Good mmorpgs

[mr friendly guy]

Ok Star Trek online is the first MMORPG I have ever played. There was another one I downloaded and grew disgusted when it cost me money to simply customise the character to look halfway decent. I usually play RPGs where I inevitably get bored and used a hex editor and player mods to get ahead (Divinity original sin and hacking the wall's hit points to 1 so I can break it down without looking for a key ).

Any recommendations which fit the following criteria.

1. Good customisation - preferably free for basic looks and then pay for better things.

2. Free to play - I need to see if I am going to like it first

3. Pay to win - if I like it, I will spend money to get ahead just like I do in online CCGs.

4. Genre - prefer sword and sorcery type stuff, but any will be ok with sci fi type stuff as well.

5. Loner - prefer to do things by myself, rather than needing to hang out with a bunch of strangers to win. The reason being, I am not as great at games which require me to be fast.

6. Combat system - doesn't really matter if its turn based or real time, although the combat system I really like is something like Kingdoms of Amalur.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Champions Online is what Cryptic made prior to Star Trek Online, and is very similar in a lot of respects. It has tons of character customization.

Star Wars the Old Republic has a more restrictive free-to-play model, but it's perfectly serviceable, especially if you're not averse to eventually spending some money on the game (as opposed to diehard free-to-players who don't want to ever spend a dime).

[Elheru Aran]

I've only really played STO, SWTOR, and LOTRO (Lord of the Rings Online). Both SWTOR and LOTRO were incredibly grindy for me and difficult to level up; STO blazes by them in that regard, you can get to max level in a few weeks if you have time to waste.

LOTRO's particular drawback is that it's a very big open-world model... but you don't get transportation until like... level 30 or something like that... so for most of your early levels, you're gonna be trotting a lot, and dealing with a LOT of random munchkin encounters against little opponents like sporadic goblins, spiders, wolves, and what not. SWTOR at least has speeder rentals for a fairly nominal price, which makes life much easier. STO doesn't particularly suffer from the open world thing as each planet map is not terribly huge.

LOTRO's story is also very much on rails-- you might have a little variety if you start as a Dwarf or an Elf, as your first few levels would be specific to that race, but after that, you end up running the exact same campaign. Mind you, this is an issue with STO too-- almost worse there as it's on a galactic level, but even the Klingons and Romulans end up doing the same missions as the Federation. SWTOR at least mixes it up a little better, I think.

Oh, I flirted with Age of Conan for a while. That one was pretty good as far as customizing characters went. Plus, if you have a female character, you can run around topless and watch the boobs bounce. Beyond that? Meh. I'm sure it's a fine game, but for some reason it ran pretty slowly on my computer, so I got annoyed after the first few levels and dropped it.

[General Zod]

The last mmo that held my interest for more than a week was City of Heroes (RIP). Most of them get amazingly dull and repetitive after so long, and I haven't seen anything that can hold up since. Maybe I'm just a snob though.

[Lagmonster]

My advice is to try the free version of Star Wars; I found the Bioware-ish storyline-based "single player" to be fun, the lightsabering enjoyable, the worlds familiar, and I was able to complete two characters' storylines (out of, I think, six or eight) without ever so much as talking to one single other human being thanks to the way maps are set up. I never touched any of the PVP or endgame at all - once my character had 'beaten' his original, no-DLC story, I put that character away and started the next one, alternating between empire and republic so as to not repeat non-story missions too much too often.

Full disclosure: I enjoyed the storyline for the Sith Warrior so much, that I went ahead and bought a three-month one-time-only subscription to play the other characters in more depth. I'd say I got my money's worth.

[Imperial Overlord]

Neverwinter is free to play and you can do most of it solo.

[Purple]

as opposed to diehard free-to-players who don't want to ever spend a dime).

As one of those diehard free-to-players which of these recommendations would work well for me? As far as the rest go my tastes match the OP quite well so I figured it might not be a bad thing to ask.

[Broomstick]

I would recommend Fallen Earth, a free-to-play game that's not well known. You can customize your character's appearance at start-up. The combat system is not point-and-shoot, you actually have to participate (hmmm... should I go for a headshot or stick to beating on the torso?). Almost all content can be solo'd, at least as far as I played it. If you like it, you can pay to get more stuff. If you don't like it, all it costs you is time.

The setting is post-apocalyptic Earth, pretty much sci-fi.

Some interesting features: the map is based on actual topology around the Grand Canyon in the US. Instead of just two factions you have six, and you can, if you're determined, move from one to another. No formal class system, you pick and choose what skills your character acquires. No barrier to moving into zones, you can go anywhere you want from the start, although some areas will kill a low level character pretty damn quick. Not a lot of PvP, although it does exist it's not the main focus.

There is a heavy dependence on player's crafting stuff. In fact, almost any piece of gear in the game can be made by players. On the other hand, if that's not your thing, there's always someone selling stuff on the auction house.

Anyhow - like I said, not terribly well known, but the entry cost is low. I enjoyed it, my spouse decreed it "boring" even with the exploratory element he likes. Oh, well, to each their own.

[bilateralrope]

2. Free to play - I need to see if I am going to like it first

Would you consider a buy-to-play MMO that has a free trial ?

I'm assuming that subscription MMOs are off the table.

3. Pay to win - if I like it, I will spend money to get ahead just like I do in online CCGs.

Do you really want pay to win, or would you be content with just "buying time" ?

The difference is that pay to win has you paying cash to get power that can only be obtained through the cash shop. While buying power just lets you skip the grind. For example, xp boosts and buying gold are just buying time.

6. Combat system - doesn't really matter if its turn based or real time, although the combat system I really like is something like Kingdoms of Amalur.

How many turn based MMOs exist ?

I only know of Wakfu, though I haven't tried it yet.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

As one of those diehard free-to-players which of these recommendations would work well for me? As far as the rest go my tastes match the OP quite well so I figured it might not be a bad thing to ask.

Both Star Trek* and Champions have very generous F2P models. Dungeons & Dragons Online (one of the pioneers of the F2P model) can also be played diehard-F2P, at least last I checked, and it's a relatively unique game with nothing else really like it on the market.

*At least until high level endgame content. The current endgame is pretty exorbitant unless you're not choosy about things like ships. But if you want to drive a Sovereign-class or other canon ship at endgame, get ready to break out your wallet.

[mr friendly guy]

Would you consider a buy-to-play MMO that has a free trial ?

I'm assuming that subscription MMOs are off the table.

No and no.

Do you really want pay to win, or would you be content with just "buying time" ?

The difference is that pay to win has you paying cash to get power that can only be obtained through the cash shop. While buying power just lets you skip the grind. For example, xp boosts and buying gold are just buying time.

Buying time would be preferred, although pay to win should be ok as well. If the game really does appeal to me, I will pay. Within reason.

[biostem]

I very much enjoyed Champions Online. I have a lifetime subscription there, but have basically stopped playing in 2013. I now spend most of my time on Neverwinter. Champions online has a ton of customization, with things like costume packs and more deluxe travel powers being opened up to all your characters, upon buying them. My only real issue with Champions is that, around the time Cryptic was bought up by PWE, they basically switched it to "maintenance mode", with only a skeleton crew of developers, and no real significant content additions. A main focus has now been on vehicles, (items which totally replace your character model and powers, with those of the vehicle), and lockboxes/chanceboxes which require purchasing keys from the premium store to open, (though you can exchange certain in-game currencies for premium store currency).

Neverwinter, though lacking the customization and freedom of movement of Champions, has a lot more polish to it. The combat in both games is fast and exciting, and if you subscribe to Champions, you can build freeform, meaning you can pick pretty much any power you want, (free players are restricted to archetypes, which are preset character templates).

Both are totally free to play, so I recommend checking both out, (Neverwinter has a larger population and is the current favorite child). My only criticism of Neverwinter is that, with the latest module, they increased the level cap, made the levels between the old max (60) and the new max (70) super grindy, and continue to focus more and more on refining items, (using items found from enemies, gathered from profession tasks, or bought from the premium store to improve items).

[mr friendly guy]

Questions about Neverwinter?

I have heard on reviews that you cannot select all the races starting out, and you need to pay. So which races do you need to pay to use.

Second question is, if you do fork out cash for zen points, what can you get? Items, mounts etc.

[Imperial Overlord]

Dragonborn and Renegade Drow are pay to play (there's a slightly different Drow that is free to play).

Zen allows you to buy all sorts of items, enhancements, mounts, and companions. You can also convert it to Astral Diamonds and do "normal" purchases.

[biostem]

Questions about Neverwinter?

I have heard on reviews that you cannot select all the races starting out, and you need to pay. So which races do you need to pay to use.

Second question is, if you do fork out cash for zen points, what can you get? Items, mounts etc.

All but 3 races are free. There is a free and paid-for version of the dark elf/Drow. There is the Sun Elf (free) and the Moon Elf (part of a pack). The Dragonborn is either buyable as part of a pack (Chromatic Dragonborn), or a random drop from a previous lockbox (Metallic Dragonborn).

One of the main things to spend Zen on are mounts. The mounts you can buy for regular in-game currency give a 50% speed bonus. These have fairly generic appearances, and are all horses. More exotic and faster mounts, (80% bonus for Rank 2, and 110% for Rank 3), can be purchased with Zen, (everything from horses to big cats, to gelatinous cubes and giant crabs).

The nice thing about the mounts is that they are account-wide unlocks, so 1 purchase allows all current and future characters to access said mount.

I also highly recommend that, if you decide to give Neverwinter a try, to focus on the Leadership profession - it allows to generate gold, potions, skill kits, and astral diamonds, (a currency used to buy special items and which are used to exchange for premium store currency via a player-driven in-game exchange).

[Ritterin Sophia]

Champions Online

Every time I try to play that game I compare it to City of Heroes and then I feel like a widower, "How could I betray my one true love, like this?" And then I go look to see if City of Titans is getting anywhere closer.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I never really played City of Heroes, so I didn't have that problem. I very much enjoyed what Champions was on its own merits, back in its heyday. It helps that my brief attempt to try out City of Heroes was clunky and not very accessible, and it very much felt like a product of the Everquest 1 days, where Champions was smooth and accessible by contrast.

[Ritterin Sophia]

where Champions was smooth and accessible by contrast.

That's been the opposite of my experience with Champions.

[biostem]

City of Heroes had a very strong team dynamic, with only certain classes/archetypes being able to truly solo 100% of the time. Champions Online, having been a subscription-only game at first, allowed everyone to pick and choose whatever powers they wanted, as well as being able to self-target powers, (many powers in CoH were 'other-only') - this meant that you basically had a bunch of flying bricks going around, who didn't really need anybody's help to do anything. While great in theory, it reduced the impetus to team. They tried to address this when they made the game free to play, by restricting free players to pre-chosen archetypes, but by that time, the previosu publisher, Atari, was having financial problems, had severely cut development, and the game hasn't quite recovered since being picked up by PWE.

[Pinjar]

I only played Fallen Earth for a month or so before I went back to SWTOR but it had an excellent community and GMs that were more involved than any I have ever encountered. If my mind could have gotten over the graphics I am sure I would have enjoyed it.

I have no experience of the non-subscription experience in SWTOR but as a subscriber I don't find it grindy at all (but then with 12x base XP I really couldn't).

[The_Saint]

I quite enjoyed Fallen Earth (I only stopped playing as I had too many other time sink commitments and have always hoped to get back in), post-apocalyptic USA, somewhere between Mad Max and The Postman. I quite enjoyed the fact that the first transport option is a horse (Vehicles are faster but require fuel which costs).


Anarchy Online lacks a bit in initial character customisation (hey it did just celebrate its 14th birthday) but has ridiculous levels of character equipment customisation, free-to-play option, huge storyline... etc etc
Set a mere 25,000 years in the future on another planet it's pretty much the pioneer of sci-fi mmorpg's. Currently undergoing a massive game engine overhaul which (cross fingers) could give it a new lease on life. Has possibly one of the best online communities I've ever encountered as you have to be dedicated to hang on for 14 years.

The Secret World is a one time purchase with pay to win options. HP lovecraft themes, with vague Hellgate London feel. I dabbled in it a bit but returned to Anarchy Online.

Age of Conan is/was good. Though it did have an ambitious game engine that set it apart when released in that it brought many computers (including mine so I didn't stick around) to their knees.