SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Best MMO for an old bastard with responsibilities and shit?

Posted: Feb 05 2011 06:25 pm

So, I'm in my mid 20s. I have a full time job, I have a wife, I have an infant son, I have bills, work, more work, sleep, and all that shit. I love my life and wouldn't change it, however this adds up to not a whole lot of time available for my own enjoyment. Basically I have hardly any time for anything. I'm lucky if I can get in two or three hours every couple days to use the internet, let alone video games. But, I do enjoy video games.

I also enjoy MMOs on occasion. Ultima Online seems to be the best option right now, but I'm open to more possibilities. I've played UO, EQ, City of Heroes, and Star Wars Galaxies years ago. Never played World of Warcraft. The free Ultima Online thread piqued my interest in the genre again, and I'd like to get into one of them, but like I said, not a whole lot of time available.

So, in your fine fellows' opinions, what's the best MMO for somebody that doesn't have 14 hrs/day to devote to it? Something where I can be gone for a while, and still come back and have some fun with it?

Posted: Feb 05 2011 06:48 pm

Any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory.

Posted: Feb 05 2011 06:50 pm

Harvest Moon is an MMO now?

Posted: Feb 05 2011 06:56 pm

I'd say try Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine from Aeria Games. It's free and very active. A fun game overall and you don't really need to know about the story of Shin Megami Tensei but it's nifty if you do.

Posted: Feb 05 2011 07:12 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory.

They made a Harvest Moon MMO? Are you for serial?

Posted: Feb 05 2011 07:25 pm

ChiSoxFan wrote:

They made a Harvest Moon MMO? Are you for serial?

The synchronicity is astounding. Not only was I playing Harvest Moon for Game Boy Color earlier today, but I was doing it WHILE WATCHING the Manbearpig episode. Great Scott!

Posted: Feb 05 2011 07:39 pm

no, I read that title wrong. Coulda sworn it said RPG.

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Feb 05 2011 08:23 pm

Despite the reputation it has as a soul-sucking, time-killing monster, I was able to enjoy WoW as a casual player way back in the day only playing 30-60 minutes at a time doing the various solo quests or just hooking up with random people, and I still had fun.

Posted: Feb 05 2011 09:08 pm

Isn't FarmVille a Harvest Moon rip in social game form?

Posted: Feb 05 2011 09:45 pm

No. Harvest Moon is way cooler than Farmville. First off, you can get married. Second off, you die.

Joined: Mar 18 2010 Location: Tuonela Posts: 299

I would go with a game, that doesn't require a subscription fee (I've heard Dungeons & Dragons Online is ok). After having paid the monthly fee for WoW, you kinda feel you need to play a lot to get your moneys worth.

If that's not problem, then I'd say WoW matches your criteria. There's always lot of things to do, and nobody asks you to spend countless hours with it. The thing is, levelling up and doing quests is... how should I put this... addicting. Add new friends you get while playing into the mix, and WoW qualifies as a drug.

It's insane... over 10 million people pay their $14.99 for Blizzard Entertainment every month. I'm glad I escaped that cult. Very Happy

Posted: Feb 06 2011 07:53 am

Vaenamoenen wrote:

If that's not problem, then I'd say WoW matches your criteria. There's always lot of things to do, and nobody asks you to spend countless hours with it.

That's not true. It's fine until you hit max level and run out of things to do by yourself, then you have to start looking at the endgame (dungeons or raids) or doing achievements (most of which require a substantial time/friend investment). In either case, the game demands far more time than a casual players typically has if you want to really get your money's worth.

WoW has an annoying catch-22 when it comes to casual gamers. There is content there for the casual, but you run through it relatively quickly so will end up doing the same dungeons over and over again as there is a distinct wall of content between those who can only devote 10 hours a week to the game and those who can do 40. The only way to see new things or do more important endevours such as raids is to devote a lot of time to it (gearing up, finding a good guild, being online during raid times, learning a craft, etc) and become more serious.

I've tried playing WoW casually and after a while, you really do start to feel left behind and resentful of the other players who get to see and do all the cool things that you just don't have time for. Then you inevitably attempt to squeeze more hardcore play into your life so you can have your cake and eat it too, but it never works. It's not the same game it was 4 years ago where it was fine to play casually. Raid progress and competition have become the most important things to most WoW players nowadays. I wouldn't recommend WoW for a casual gamer.

tl:dr - I recommend free MMOs as there are some really great ones out there now and since they're free, you don't have that pressure to get the most out of it like Vaenamoenen alluded to. Lord of the Rings Online is fantastic and has a great casual atmosphere to it. Also Champions Online just went free to play last week, so if you fancy a super hero theme, check it out. I was actually pretty impressed with it myself and seems great for a casual gamer.

Also, another game worth looking into that isn't an MMORPG persay but is rather a team based tactical action game (like Defense of the Ancients if you know what that is) is League of Legends. I've had a lot of fun with it over the last few months and you only really have to play it for 30-45 minutes at a time so it's pretty flexible. It's also as hardcore or casual as you want it to be thanks to their great matchmaking system. If you do check out LoL, use this link (http://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4cab8a7e0cc06701756263) so I get credit for referring you Smile

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Panda, your tl:dr was almost as long as your suggestion.

I can't play WoW casually. I know this about myself. So I don't play it. However, if you have never played it before, there is literally hundred and hundreds of hours of single player content in that game. If you don't prioritize leveling over journeying, then it is a tremendously large and fun world to participate in.

In addition reviews of the new expansion have all been favorable, as have been those for the previous two expansions.

Just realize that it has the ability to suck the soul out of you if you are susceptible to it.

Perhaps a non-mmo RPG game might be a better option?

Oblivion, KOTOR, Dragons Age and many others exist if you would prefer to not be online.

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Feb 06 2011 10:59 am

Oblivion is a really good psuedo-MMO, yeah, I'd recommend that. Shivering Isles in particular. Sheogroath is the most crazy awesome guy ever.

Posted: Feb 06 2011 01:11 pm

you can try the older diablos. although they are action RPG's instead of MMO, they are still fun. or even Torchlight. thats a fun action RPG.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

UsaSatsui wrote:

Oblivion is a really good psuedo-MMO

Psuedo as in not an MMO at all?

Posted: Feb 06 2011 02:00 pm

username wrote:

you can try the older diablos. although they are action RPG's instead of MMO, they are still fun. or even Torchlight. thats a fun action RPG.

I was thinking this. Diablo II on Battle.net

Spent plenty of YEARS playing. It's free, and a lot of fun.

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Feb 06 2011 05:22 pm

joshwoodzy wrote:

UsaSatsui wrote:

Oblivion is a really good psuedo-MMO

Psuedo as in not an MMO at all?

"Psuedo" as in it emulates the experience of one without actually being one. All you need to do to make it one is add people.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

UsaSatsui wrote:

joshwoodzy wrote:

UsaSatsui wrote:

Oblivion is a really good psuedo-MMO

Psuedo as in not an MMO at all?

"Psuedo" as in it emulates the experience of one without actually being one. All you need to do to make it one is add people.

The world, plot, and experience were all large enough to support an online game. It was simple a single player campaign though. The game could easily be compared to MMOs though if you were to discuss everything other than multiple players interacting.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

Jack Slater wrote:

So, I'm in my mid 20s. I have a full time job, I have a wife, I have an infant son, I have bills, work, more work, sleep, and all that shit. I love my life and wouldn't change it, however this adds up to not a whole lot of time available for my own enjoyment. Basically I have hardly any time for anything. I'm lucky if I can get in two or three hours every couple days to use the internet, let alone video games. But, I do enjoy video games.

You are very lucky to have 2 or 3 hours to yourself. I have an infant daughter who is 4 months old and I haven't had time to play a goddamn thing since she was born. I will, however, be buying a 3DS so at least when she is in bed I can flip that sucker on and play some games in bed.

Posted: Feb 07 2011 08:54 am

Why an MMORPG, anyway? Why not just the regular kind? Other players don't really add anything to the experience at all, unless you're going to join a guild and raid. NPCs are more eloquent and more interesting than any fellow human you'll meet in an MMORPG.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Syd Lexia wrote:

Why an MMORPG, anyway? Why not just the regular kind? Other players don't really add anything to the experience at all, unless you're going to join a guild and raid. NPCs are more eloquent and more interesting than any fellow human you'll meet in an MMORPG.

Is it sad that Syd is mostly correct?

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

Well, it's Jack Slater's preference. Clearly a regular RPG is a better experience, but I'm not gonna get all "MMO's are for teh gayz lolz!" on him. I don't care for them either, but it's what he asked for.

Posted: Feb 07 2011 09:24 am

Also, be aware that unless you have friends that are already established players in whatever game you choose, and are in a guild, joining a guild is difficult. Good guilds won't accept noobs, and the guilds that will accept noobs are clusterfucks that can't organize raids and are terrible.

Posted: Feb 07 2011 03:08 pm

If you're not playing much its hard to justify a monthly fee. $150 per year to barely play is a waste Sad

With that in mind:

Free Ultima Online starts friday! There's a few of us playing and I'm sure we'd all team up with you during the little time you have to play. And macroing is very common so you can gain a little skill even when you can't play.

D&D Online is another good option that someone else mentioned. I played for awhile and there level specific instances that only take about 10-30 minutes each so its good for sporadic play. Although if you don't have friends playing then all your quests are solo and you're basically just playing Morrowind or something similar.