Is there a mmorpg for the casual gamer

[Cynical]

hey, i used to play daoc and i spent most of time playing it. having quit it im starting to regain a shattered social life lol xDD i was just wondering if there is a mmorpg that wont instantly get me addicted but one that i can play casually for like 3 hours max at a time? if so give me the god damn name

 

[Binky the Bomb]

City of Heroes is a good one to sit and play for short intervals (although if you in a super group you can take upto 7 hours) and World of Warcraft i've been told is pretty good to casually play.

Dont attemp it on FF 11, 6 hour starter sessions are average.

 

[Cynical]

played in US and EU beta of WOW and sort of got bored

 

[Cynical]

is planetside any good?

 

[tris-]

http://slow.spaceminers.net/

 

[SilverHood]

I can only really reccomend WoW... PlanetSide was cool when it came it, but stopped playing after a few months because SoE were beign bastards.

FH has a PlanetSide section, go ask there

Also, apparantly the Matrix Online is supposedly casual gamer friendly, but can't tell until I've tried it (open beta starts Monday 7th)

 

[Archeon]

I doubt it personally. The very nature of MMORPG's makes them time consuming, which is what I assume you meant by casual player (i.e. somebody who doesn't have the time to spend 10+ hrs a day grinding).

Wouldn't it be nice if there was a 'casual' server which only allowed so many hours of ingame playing per day? Well probably not, because then people who can spend more time on it than other people would complain

 

[Escape]

What Archeon said, RPGs are not for casual gamers

Guild Wars will probably come close though. It literally takes seconds to join a PvP group and start fighting in the arenas. Takes a little longer(couple of minutes!) to form a group for the instanced PvE quests.

It's being developed by the team behind Starcraft. Though it won't have depth, it'll probably be the counter-strike of MMORPGs(translate that how you want!).

 

[Ctuchik]

is planetside any good?

well. havent played it since those fucking BFR's came along. but if u enjoy FPS games with a touch of DAOC zerging its heaven

lag isnt that bad even if theres 500+ ppl fighting at the same base (yes theres still lag but...)

its a pretty odd game tbh. best i can describe it is kinda like CS meets DAOC meets MOHAA (with the tanks and airplanes and stuff)

 

[Validus]

You need a good PC(about 1024 ram) to really enjoy Planetside, and it costs a monthly fee. Guild wars can work with a really basic pc very smoothly, doesn't cost a monthly fee.and its like Planetside with the same skill vs. grind ratio.(well, almost. some may argue the other is more repetitive than the other. Personally I think the level grind in PS is not as interesting as it is in GW)

 

[Lakih]

Anarchy online is quite nice for some casual play... WoW is excelent... Planetside prolly works excelent aswell, but i wouldnt go as far as calling it a real mmorpg
Guildwars is prolly good too, but i found it incredibly boring... id rather spend my time trying to lick my elbow

 

[cHodAX]

Guild Wars is great for short gaming session, at least it has been in Beta. Hopefully retail will be even better.

 

[Conchabar]

well i would say guildwars is ure best bet... it has a good asortment of pvp and easy pve leveling...

wow i would not say is ure best bet it looks aimed at casual players but time will soon show it will be like daoc ;> but since u got got bored well ye i got bored of it to... it hasnt got anything that daoc didnt have

 

[Cynical]

looks like its planetside for me

 

[tris-]

miner wars owns.

 

[Ctuchik]

You need a good PC(about 1024 ram) to really enjoy Planetside, and it costs a monthly fee. Guild wars can work with a really basic pc very smoothly, doesn't cost a monthly fee.and its like Planetside with the same skill vs. grind ratio.(well, almost. some may argue the other is more repetitive than the other. Personally I think the level grind in PS is not as interesting as it is in GW)

i dont really see any grinding in planetside. yes u need points to get better weapons and stuff. but basicly u can head out as a BR 1 and still have loads of fun and make a diffrence.

 

[Chronictank]

WoW is good cus you can do things at youre own pace, but dont expect to wtfpwn without a little effort

 

[Alan]

If you dont want to wtfpwn and be l33t

then Everquest II is a game you can pickup for a few hours - then put down, as theres no PvP theres no rush to level, no farming for items, just a nice relaxed game.

 

[Garok]

well. havent played it since those fucking BFR's came along. but if u enjoy FPS games with a touch of DAOC zerging its heaven

lag isnt that bad even if theres 500+ ppl fighting at the same base (yes theres still lag but...)

its a pretty odd game tbh. best i can describe it is kinda like CS meets DAOC meets MOHAA (with the tanks and airplanes and stuff)

Same here ...

It was a great game till those things came in, basicly BFR's were pretty much Indestructible by Anti-Armour, Planes, Tanks etc. Only thing that could kill them quick enough was other BFR's so which ever side had more won.

Before that a smaller army could play well and win.

 

[Chilly]

why has no one mentioned EVE online? its perfect for casual gamers - you train while you sleep! theres currently a 14 day trial as well to try it out, the client is only 500mb or so so its not even a heavy DL like wow or something

 

[Void959]

well. havent played it since those fucking BFR's came along.

Precisely. I played planetside for a good long time up until BFRs came, and whilst it was very addictive, it was also much more easy-going, great for casual gamers and hardcore ten-hours-a-day gamers alike.

If you're really short on time, just login, hit the instant action button and you'll be fighting with 30 seconds. Or if you want more control over where you could choose to drop in somewhere, drive, hitch a ride, or fly there, rarely taking more than 10 mins. And bindpoints are more common and closer together, so once you die (if you don't get revived) you wont be out of the action for long.

The ease of transportaton also means you can choose you fights... from huge weapon spam zergs, to small highly tactical squad combat where every player will make a difference. Battles are also very progressive, from long distance transbase vehicle/air combat, to base courtyard defence, to desperate indoor hallway defence... unlike DAOC which is often long periods of nothing followed, followed by a sudden breakthrough, a twenty second one way slaughter, then a lot of waiting for the next battle.

I could continue singing its praises for a few pages more... but to sum it up, it was brilliant, combining the intensity and variey of an FPS like halflife or halo 1, with the longlasting..ness of a good MMORPG like DAOC.

Unfortunately the keyword is 'was', for reasons I won't bother explaining, BFRs completely ruined the gameplay for the majority of players and turned it into a pure numbers game (at least once the average moron realised that focusing fire was a good idea). Sorry if this is completly pointless so far as suggesting a new game, but I had to get it off my chest

 

[Ctuchik]

acually, i just re installed PS just to check it out again. and the BFR's isnt THAT bad anymore SOE pretty much nerfed them down to a reasonable level. sure they still instagib any grunt unlucky to get spotted by one but they die SOOOOO much easier now. u dont need 300 grunts just to get the shields down on one of those beasts 4 or 5 AV grunts can make them run pretty fast


but i wouldent try going head to head with a BFR in a tank tho grunts seem to have the better chance of killing one then a tank does.


sorry, alot off topic there...

 

[mikke]

most games with ALOT of players wont make you a addict, becouse then you wont feel any presure getting all the best items before the game ends... :<

 

[FallycSymbol]

I can only really reccomend WoW... PlanetSide was cool when it came it, but stopped playing after a few months because SoE were beign bastards.

FH has a PlanetSide section, go ask there

Also, apparantly the Matrix Online is supposedly casual gamer friendly, but can't tell until I've tried it (open beta starts Monday 7th)

Matrix Online is a VERY decent game, especially if you're a fan of the movies. But since its closed beta, the euro servers still aint up and there's still quite a bit of lag... not to mention bugs. But hey, it's just a beta

 

[Amanita]

Going to start sounding like I am getting commisions for this game or something

http://www.puzzlepirates.com

Someone brand new can jump right into the action without needing uber items or loads of time or money. Though there's no all-out war against someone, different crews & alliances do war against each other and an island siege is a bit like a giant capture the flag fest on boats.