WoW or DDO or...?

[Li Shenron]

I am not very expert nor up to date with PC games... so I need some suggestions here.

I played some RPG video games many years ago, such as Baldur Gate's and Neverwinter Nights, and I liked them both, especially the first.

I might have nowadays some occasional evening to play for one hour or two at most, and we had received Diablo III as a present, but it's quite boring... it's just an endless stream of fights, no tactical edge, no interaction with the story. It's definitely not nearly enough a RPG to me!

So I am looking for some free or very cheap RPG-like game for PC. It doesn't have to be new and shiny, in fact it's probably better if it's a few years old because I am not sure our PC can handle the most recent games...

I am probably only going to play it rarely here and there, which is why I'd like it to be free or almost (let's say max 30e). Subscription-based games are NO-WAY, because especially I won't really know when will be the next evening that I'll have time to play...

I know this sounds cheap, but it's not as off as it sounds: there are older games which are now essentially free, such as World of Warcraft and Dungeons & Dragons Online.

I actually tried out WoW before, many years ago. I really liked the idea of exploring a large world, but it was also quite repetitive in its quests.

So which one would you suggest me to try out? WoW or DDO or something else?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

While they've improved WoW quite a bit, and dramatically remade the game from 1-60, it's still only free to level 10 (I think -- it might be level 20 now, out of 90 levels). There's at least one really cool quest in each starting zone (the dwarves and gnomes have one where they fly an aerial assault on enemies attacking Ironforge Mountain, for instance), but quests remain central to the game. If you'd rather just grind out kills, it's not the game for you .

 

[Derren]

Neiter. Look at The Old Republic or Everquest 2.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Try The Secret World.

 

[Jhaelen]

Well, if you don't want to spend tons of time playing the game I'd recommend not to start playing any of the typical MMORPGs.
My recommendation would be Guild Wars (the original one, not GW which is simply yet-another-MMORPG). It plays very well if you don't have a lot of time.
Personally, I liked the Nightfall campaign best.

 

[CAFRedblade]

The thing with MMO's is that they do get repetitive over time. Only so many ways you can do quests in an electronic environment. Even more so if you start having multiple characters. If you like StarWars, The Old Republic MMO is now F2P, I think you can do 2 character slots, up to lvl 50 (current max level till the expansion hits this month, going up to 55) F2P has some restrictions, and if you want to spend some money, you can purchase unlocks here or there and get the mid-tier F2P unlocked with gives a little more.

Guild Wars 2 is out all you need to do is purchase the game upfront, then create an account, it's F2P, and a decent game.

I think the Lord of the Rings and Warhammer MMO's are both F2P I believe but I don't know how active they are currently.

Oh, and recently there's been a remake/re-release of Baldur's Gate 1 with Enhancements, so if you want to play it again, you could buy that. BG2 w/Enhancements is also in the works, and I'm hoping they get to redo PS:Torment soon.

 

[tomBitonti]

Hi,

WoW will give you some months of play. Unfortunately, if you like to explore, a lot of the "large world" feel has been destroyed by recent simplifications. Guild Wars 2 and Rift both have extensive quest lines which can keep you busy each for a few months, and the same for Star Wars the Old Republic. Both GW2 and SWTOR have a strong single player feel, although, GW2 (and Rift) have good public grouping mechanics. I was personally bored by SWTOR (only reached about 35'th level) but found GW2 engaging -- until I reached max level. GW2 end game is lacking, unless you like PVP, and the instances have very painful, brutal, unfun mechanics. I found Diablo III to be terribly disappointing. The environment and graphics and game play mechanics are superb, but the world design is a complete failure, as are the ability design and itemization / loot.

TomB

 

[MarkB]

WoW kept me entertained for a couple of years on and off before I came to lose interest in the MMO playstyle. I did try SWTOR when it came out and enjoyed it for a few months, but it's too much a copy of WoW mechanically, and the main story arcs lack replay value when levelling different characters.

Depending upon how well you like such things there are some action/RPG hybrid single-player games you might enjoy, such as Skyrim or the Mass Effect series.

 

[jonesy]

I recently discovered Divine Divinity, which I (and everyone else) somehow missed when it first came out. It's very Diablo-esque, but with a larger focus on the story and much greater ability to customize your characters skillset. You choose from three character types who all have one unique skill and a couple of slight differences (mages get a smaller damage bonus to strength), but ALL of the skills are available to all three.

The world of the game is huge and riddled with sidequests. And the main quest has a couple of different ways of completing it. It does have quite a lot of things needing to be killed, but the ability to pick from every skill makes the combat really interesting. You could be a fighter who summons death knights to fight by your side, or a mage with magical shields and a huge axe, or a thief type who fires heat seeking magic missiles.

Also, Divinity 2 is getting a lot of praise. I haven't tried it, but Gog has the developers cut up now. Looks somewhat like the elder scrolls series mixed with Nox.

 

[Li Shenron]

I went with WoW for the moment because there was an offer for a free copy + 1 month play, that was about to expire, but I'll keep the other suggestions in mind for after this months, thanks all!

Unfortunately, if you like to explore, a lot of the "large world" feel has been destroyed by recent simplifications.

How was this done?