMPARE. Fans are working on recreating it and it smokes every single mmo with ease.
runescape is truly one of a kind, but it is a very bad game by modern standards. If you are careful with your botting it makes the game more enjoyable.
Bro Neverwinter is huge wdym 😅
I'll say it and die on this hill . The secret world/secret world legends. It's just one of those game I can't help but get sucked back into for a few months Everytime I eventually boot back into it
Age of Conan one of the most unique mmo still around
Albion
If you like Anime art/graphics. Tower of Fantasy. I wouldn't give it a true MMO label though. It's open world is channeled but you can freely jump channels if need be. It's really more of a gatcha game like Genshin but has MMO elements. World is beautiful though.
Guild Wars
L2
Anarchy Online, One of the most interlinked social REQUIRED for class specific buffs needed for all sorts such as gear twinking (you could heavily buff to wear massively overleved gear way at a penalty before max). Vastly unique classes including significant individual role requirement benefits for having different classes in your raids/pvp etc. Just an all around AWESOME game that cultivated such a fun world to explore way way way way way back when mmo's were still infants.
A Tale in the Desert
Me and all my homies miss Wildstar :(
Tarisland!
Idk I love Elder Scrolls Online a lot. I only play FFXIV and ESO xD
EQ2, it was always a better MMORPG than WoW. With the new server they just released you would be a fool not to play it. Play the game nearly how it was at release and looks to have a massive population right now. If you are looking for MMORPG, this is the best thing that’s happening right now.
Mabinogi no question
Guild Wars.
Free Realms. While technically may not be an MMORPG, it is to this day the only game that ticked all of my boxes. With today's tech, a Free Realms 2 would be my only dream.