Nadril's MMORPG thread.

So judging from some recent threads there has been some interest in MMORPG's. Because of this I figured, well, I may as well make a thread giving my opinion on all of the MMORPG's I've taken a part of. Hopefully this will help those looking for an MMO to play (p2p and f2p!).

If this thread ever gets "big" just Ctrl+F and search f2p or p2p.

The LIST:

9Dragons f2p

http://9dragons.acclaim.com/

[hide=]9Dragons is a typical korean grind game. I played it on release for a couple of days and, well, there are lot better out there. Perhaps it is better now and it's made by Aclaim so it may be of interest to you.[/hide]

Age of Conan p2p

http://www.ageofconan.com

[hide=]Oh, the infamous age of conan.

Age of Conan had promise and, well, it still may. The problem is that Funcom is a company that does nothing but lie and hype without ever actually giving. Age of Conan was one of the most hyped up MMORPGs of all time (next to World of Warcraft) and it fell on its face harder then anyone. I really would not recommend this game to anyone, ever, for numerous reasons.

I could rant for ages about this game but in all honesty I'd rather not. If you read the last few pages of the AoC thread you'll get what I mean.[/hide]

Anarchy Online f2p + p2p

http://www.Anarchyonline.com

[hide=]Anarchy Online is Funcom's good game. The thing is is that, unlike age of conan, anarchy online has a good director at its head and it also has the benifit of being 7 years old. The game is f2p for the most part, however somewhat like Runescape you can pay a monthly fee to get the games "expansion packs".

I would recommend this to anyone really, although I would also warn of players to be wary of the games future. Funcom is taking away a lot of staff from AO and bringing them to AoC. The other problem is that Funcoms stock is dropping rapidly, and I really think that they may be in serious financial problems in a few months.

Back to the game though, it is very much a grind game. The game is split into classes and then each class has tons of skills they can level each time they gain a level. The gear in this game is great, and 'twinking' characters is some of the most fun I've ever had.

However its a difficult game to get into. Still worth a shot for those interested, the games art direction is incredible.[/hide]

City of Heroes / Villains p2p

http://www.cityofheroes.com/

[hide=]City of Heroes / Villains is a superhero game, in which you can choose to be a super hero or a super villain. It features, no joke, one of the best character customization systems there is and allows you to really (graphically) create any looking super hero/villain you want. While I wouldn't recommend this game to hardcore players it is an awesome game for casual players. I would also, possibly, recommend the 14 day trial for those who are just looking to pass the time until some other MMORPGs.

The combat system is a little slow, but isn't bad. I haven't gotten to far in the game though (only lvl 9 out of 50)[/hide]

Dark Age of Camelot p2p

http://www.darkageofcamelot.com/

[hide=]This is Mythic's first adventure into MMORPG's, and was the first RvR game ever made. While these days servers are pretty dead (950 players or so on each server) it still may be worth at least a shot at the 14 day trial for those who are interested. It is very much an old game, However, so be warned.[/hide]

EVE Online p2p

http://www.eveonline.com/

[hide=]EVE Online is a unique game in a sea of clones. Unlike other games pretty much all of your time is spent inside of your ship, doing about anything you want. Unlike other games you build up skills in real time -- which means you 'level up' while offline as well as online.

Because of this you can do whatever you want. While the game probably won't satisfy those of us (like me) who like a lot of action it is one of the best hardcore PvP games out there. I think that a lot of ex-runescape players who are looking for a game that has a lot more options to do may be interested in EVE, however. The other good thing is the update the game a lot with free expansions, and all of the games playerbase is on one server which gets up to a 15k-20k player load at once a lot at peak times[/hide]

EverQuest II p2p

http://www.everquest2.com

[hide=]Everquest II can best be described as a more mature World of Warcraft. While certainly with the latest updates it has gotten easier for new players it still is generally a more difficult game to play, but also more in depth. The game has had a lot of time to mature over the years, and with their "living legacy" promotion they have seem to brought back players.

The only thing I would advise is that if you enjoy PvP to stay away. At least when I played PvP was very much just a tacked on feature. However if you enjoy PvE and especially crafting Everquest II may be right up your ally![/hide]

Guild Wars "f2p"

http://www.guildwars.com/

[hide=]Guild Wars is always a good option for something to play while waiting for other games. The campaigns in all of the games (I haven't played Nightfall) are excellent and are usually challenging. Even better is that, with henchmen, you can easily solo them.

The game can have some fun PvP. Some of my fond PvP memories in Guild Wars involve me and the group of my friends trying out the strangest builds one could think up of and trying them out. I can't talk about recent updates, but it is always fun if you have a good group.

I can't stress that last part enough though, Guild Wars easily has one of the worst in game communities I have ever been in. The majority of the playerbase are little kids who's parents wouldn't buy them World of Warcraft, and the other bit of them (for the most part) are arrogant PvPers that won't let you in their guild / group unless you have a rank 4 (or w/e) rank. Because of this when my guild broke up I was stuck having to do PvP with the worst players I have ever seen, yet I couldn't get into a good group despite being (I'd like to think so) a good PvPer.[/hide]

HellGate London "f2p"

http://www.hellgatelondon.com/

[hide=]It may be worth checking out now. At launch it was buggy, laggy and just unfinished due to the studio just not having enough money. However they actually broke up and the game is under another studio now and I've heard at least the lag issues have been fixed.

I wouldn't expect much in it but it's a one time buy, and I think that the game is fully f2p (no p2p content) now, although I could be wrong. It's very Diablo-ish[/hide]

Hero Online f2p

http://hero.netgame.com/

[hide=]It was actually kind of a fun little grind game, it seems to be really fast paced when I tried it out. Not sure how much has been added to it, but always worth a try[/hide]

Lineage II p2p + f2p

http://www.lineage2.com

[hide=]Lineage II is the MMO that really got me into MMORPG's. Sure, runescape may have been my 'first' but Lineage II was my first good one.

Lineage II is very PvP oriented, and revolves around guild vs guild relations. Now, the reason why I put p2p and f2p up is simple -- Lineage II is very famous for it's private server's. While I can't post them here (I think) just google 'top MMORPG private servers' and you should be able to find them. Most of my time playing the game had been on those, and for the most part aside from lagging a chronicle (expansion) behind they are fairly stable. The PvP is some of the best out of any game I've ever played, thats for sure.

P2P wise the game is still good -- although a grind. The good news is that the new Lineage II expansion (all expansions are free) will be reducing the grind a lot, allowing a player to probably hit level 60 (~80 cap) in around a month of playing (not /played). Because of this, and the idea that I think they are launching a new server, it may be worth checking out[/hide]

MU Online p2p + f2p

http://globalmuonline.gamersfirst.com/index.php

[hide=]MU Online uses a top down perspective like in diablo. The game is actually p2p (f2p up to level 70 on retail) but in all honesty I doubt most will ever get up to the point where they have to start paying. It's really a big grind and I have no idea what is up with it these days.

The game does have a lot of private servers though, I'd check them out if you play.[/hide]

Ryzom ?

[hide=]Ryzom online is hinted at making a comeback, so I'll edit this space when more info is available.[/hide]

Shadowbane f2p

http://www.shadowbane.com/

[hide=]Shadowbane is an f2p game now, and is very pvp centric. The problem is that not many people play any more -- but also that the controls are very out dated. It's always worth a try, but I didn't like it.[/hide]

Silkroad Online f2p

http://www.silkroadonline.net/

[hide=]Silkroad is probably your best bet if you're looking for a standard Korean grind f2p MMORPG. At 20 people are split up into factions (merchants, theives, hunters) which I believe PvP against each other. I played it up to level 18 or 19 or so and the game is quite a grind.

That was over a year ago though, so it may have been changed

Review by penguingeek3:

I should probably say it at the beginning...This is my favorite free MMORPG of all time. Reasons included later. Read on.

SRO is based on the period of history in which the Silkroad (Surprise, surprise) flourished. However, it has some fantasy as well. It's Korean made, and F2P, so as you would guess...It's a grind. A while ago, there were a ton of bots, but Joymax has cracked down on nearly all of them. (Last time I checked, at least) Most of the servers are now pretty easy to get into, though most of the beginner training spots are crowded with bots trying to start new accounts.

There are two types of characters in SRO, Chinese and European. Chinese characters are based on solo play, with nearly all characters being able to fight adeptly, as well as heal themselves, but most importantly, use healing potions with no recharge time. Nearly all bots are Chinese due to this. Chinese characters choose from three weapon masteries (But five weapons, sword, blade, spear, glavie and bow) and three (Technically four) magical masteries (Cold, fire, lightning, force). It's a mix-and-match thing, so it's not as if you're forced to choose one of each. Characters can actually choose more than two masteries, or take two magical ones or something. European characters are party based, and choose from six classes - warrior, rogue, wizard, warlock, cleric and bard. Once again, it's a mix-and-match, and most people choose one primary class and one secondary class. Still, European characters must work together (At higher levels, at least) in order to succeed.

Both types of characters receive 3 stat points when they level up, and these points can be put into strength or intelligence. Strength boosts physical strength and defense, while intelligence does the same, but with magic. Characters level up their masteries and gain skills by using skill points. Skill points are received from killing monsters, so you will accumulate them over time. However, even with SP farming (Which is too complicated to explain here), it's likely you won't have enough skill points to get everything you want.

Quests are what you'd expect in a grind, "kill x of y" or something along those lines. They give pretty good XP though.

PvP is divided into three parts. Job PvP, cape PvP, and fortress wars. Job PvP starts at level 20, when you choose either merchant, hunter or thief. You can change at any time, and it isn't a full-time thing. Merchants travel from city to city with caravans and goods, making money. Hunters protect the merchants from monsters along the way, but mainly thieves. (So thieves attack the merchants and hunters, and try to steal the goods) Large job wars can erupt, and one of the most enjoyable parts of the game is going on a caravan (Or thieving raid) with a group of friends. Cape PvP is terrible, once you put on a cape, you can kill other players with capes on...And you get nothing if you do so. I'm not entirely sure about fortress wars, as you only participate in them if you're a pretty high level. They're basically fights between guilds over fortresses. I'd consider SRO to be more of a PvE game than PvP. Along with the normal leveling grind, there are unique monsters, which are a great challenge (They spawn every few hours, and spawn a lot of other monsters with them), as well as dungeons.

I'm still not exactly sure why I like SRO so much, it just has an addicting quality to me. The variations you can have with builds are pretty incredible, there are a ton of possibilities. I guess it's also because my friends played, MMORPGs tend to be much more fun if you play with other people. The community is pretty good, other than the bots and the people that spam in Turkish. When I do play, it's on the server Neptune.

Worth it? Yes.[/hide]

Tabula Rasa p2p

http://www.playtr.com/

[hide=]It's a pretty unique game, and an MMOFPS at that. I wouldn't really recommend it solo but in a group it can be a fun game. I would try out the 7 day trial[/hide]

Ultima Online p2p + f2p

http://www.uo.com/

[hide=]I can't say it is worth playing now on p2p servers, although there is no doubt people still there. Ultima Online has some very thriving private server communities however -- so it is very worth your time to check them out. The game was one of the first hardcore PvP MMORPG's and any PvPer owes themself to try it.[/hide]

Warhammer Online BETA, release SEPT 18

http://www.warhammeronline.com

[hide=]Game is currently in beta, and should be in open beta in a couple of weeks. I'm not in the beta myself but there is a lot of good information about the game on their website, I would recommend checking out the podcasts.

Warhammer is going to be the PvP MMORPG (it's RvR) if Mythic pulls it off. I really am putting my faith in Mythic, and I think they can do it[/hide]

World of Warcraft p2p + f2p

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com

[hide=]Nothing more can be said about this game, I would just look at the huge WoW thread if you're curious about the game.

it does have private servers as well, but most of them are very buggy and I would really recommend playing the p2p game over private servers.[/hide]

And that should be it. I did leave out runescape on purpose, obviously. Feel free to ask me about any of the MMO's on the list -- although for some I may not know an answer to. I should also say that I haven't had a chance to play LoTRO or Vanguard, but I would recommend them for those looking for a PvE game.

Wow. Wow. I was planning on making an identical thread. Basically a guide to MMORPGs. :lol:

Mind if I review a few? Surely you've heard about me playing a ton of free MMORPGs. :P

Go for it man. I'll probably edit some of the p2p games with a review when I get the chance.

Bravo chap =D> you play too many MMO's now GTFO of the house :P

Nice, but you cant really call WoW f2p just cause of the 14 day trial otherwise you will have to re tag all the other mmo's that have them.

Knowing me, these will end up quite long. Beware.

So, after a few drafts, I think I've cut this down enough. My first was extremely long...As if this isn't long. I guess this will probably be the longest, as I've had so much experience with the game. I'll add a few more later, when I have more time. I suppose these won't exactly be reviews, but will be descriptions of the game. (Though I'll put that "Worth it?" thing at the end of every one)

[hide=Silkroad Online]I should probably say it at the beginning...This is my favorite free MMORPG of all time. Reasons included later. Read on.

SRO is based on the period of history in which the Silkroad (Surprise, surprise) flourished. However, it has some fantasy as well. It's Korean made, and F2P, so as you would guess...It's a grind. A while ago, there were a ton of bots, but Joymax has cracked down on nearly all of them. (Last time I checked, at least) Most of the servers are now pretty easy to get into, though most of the beginner training spots are crowded with bots trying to start new accounts.

There are two types of characters in SRO, Chinese and European. Chinese characters are based on solo play, with nearly all characters being able to fight adeptly, as well as heal themselves, but most importantly, use healing potions with no recharge time. Nearly all bots are Chinese due to this. Chinese characters choose from three weapon masteries (But five weapons, sword, blade, spear, glavie and bow) and three (Technically four) magical masteries (Cold, fire, lightning, force). It's a mix-and-match thing, so it's not as if you're forced to choose one of each. Characters can actually choose more than two masteries, or take two magical ones or something. European characters are party based, and choose from six classes - warrior, rogue, wizard, warlock, cleric and bard. Once again, it's a mix-and-match, and most people choose one primary class and one secondary class. Still, European characters must work together (At higher levels, at least) in order to succeed.

Both types of characters receive 3 stat points when they level up, and these points can be put into strength or intelligence. Strength boosts physical strength and defense, while intelligence does the same, but with magic. Characters level up their masteries and gain skills by using skill points. Skill points are received from killing monsters, so you will accumulate them over time. However, even with SP farming (Which is too complicated to explain here), it's likely you won't have enough skill points to get everything you want.

Quests are what you'd expect in a grind, "kill x of y" or something along those lines. They give pretty good XP though.

PvP is divided into three parts. Job PvP, cape PvP, and fortress wars. Job PvP starts at level 20, when you choose either merchant, hunter or thief. You can change at any time, and it isn't a full-time thing. Merchants travel from city to city with caravans and goods, making money. Hunters protect the merchants from monsters along the way, but mainly thieves. (So thieves attack the merchants and hunters, and try to steal the goods) Large job wars can erupt, and one of the most enjoyable parts of the game is going on a caravan (Or thieving raid) with a group of friends. Cape PvP is terrible, once you put on a cape, you can kill other players with capes on...And you get nothing if you do so. I'm not entirely sure about fortress wars, as you only participate in them if you're a pretty high level. They're basically fights between guilds over fortresses. I'd consider SRO to be more of a PvE game than PvP. Along with the normal leveling grind, there are unique monsters, which are a great challenge (They spawn every few hours, and spawn a lot of other monsters with them), as well as dungeons.

I'm still not exactly sure why I like SRO so much, it just has an addicting quality to me. The variations you can have with builds are pretty incredible, there are a ton of possibilities. I guess it's also because my friends played, MMORPGs tend to be much more fun if you play with other people. The community is pretty good, other than the bots and the people that spam in Turkish. When I do play, it's on the server Neptune.

Worth it? Yes.[/hide]

Hellgate London went F2P. :?

Last i heard Flagship were in real financial trouble.

Flagship was laid down like a month ago. I was about to comment that Nadril only put "f2p" beside Hellgate, but I think I remember reading somewhere that they made it full-f2p when Flagship went bankrupt. Before this, couldn't you buy a "lifetime subscription" to Hellgate for a bit over $130 or something?

Also Nadril you forgot to put Spineworld in your list.

Hellgate was F2P, the P2P side allowed you to play the expansions (EG: Stonehenge and the unreleased "The Abyss Chronicles" which I doubt will ever be released :( )

But recentely Flagship have went down hill, and therefore the payment system is down, and no one can sub, or un-sub, the subs don't pay anymore ,but they get access to the p2p areas, but the f2p don't.

Nice, but you cant really call WoW f2p just cause of the 14 day trial otherwise you will have to re tag all the other mmo's that have them.

I put "f2p" because there are private servers out for WoW, not for the trial.

Is runescape still the most awesomest MMORPG around? I haven't played in a while.

I did leave out runescape on purpose, obviously.

Damn it, I was sooo close to making a smartass comment.

Anyway On-Topic:

I was too lazy to read through them all, which are browser-based?

Is runescape still the most awesomest MMORPG around? I haven't played in a while.

I was kind of bored the other day and I almost logged on, mostly to see how long since my last log on (should be hitting around 1000 days ago). But I clicked on Google Earth instead of Firefox and ended up wasting two hours, and never got around to RS. Still get urges to play about once every 3 or 4 months.

I did leave out runescape on purpose, obviously.

 

 

 

Damn it, I was sooo close to making a smartass comment.

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway On-Topic:

 

 

 

I was too lazy to read through them all, which are browser-based?

None on the list. There are no good browser based MMORPG's.

Are there any f2p ones like EVE-online?

Are there any f2p ones like EVE-online?

I think jumpgate is f2p. In all honesty though I've never played it, I only know it has you playing in a ship.

I played WoW and did not like it that much... :o :o

Its too many fetch quests...and I cannot stand fetch quests...

I played WoW and did not like it that much... :o :o

 

 

 

Its too many fetch quests...and I cannot stand fetch quests...

What MMO's have you enjoyed? Most of them these days are either a grind or general "kill x" quests or "find y" or take "a to b" kind of things.

WAR will be changing it up a bit with public quests, but also with the ability to gain XP through RvR.

Are there any f2p ones like EVE-online?

I've never played EVE Online, but from Nadril's description, Voyage Century Online and Wurm Online sound a bit similar. (Not really, but slightly...) The leveling up while offline thing is something I've never heard of though.

I find RuneScape to be...Eh. My friends, for some ridiculous reason, wanted to play it again a month ago. I did...Mined like 6k Ess, then quit again. Oh well. Google Earth flight sim is pretty fun, by the way. :thumbup:

If anyone wants a F2P game somewhat similar to RuneScape, Anarchy Online and Voyage Century Online are probably your best bets.

And so...There are no really good MMORPGs right now? Waiting until WAR would be the best idea...?

Not unless you're more of a PvE person, in which WoW LoTRO or Vanguard could probably be fun.

For PvPers though it's all about waiting for WAR :).

Add the upcoming Stargate worlds mmo game (or at least a space for it) its going to be going into open beta in the next month or two.

If you want, you can add my idea of Final Fantasy XI online. Just post a picture of bull poo.

If you want, you can add my idea of Final Fantasy XI online. Just post a picture of bull poo.

I should do that for Age of Conan, except it would be half of a bull poo.

Add the upcoming Stargate worlds mmo game (or at least a space for it) its going to be going into open beta in the next month or two.

I'm only adding games I've had experience in or others have. WAR was the exception just because it is almost in open beta (which I'll be in).

[hide=]The Conan license has so much potential. A bloody, violent world in which the law doesn't have much of a say on anything. It is the perfect setting for an open ended PvP MMO. However Funcom has destroyed any chances of this.

The Combat system is one of the large features in which most fanbois seem to say is the best feature of the game, but it is horrible flawed. For one the current system is slow and clunky for melee classes. It takes upwards of 7-8 seconds to get off top combos for most melee classes, in which time a trash mob is almost dead or a player has managed to crowd control you. The combat system, admittedly, has some great novelty value when you first start off playing and it seems cool to be more of a part of the world. However it wears off fast, and in it's current state can't really be reworked well without a complete overhaul of the system.

Casting on the other hand is a standard affair aside from Spellweaving, which is all but a pointless skill that may have a use in one or two raid encounters in which you can be stationary.

Healing is done in such a way that there is a very real cap on how much a player can get healed, which means that the game can not scale without an overhaul of the way healers can heal. While the pure HoT system is a very novel idea in practice it doesn't work and actually makes healing easier than most other games.

Then you throw in severe item imbalances. How Funcom has allowed gems into the game (still) that allow even a guardian to 1 shot is beyond me. Currently the games PvP involves which player can get their crowd control or attack off first, hardly exciting.

Graphically the game looks good, when it works. Even on a powerful rig however textures are constantly missing or half there and even after a couple of loading screens the game ends up looking more like Everquest I then it does a brand new game. The armor sets are very bland and uninspiring for the most part and, while the PvP patch may fix this, most armor in the game is still horrible.

The game's content is obviously the main concern. 1-20 is a fairly solid game, although it does lure the players into a false sense of importance in the world through your single player quests on the island. 20-40, on the other hand, is when the game starts to show its flaws.

Now to a new player 20-40 isn't bad because, as I stated before, the novelty of the combat system is still there. It still seems exciting, new and fun. However for a player returning to this content you really start to notice how tedious it is. The 20-40 content isn't as bad however due to Funcom trying to make it better first, as to hopefully keep casuals in the game a little longer instead of responding to the core fan base.

40-60 is where the game shines it's true colors. Players are resorted to playing through very little content and have to fill the gap with boring villa repeatable quests or grinding. It's more of the same. The PvP as well in most of these zones is uninspiring, except for Atzal's in which group PvP can be a nice change of pace.

60-80 you are resorted to very few quests, and most of your time is spent looking for a grind group for small area's in which you will mind numbingly AoE in. Unlike other 'grind game's Age of Conan's grind for 60-80 consists of 3 spots, wagon, fort and DM. On a PvE server because of the low instance counts players will spend most of their time in shouting matches, while on PvP servers teams will take turns seeing how well they can gank after a large pull. In which case you do manage to get a solid group be prepared to do something else more entertaining, however.

At 80 players can do a few things. For one, they can farm resources. Of course the downside to this is that most crafting professions are completely useless except for armorcrafting and (to a lesser extent) weaponsmithing. You can help build a city but the only use of them currently is to let crafters build next tier materials. That doesn't matter, however, because a level 70 or 75 crafted set will do just fine as the only stats that matter are +dmg gems.

Players can also get involved in PvP, which is either waiting hours for a minigame or trying to PvP in Khesh. Khesh PvP is esentially just a larger version of spawn camping, as that is what most of the PvP falls down into. Even then the only place to PvP really is Khesh, unless you want to simply gank lowbies.

Finally you can raid! However Funcom doesn't mention to tell you that most raiding content is bugged, and the content that is there and working is so easy it makes World of Warcraft kara raiding look like complex physics. Bosses have no real dynamics other then "do damage until it dies" and are bland. Of course coupled with crippling memory leak issues and crashes the largest challenge is having all of the people in your raid's game not **** up at an important time.

Of course there is the option of an alt, except for that you have to go through all of the games content to level -- unlike other games in which you can usually skip some quests here and there and just do them on an alt.

Stability is an obvious issue which I don't think I need to go into here. While there may be very few players out there somehow running the game without much problem the bulk majority of us (even on powerful computers that can run anything else) have numerous problems. From memory leaks, textures missing, gray map bug and crippling server lag the game becomes downright unplayable at times. It was commonly heard in my guilds vent while playing "brb need to restart game crashed". This is unacceptable in an MMO these days.

My biggest problem with Age of Conan, however, is the fact that it just lacks even any resemblance of polish and feels more like an alpha of a game then a retail product. Skill descriptions are either misleading or simply don't state anything important at all. Numerous feats over all classes don't work at all, and haven't worked for over 3 months since release.

Content that should have been tested hasn't been tested at all. City siege battles are laggy and downright unfun, not to mention incredibly buggy. There is so many missing features in the game, such as the PvP levels, drunken brawling, DX10, actual content higher up, ect.

The game looks like it took a year to make, not 5. Yes the graphical engine is nice and all (if the art team can get out better gear) but the actual content behind it is something one would expect in a small expansion pack -- not a full fledged game!

But, what about the future you say? Well the PvP patch is "on the horizon" (as is everything else... ahem :/) and some think it'll bring life back into the game. However the patch is flawed for several reasons. From a post on massively.com by me a while ago:

"The problem with the "PvP patch" and their fugative system is this: The risk versus reward is not balanced.

Look at any other game that users a similar system. In Lineage II players will flag when they kill someone, but when another player dies they have a small chance to drop an item but also lose a substantial amount of XP. The system of flagging in that game is needed to prevent ganking on a mass level, thus an equal risk versus reward.

In Ultima Online when players died they would drop all they owned. Because of this they NEEDED to make players flag or else high levels could just farm lowbies without much fear. Again it was very much an equal risk vs a reward, if you went red you were at risk but also could just kill whatever you wanted (well, try).

However Age of Conan is different. In it the only thing you will lose when you die is a small amount of PvP experience and perhaps a little time lost having to run back. The problem is that the game is not made for this kind of system for numerous reasons:

1) Risk vs reward. People have no real reason to even attempt murdering someone except for saying "hey, I'm red". You get the same PvP XP and the player loses nothing special.

2) Class balance. This is a horrible problem, due to the fact that so many classes can (and will) 1 shot others. The game these days is so based off of who gets the first hit that there will no doubt being players either forced to wait, and get hit first, or risk being a murderer. Now yes if you fight those your level (and an entire 2 bellow you :/) then it won't be a problem, but lets be honest here: A person TEN levels lower can still be a threat if they are a high DPS class and you are squishy.

3) Murderers have no where to go. There is no "thieves den" and there is no castles they can go to to stock up on supplies. Cities in the game are pretty useless, but even so it'll be difficult getting to them with guards attacking you on sight.

These are the main three reasons why, but honestly the main reason is just the risk vs reward. Carebears can shout all they want that the system is "fair" and that people who PvP should be punishied. However players should only get punished in a game if they have SET BACK THE OTHER PLAYER severly. It's like arresting a guy for making someone wait a couple of more minutes in line because he was fumbling with change -- yeah, it's annoying but it isn't hurting you."

The other problems is that when they patch they break more than they fix. Numerous exploits have been thrown into the game because of poor testing and then they stay bugged until a future patch date (instead of a hotfix). The extra content sounds nice and all too, but in all honesty a lot of the problems in Age of Conan are with the base game and not the lack of it.[/hide]

"New" Age of Conan review.

I've heard of another mmo out there, somewhat different from other ones out. It's called Armada Online. From what I hear about it, it's like an advanced version of the flash game Starfighter - Disputed Galaxy. I have not been able to play it myself yet (way too big for me to dl on dialup), but it's good from what the people I know say. If you can, give it a shot. Tell me what you think!