Looking for a Good MMORPG Right Now

Hey guys, I'm on a hunt to find a MMORPG to learn, play, really get into, and also make some friends on. So if anyone knows a MMORPG that satisfies the following or most of the following criteria, that would be amazing! If not, feel free to recommend some other MMORPGs too.

What I'm looking for:

  • Has a decently active community
  • Free to play and not too pay to win
  • Doesn't require too much skill in fighting mechanics
  • Has co-op/guild elements to it that makes making friends easier
  • Doesn't require super high specs, my PC can handle some gaming but not the high end stuff.
  • Not a must, but the more customisable it is the better!

Recently picked up Maple Story 2 and enjoyed it, but there aren't many active users so I'm wanting to maybe invest my time into another one.

Thanks in advance!

Comments

  • +2

    Albion Online is decent, but has a hefty grind.
    Guild Wars 2 is great, but you do have to purchase the game, subscription is optional.

    • +2

      Guild Wars 2's core game is free. You don't need to purchase the game.

      • Great casual game also, a good friend of mine introduced me to it and I log in intermittently - been meaning to play it properly but never get the time to sit down ~

        • GW2 is a great game. No P2W model, you only pay for skins. People are very friendly and helpful and there is always heaps of things to do in the game.

  • wolcen is the flavor of the month atm, if you like arpgs.

    • Have to pay for that one though.

  • I've been trying out the demo for FFXIV lately. It's very substantial. I'm 30 hours in and still a bit off the point where I'd need to buy the game.

    People were telling me its probably the most solid MMO right now. It doesn't do anything super unique, but it takes the best parts from others - or so I've heard.

    Also apparently the story is top notch later on.

    • They're apparently going to rework the base campaign this year as well so it's not as cumbersome, I'm waiting for that before giving it a try.

  • Those RunEscape mems.. is that still a thing?

    • Runescape membership is still a thing. It's only free if you have enough gp in game to buy a bond per 14 days of membership. Otherwise, it isn't free and have to pay for membership per month.

  • +3

    Free and MMORPG don't really go well together; Ideally if you want optimal gameplay and a large player base, you'd want to be playing a game with relatively low ping (somewhere below 200 is satisfactory for PVE content imo) which in turn will most likely require a monthly subscription.

    • Runescape - F2P content then it'll probably get boring unless you sign up for a members account. Still quite a lot of people playing, combat is elementary and customization is minimal.

    • PSO2 - F2P grind heavy JMMORPG, probs can't make many friends there unless you can speak Japanese, but there should be an NA server starting up soon. Can't vouch for ping but from what I've heard there's a lot of customization you can do with your character on it. Pay for cosmetics but not pay to win iirc.

    • World of Warcraft - TBH can't go wrong with World of Warcraft; low ping with OCE servers, quality content, armor transmog (change appearance of armor but keep stats), catered for both casual and hardcore players, active player base, gets grindy if you want to get cool looking mounts or legendary items, terrible company ethics. Requires expansions and monthly subscription.

    • Final Fantasy XIV - another JMMORPG, although dominated by a lot of Japanese-speaking players, theres quite a lot of English speaking players (including myself) all gathered in specific servers. ping is dependent on how your ISP routes you to their servers, not as grindy as other MMORPG, lots of character customisation. Requires expansions and monthly subscription.

    • Guild Wars 2 - haven't played this in years, some mechanics are very ping reliant (gliding for example), pretty grind heavy and a lot of RNG involved to get end game items from world bosses. Player base is quite active, multiple full instances/worlds for world bosses. F2P until you hit the expansion content.

  • Ragnarok M: Eternal Love - i know its mobile based but you can play it on an android emulator if you want.

    • Don't you people have phones?!!

      • OP wants to play on a PC so ive suggested a turnaround on playing a mobile based MMORPG.

  • +1

    If you're a star wars fan, you can try Star Wars: The Old Republic. Never tried it though, I heard it was good. Not sure if its pay to win though.

    • Played this years ago, it was amazing - apparently it's been changed a fair bit since. I loved the storylines / actually deciding what happens - much immersion, would recommend if you like making story choices / enjoyed KOTOR~

  • -2

    There is only one option, Everquest!

    Classic server just launched - Project1999.com

    • I can feel the EQ love!

  • Tree of Savior

  • bought division 2 for $4.50 last week and it has been awesome, especially coop with friends. Except it is quite demanding for pc requirements.

    • +1
      • Free to play (but must pay for the game)
      • Doesn't require too much skill in fighting mechanics
      • Doesn't require super high specs, my PC can handle some gaming but not the high end stuff.

      Nope nope and nope.

  • Personally I don't think you can look past GW2 given the requirements you stated. If you want to play WoW though, there are a heap of free servers out there to play on. I find the WoW community can be pretty toxic though.

  • +1

    Old School Runescape. Definitely quite a bit to do F2P but bonds/p2p content if you feel like more.

  • +1

    Old School Runescape. If you want free stuff - add Fudge Knight in game

  • I have tried most free games out there (Guild Wars 2, Albion Online, Destiny 2, Path of Exile, etc.) and what I can tell you is that personally, nothing beats FFXIV for MMORPG (not free).
    The story, art, and especially music (soundtrack, boss theme, area theme) are so distinctive that you can imagine yourself exploring fields, dungeons, and fighting bosses when you listen to them post-game.

    I urge you to try the FFXIV free trial (unlimited gameplay until level 35 for every job - you can become any class/job just using one character).
    FFXIV is also the only game I pay for (I had always been playing free games).

    The thing with subscription is that, it is common to have gaps in between your subscription.
    Say you play 1 month to complete the main content, then stop for a couple months until a new content is released.
    If you decide to try FFXIV, please note that you cannot mix/match the things you purchase on Steam vs non-Steam (I use non-Steam).

  • Ultima Online?

    Has a decently active community - Yes
    Free to play and not too pay to win - Yes
    Doesn't require too much skill in fighting mechanics - Yes
    Has co-op/guild elements to it that makes making friends easier - Yes
    Doesn't require super high specs, my PC can handle some gaming but not the high end stuff. - Definitely Yes
    Not a must, but the more customisable it is the better! - Yes
    
  • Eve Online fills all criteria except #3

  • Just don't.

    Too many good games out there instead of playing arguably one of the worst genres.
    Free ones? Pay2Win
    Pay2start? No one plays.
    PayPerMonth? Too expensive.

    • +1

      GW2 and Planetside 2 are both free to play and are awesome. No Pay2Win model at all - only Pay2lookcool

      • Plus 1 for Planetside 2!

  • Elder Scrolls Online

  • World of Warcraft Classic launched in August last year, I'll address your points.

    Has a decently active community
    - Very active, lots of players, with isolation going on it's actually caused the primary oceanic server to have queues to log in and prime time.
    Free to play and not too pay to win
    - Free to play as some others said doesn't go hand in hand with MMO's. If it's free to play, there will be elements that will allow you to pay to win. WoW Classic only requires a subscription to WoW, I'm not sure how that works if you don't have the base game yet, it's possible you might need to buy a base game first
    Doesn't require too much skill in fighting mechanics
    - Most MMO's will require some skill or coordination. I'd say WoW Classic is relatively easy, but I'm coming from a background of playing WoW beforehand and knowing the base mechanics. There is a lot to take it, but it takes you on that journey through levelling.
    Has co-op/guild elements to it that makes making friends easier
    - Lot's on guilds, plenty of groups to pick up and quest together/do dungeons
    Doesn't require super high specs, my PC can handle some gaming but not the high end stuff.
    - Certainly doesn't require high end specs, there's a slider where you can set it back to Classic graphics and it plays on anything. I had a Surface Laptop with the integrated graphics and it worked a treat on there
    Not a must, but the more customisable it is the better!
    - Not sure what you mean by customisation? Characters obtain gear and your character is customised in this way, but most players/classes are aiming for the same gear, so you'll get a lot characters looking the same around the place. You can add HEAPS of addons to the game to change the way certain interfaces work etc.

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