I’m back for my annual month on FFXIV, but I honestly admit I’m growing a bit tired of the gameplay loop, the “omg you’re the main hero !!” story and the sometimes very weird community. I love the world setting though, so I usually stick around anyway.

I would love to give GW2 more chances, but I’m not totally vibing with the combat system; plus, I wish art direction went a little differently, the game is not exactly holding up well these days (but I admit that square-enix is quite a high standard in that regard: even FFXI still looks artistically coherent, two decades and a half later).

  • nesc@lemmy.cafe
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    10 days ago

    Every year I return to play GW2 for 2-3 month it’s always a blast. It would have been better if I had enough tine to play it constantly but. I love how fluid the combat is, I love how different classes are, I love the worldbuilding.

  • Nefara@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    Been playing GW2 since beta, but haven’t been that active since I had my a baby. I’ve played thousands of hours, have over 40k AP, was even mildly famous in the community for a bit, but I just haven’t had the time for any games lately. It’s still my favorite though, I love the art, the music, the player centric design and how they really try to make a fun experience and not waste your time. I tried Star Trek Online because I heard they had screen writers from the shows writing some of the content, and had enough fun to max a couple of characters and upgrade a ship or two and then they raised the level cap on me and made it all obsolete. I quit. I have no patience to put up with that kind of crap. I’ve been spoiled by GW2’s design philosophy, and they’ve proved worthy of my trust and time. I recommend it to anyone looking for an MMO.

    • Omega_Jimes@lemmy.ca
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      9 days ago

      GW2 is the first MMO i out over 2k hours into. It’s a shame that the last few years have felt pretty meh. I haven’t been playing seriously since PoF, life got busy, and the narrative just wasn’t hitting with me. Also the desert maps weren’t that great imo. I guess i have more problems than I expected with it.

  • Bonje@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    Obligatiry but: Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV which has an expanded free trial that you can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award-winning HEAVENSWARD and STORMBLOOD expansions up to level 70 for free with no restrictions on playtime? Now available on XBOX series X & S! Sign up and enjoy Eorzea today!

    • DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      10 days ago

      XIV player here. Started a few years ago but recently picked it back up again. It has certainly taken over my life again

      Do you still play?

      • Bonje@lemmy.world
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        10 days ago

        I only started the free trial recently, 100 or so hours in. I’m somewhere before the ultima weapon fight. It’s currently on pause because other games took over my life.

        • DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          10 days ago

          Ah man that’s exactly where I’m at now (just finished Ultima weapon)

          Send me a DM if you pick it up again

          Edit: I don’t know if free trial players can have parties or friend lists 🤔

  • Dark Arc@social.packetloss.gg
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    10 days ago

    Brighter Shores! It’s a new game by Andrew Gower on his new game engine (just came out last month).

    It’s a point and click game similar to RuneScape that’s mostly a second screen game. It’s in early access and a lot will probably change in the coming months based on feedback (they’ve already confirmed they’re rethinking some of their combat design and adding action queuing).

    Unlike RuneScape it’s been designed out of the gate to provide people with a way to engage without sinking a ton of time. You can do fully offline training in this game, so you can be gaining XP while you sleep.

    The game runs like a dream, has a very well done sound track, tastefully simplistic graphics, and just generally is a cozy/feel good MMO with light humor and puns.

    No micro transactions, generous amount of free to play content, and a $6/mo subscription for all content.

    • johntash@eviltoast.org
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      10 days ago

      Huh I heard about his new game but didn’t realize it was already in some sort of early access. Cool!

      • Dark Arc@social.packetloss.gg
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        10 days ago

        If you’re interested, now is a good time to start playing. There are some limited edition hats being dropped for the holiday!

  • homicidalrobot@lemm.ee
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    9 days ago

    Tombstone is out! Skilling MMO (So think runescape) with a retro-future wild west type theme and pixel gfx that can be played from steam, its own client (available on itch), a browser, or android. Runs on anything, obscenely fast update pace, developers on discord respond to issues dummy fast. I’m currently playing tombstone.

  • illi@lemm.ee
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    10 days ago

    GW2 is probably one of the best MMOs out there, but it just no longer grabs me as it used to. I play sometimes, but in bursts. As soon as I run out of story content, I just fall off.

    Lately I’ve played Corepunk and quite enjoyed it but it has ways to go still. And the servers are down for like a week now due to tech issues.

    Last MMO that really grabed me long term in the last fee years was New World, but I feel the devs just don’t know what game they want. And there was huge content drought with them focusing on launching console version. I’m playing with an idea of getting the expac and make a leap of faith that it has a future because I’d really love that.

    Also keeping my eye on Soulframe. It’s (or is supposed to be) a MMO lite but it looks like something that could definitely scratch an itch for me. Still in pre-alpha but I like what they are aiming for and it already plays quite well.

  • vasus@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    Project: Gorgon is my forever home MMO, I’m not super active currently but am online for events and such. I’ve found it to be the only title on the market that feels like a world you join instead of a game you log in.

  • Vahenir@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    I usually jump between Guild Wars 2 and the Elder Scrolls Online myself. But Warframe has been on the side of them as well since forever, but its more of MMO lite.

    GW2 is very nice when it comes to combat and such, even if the large world events aren’t really my cup of tea as the FX gets pretty bad. The story is decent enough and there is no subscription option at all. You do however need to buy the expansions and the living world story to get the entire game, i think there is a “complete pack” on steam. But its free to play the base game even though free accounts are very limited and should be seen more as an endless trial.

    ESO has a far better world and deeper lore than GW2 does but i find its combat to be especially awful. A subscription is practically mandatory if you want to do crafting as there are a /lot/ of crafting materials and not a lot of inventory space. With the subscription you get access to the crafting bag which is just unlimited storage for crafting materials. The subscription also gives you access to all the episodes and expansions apart from the latest one. The story is often good, but nothing too exceptional.

    Warframe is completely different as its a third person shooter. Its got some of the best movement in the business imo. Its entirely free to play as well with ways to earns everything in game, including the premium currency as its tradable between players. Its got some of the wildest lore of any game ive played and as such is quite unique in its take on sci fi. The story is great, but relatively short. If you do give this one a shot and hate the gameplay its not going to be for you as there is a lot of grind. But if you want to play a space ninja/walking WMD bouncing off of the walls while murdering hordes of enemies its definitely worth a try.

  • ImpulseDrive42@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    Ive been playing Final Fantasy 14, but I keep getting distracted by other games that are not MMORPGs recently. I kinda rotate around different genres and games and stuff. I’ll try to stay on topic tho.

    Guild Wars 2 was good. Idk if it still is because I haven’t played it in a very long time. I do have fond memories of Guild Wars 2 though.

    The only other one I got my eye on right now is “WoW Ascension: Conquest of Azeroth”. They recently put out a new server with new classes and stuff in alpha I think. They have youtube videos of the new classes and it looks pretty cool. I’m watching that one for if/when it does an official release. Cause I’ve grown up on WoW and used to play it a lot. Wow Ascension does have other servers too but I’ve already played those.

    • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
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      9 days ago

      I literally just got an email from ascension. Its hard to say if its just regular marketing stuff but it seems to imply the new server is out and ready to be played on. I plan to check it out as well.

      • ImpulseDrive42@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        There’s different ones depending on what kind of experience you want to play.

        1. The default ascension server is “Classless”. Abilities are randomized from the base game content. And maybe some new abilities have been added too. I’ve already played this one and it’s kinda fun. Highly recommend. ;-)
        2. There’s one called “Project Ascension Classic+” which was just announced a few days ago. It’s a fresh start with the original classes and abilities and some extra ascension content. I don’t know if this one is available yet.
        3. And then there’s “Project Ascension Conquest of Azeroth”. This is the one im most excited for right now. It is technically available free on beta for a limited time i believe. But if you wish to play further you’d have to donate $35 to gain alpha access.

        Right now, I can’t buy into the alpha due to budget concerns. And I’ve been quite busy during the holidays. But somewhere down the line in the future I’ll definitely try playing it.

        All of the servers are free to play. And any alpha access I believe is just a one time donation to gain access.

        • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
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          4 days ago

          I didnt know about the classic plus server, thats interesting. I’m about halfway through satisfactory right now though so ive got time!

  • x00z@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    Guild Wars 2 mostly for me.

    I played WoW a lot until the expansion after WotLK.

  • theskyisfalling@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    10 days ago

    The last MMO I properly played was Black Desert Online. It is an absolutely amazing game but with disgusting monetisation. It did however also become a dangerous addiction in my life. It is currently free on steam I believe though!

    Since that experience I haven’t really played any MMOs, I tried out Throne and Liberty a few weeks ago and that was the most boring couple of hours of my life this year.

    As a huge Guild Wars 1 fan, GW2 was one of the biggest disappointments ever.

  • Simulation6@sopuli.xyz
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    9 days ago

    I used to play Lord of the Rings Online every year in December because they have some neat events. Haven’t done it for a while (lost my install with a hard drive and never reinstalled).