Quote from: Simlasa;607083Are there any MMOs that favor casual play like COH did? Pop in for an hour and leave... lots of room for exploration/discovery... players who don't behave like meth addicts?

Quote from: Doctor Jest;609574This is one of the things I really like about The Secret World.

Seconding this answer.  The gameplay's not for everyone, especially build design, but especially now that it's gone box-purchase-only, The Secret World very strongly favors casual play.  You can make a lot of progress in relatively bite-sized chunks, and you do actually have to explore or even think to progress.  Sometimes that goes a little too far -- there's an Investigation quest that involved translating latin into a runic code, and another where knowledge of morse code and basic electronics was required -- but it does very well, most of the time.

It has a few late-game things that can be somewhat time intensive, but even most dungeons can be run in less than an hour.

Quote from: Doctor Jest;609574This is one of the things I really like about The Secret World.

That does sound very cool. I'll have to check if my ancient computer will run it...

I'm playing WoW and STWOR, with a bit of Age of Conan thrown into the mix.  I tried Aion and found it too... Nintendo.  Just DLed Star Trek Online to check it out.

I create a new toon every WoW expansion and work my way up.  It saves me having to fight my way through the mad rush to get to level cap, and if I do it right everybody will have cleared out of Pandaria by the time I get there.  I counteract the "leveling is too easy" by leveling via battlegrounds.  There, leveling goes in fits and spurts; you can occasionally soom forward a level in one BG, but most of the time you have to grind your way through.  I also get a chance to learn to play my class the hard way.

I'm a bit of an altoholic in TOR, but I do have a toon at max level (Gunslinger).  For the most part, I've been enjoying the class story, running Heroics when people need help, and enter into the occasional Flashpoint.

I really do like Age of Conan, especially the old style sword and sorcery part, but too many people seem to create toons just to say "Ooo... bewbs!!!"  That said, there are a core of those of us who do the F2P area who actually level toons and have a good time.  I just don't get on the game enough right now.

My kids play LOTRO with my free account, so I keep track of things over in Turbine-land that way.  I kind of gave up LOTRO when they started playing, mainly because they were having such a good time of it I discovered I didn't need to play the game to enjoy watching them play it.

Quote from: Simlasa;609683That does sound very cool. I'll have to check if my ancient computer will run it...

One thing about TSW is that it just went to the Guild Wars/Guild Wars 2 model of paying.  You buy the game, and no more sub.

I'm playing Star Trek Online, and I also DJ there as DJ Photon on Subspace Radio, a free live streaming music station. I stick around STO because it has an awesome community and I really like the starship combat.

Quote from: gattsuru;609669Sometimes that goes a little too far -- there's an Investigation quest that involved translating latin into a runic code, and another where knowledge of morse code and basic electronics was required -- but it does very well, most of the time.

I love that stuff, personally. None of it is so complex that you can't figure it out if you're willing to spend a little time on google and wikipedia to figure some things out. The game has an in-game browser, too. Although one time to decode a really fast cycling audio morse code message, I found it most expedient to download a freeware morse code translator and play the code in game with that running in the background.

I like that it forces you to think outside the box. Lateral thinking FTW.

Quote from: Kaiu Keiichi;610137I'm playing Star Trek Online, and I also DJ there as DJ Photon on Subspace Radio, a free live streaming music station. I stick around STO because it has an awesome community and I really like the starship combat.

For a moment I got all excited about a streaming station playing Alexander Courage, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Dennis McCarthy and maybe even some other stuff that would work well like Paul Oakenfold that I could listen to while cruising at maximum warp... then I clicked it and got grungy Nu-Metal.

Bummer

Played Champions Online for a while, but got bored.

Also tried EVE Online, and really liked it except for a certain sense of cyclic pointlessness... the sense of being in such a giant universe was great, though. Would have liked a little more character customisation, and maybe some more personality to the actual places you visit. Or maybe that's just me.

Quote from: Simlasa;609683That does sound very cool. I'll have to check if my ancient computer will run it...

how ancient is ancient?

I still enjoy DDO, even though it requires a major commitment of time, as high level Quests can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours to complete, and you can't stop mid-Quest.

Just started playing SWTOR with my son, and while the game is fun, damn do they charge for everything. F2P on SWTOR is certainly a "you can't have nice things...EVER."

Downloading DCU, to see if my son will enjoy it. I remember not enjoying the button mashing oddness of trying to do Combo's on a computer (hopefully they've fixed this).

Going to download STO, since I didn't know it went F2P, and I enjoyed the Starship Battles. Hopefully, I won't be required to go dirtside, like at launch.

The wife and I have been talked into giving SWTOR a try by a former WoW guildmate.

I'm downloading the game right now. Who can recommend a good, noob-friendly race/class combo? We're playing Republic-side (though I'll be damned if I don't get to play a Cyborg Bounty Hunter and/or a Pureblood Sith Inquisitor further down the line).

Quote from: The Butcher;627333The wife and I have been talked into giving SWTOR a try by a former WoW guildmate.

I'm downloading the game right now. Who can recommend a good, noob-friendly race/class combo? We're playing Republic-side (though I'll be damned if I don't get to play a Cyborg Bounty Hunter and/or a Pureblood Sith Inquisitor further down the line).

If you want a class that can heal yourself out in the field but still use DPS, there's the Trooper/Commando line.  I think the Jedi Councillor/Sage DPS tree and Smuggler/Scoundrel DPS tree would be good for that too.  

You start out solo, but you get a companion before you leave the starting planet.  The starting companion for each Republic class is:

Jedi Knight = DPS companion
Jedi Councillor = Tank companion
Trooper = DPS/Tank companion
Smuggler = Tank companion

I think all four base classes play well, but if you favor glass cannon Mage-style of play, Councillor/Shadow and Smuggler/Gunslinger are the directions to head in.  If you like tanking, there's the Knight/Guardian, Councillor/Shadow, and Trooper/Vanguard.  I've done some off tanking on my Councillor/Shadow before on World Bosses when we didn't have another tank, and it holds aggro surprisingly well.  So don't discount the Councillor/Shadow for tanking even though it's a light armor wearer.

As far as story goes... I only have a Smuggler at L50, and I've only gotten through Chapter 1 on the others, but I liked them all.  The Smuggler is the most different of the three, because you're not really fighting for the Republic until much later, and the Councillor is definitely the most pseudo-scientific Force jargon of the bunch, but I still liked them all.  From what I've been told, if you liked KOTOR, the Knight's class story is most like that.

I'm playing Planetside2 for my MMO fix, and Skyrim for my RPG fix.  Beautiful balance in those two, actually.

Quote from: The Butcher;627333We're playing Republic-side (though I'll be damned if I don't get to play a Cyborg Bounty Hunter and/or a Pureblood Sith Inquisitor further down the line).

The bounty hunter gets a healer pet.  So it makes for a good solo class...

Quote from: mcbobbo;627381The bounty hunter gets a healer pet.  So it makes for a good solo class...

I really like the BH on the Empire side, although I've only played into Chapter One there too.  Kind of like the Smuggler in that it's not technically part of the Imperial forces, but plays like the Trooper.