Hi, folks. Well, after years of hibernating from heavy duty full-time gaming, I think it's time I get back to it, except on a part-time basis. I've been so out of touch with the current game industry, I have no idea what's out there, so could some of you please help with some suggestions? Here's a partial list of features I'm looking for in a game:

- MMORPG -- emphasis on the RPG part
- Quick response (not web based)
- Medieval period preferrable
- Doesn't require heavy commitment, e.g. don't have to be a full time gamer to succeed in game
- Many players

Your suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

Aryianna
A templar in a former life

The easy answer is to suggest WoW, but I suggest you try out EQ2 - it has that nostalgia that old EQ players can appreciate and it's a really polished game. If you don't want to try those, you could always try Lord of the Rings Online. I think there's a free-to-play option, but if not, you can at least download it for free and try it for free for a month, if memory serves me. I wouldn't touch anything else other than those 3 games.

EQ2 !

That's the make or break deal of MMOs these days. Plenty of games out there that require a commitment; not so many that don't.

The ones I've found so far that are casual-friendly, meaning you can get something accomplished with a mere hour here and there, are:
- EQ2
- DDO
- WoW

Everything else will eventually force you to play long hours to advance (EQ1, FFXI, etc.).

The other option is to wait for FFXIV and SWTOR to release. They both look to be casual friendly, although FFXIV isn't really sounding great at this point.

I think Lord of the Rings Online makes the most sense given the parameters.

I don't know if lotro fits "many players" -- when I played it was hard to find anyone. that might have changed once it went ftp.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

I highly recommend you try D&D Online.

EQ2 is definitely good and also has a free to play server now too... but if you decide to actually play the game I'd get off it as soon as possible, seeing as you end up paying more for everything on there than you do on the regular servers.

Ok, am downloading LotR online and D&D online. Please keep the suggestions coming.

Thank you.

There is nothing even close to the quality of World of Warcraft on the market for a casual MMO gamer right now. It may be old and boring for people that have already endlessly played through it, but for someone fresh that isn't bored of anything why not just play the benchmark everything else is measured against?

Probably the biggest reason not to play WoW is that you'll forever be disappointed by everything else that comes out in the MMO genre. Until the next big thing, and then it's another decade of disappointment.

You mean WoW is the benchmark now?

WoW is the Obama of MMO's

Wait for the new Final Fantasy.

Its even going to have enforced Casual experience built in. If you play too long in a week, you stop getting exp.

(We'll see if that actually survives BETA)

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"People sometimes say that ideas cannot be stamped out by force. The Albigensian Crusade proves them wrong. Ideas can be stamped out by the elimination of everyone who holds the ideas." - Quote :"Middle Ages" by Morris Bishop.

are you being serious?

In a sense, yes, he is.

I don't know the full details but from what I understand (hah) you can only gain so much experience in a weapon/class until you start getting surplus (essentially exp decreases and the "surplus" goes to the void.)

There are talks about a weekly reset or a regeneration over time. But so far it's pretty much 8 hours a week and then your exp becomes molested.

http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/12068-ba ... in-beta-3/

That post pretty much explains it in a nutshell. The overall system is bad.

The irony I find is that Final Fantasy, in any of its forms, is not casual friendly nor has it ever been. Final Fantasy is not World of Warcraft (as much as I hate saying that). Sure, it has brand recognition, but it isn't the kind of franchise that is going to pull in a few million Farmville or Mafia Wars players...

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If you try out LOTRO and you want a higher server population, try Brandywine or Landroval. Brandywine is the largest server overall. Landroval is the unofficial RP server. If you don't RP yourself, you won't really be affected by playing on Landroval - there are plenty of kinships (guilds) that aren't RP, and some of the events put on are pretty cool to watch. If you keep weird hours, there's a 3rd server - begins with an "N" - that a lot of Brits, Aussies, and Kiwis play on.

Regardless of where you start, it is going to seem empty at first. The initial zones (roughly levels 1 - 7) are instanced, so you will only run into people also going through the intro levels. Most servers have a player-created global chat channel called GLFF (if I remember correctly) - Global Looking For Fellowship - that is essentially a running stream of consciousness for the server.

Three classes I would recommend for beginners, depending on role: Champions are a melee AOE class that wear heavy armor, so they are quite durable with a forgiving learning curve and wanted in groups. Minstrels are a very sturdy healing class that has tools that make it easy to solo. Hunters are basically the mages of LOTRO. They are glass-cannony but can root mobs and can take some hits. They get a run speed buff at 15, and a whole bunch of teleports, and they brutalize mobs at range with their bow moves.

If you like healing and want insta-groups but also the ability to solo well, I would go Minstrel. If you're not a healer I would take one of the other two as a starting class, depending on your preferred play style.

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Hope is the new black.