2016 MMO Thread

[Thomkal]

Thought I had already started this thread, but if so cannot find it.

Blade and Soul opens to all players on Jan 19. It is FTP, and is available for download now.


Blade & Soul (http://www.bladeandsoul.com/en/)

[cuervo72]

I thought you did too, I remember the Boob--I mean, Blade & Soul mention. :D

[Thomkal]

heh on the boobage. You know that's not what's attracting me to the game ;) Must be in the 2015 thread.

[mrkilla22]

Anyone planning on playing Black Desert Online? It releases in North America on March 3 I believe.

[Thomkal]

Anyone planning on playing Black Desert Online? It releases in North America on March 3 I believe.

Maybe when there's a good sale on it.

[CrimsonFox]

Still Starwarsing it up. The Imperial. Agent storyline does really deliver!
I just wish it had a good companion.

Might get back to the Sith Inquisitor sometime.

[Thomkal]

Still Starwarsing it up. The Imperial. Agent storyline does really deliver!
I just wish it had a good companion.

Might get back to the Sith Inquisitor sometime.

for a mostly solo player like me, I liked the game. The problem is that I don't like Star Wars very much (I know, I should turn in my geek card). It just didn't keep me interested enough.

[CrimsonFox]

for a mostly solo player like me, I liked the game. The problem is that I don't like Star Wars very much (I know, I should turn in my geek card). It just didn't keep me interested enough.

That is really where this game excels. It's pretty much 16 KOTORS in one since you get a different story with each character class.
They even now allow you to skip all side quests if you've done them too many times. But yes if you don't like star wars I can't see you liking this. I love it for that reason. Star Wars RPG!

Some plots better than others and obviously you should just play the classes that appeal to you from an asthetic and/or gameplay view.

[oykib]

Anyone planning on playing Black Desert Online? It releases in North America on March 3 I believe.

I was in the CBT for Black Desert a little while back. I liked it a lot better than Blade and Soul. IMO, they waited far too long long to release BnS. I really lost most of my enthusiasm. The production elements aren't great as far as localization either. The voice acting, for example, is awful.

The action was a lot smoother in Black Desert. I found the whole node system to be a bit hard to figure out though.

[Coffee Warlord]

Was just looking at Black Desert. Debating somewhat, but I fear the Korean Grindfest MMO.

[Coffee Warlord]

Btw, if anyone DOES get BDO, I'll totally take a guest pass. :)

(Yes. I'm shameless. I don't care.)

[mrkilla22]

CW, I believe I have a guest pass to give you. I will see if I can access it (the website is down because of maintenance) and pm it to you.

It's a pretty interesting game so far. Lots to do.

[Coffee Warlord]

You are a scholar and a gentleman.

[Thomkal]

Not a good week for MMO's. Fable Legends and Everquest Next cancelled (and Landmark now a buy to play). Plus Wildstar staff cut and planned Chinese version cancelled. Check out MMOBomb.com for details.

[Peregrine]

I knew Next would be cancelled after the Daybreak thing but it still sucks - was so looking forward to the next version of EQ.

[Thomkal]

I knew Next would be cancelled after the Daybreak thing but it still sucks - was so looking forward to the next version of EQ.

yeah suddenly that whole franchise is in danger of going away forever.

[Peregrine]

I've gotten quite hooked on Black Desert Online - beautiful game, plus lots of exploration and the crafting/production side of it is very intricate.

[Marmel]

Seems like this whole genre is bottoming out. I tried a few MMOs since CoH and Star Wars hooked me for a little while, but I haven't played one in a long time now.

[frnk55]

I still play LOTRO. Then again I'm a LOTR nerd. :)

[NobodyHere]

I still play LOTRO. Then again I'm a LOTR nerd. :)

Same here, we're finally at the Battle of Pellenor Fields!

[frnk55]

Same here, we're finally at the Battle of Pellenor Fields!
That's awesome! I working on my level 80 champ atm. Can't wait to advance in the story!!

[Shoveler]

I miss Eve Online.. It's still going strong, but I just dont have the time to dedicate to it.

Other than that, most of the mmo's these days do nothing for me. Probably need something like SWG to suck me back in... in a few years when I have time that is.

[Peregrine]

I still play LOTRO. Then again I'm a LOTR nerd. :)

I was watching someone play LOTRO last night on Twitch and it made me install the game again - it's always fun to mess around with.

[flere-imsaho]

I really ought to try LOTRO sometime.

I absolutely expect to re-sub for the next WoW expansion, which looks like it's coming out late summer. It's like a pair of old jeans that just fit at this point. I've played it off-and-on for 10 years now and the guild I've been in since the beginning (from a different forum) has always been active, and will still be, so there's that, which is pretty big.

But I agree with Marmel - outside of EVE Online (which stays fresh based on its meta-game), the genre feels a bit stale. Maybe people just don't have the time anymore?

I mean, MMOs were, arguably, the ideal genre for Generation Xers. We grew up with D&D, we were in HS/College/early jobs when they started coming out (so had the time), and the quality of other "media" pursuits (TV/movies) at the time wasn't as consistently good (I know that's arguable) as now.

I don't get the impression that Millennials want to spend that much time in front of a PC. And Gen Xers now have kids, busy jobs, and tons of other commitments.

[Groundhog]

I think now'a'days the same type of folks that would have sunk hours grinding in MMOs a few years back are instead sinking hours into MOBAs.

[Shoveler]

My feeling has always been that a hack and slash, quest hub driven mmo is just boring and you can only do so much with end game raiding. There are a ton of those cookie cutter games out there, WoW arguable being the best in show of any of those.

Eve and SWG I felt were different, in a good way, the entire game is centered around players generating the economy and some of the content. this provides people with varying interests to come together and populate the world. Now they are not perfect, but I think they are the best examples that I know of games that have done this.

When I used to play MMO's (it's been a few years now) I would often scratch my head wondering what the developers were thinking when they would implement a completely useless crafting system into a game where you get better gear by doing quests or raiding. And the crafting system was merely a grind for the sake of grinding with no real benefit. Equipment destruction or degradation are a key component to bringing life to an economy and I guess developers have been to worried this would lose customers, and perhaps it would. Without it however, I found the games to be sort of stale. If you have no idea how crafting worked in the now dead SWG, go read up on it, it was brilliant, especially the resource collection aspect which had attributes assigned to them so that what you collect this week may be better or worse than what you have on hand from awhile ago.

But I do agree, I think the golden age of the MMO has past. Perhaps in a few years some small developer will put something amazing together and make me want to play a game again, but as it was said, now with a family and other RL matters to attend to, it would take a pretty strong game to do get me to take a look.

[CrimsonFox]

I just got an email from WoW. A free copy of the next game plus a free month? plus a level 90 character.

Am I seeing things? don't know what their benefit is.

[spleen1015]

I just got an email from WoW. A free copy of the next game plus a free month? plus a level 90 character.

Am I seeing things? don't know what their benefit is.

You come back, like it and pay for 10 months of sub.

I don't know what it is, but I find myself always going back to WoW. Looking forward to Legion and having fun with it right now.

[SirFozzie]

Hello, I am SirFozzie, and I'm a WoW token addict.

a while back, I started grinding for gold to try to get Tokens (because I can't work and not yet on disability, every dollar is precious). I got 1-2 months ahead, and kept doing it, after all, Legion is going to come out and massively inflate the gold market, screwing up the costs for tokens.. I went a little.. grind happy, let's say. Between trying old raids to make gold, playing the Auction House and the like, I kept making enough to buy another token. And another. And another. And.. well you get the point.

I don't have to worry about losing my subscription any time soon.. I have spent nearly 500,000 Gold (all acquired legally, no gold sellers or any of that), and currently my subscription expires May 22nd.. 2017.

You think I could get another token or two in the two months before Legion? :D

[spleen1015]

WoD made it extremely easy to make good. So much that they've made changes in Legion so that gold is harder to make, ie Blood of Sargeras being BoP.

[Thomkal]

Riders Of Icarus open beta started today. F2P game, pretty "same old, same old" at first glance. It's appeal lies in mounts it looks like-combat and flying. Don't have one yet, so can't comment other than to say it was cool to ride a pegasus in the tutorial for a short bit. Familiars are a thing too, about to get my first one there. You can play it through Steam or the Nexon Launcher, but in either case you must have an Nexon Global account to play.

Riders of Icarus | Free-to-Play MMORPG (http://icarus.nexon.net/en/landing)

[Thomkal]

MMO's to get excited about...maybe?

Top 10 Upcoming MMORPG Games To Look Forward To - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoeeZWxNJDA)

[Radii]

I think I'm probably permanently done with MMOs in any sort of long term sense (maybe i'll play one to level up and see a new world but that feels like it for me). A potential exception would be if Camelot Unchained ended up being beautifully done. Dark Age of Camelot really had the right idea with the 3 realms and RvRvR pvp system with a goal for large scale PVP. If that game can capture some nostalgia for DAoC plus provide great realm vs realm, I'd be tempted.

[cuervo72]

My stance remains unchanged. :)

[RomaGoth]

Riders Of Icarus open beta started today. F2P game, pretty "same old, same old" at first glance. It's appeal lies in mounts it looks like-combat and flying. Don't have one yet, so can't comment other than to say it was cool to ride a pegasus in the tutorial for a short bit. Familiars are a thing too, about to get my first one there. You can play it through Steam or the Nexon Launcher, but in either case you must have an Nexon Global account to play.

Riders of Icarus | Free-to-Play MMORPG (http://icarus.nexon.net/en/landing)

I saw this on Steam I believe. The reviews were rather mixed as many people complained that the actual riding while fighting dynamic of the game was almost non-existent.

[RomaGoth]

I think I'm probably permanently done with MMOs in any sort of long term sense (maybe i'll play one to level up and see a new world but that feels like it for me). A potential exception would be if Camelot Unchained ended up being beautifully done. Dark Age of Camelot really had the right idea with the 3 realms and RvRvR pvp system with a goal for large scale PVP. If that game can capture some nostalgia for DAoC plus provide great realm vs realm, I'd be tempted.

I keep going back to LOTRO and WOW but I never play for more than a month or two at a time before getting bored and leaving again. :(

[Thomkal]

I saw this on Steam I believe. The reviews were rather mixed as many people complained that the actual riding while fighting dynamic of the game was almost non-existent.

I have yet to fight while riding, but I think that comes as you get higher level. I have started getting some skills for mounted combat, but cannot use them yet. I've not tamed any flying mounts yet either though they are in the game. Not high enough level yet. They have a somewhat weird taming system-you can tame them for mounts, but then you can make some of them into familiars (aka a pet) You can then seal familiars to make gear, but lose the familiar/mount in the process. You have a limited amount of mounts/familiars you can own at one time.

[Thomkal]

Can WoW be far behind: :)

EVE Online to offer free play using limited characters in November | PC Gamer (http://www.pcgamer.com/eve-online-to-offer-free-play-using-limited-characters-in-november/?utm_content=bufferddd3f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer_pcgamerfb)

Edit: i know WoW already has 1-20th level free

[Coffee Warlord]

I'm honestly shocked WoW is STILL like 12 bucks a month.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Against all my better judgement, I caved for the expansion. I'm really impressed by what they've done with it; changing the focus to be class-based has let them design content that really makes you feel like you are a Rogue (or a Warrior, or a Priest, or...), rather than just some generic adventurer of which there are thousands doing the same damned thing. Now different quests are designed around specific abilities and using them properly, and they don't need to worry about people complaining that they can't get it done, because each class has their own specifically tailored story.

It's only two days old at this point, and I'm sure it'll get back to being a grindy MMO soon, but at the moment I'm really enjoying it.

[Thomkal]

I'm honestly shocked WoW is STILL like 12 bucks a month.

me too, but its WoW after all. I thought I had read somewhere their numbers were down, so if that becomes a trend, who knows?

[SirFozzie]

I 'm paid up for a year, thanks to buying tokens with gold during the gold rush that was Warlords of Draenor.

[Coffee Warlord]

I actually, on a whim, contacted Blizzard to see if there was any chance in hell they could re-located and merge my old WoW account into my battle.net account.

Yes, I understand there is a system for that. Problem is, I couldn't tell you my account name from back then, let alone hope for a password. The only logical thing I ever found, I tried to merge, but it never acknowledged I ever owned a copy of the game.

So, what the hell. Figured I'd email them and see if there's any magic they can do. I at least remember the address I lived at when I bought it. :) I don't even care about my old chars, I just wouldn't wanna buy the game again. Maybe they'd appreciate my long winded story and give me a new key.

[Thomkal]

So all this talk about WoW, and seeing an expansion is out, I like to check in and see what's new in the starter edition...well I would if I could get into the game that is. :( downloaded the patch and now it's stuck on the "home" page saying "checking,,,," Didn't really want to play anyway... :)

[Thomkal]

Revelation Online's Open Beta has started. Like most Asian MMO's, it's pretty to look at, but very linear. Free to Play, and no martial arts theme character class, which is a refreshing change from most Asian MMO.

Open Beta Now Live! | Revelation Online - Official Website (https://ro.my.com/en/news/announcements/open-beta-now-live)

[Thomkal]

Cuervo, NCSoft twists the dagger a little more...

403 Forbidden (http://www.mmo-central.com/2017/03/24/statesman-rising-city-heroes-fan-mxm-backlash/)

Five years after shutting down City of Heroes, and refusing to sell it, they have announced that Statesmen, the "cover boy" for the game is now a character in their new game, a MOBA which has nothing to do with superheroes. This is why they kept the rights?

[cuervo72]

I didn't know what an "MXM" was (or, well, a "MOBA" for that matter). But yeah, that's just strange.

(I mean, unless it's an early tease for a sequel, but I highly doubt that.)

[cuervo72]

Or more realistically, this:

Revival of Dead MMO's Lead Character Is Bittersweet (http://kotaku.com/after-checking-out-the-list-of-heroes-in-mxm-it-appear-1793495751)

[Thomkal]

Goodbye The Secret World, Hello Secret World Legends:

https://secretworldlegends.com/#home

Basically the original game will still exist on another server, the new game will be available just on Steam to start with it. and is now a shared world RPG. You get one character for free have to pay for more. None of your characters can transfer over to the new game, so everybody will start new. All content in the new game is supposed to be free, but we shall see how true that is. You can play solo or with a group.

The old game will still be alive, there will be just no new content updates.

[Thomkal]

Here's some gameplay from the "new" Secret World Legends which comes out in late June (sometime in July on Steam)

Secret World Legends - Closed Beta Impressions & Gameplay Footage - TheHiveLeader - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvHvcF0-pk0)

[Thomkal]

Goodbye The Secret World, Hello Secret World Legends:

https://secretworldlegends.com/#home

Basically the original game will still exist on another server, the new game will be available just on Steam to start with it. and is now a shared world RPG. You get one character for free have to pay for more. None of your characters can transfer over to the new game, so everybody will start new. All content in the new game is supposed to be free, but we shall see how true that is. You can play solo or with a group.

The old game will still be alive, there will be just no new content updates.

And this game has gone live today or will shortly. One correction to this post is that it starts later, the end of July on Steam. I think they did this to help with server loads and queues which may have been a smart thing after problems during the head start this weekend.

Another change is that it looks like there is more than one character slot to start with now (maybe eight, but can't confirm until I get into the game myself.) I've seen the new tutorial, and a few new things there. You start out with a class, but you are not bound to it, you can level any skill you want from the beginning. And you start as a level 1 character now. No more "skill-wheel"

Combat has been updated into a more modern, action-oriented system (reminds me a lot on Wildstar's system with telegraphs to dodge from). Crafting has been done away with, but you apparently can still upgrade your items by using other items of the same kind in some way.

You still choose one of three "clans" to begin with, though its supposedly easier to group with anyone regardless of clans. Old Secret Worlds characters still do not transfer over, but there is still a way to get some of your "vanity" items when you first reach the "mystical train" area (Agartha?)

Otherwise, its looking very much the same with regards to quests (though now you can only have one of each quest type active) and zones. Not sure how much if any they have changed the look of the zones or available quests. Everything in the game now and in the future is still supposed to be free-though they do have a cash shop to buy vanity items and the like.

I will certainly check it out when it goes live on Steam, but I never got far in the original because the modern-day setting never appealed that much to me and the focus on modern-day weapons. (though there is magic classes/abilities)

[Thomkal]

Secret World Legends now available on Steam

[Thomkal]

Secret World..the tv series?

https://secretworldlegends.com/news/secret-world-tv-series/

[Thomkal]

I have an extra key to Keystone (now called the Amazing Eternals). It's primarily a team shooter with board game elements added in. I believe it will be free to play when it exits beta, with a cash shop. It has a 50's/60' sci-fi feel to it-you are playing as one of the characters on the board. First person to post here will get the key.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-amazing-eternals-closed-beta-key-giveaway-pc/1100-6453075/

[Thomkal]

well after 20 years, Ultima Online has gone F2P:

https://www.mmobomb.com/news/ultima-online-adds-free-play-endless-journey-option-today/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mmobomb+%28MMOBomb.com%29

[Thomkal]

A bit of MMO news to talk about here. After 8 years of being only available in the East, the most (?) popular MMO in Japan has finally become available in the West. Phantasy Star Online 2 will be available for pre-download at 11pm PDT tonight and goes live around 5 am EST on Wed. The game itself is free though of course there is an item store for cosmetics and the like. The game is already out on the X-Box for about a month now if you'd rather play it there.

It has a techie/scifi/anime kind of feel to it. I've only seen a couple of let's plays of it and its looks a bit intimidating at first-your character is based on a hub-very sci-fi in nature where there are a ton of quest givers/stores/other systems to deal with and there's at least one more zone off that hub where you can/have to go for more of the same. There are 8 years of development here where they have come up with new quest types to give/items to use/game systems to discover. Can't really tell you much about how combat works.

Game will be available for PC through the Microsoft store and maybe the PSO website?

PSO2 - Phantasy Star Online 2 - Official Site (https://pso2.com/)

[Thomkal]

So I had posted in one of the COVID threads about two MMO's DDO Online and LOTR Online freeing up some of their paid content to help pass the time. They extended the period it was free through August I think, but now they have decided to give some (a lot) of that content for free if you go to the store (in-game) and enter a code. Details here:

You Can Permanently Add LotRO And DDO Quest Packs To Your Accounts Until Aug. 31 - MMO Bomb (https://www.mmobomb.com/news/can-permanently-add-lotro-ddo-quest-packs-accounts-aug-31/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mmobomb+%28MMOBomb.com%29)

[Thomkal]

In case you missed it, Phantasy Star Online-a huge MMO in Asia has released Phantasy Star Online 2-New Genesis yesterday in the West. It's a graphical update of the old game, as well as a new game some years in the future (though you can play with the same character in both games).

Be warned its a huge download, but thankfully a much smoother one than when it was just on Microsoft Store-Epic and Steam have it now. I could play the original game on my computer before the update-sadly now I'm told my computer can't handle it. :(

[Thomkal]

So MMOBomb.com has released a new site, GamerCoins.com where without having to sign up/pay for anything you can get codes to use in your favorite MMORPG's. Don't even need to sign up on the site, just hit the claim button for the game of your choice:


Announcing Our Latest Project: GamerCoins Beta Launches, Hundreds Of Free Game Codes Up Now! (https://www.mmobomb.com/news/announcing-gamercoins?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email)