How long have MMO's lasted for you?

[Cyberwillow]

Make a list of MMO's that you've played and how long you've played them for!

If possible provide two reasons (1good/1bad) why you left or play the said MMO.

 

I'll start from first to last!

 

1) DAoC - 3+ years GOOD- PvP BAD- Game ruined by bad dev. decisions.

 

Summary: One of my all-time favorite MMOs that I've played on/off for years and one of the few MMOs that provides me with the "adrenaline" rush feeling of going into a great 8vX. (X being number of opponents ranging from 8 to 40) I still have fun playing this game to this day when I'm waiting between MMOs and I doubt I will ever really stop playing it unless they take down the servers. Ruinous decisions by game devs. drastically dropped sub numbers and the game almost died but today its got about 3-4k players on there only server (clustered). Game is amazing but feels dated (controls/graphics) and has a real steep learning curve. To thoroughly enjoy the game you need 8 people to do 8vX with! Plus your not chasing gear!

 

2) WoW - 4+ years GOOD- Streamlined and simple BAD- Too homogenized

 

Summary: Played it because friend's played it but I never really enjoyed myself. Felt like hamster on a wheel chasing gear over and over again. I did like the class mechanics and the smooth gameplay but everything else was a turn off.

 

3) AoC - 3+ months GOOD- Unique BAD- Lacked endgame

 

Summary: I really enjoyed this MMO while it was out, it felt different from the rest and had its own little thing going but poor game mechanics and virtually no endgame ruined it for me.

 

4) Warhammer - 3+ months GOOD- PvP-Leveling System BAD- Everything else

 

Summary: This is one of those games I was really anticipating but Mythic let me down (again). I really loved the leveling system, I did virtually no questing or grinding but instead just did PvP battlegrounds to level up was really fun. Too bad Mythic didn't incorporate the GOOD aspects of DAoC but instead made the game a hamster wheel.

 

5)Aion - 3+ months GOOD - Rifting! BAD- G-r-i-n-d

 

Summary: I really really hated this game when I was leveling up, do a handful of quests and then kill 1.4 trillion mobs each level... Really... Really?! Who enjoys doing that? Its not hardcore or a challenge its just a massive time sink, and bad for your wrists. My brain almost turned to mush playing this game but I managed to hit 50 because I don't want to judge a book by its cover... and discovered the Abyss. Somehow I learned about "Rifting" (going through portals to enemy realm and killing them for RP) - this completely changed the game for me, I absolutely loved this system it was always exciting to find a new rift, enter it and spend hours upon hours killing enemies (not griefing or killing lowbies, but killing ppl in groups who are equivalent or higher lvl) I wouldn't even attack lowbies unless they attacked me because there was no challenge to that. Kill enough people and eventually you were marked with a "bounty" your character would show up on the map as a tiny blip and you'd be hunted down by killing squads. Most fun I've had since DAoC, thank you NCsoft... I guess there is a soul behind all the grinding if you look hard enough.

 

6)Rift- 1+ months GOOD - Streamlined BAD- Soulless Hamster Wheel Clone

 

Summary: Never liked this game from day 1, felt like I've been there - done that. I tried hard to find a reason to like the game, from pvp to pve but just couldn't force myself to play it. When you look past that shiny exterior you see the same old bones used by other "streamlined" MMOs.

 

7) SWTOR - 3+ months and playing GOOD- Streamlined BAD- Soulless Hamster Wheel Clone

 

Summary: Log in -> do dailies -> log off. I can't find another reason to be online, I know some people enjoy the hamster wheel, but I'm tired of it. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP COPYING! @!#(*@!(#*! --- *Takes a deep breath to calm himself* ...Filler game until better MMO games out.

 

That's my list, how about you guys?

Edited February 25, 2012 by Cyberwillow

[Cyclonit]

I'll make it short:

 

1) WOW -> 1 year vanilla, 1 year bc, 1 month cataclysm

The game got ruined when Blizzard decided to nerf everything.

 

2) SWTOR -> since release

Fun till level 50, but since maxing out professions etc. does not take as long as in WoW you pretty much see everything in the first few months.

[Hypernetic]

Why do you even bother to login to do daily quests? Is that fun for you?

[Cyberwillow]

Why do you even bother to login to do daily quests? Is that fun for you?

 

That is a very good question, LOL. I think it's time to step back and reflect on why I'm still playing SWTOR...

 

Jokes aside, I play with RL friends and have for almost 10 years. We log in, do some warzones and log off. I'd have quit long ago if it wasn't for them. *Shakes fist*

Edited February 25, 2012 by Cyberwillow

[Hypernetic]

That is a very good question, LOL. I think it's time to step back and reflect on why I'm still playing SWTOR...

 

Jokes aside, I play with RL friends and have for almost 10 years. We log in, do some warzones and log off. I'd have quit long ago if it wasn't for them. *Shakes fist*

 

I know what you mean, that's the only reason I still login. I tank some raids once a week and don't login again until the next week.

 

Luckily for me a lot of us play other games together as well.

[CountAthaulf]

UO for two years, Wow since 2007, Warhammer for 2 years, Rift for three months, Swtor since December and still loving it. Since you don´t like the copied, streamlined mmos op,

what DO you like? No seriously a lot of people post stuff about "same old quests" and "bah grindfest" but I have never seen any of them come up with good ideas what ELSE they would want implemented in an MMO (something that wouldnt be repetitive , I mean come on, even life is repetitive)

[Vlakrar]

SWG ... Just after launch until NGE hit, went back for a month or 2 later on to see if it was any good (hint: It wasn't)

 

WoW ... From Vanilla (Last few months of it anyway) right up until TOR launched.

 

TOR ... 12pm 1st day of EA (Well, might have been 12.04pm ) until Present

 

 

In between, I've tried pretty much all the main MMO's (WAR / Rift / AoC / Aion / Etc) and none on them lasted more than a month or 2....they just didn't cut it

 

 

SWG was all about the freedom, WoW was all about the polish, TOR is all about everything (Yes, I'm 1 of the rare forum posters that love TOR) Sure it's not perfect, but I love it all the same

Edited February 25, 2012 by Vlakrar

[RedMix]

EverQuest combined 3 Years

DAOC combined 3 Years

Wow 3 months per expansion

Warhammer 4 months

AoC 1 month

P1999 1 year

SWTOR...as soon as GW2 is released

[Cyberwillow]

UO for two years, Wow since 2007, Warhammer for 2 years, Rift for three months, Swtor since December and still loving it. Since you don´t like the copied, streamlined mmos op,

what DO you like? No seriously a lot of people post stuff about "same old quests" and "bah grindfest" but I have never seen any of them come up with good ideas what ELSE they would want implemented in an MMO (something that wouldnt be repetitive , I mean come on, even life is repetitive)

 

 

 

Why not incorporate all the GOOD aspects from previous MMOs?

 

For example, DAoC PvP / Crafting system was great - WoW PvE + controls are good - Aion Rifting is a great idea... etc. Lots of good ideas out there but instead they spend millions of dollars on voice acting and being another generic clone which some people enjoy and power to you guys if you're having fun.

 

I enjoy MMOs which are unique or have the elements which I enjoy. (PvP / no gear hamster wheel)

 

 

On a side note - Guild Wars 2 looks like my dream MMO but I have been disappointed before.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Cyberwillow

[fixit]

1) Mankind: little known star craft type sandbox space mmo with 1000s of systems with 1000s of planets. Extremely complex game with a heavy time sink invovled. Always wished for a sequel. Played that off and on for around 5 years.

 

2) SWG: played that for year and half till they wrecked it....still best SW MMO ever to me and I still play it. I won't tell you how since I will inevitably get a warning. Suffice to say, pre-cu still exists! Best crafting ever in any MMO hands down.

 

3) WoW: 7+ years. This is only MMO I played so long. But never going back, old MMO is old. But I will say one thing, despite all the hate...nobody does it like Blizzard. I will be certainly looking out for Titan.

 

4) Rift: 6 or so months. One my favs, Trion is one awsome company. Only problem is that the world is so small and it's typical rehashed sword n sorcery. Actually thinking going back now since nothing else to play.

 

Now I can list even more since I have played a TON of MMOs over the years but none of them I played more than a few months. Cabal, EvE, LotR, Aion, Fallen Earth, FX, AoC, Requiem, Runes of Magic, DAoC, Merdian 59, UO, EQ1/2, Warhammer, and dozens of others I forget. Also could include stuff like D1/2 and GW1, but they are not MMOs...

 

Lastly TOR....while a great leveling game, just lacks. I could start listing my beefs with it, but in end don't matter. No one cares and certainly BW/EA doesn't. I am sure they will do just fine w/o me.

 

On a side note - Guild Wars 2 looks like my dream MMO but I have been disappointed before.

 

Also this. At first I thought, nah...not possible. But then I saw it being played and watched a ton of vids.... /stoked! It has an engine that can actually handle mass PvP and not be a slide show like Ilum is. And what PvPer isn't drooling in anticipation for W v W v W massive zones? All this with NO sub fee, it's almost too good to be true. Honestly, I won't believe it till I play it...hard to fathom all in all.

Edited February 25, 2012 by fixit

[CountAthaulf]

Cyber that would realy be a good idea..wonder why no developer has ever done that.

And although I will continue to play SWTOR.. of course I m looking forward to GW2, I mean come on, it has WvWvW :-) My whole Warhammer Zerg Guild is waitinbng for it to be released.

[Mhorham]

I have really backed off on mmos that past couple of years.

 

Asheon's call 2+yrs back when the idea of mmos was new and shiny

 

daoc 6 months lack of meaningful pvp

 

shadowbane 3 months can no longer spare the time to be competitive

 

wow 3 months might as well watch my dog chase its tail.

 

Darkfall 2 months Can not dedicate that much time to be competitive

 

swtor 3 months and counting. being casual yet competitive and holding

 

 

Honestly I think people just have way too much time on their hands these days. Back when only a few hundred thousand of us played online games, I dont think it was common to treat it like a full time job and make ourselves sick of it after 3 months.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Mhorham

[Cyberwillow]

 

daoc 6 months lack of meaningful pvp

 

 

DAoC is only good if you got a good 8 man - but its definitely not a solo game.

 

Cyber that would realy be a good idea..wonder why no developer has ever done that.

And although I will continue to play SWTOR.. of course I m looking forward to GW2, I mean come on, it has WvWvW :-) My whole Warhammer Zerg Guild is waitinbng for it to be released.

I hope in Guild Wars 2 the areas can support large numbers of people in the area. If it's laggy/choppy like Ilum I'm going to /wrist.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Cyberwillow

[fixit]

I hope in Guild Wars 2 the areas can support large numbers of people in the area. If it's laggy/choppy like Ilum I'm going to /wrist.

 

There is at times some 'chop' on initial player 'load' in but its seems to be all systems green for mass PvP! Watched a large scale battle and it was smooooth in most part: nothing like Ilum slide show at all. No siree.

Edited February 25, 2012 by fixit

[TKMaster]

EQ - 2 years.

 

SWG - 8 years.

 

WoW - 25mins.

 

CoH - 1 month.

 

LOTR:O - 1 month

 

SW:TOR - since day 1 early access.

[Sanquind]

Runescape:

1 or 2 years in the time that I didn't have internet myself and it was the only browser mmoprg that I could play at someone else's.

What ruined it: I got internet.

 

Ragnarok Online:

4~5 years. It was my first 'real' mmorpg. The community kept be going for a very long time even though the game didn't offer any real quests, no real dungeons, and was a huge grind all the way to 99.

What ruined it: Newer expansion patches they brought out, and the community going to hell.

 

WoW:

7 years. Easy to learn, the best out there back then, friends played it, fun pvp and dungeons.

What ruined it: WotLK and up had things way too easy. More and more features came in that only catered to the below-casual player, heroics weren't 'heroic' any more and raids were accessible to any noob that had run those heroics for a few days.

 

DCUO:

3 or so months. Fun gameplay that made you pay attention. Dungeons were pretty good as well. PvP wasn't really my thing in there.

What ruined it: Endgame consisted of 95% old content with level adjusted. Playerbase dropped immensely so it was hard to find groups. And they tried to be too new, making quite a few things at max level confusing.

 

DDO:

One month, maybe two. Great game. D&D is always fun. The game was unique and -required- group play to progress, like D&D should be.

What ruined it: Game was incomplete compared to what they advertised when it came out. (literally, levels and features were missing) Game world was fully confined to the inside of 1 city. The combat mechanics were poorly done. And the catering to casuals started. PvP was added (they promised they wouldn't), lame attempts at raids were added, solo content was added, etc etc.

 

AoC:

Three to four months. Best looking mmorpg of it's time. Incredible visuals. Fun to play for the first 20 or so levels. PvP was interesting and the combat mechanics as well. I loved dungeons in there as they did give a kind of epic feel.

What ruined it: Game was unfinished. Game engine was kind of badly optimized (not as bad as swtor). Endgame was boring. After level 20 the alive feel of the game totally disappeared. (Even worse than swtor's 'dead' feel)

 

Aion:

2 months. Awesome gameplay. Interesting skills/classes. Wings to fly with. Huge RvR/GvG. Pretty visuals.

What ruined it: After level 25 or so the game revealed to just be another asian grinder. Just with better graphics and more thought-out combat than the standard 'run up and hit hot bar key'.

 

Guild wars:

5~6 months and still playing it a little every now and then. No sub, which is awesome. Mercenary system was interesting. Visuals were pretty. Story was interesting. PvP was the best I've seen in the mmorpg's I've played.

What ruined it: Too much focus on pvp. pve felt left behind a little. Combat started to become repetitive pretty soon as all quests were just 'kill X' or 'go to Y while killing all X under way'. Too instanced, combined with the mercenary system made it feel like a single-player (more so than swtor)

 

Rift: 3~4 months. It was fun. awesome graphics. familiar gameplay. Dungeons fun enough. Rift events pretty fun.

What ruined it for me: Too familiar. It's a modernized WoW. Yet it lacks in certain features and mechanics compared to wow. Graphics aren't that important for me so I went back to the game that did it better: wow.

 

 

Swtor:

3 months so far. I plan to let my sub run out and maybe come back later to see how it's going. Awesome story. Great graphics. Easy to learn and familiar, yet still new in a way combat. PvP is fun enough while levelling. You won't run out of quests unless you're doing something seriously wrong.

What ruined it for me: Optimization is still crappy as hell. Quests outside of the main story are very unimaginative and very repetitive. Your personal story, while fun, doesn't matter at all in the end. Endgame is still a bit lacking. PvP becomes too repetitive at max level. Having to wade through dozens of trash mobs for no good reason but to be a time sink. Travel times becoming longer and longer as you progress. Game is too instanced (instances for a single world/place) and people are too spread out from each other.

 

 

Quite a few others, mostly free ones I played in between here and there. Nothing to really write about I think.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Sanquind

[RabidPopcorn]

3) WoW: 7+ years. This is only MMO I played so long. But never going back, old MMO is old. But I will say one thing, despite all the hate...nobody does it like Blizzard. I will be certainly looking out for Titan.

 

Blizzard games never disappoint - they're never below expectations.

 

Personally, SWTOR didn't deliver the 'magic' that WoW managed to, so SWTOR will really have to try hard to draw me back day after day, year after year.

 

The question isn't whether SWTOR will last 7 years, it is whether SWTOR will last 7 years and still have at least as many players as WoW, or at least have enough to feel alive.

[Catch_TwentyTwo]

City of Heroes - Less than a month

 

DCUO - Ongoing since it went FTP

 

SWG - 7 years, until SOE pulled the plug

 

SWTOR - Since launch, intend to be here for a long time to come.

[Nippon]

SWG 4 years

LOTRO 2 years

EVE 6 months

WOW 10 day trial (was enough for me)

 

TBH if lucasarts had not cancelled the licence in SWG, id still be there, Bottom line is that game died because of funding and having an End Date to make way for this, and that void has not even been slightly filed...

 

Nothing will compare to it's crafting, Space, Social aspect's, heck even the PVP in it was half decent..

 

There has never been an MMO like it....To many people complain about the NGE because they are but hurt about there Jedi being taken away.

 

Bottom line is SOE mixed Sandbox and Themepark extremely well, to keep player's interested, and they understood that a game does not survive on PVP and Raiding alone.

 

Once Bioware realise that, this will be the BEST MMO ever made, if they don't, it will be an after thought that fall's by the wayside in a year or two, it could even be sooner than that if they keep catering to the Baby brigade of, I want it now and as easy as possible.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Nippon

[Mephismo]

Honestly I think people just have way too much time on their hands these days. Back when only a few hundred thousand of us played online games, I dont think it was common to treat it like a full time job and make ourselves sick of it after 3 months.

 

Agree with this:)

[Yozbick]

There will be some overlap but:

 

1) Everquest - 2 years

2) World War II Online - three months (my first major MMO disappointment)

3) Dark Age of Camelot - 3 years

4) Planetside - three months

5) World of Warcraft - 4 years

6) Warhammer - three months (my second major MMO disappointment)

7) Lord of the Rings Online - six months on and off over the years

8) RIFT - four months

9) SWTOR - two months til I cancelled (my third major MMO disappointment)

 

Never made it beyond the free month in AC, SWG, COH, AOC, POTBS, STOL and probably a few others.

 

Looking back, my three major disappointments were probably because I was in the beta for each and could clearly see the problems long before release... when there was plenty of time to fix those problems. But the developers and fanbois just didn't want to hear anything bad about "their precious." I so wanted each of the games to succeed, only to watch each fail to achieve their tremendous potential.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Yozbick

[powergirl]

Guild Wars - 4 years , quit because Mesmers are truly hated

 

WoW - played since Burning Crusade , left when they implemented lfg/lfd dungeon tool and everyone just sat in their cities .

 

AOC ( age of Conan ) - that game had frequent CTD and is always patching that I just had to quit . 3 months of playtime .

 

Warhammer - loved it until I got to Tier 3 PvP and there was no one to play with , played 1 month .

 

DCUO - stayed for 3 months till my card got hacked so I just left .

 

Rift- Game did not agree with nvidia cards so I ended only staying for a month .

Edited February 25, 2012 by powergirl

[MartyCZE]

SWG - from launch til a month after NGE was released, best MMO ever imo and I don't care what everyone else says, that game was brilliant

 

WoW - less than a month

 

DAoC - less than a week. Didn't like this game at all for some reason.

 

EQ2 - 2 months - good game but back then I didn't have computer good enough to run it without framerate issues, which only got worse as my level was increasing and the fights were getting epic-er Shame it's in that absurd not-so-free2play state now, otherwise I'd give it a go again.

 

LotRO - 2 years and counting (proud owner of a lifetime sub, don't regret buying that for a second). I don't play it now as often as I used to (haven't logged in for about two months to be exact), but every once in a while I feel like playing and always enjoy the time spent in the game when I do.

 

SWTOR - a month and a half. Had a lot of fun until I hit 50, then I realized I spent the most of my time racing around fleet bored to death. Levelling alts, as much as I loved it in other games, is even more boring than sitting at the fleet - the huge-but-lifeless planets, with ridiculous travel times, are a real deal-breaker; plus, listening to the same voiceovers is boring as hell and when you skip the VOs you realize just how boring most of those quests are.

 

Here's hoping that The Secret World will be as good as I hope it to be. I know it's being developed by Funcom, but I trust they've learned from their mistakes

Edited February 25, 2012 by MartyCZE

[Zsavooz]

Great thread! I was just talking to a friend last night about this,

 

I started with UO, many years ago. I couldn't get past the perma death gig.

 

Diablo (many good times)

EQ (The most extreme MMO I have ever played, good riddance)

DAOC (a less extreme EQ with very cool capes)

EQ 2 and WoW (WoW won me over even though I wanted EQ2 to succeed)

AOC, Warhammer, AION, LOTRO ( All good with very limited staying power)

SWG ( Great sandbox game destroyed by SOE)

COH, COV ( lasted a week each)

 

SWTOR ( Love the game, seriously, no issues and having a blast)

 

Upcoming: GW2 ( Yes, I will plunk the $50.00 for a non subscriber game and hope the WvWvW gives me what I miss in DAOC)

[MissTrips]

City of Heroes - played 2 years My first MMO, sucked in by some friends who dangled 3 free months at me. Stayed about 6 months after the last of them drifted off to other games, still quite probably my favorite MMO, and if I'd found a good guild I'd have stuck with it. Nothing still feels as awesome as my scrapper launching into an pack of orange/red level enemies and surviving by the skin of my teeth, taking a fast breath and then doing it *again*.

 

WoW - 5+ years played starting just before the release of Burning Crusade. Would have quit years ago, save for my guild. Wonderful, wonderful people that I have loved spending time with... and most of them are now here. So WoW is only going to last now until my subscription runs out. Good long run, but most of the people I made the memories with came this way.

 

SWG - 1 month on the NGE. My boyfriend gave it to me and I played it a bit but I became so *frustrated* with it that I didn't keep it past the first month.

 

FFXI - about one week. Didn't have fun at all.

 

SWToR - got in before the launch with my old WoW guild and will probably stick with it for several years to come. Still havent even gotten to 50 yet, I'm just cruising along and enjoying the whole package... and filling up my server with alts.