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Greetings, ladies, gentlemen, and those somewhere in between...

I need your help. I feel like playing an MMORPG, preferably a fantasy title. However I know very little about the offerings, so I decided to beseech Dakka for information on a suitable game.

My main criteria are:

Customization; I want to be able to make a unique character, that doesn't just look like "Male Ork in heavy armour with an axe". RPGs aren't much fun without the ability to role play after all.

Open world; I ideally want a game with a large world I can explore and mess around in. Not so important, but still pretty important.

Looks OK; I don't want an absolute eyesore of a game like RuneScape, which looks...dreadful quite frankly.

Interactivity; I would love to be able to properly interact with my fellow questers. You know, forge a party, go on adventures, slay killer weasels, spend nights in mead halls, meet new people, rinse and repeat.

Doesn't cost a fortune; I am looking preferably for a "purchase" game (pay once, play forever) rather than a "subscribe" game (pay monthly to play). Obviously free to play would be best but I don't know if you could find a decent RPG for free.

Balanced and relatively casual; I want to really be able to kick back, play and have fun with people, leveling up and enjoying the game, rather than having to struggle to survive because of a few douches who take the game too seriously and exploit all the loopholes to make their character the most powerful ever, and stop anyone else from enjoying the game.


I do know of a few MMORPGs, notably...

World of Warcraft: Eh, not to sure about this one. Seems way too expensive for what you get, and as it is so popular I'm worried that as a result it will be flooded with masses of obsessive powergamers and screaming kids.

Guild Wars 2: Now this one I am interested in. I don't know if it's a purchase or subscribe game, but from what I've seen it looks good. Also it's quite new, so should be relatively douche free.

League of Legends: I know this one is Free to Play but that's it really. I know nothing else about it. I would like to learn more though.


Suggestions?

LoL isnt technically an MMO. Its a MOBA so its not an RPG, just a multiplayer battle game

GW2 I believe is pay once, that will probably fit your bill. Unless you feel like testing out a bunch of different (korean most likely) F2P MMOs. Like the ones from Nexon

If you want free then Runescape might be your best bet, sure you dont get to explore the whole thing unless you pay for a membership but theres still enough to do, I myself got to about level 60 before getting membership on that game, stopped playing though since my buddies stopped after a bit

WoW is like the wal-mart of MMOs.

Honestly I'm pretty jaded with the genre, but EQ2 was pretty fun for a while, and fairly customizable. And it's free now.

If you want extreme customization then champions online is the ticket, but I think it may be defunct now, sadly.

Star Trek Online, It's what I play

Customisation: Check, different species, uniforms etc

Open world: kind of, large amount of systems and sectors quite a few hubs etc.

Looks ok, it's star trek, but with oversized rooms on the ground (camera limitations) and beautiful space maps

Interactivity: not to sure on this, I'm not that sort of player

Doesn't cost a fortune: F2P WOO! but currently the best ships are pay2win

Balanced and relitvly casual: mainly PvE so don't worry, but it can get a bit grindy at endgame (aren't they all). most builds unless they're absurd can get buy, exept for against romulans, you need Anti tractor beams and a PDS against their cheap plasma trick.

I'm installing GW2 at the moment (got it as a Christmas Gift from my Grandparents, aren't they fantastic?). I'll role up a character in one of the more RP servers and see how it is.

I don't think GW's servers are organized that way. They're just servers. There are RP guilds though.

League of Legends isn't an MMO.

Champions, btw, is still around, somehow, despite being pretty rubbish.

Most free-to-play games have fairly restrictive models and you'll be required to pay eventually, but there are some exceptions.

I don't know much about their Free-to-Play models, but Lord of the Rings Online or EverQuest II might suit your needs.

Really, Guild Wars 2 might, in fact, be your best bet; $60 box price, and then you don't need to pay ever again and it meets your criteria. IMO it's a terrible game, but I seem to be in the minority there.

OP, sounds like you want to play GW2

Pay once, play forever
You can morph items to look like others while keeping the same stats so a goodly amount of customization.
Random area events encourage teamwork
It's very laid back and casual.
It's pretty.
It's not WoW.

it's like a win/win/win/win/win/win for you

If you want a fantasy title and are willing to submit to a subscription, Rift is good. It has the most customizable character builds out of any MMO I've yet seen.

Thanks guys.

From what I can see, Guild Wars 2 looks to be the best bet. Star Trek Online sounds pretty cool too. I will investigate further.

Once again, thank you!

i would also like to chime in that GW2 isnt an MMORPG either, its just a glorified Diablo 3. Majority of the game is done with a few players and the only real massive areas are the towns. That being said there are a whole pile of good free to play MMOs out right now.

Dungeons & Dragons Online
Lord of the Rings Online
Everquest 2
Lineage 2
Pirates of the Burning Sea
The Secret World
Star Wars: The Old Republic

Deathklaat wrote:
i would also like to chime in that GW2 isnt an MMORPG either, its just a glorified Diablo 3.

have you played GW2? Because that's about as inaccurate as an assessment can get. Sure it's not a typical MMORPG, but it's hardly comparable to loot grinders in the vein of Diablo.

Lord of the Rings Online

Good game.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

No. Their free to play system is insanely stupid. The restrictions put into place are so absurd it's not even like you're really playing the game so much as an extremely long and limited demo that doesn't have access to anything but the most basic features... Like leveling. Not to mention that they jam packed all the player accounts onto two dozen servers so finding a name for a character is virtually impossible unless you're just mashing keys at random.

The best free to play (as in never have to pay a cent) MMO's right now are probably STO, LotRO, and Terra.

I've played a couple, but the list of those I would currently recommend is fairly small:

Champions Online
Customization: 5/5
Create your own super hero, mixing and matching looks and powers from countless sets. For example, this Predator and his human apprentice hunting crims in Millennium City have been created by combining powers from the Feral, Martial Arts and Gadgeteering categories.
Open World: 3/5
The areas are fairly large, and the city is particularly fun to explore using means of transportation such as flight or a cable gun. Occasionally, villains will show up and rob things in mini-events, allowing you to team up with other players and prevent this.
Looks: 2/5
The comic graphics are certainly not to everyone's taste, although they fit the theme and one can grow accustomed to them. The game may not look "pretty" compared to the competition, but neither would I say that it looks truly bad. Just ... different.
Interactivity: 4/5
It is fairly easy to find other heroes to team up with, and some missions do require it. The game even has a feature where you can create and customize your very own arch-nemesis that will randomly show up and challenge you. Showing off each other's nemesis is almost as fun as showing off your own character - perhaps even moreso. Lastly, each hero can purchase access to a somewhat customizable hideout (different styles offering choices such as caves, apartments, basements, or even a moon base), where you can invite other players to. CO has lots of roleplaying going on, and if you're a roleplayer yourself you may want to join the chat channel CORP.

Star Trek Online
Customization: 4/5
Like CO, this game is from Cryptic Studios as well, and thus offers a wide range of customization as well. You can customize your uniform, your ship, even your crew of bridge officers entirely to your liking. The downside of this, however, is that Starfleet looks more like a bad sci-fi convention rather than a uniform organization. People run around in clothes from various eras, sometimes even wearing the clothes of an enemy faction, and every second female Starfleet officer looks like a hooker. In a twisted way of karmic justice, the Klingons not having access to 10% the amount of customization means that this is the one faction that actually still looks like you know it from the shows.
Open World: 3/5
You can explore several quadrants, and aside from the typical MMO missions you will occasionally stumble over stuff like a distress call or a regional mission that only pops up when you're close to a particular system, so there actually is some stuff to explore. Social areas such as Starfleet Academy on Earth, Bajor or the First City on Qo'noS are nice flavor as well and there actually is some stuff to do here.
Looks: 4/5
The space section of the game just looks beautiful, so much so that you'll be tempted to make screenshot after screenshot just because you're passing by yet another awesome looking nebula. Unfortunately, the ground portion of the game suffers from ridiculously oversized and underdecorated interiors, preventing a 5/5 here.
Interactivity: 4/5
The game's integrated Foundry feature allows players to craft their own missions ("episodes") and make them available to others, complete with area design and NPC scripting. Like in CO, the amount of interactivity and customization as well as the rich setting have triggered a lot of roleplaying. You can invite players of any faction to the interiors of your starship, and fleets can have their own starbase (to be built from scratch, requiring loads of resources) as a meeting place, complete with vendors and even missions where you'll have to help defend it from an enemy force.

The Old Republic
Customization: 3/5
Fairly standard amount of customization, with the default character generator being just slightly above what you know from WoW. However, more and more adaptable clothes/armor have found their way into the game, in combination with the "unify colors" feature allowing you to pursue a distinctive look.
Open World: 2/5
The various worlds are fairly large and feel even more alive than in the other games. When you're attentive, you can listen to NPC dialogues or watch pre-scripted events played out all over the galaxy, from people boarding shuttles to law enforcement officials gunning down fleeing suspects. However, there isn't much that you can actually do yourself. A far cry from Star Wars Galaxies, may it rest in peace.
Looks: 5/5
Personally, I think the game looks awesome, with nicely designed levels and good-looking characters fitting neatly together. The game also has a space portion that does not look as good as STO, but as it is basically just a rail shooter you won't be spending much time with it does not really deserve to be mentioned nor to push the overall rating down.
Interactivity: 4/5
In a way, TOR plays much like a single player game with optional multiplayer support - but the latter is implemented in a very nice way. During missions and in group instances ("flashpoints"), players basically roll dice to decide who gets to pick a dialogue option, which makes the entire event play out like an interactive movie where half the participants are other living people. It's suprisingly cool to see how other people's characters respond to something and actually makes you feel like being part of something bigger.
The biggest appeal of TOR is, undoubtedly, its story. You have 8 main arcs (one for each class), each with various interconnected sub-plots, covering all sorts of styles from military tough guy/gal action (Commando, Bounty Hunter) to epic fights of good versus evil (Jedi and Sith) all the way to political thriller (Agent) and the firefly'ish badass scoundrel stuff that often touches on slapstick (Smuggler). In true BioWare-fashion, The choices you make throughout the dialogue trigger different responses, at times even opening up entirely new mission arcs that may result in delayed consequences. For example, at one point my Bounty Hunter allowed the companion of a target to walk away free, only to have said companion attempt to retaliate much later. My Intelligence Assassin, on the other hand, definitively prefers not to leave and loose ends.

Pirates of the Burning Sea
Customization: 3/5
Slightly above the WoW standard, PotBS allows you to freely select the colors of the clothes you wear - which you unlock via ingame progress (such as a new set of epaulettes for your uniform after receiving a promotion) rather than depending on any items you wear. The developers allow you to send in your own symbols to have them approved as flags or sails.
Open World: 4/5
PotBS comes with a large PvP feature that works like some sort of territory control game, where factions first start to raid one another's NPC convoys, thus (after a while) putting zones into contention, which will flag anyone entering them for PvP. If the defending nation cannot stop the raids, this action will result in a large "port battle" with dozens of ships on each side duking it out. There is also a pirate faction that piggybacks on this system by pillaging weakened areas. If you wish, however, you can also play a trader and make your dubloons by establishing production chains and transporting/selling goods.
Looks: 4/5
Not spectacular (the colors appear a bit bland), but still awesome in detail. As you zoom in to your ship, you can see individual crewmen tending sails or cannons, and even your own character standing at the prow giving orders.
Interactivity: 2/5
The aforementioned PvP feature allows you to "get into it" and fight for your nation by studying the map and helping out allied squadrons put other ports into contention, or defending them. Also, of course it is generally more fun to have multiple ships in a fight. If you know one or two friends who would play this with you, you should have a good time.

For better or worse, all of the above games are also F2P now - although I would recommend considering a subscription for at least CO or TOR, as you would otherwise miss out on some fairly important features. For CO, this can also be sort-of circumvented by purchasing a "Freeform Slot" for about $25, which essentially nets you a single character whose powers you can customize to your liking (F2P limits you to pre-established power builds, taking 80% fun off the customization). If you are patient, you can wait for reduced price offers that occasionally have this one get a 25% off discount. Likewise, many of TOR's non-subscription restrictions can be unlocked via purchase by real money.

I am fairly sceptical of F2P models myself, but as I am approaching every such game with a mindset of being willing to spend as much money as I would on a normal game, it actually isn't that bad. This being said, for TOR I still have a subscription running, as I just consider the game worthy enough the price. For CO and STO, I've got a lifetime sub, but honestly I would have only needed it for CO. STO has very little difference between F2P and subscriber, little enough that I would not bother. They seem to make most of their money selling virtual items, especially keys to those damn lockboxes that keep cluttering up my inventory, or ships such as the $50 Vesta-class pack.

I'm half-tempted to list APB as well, but that one is more of a FPS rather than RPG, even though it still has the best customization I've ever seen in any game so far.

TERA, LordofHats? TERA's not free to play.

EDIT: Well, actually, it does look like you can buy game time with in-game gold,so I guess it can be free to play depending on how much players are selling game time for and how much gold you have.

 LordofHats wrote:

Deathklaat wrote:
i would also like to chime in that GW2 isnt an MMORPG either, its just a glorified Diablo 3.

have you played GW2? Because that's about as inaccurate as an assessment can get. Sure it's not a typical MMORPG, but it's hardly comparable to loot grinders in the vein of Diablo.

i played GW1 enough to know how GW2 works, i have heard from enough people that have played GW2 about what end game GW2 is like.
it's the same as GW1, you grind and grind and grind just to have the "rare" skin drop. You spend hours farming areas for the rare materials or the rare item drops, sounds like D3 to me.

i pay for SW:TOR so i cant really comment on its F2P, i have heard its pretty limiting but then again you are also getting 8 unique story lines that are fully voiced. Plus you can unlock many things without paying for it via the in game auction house.

EvE fits most of your requirements except that it isn't fantasy. It is also by far the most hardcore MMO there is (at least it can be) so its not really for casual play, although you could happily send all your time in high sec solo mining and doing missions/complexes. If you find a good corp you can also do casual low sec play, just be prepared to be used as bait/cannon fodder a lot.

Its not hardcore in the fake WoW raiding sense (i.e. reserved loot, equipment requirements, doing the same instance over and over again etc), its just a complex game and people tend to take it seriously.

You can also buy your subscription with in game cash but you need to be quite advanced to make enough to do this.

Failing that the Secret World should be a good alternative.

For EVE, I think you really need a couple friends. Maybe it was just me, but due to lack of activity on part of my buddies, I quickly got bored. Fights are fairly similar to one another, and without access to a large community you need not bother with the game's most awesome feature - faction warfare and territory grabs.
For me, most of the fun for me came from coordinated strikes and just chatting away the time as we played. The game can be very relaxing that way, which is not so bad when you think about it.

Deathklaat wrote:Plus you can unlock many things without paying for it via the in game auction house.

And that's a good way for us to get some credits, too.

That said, compared to a "purchase game", a purchase of at least $5 permanently upgrades an account to Preferred Status already, and you get 450 cartel coins for that. Here is a list of what you can get for cartel coins, including the unlocks.
I actually think the unlocks would be cheaper from the auction house, though, if you buy a pack and sell its contents for credits, then use said credits to purchase unlocks.

I'd still advise a subscription, tho. The game is worth it, imho, and you basically get all the good stuff it had pre-F2P plus 500 cartel coins per month free.

Deathklaat wrote:
i played GW1 enough to know how GW2 works, i have heard from enough people that have played GW2 about what end game GW2 is like.
it's the same as GW1, you grind and grind and grind just to have the "rare" skin drop. You spend hours farming areas for the rare materials or the rare item drops, sounds like D3 to me.

Most MMO's has people grinding for gear, loot, and rare items. GW2 ironically for this conversation has less of this than any other MMORPG you can play, save a select few (especially because the end game items you grind for are mostly just cosmetic making them completely unnecessary for a player to acquire). Congratulations. What you have just described equats every MMORPG ever as being the same as D3... Which makes your point moot.

 LordofHats wrote:

Star Wars: The Old Republic

No. Their free to play system is insanely stupid.

Limited access to death!!! [/sarcasm]

Well DIablo3 is like Diablo2, witch is like Diablo 1 etc...all MMORPGS are the same one that point one way or another. They all have some degree of grinding so i don't think you will ever get away from that and i have personally played GW1 since it first came out and i've also been playing D1-D2 and from my experiences i don't personally agree with you on that statement.

Also Aion seem like a good MMORPG to me though i have no personal experience on it and then there is also Darkfall.

I would draw a line though. Diablo and games like it, are really all about the loot. Everything you do is about getting massive amounts of loot. In the words of Yahtzee, Diablo is a "fashion collection simulator."

MMORPG's, even WoW which is all about grinding gear, has the loot as more of a means to an end rather than an end itself. GW2 is one of the most un-gear grinding MMORPG I can honestly think of so arguing that it isn't an MMORPG but a Diablo style game on the basis of gear collection is so wrong on its face I can only assume the person who said it has played neither Diablo or an MMORPG that isn't free to play. It just doesn't make any sense at all.

If you want to break out of the Fantasy block a little bit, The Secret World is Free to Play. (Buy Once, I believe)

Very customizable characters, good story, a lot of fun.

If you haven't made your decision yet I would very much recommend Lord of the Rings online. It's completely free. (Although it is abit restricted for f2p players but you can unlock features with points you can earn ingame)

Admittedly, it's not as pretty as some ways as newer games, there are some gorgeous vistas. I've been taking loads of screenshots.

I wanted to play GW2 but was abit hesistant to do so as I've got a feeling a large number of WoW players might've migrated there. I've been playing LOTRO for a while and can safely say that it's one of the friendliest mmos I've played. (Probably because it's got some more mature players who enjoy the lore)

In regards to customisation, you can play 4 races of the "Free Peoples": Men, Elves, Dwarfs and Hobbits. You can also play as Orcs and Uruk Hai etc, but they are PvP only. The character customisation is abit limited but the outfit customisation is very good in that you can equip items that you like the look of as "cosmetics" but have another item equipped that you gain benefits from the stats. So no horrible mismatched purple/green/yellow gear. As you acquire items you like the look of, you can keep their appearances for as long as you want.

You can play as casually as you feel like, but there are a lot of dungeons and raids to do if you care to.

One of the things I like a lot about this game is that there are instanced story quests throughout the game which are pretty cool and immersive and break up the sometimes monotonous leveling that comes with all MMOs. A lot of these are linked to the fellowship. You are acting behind the scenes, as it were, helping to thwart Sauron.

Also, if you want to roleplay, I've heard that the RP servers in this game are more enforced than others, so you'll probably run into less annoying immersion breakers as you play.

The problem with LotRO is that the social side of the game is quite lacking. Low level instances are very rarely run and high level instances are gear dependant, you literally can't get a group without good gear. Of coure a good guild (kinship) will solve a lot of these problems but thats true of most MMOs.

Unlocking content is also a slow process as you earn the currency needed at a slow rate (but you can earn it for doing all kinds of things). By all means try it out, it is a solid game with a lot to recommend it.

I recommend guild wars 2. its hugely epic, and also non-linear. I love the way the vistas etc work.

I have yet to experience The Secret world.

Runescape has had a graphic update recently

Personally, I play EVE Online, I consider it the only 'true' MMORPG, it's massively multiplayer online, everyone affects everyone else.

Joining an ingame group (corp) is a must though, so if you aren't this type of person, don't play it

It's £10 a month, more in bulk, and you can pay for your sub with ingame money.

Expansions are free, and happen twice a year, actually adding new content rather than 'new raids, new dungeons' like pretty much every other MMO.

EVE really is not for everyone, and is more for the dark evil genius scheming types, and has a phenomenal learning curve, but you'll realise that unlike most MMO's, no one knows about everything in it, it's simply too big.

EDIT: But EVE really is NOT for everyone, it's a niche market, and most play a few days, dislike the complexity or the feel of it, and give up, which is perfectly fair, I did initially. Join a corp though, that's the important thing.

In the event that you do play it, join EVE university, they are a well respect organisation for new players.

I also think Project Entropia is still running, it is a sci-fi MMO that is all skill based like Eve. however there is no level/skill cap. All drops are caluclated based off your skill AND THE KICKER... you can convert your in game credits into real world $$$.

Entropia Universe is a massively multiplayer online virtual universe designed by the Swedish software company MindArk, based in Gothenburg. Entropia uses a micropayment business model, in which players may buy in-game currency (PED - Project Entropia Dollars) with real money that can be redeemed back into real world funds at a fixed exchange rate of 10:1.[1] This means that virtual items acquired within Entropia Universe have a real cash value, and a participant may, at any time, initiate a withdrawal of their accumulated PEDs back into real world currencies according to the fixed exchange rate, minus transaction fees; the minimum amount for a withdrawal is 1000 PED.

Mike Everest, a home-schooled high school senior from Durango, Colorado, and his mother earned $35,000 in 2006 by constructing and selling weapons in Entropia

The Entropia Universe entered the Guinness World Records Book in both 2004 and 2008 for the most expensive virtual world objects ever sold,and in 2009, a virtual space station, a popular destination, sold for $330,000. This was then eclipsed in November 2010 when Jon Jacobs sold a virtual resort on Planet Calypso for $635,000; this property was sold in chunks, with the largest sold for $335,000.

Rift - Just got a new expansion, alot of Custimization.. Typical Fantasy MMO

GW2 - No reason to level if you pvp, make a character, get free gear, insta max level and do battlegrounds.
PvE - Instances are a Zerg fest, no Healer, no Tank.
Only endgame is grinding to unlock a new skin effectivly.
Its a pretty game, just could not hold my intrest due to no progression.

WoW - Typical Fantasy mmo with Cartoonish Graphics - The old kid on the block. Game is rather Meh until you make it to the newst content.

SWTOR - Free to play, its star Wars though. Not a bad game, just had issues at launch.. many have been fixed - Doesnt fit your Fantasy want.

Tera Online - Fantasy based, only played it for a trail, was decent. Didnt have time to commit to it at the time.

Aion - Also Free to play Fantasy MMO (Havent played in 2 years to know much more on it now)

Age of Conan is still going. (Haven't played in i dont know how long)

Coming in 2013

Final Fantasy 14 a Realm Reborn. Complete Redo of the Failed FF14 mmo, so far the new gameplay is looking good.

Wildstar - Sci Fi, so doesnt fit what you want.

Blessed - Korea Import MMO, Very good Graphics, typical Fantasy game. Not a ton is known yet.

Everquest 3 Info coming in 2013 - Stated to be the largest Sandbox MMO ever made. I heard it is taking up after EQ1 ?