Casual-friendly MMOGs

[Xanthippe]

It's been a few months since I restarted CoH, so of course I'm getting restless playing.  I'm not one who needs to get to max level, I just get tired of the same game after about 4 months.  I could set my calendar by it, it's that regular.

I miss crafting.  (Why can't a MMOG have villages for retired adventurers who want to farm, fish and trade?  A combination Sims Online/DAOC realm combat/online poker/John Deere American Farmer mmog would be a awesome).

I'm thinking fondly of both DAOC and WoW.  I mentioned that to my husband, who pointed out that I'll just get pissed off and quit again within a few months once I remember why I quit in the first place - and I'm sure he's right.

Never having let that stop me before, I'm still looking back wistfully. 

Are either DAOC or WoW any more casual-friendly these days than they used to be? 

Talk me out of it.  Tell me why I don't want to go back to these games.

[SuperPopTart]

It's been a few months since I restarted CoH, so of course I'm getting restless playing.  I'm not one who needs to get to max level, I just get tired of the same game after about 4 months.  I could set my calendar by it, it's that regular.

I miss crafting.  (Why can't a MMOG have villages for retired adventurers who want to farm, fish and trade?  A combination Sims Online/DAOC realm combat/online poker/John Deere American Farmer mmog would be a awesome).

I'm thinking fondly of both DAOC and WoW.  I mentioned that to my husband, who pointed out that I'll just get pissed off and quit again within a few months once I remember why I quit in the first place - and I'm sure he's right.

Never having let that stop me before, I'm still looking back wistfully. 

Are either DAOC or WoW any more casual-friendly these days than they used to be? 

Talk me out of it.  Tell me why I don't want to go back to these games.

You will go back :( It will happen. Relinquish your soul now.

[squirrel]

WoW is super casual friendly, but i'm not sure it's 'more' casual friendly now. Levels 1 - 59 are completely open to all playstyles, soloing, small groups etc. 60+ is the realm of catass raiding and pvp honour farming. I don't even play my 60's - kind of consider that "GAME OVER! Insert .25 to continue" - i just play lower level alts.

I tried DAoC out on a classic server and they have done a lot to help the casual player. Catacombs introduced instanced dungeons that have quests you can do solo or in small groups and rarely take more than 1/2 - 1 hour. Great XP too. And BG's seem to have increased the amount of XP you get for RvR there (but that might just be my perception). Still, DAoC is not what i'd call a 'casual' MMORPG. WoW is better for that IMO.

[schild]

When was the last time you played an RPG or Simulation on a console? Seriously.

[Rasix]

WoW is pretty casual.  You can even kind of compete at lvl 60 in the AB battleground in shit gear.  Of course, trying to kill a warrior with two legendary items while your gear was considered mediocre 6 months ago is somewhat an exercise in futility.  But you can still play a role and help a team to win.  There's even Dire Maul, an instance which renders great equipment in under two hours easily.

The power creep is getting nasty, but it's not unmanagable yet. 

I'm not sure most casuals could get past DAoC's pve grind.  I can't.

[Strazos]

I tried DAoC out once, while I was in my second EQ stint. It seemed intersting, but I didn't really have anyone to play with, and te PVE was...weird, so I quit.

I'd be willing to give it a go if we had enough other people, even if onely for a month or two.

[Xanthippe]

I left behind a few 50s on Lancelot, plus a number of battleground toons, so I wouldn't be starting from scratch.

I just wonder if I can stand it.

I have a 48 alliance hunter on Shattered Hand, and a 53 undead rogue on Durotan, so I wouldn't be starting from scratch there either.

Last night, I dreamed about the old frontiers of Midgard, and also about the Arathi Highlands for some reason.  City of Heroes has fun combat, but the scenery leaves much to be desired.  It's just not pretty anywhere.  And I can't collect flowers or fish.

EDITED:  homophones!

[Righ]

Smoking pot is casual. MMORPGs and heroin are not.

[Nebu]

Does Puzzle Pirates count as an mmorpg?  If so, it's quite casual friendly.

[Jimbo]

AC used to be casual friendly...don't know if it still is, you could log on, get something done in 30 min blocks and log off.

[El Gallo]

If picking up a quarter of a pixel of xp counts as something, then yeah 

[Venkman]

If you want light everything, WoW is the way to go. Until 60. But if you're truly casual you'll be done before then anyway.

If you don't mind dodging bugs that have been around 30+ months, SWG is pretty casual too. Just be sure to start completely over. And know you'll probably quit before level 30. That's as much of the game that's been redesigned to fit the NGE. The rest is just a grind. Unless you're a pilot.

You also may want to ditch the "AAA" titles (yea, SWG, AAA? Really?) and go into something like Ragnarok or Habbo. New stuff with a lighter fair, and evocative of what you know.

Otherwise you'll just be playing what you once quit for probably the same reasons you'll quit again :)

[schild]

Dofus.

[Strazos]

Ragnarok is a horrible grind if I remember correctly.

Hobbo seems like a kiddy version of SimsOnline. And they're cutting out the in-game CS at the end of the year.

If you want casual, go play a single-player game.

[Hoax]

Dofus and Ragnarok are serious grinds.  Like super secret almost L2 serious.

Trust me, I know these things.

Some non grindy choices would include Gunz and Gunbound, Spacecowboy doesn't seem to grindy at first because flying a plane is fun, even without a joystick (although its much more fun with but I didn't play long enough to try to figure out if/how that was supported).

One of these days when I want a blue name I'll try to earn one by doing a write up of all the free MMO's I've tried over the last year...

[Strazos]

Gunz? Not grindy?

I would wtfpwn in that game constantly, and got almost nowhere. Lets not even get into how buggy the game is.

[Fabricated]

WoW is about as casual friendly as a "traditional" MMORPG gets. As said, you can get 1-60 comfortably playing goddamn however you want. Low level PVP battlegrounds are a joy too since you don't have to worry about getting your head rammed up your ass by some poopsocker in high warlord/Marshal gear sporting a hojillion DPS two-hander bigger than his character.

As for high level, there's a pretty good amount of stuff to do before you "run out" and end up left with MC or BWL as your only options for seeing new stuff or getting the next shiny.

The power creep isn't really all that noticible to me to be honest outside of MC getting made less and less worth bothering with due to the new smaller instances having gear that's damn near just as good if not better. Anything that makes MC not worth going to is good in my book, and the new 40-manner with the big-things in Silithus actually looks cool enough not to bore me to tears like the "Dark Square Stone Rooms" or "Big version of Ragefire Chasm" shit you're subjected to with BWL and MC.

[Der Helm]

Gunz? Not grindy?

I would wtfpwn in that game constantly, and got almost nowhere. Lets not even get into how buggy the game is.

How is that a grind ? To wtfpwn slow korean gamers IS the game.

That you can buy new guns and stuff is just the icing on the cake.

When I play the game, I play2crush, not to advance.

I think you have played to much MMORPG's.

[Sunbury]

If you want casual, go play a single-player game.

Are there any single player games that -
  Are open ended, can skip missions, skip areas, wander around the world, get help on occasion if you need it?

I can't find any.   Even D2 is very contrained to a path and one MUST kill bosses to get to new content.

[Hoax]

Gunz? Not grindy?

I would wtfpwn in that game constantly, and got almost nowhere. Lets not even get into how buggy the game is.

How is that a grind ? To wtfpwn slow korean gamers IS the game.

That you can buy new guns and stuff is just the icing on the cake.

When I play the game, I play2crush, not to advance.

I think you have played to much MMORPG's.

Exactly, I never even noticed level gain, hell I never played a DM game untill I got close to 36 (new revs!) after I hit the expert channels.  I mean sure gaining xp was nice, but it was a pretty complex fps really.  Bfly/ss are hardly easy at least for me and required a bunch of practice.

[Yegolev]

Puzzle Pirates.

If you mean something that you aren't in a big rush to play, maybe ATITD or EVE.  I still think back fondly to my little flax farm in a quiet valley in ATITD.  You can really "commune with nature" in ATITD.

Why am I suggesting EVE?  Who am I?  Do I seekretly love the space-MOG?

[Akkori]

I liked ATitD alot, and the first reason why I quit was transportation. Its pretty slow to get anywhere. But thats kinda a good thing as well. I like that there are places there that even long-time veterans have not seen. I love the crafting too. My only complaint there is that there are no limitations to how many skills you can have. It makes it a little depressing as a new player to know you have a loooooong time to wait till you can start to make tings to barter/sell. The community is there if you wish, or you can hang out all alone and get by, building a big area and filling it with cool stuff. The last thing that sorta turned me off was there is no "controlled" currency (i.e. game money). There are no "vendors", no "shops" to sell from, etc... The graphics are cheesy, but I can get over that.

If ATitD were to add in a central currency, make *local* transportation eaiser, provide Merchant tools (shops, vendors), and cap the number of skills players can learn, I would go back for sure. Right now I am waiting for the Third "Telling" to start so I can get in on the ground floor.

[Strazos]

Gunz? Not grindy?

I would wtfpwn in that game constantly, and got almost nowhere. Lets not even get into how buggy the game is.

How is that a grind ? To wtfpwn slow korean gamers IS the game.

That you can buy new guns and stuff is just the icing on the cake.

When I play the game, I play2crush, not to advance.

I think you have played to much MMORPG's.

Exactly, I never even noticed level gain, hell I never played a DM game untill I got close to 36 (new revs!) after I hit the expert channels.  I mean sure gaining xp was nice, but it was a pretty complex fps really.  Bfly/ss are hardly easy at least for me and required a bunch of practice.

This is what I was talking about. I got to level 10 or so. Maybe they "fixed" it.

[Der Helm]

Anyone still playing Gunz ? I just reinstalled it yesterday, looks like they nerved the knive-knockdown 

[Strazos]

That sucks; that was one of the only reasons to use a knife.

[Der Helm]

That sucks; that was one of the only reasons to use a knife.

Looks like I was wrong.

I was able to pwn the lewt speaking kiddies with my knife again.

I just picked some very good oponents for my first match.