Hi all.
I've become an obsessive MMORPG player. I have been playing for about 2 years now. I always believed it was impossible for us SA players to find online games on international servers. But from my experience in the last 2 years, there are alot of fun games. So if you have adsl and you enjoy RPG's I'd highly recommend you open your wings and give it a go.
There was another thread where the tentative question on where to play, came up, but I don't feel the answer was given fully. I have found that American and European servers offer us the most stability. The Asian ones, tend to be over-crowded and so we tend to get the bad lag there. As for communities. I have online friends all over the world. Don't stereotype players by their country's government. Hey! If they did that to us we'd never play anywhere! (oops did I say that out loud??)
I tend to beta test alot of games, so these are just some of the ones Ive played and their good and bad points IMO. There is obviously alot of information on here about WoW, Eve and GW so Im going to skip those.
I am part of a large clan of adult players and as such I hear alot about different games and so if you want to test something out, but aren't sure if its worth the money/download. Please feel free to message me and I can ask around if I haven't played it myself.
Also be aware that MMORPG's fall into different 'categories' so for example where one person may not like a PvP game another may not play a game without PvP, the reviews on those games will be completely different. Read up on websites like http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/gameId/0 or http://www.onrpg.com/ for some valuable insights and find the right game for you.
so, my reviews....
http://hero.netgame.com Hero online.
This is a I played as a beta tester. It was a great community. Lots of friendly people. A fair amount of lag in largely populated areas like the market in the centre of all the maps. It was easy to level to start as most MMORPG's are, but when it hit the grinding plateau it became really hard work. The skills tree and items we ok, a bit rigid IMO, no real variation or ability to create new or exciting things. It was very very easy to make money though. The quests were usually predictable- kill 10 or these 100 of those, but occasionally there were some nasties where you had to wait in particular places for a mob to spawn and then everyone and his aunty would pop out of nowhere and KS like mad to kill the same mob... it was frustrating to say in the least. The graphics were pretty cool. Its a free game and as such its fun but certainly not spectacular.
http://www.istaria.com/ Horizons Online. This was an absolutely beautiful game. The graphics spectacular. Very little lag. Quests were complicated and interesting. Crafting was very interesting and complex. And there were limitless options in terms of skills and character creation. However, the game got a bad reputation in the middle of 2006 as they were using an http instead of https and as such were criticized for not having sufficient security for the credit card payment. (this has since been resolved) As a result the community diminished and there are very few players around. Id highly recommend it if you're more of a single player, but if you wish to have a more interactive experience, it is lacking.
http://www.martialheroes.com/ Martial Heroes.
I played this for a few months. It was a spectacular community to start with. Sadly an element of Asian players came in and caused some problems for a while (they take their gaming VERY seriously over in China/Singapore/Thailand etc). I understand this has been resolved to a large degree. There is a cash market available to assist with leveling items/potions, these can become very addictive so beware! It was fairly easy to level to a strong character. Skill tree is also fairly rigid, although there is a little more variety than hero for example. Lag wasn't too bad during the day, but our night times it was very rarely a problem.
http://www.persistentworlds.co.uk/ Carpe Diem and 9Dragons
I played the closed and open beta for CD and as yet haven't activated my beta for 9D.
CD was a pretty game, with a very active and friendly community. I thoroughly enjoyed the people and the GM's were very active in the game. It was fairly easy to level and the game events were really good fun. PvP was restricted to certain zones. Crafting and Upgrading was a little irritating as they had set the fail/success rates too low. So getting something to actually work cost alot of money. Saying that though, money was very easy to make. I left because I found it a little boring for my own taste. But if you're into a very active community and don't mind the grind-fest then this game comes with a very high rating IMO.
9D as I said I have not yet played, but from friends who enjoyed Martial Heroes, Hero Online and Silkroad, its a great game in a very similar genre as these.
http://www.roseonlinegame.com Rose Online
I was a beta tester. It was a kids game for sure. Its fun, with very cute graphics and lots of fun... if you're under 14yrs old. A fairly safe one for you children to play. The GM's are quite active and it was easy to master. No real crafting or nic-nacs to keep any interest for an adult though. Its a very active community.
http://www.ryl.pf/ Risk Your Life.
Comes with no recommendations at all. It was as laggy as hell. The community was unfriendly and very self-orientated. The main town has a great big lion in the centre of it, so you could be at an NPC or whatever and just die at one swipe of its paw. (Which happened alot!!!) Graphics were ok, crafting was very complex (which I personally enjoy). There was a pvp area that had guild/ region wars at various times during the day/night.
http://www.silkroadonline.net Silkroad Online
I played this when I was with a very unstable ISP, so Im not sure about the lag being due to them or the server being over-crowded. Other reports from people around the world say it had very little lag. So I cannot say where the problem lay. However, I enjoyed it when I did play it. The game had alot of flexibility and lovely characters to choose from. PvP was rife, so you need to be careful where you choose to level. Graphics were colourful and appealing. As free game, I would say give it a try and see if you have more luck than I did with regards to lag.
Games Im going to be checking out in 2007:
Vanguard http://www.vanguardsoh.com
This looks pretty good, however I was told it's its a 6Gb download, so I will have to get hold of it from friends abroad. The game will be avail in-store though. The beta has just started.
Chronicles of Spellborn http://tcos.com/news/index.php?from=www.thechroniclesofspellborn.com
I've been watching this one closely for sometime. Ive also chatted to some of the developers/community on IRC and they all seem very hyped about it. The graphics and artwork are amazing, and I think it will be a very interesting game to try out.
Star Wars Galaxies http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/
I have a friend who is insisting that the new releases etc coming this year will bring it back to it's former glory. So I will wait and see.
And one that I can't wait to see how it turns out is Africa MMO http://www.africammo.com
Hopefully, I have given some new ideas to some people out there who wish to try out MMORPG's or some new ones. I'd LOVE to hear about your fun/non-so-fun experiences of other MMORPG's out there. So please post!!
I've become an obsessive MMORPG player. I have been playing for about 2 years now. I always believed it was impossible for us SA players to find online games on international servers. But from my experience in the last 2 years, there are alot of fun games. So if you have adsl and you enjoy RPG's I'd highly recommend you open your wings and give it a go.
There was another thread where the tentative question on where to play, came up, but I don't feel the answer was given fully. I have found that American and European servers offer us the most stability. The Asian ones, tend to be over-crowded and so we tend to get the bad lag there. As for communities. I have online friends all over the world. Don't stereotype players by their country's government. Hey! If they did that to us we'd never play anywhere! (oops did I say that out loud??)
I tend to beta test alot of games, so these are just some of the ones Ive played and their good and bad points IMO. There is obviously alot of information on here about WoW, Eve and GW so Im going to skip those.
I am part of a large clan of adult players and as such I hear alot about different games and so if you want to test something out, but aren't sure if its worth the money/download. Please feel free to message me and I can ask around if I haven't played it myself.
Also be aware that MMORPG's fall into different 'categories' so for example where one person may not like a PvP game another may not play a game without PvP, the reviews on those games will be completely different. Read up on websites like http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/gameId/0 or http://www.onrpg.com/ for some valuable insights and find the right game for you.
so, my reviews....
http://hero.netgame.com Hero online.
This is a I played as a beta tester. It was a great community. Lots of friendly people. A fair amount of lag in largely populated areas like the market in the centre of all the maps. It was easy to level to start as most MMORPG's are, but when it hit the grinding plateau it became really hard work. The skills tree and items we ok, a bit rigid IMO, no real variation or ability to create new or exciting things. It was very very easy to make money though. The quests were usually predictable- kill 10 or these 100 of those, but occasionally there were some nasties where you had to wait in particular places for a mob to spawn and then everyone and his aunty would pop out of nowhere and KS like mad to kill the same mob... it was frustrating to say in the least. The graphics were pretty cool. Its a free game and as such its fun but certainly not spectacular.
http://www.istaria.com/ Horizons Online. This was an absolutely beautiful game. The graphics spectacular. Very little lag. Quests were complicated and interesting. Crafting was very interesting and complex. And there were limitless options in terms of skills and character creation. However, the game got a bad reputation in the middle of 2006 as they were using an http instead of https and as such were criticized for not having sufficient security for the credit card payment. (this has since been resolved) As a result the community diminished and there are very few players around. Id highly recommend it if you're more of a single player, but if you wish to have a more interactive experience, it is lacking.
http://www.martialheroes.com/ Martial Heroes.
I played this for a few months. It was a spectacular community to start with. Sadly an element of Asian players came in and caused some problems for a while (they take their gaming VERY seriously over in China/Singapore/Thailand etc). I understand this has been resolved to a large degree. There is a cash market available to assist with leveling items/potions, these can become very addictive so beware! It was fairly easy to level to a strong character. Skill tree is also fairly rigid, although there is a little more variety than hero for example. Lag wasn't too bad during the day, but our night times it was very rarely a problem.
http://www.persistentworlds.co.uk/ Carpe Diem and 9Dragons
I played the closed and open beta for CD and as yet haven't activated my beta for 9D.
CD was a pretty game, with a very active and friendly community. I thoroughly enjoyed the people and the GM's were very active in the game. It was fairly easy to level and the game events were really good fun. PvP was restricted to certain zones. Crafting and Upgrading was a little irritating as they had set the fail/success rates too low. So getting something to actually work cost alot of money. Saying that though, money was very easy to make. I left because I found it a little boring for my own taste. But if you're into a very active community and don't mind the grind-fest then this game comes with a very high rating IMO.
9D as I said I have not yet played, but from friends who enjoyed Martial Heroes, Hero Online and Silkroad, its a great game in a very similar genre as these.
http://www.roseonlinegame.com Rose Online
I was a beta tester. It was a kids game for sure. Its fun, with very cute graphics and lots of fun... if you're under 14yrs old. A fairly safe one for you children to play. The GM's are quite active and it was easy to master. No real crafting or nic-nacs to keep any interest for an adult though. Its a very active community.
http://www.ryl.pf/ Risk Your Life.
Comes with no recommendations at all. It was as laggy as hell. The community was unfriendly and very self-orientated. The main town has a great big lion in the centre of it, so you could be at an NPC or whatever and just die at one swipe of its paw. (Which happened alot!!!) Graphics were ok, crafting was very complex (which I personally enjoy). There was a pvp area that had guild/ region wars at various times during the day/night.
http://www.silkroadonline.net Silkroad Online
I played this when I was with a very unstable ISP, so Im not sure about the lag being due to them or the server being over-crowded. Other reports from people around the world say it had very little lag. So I cannot say where the problem lay. However, I enjoyed it when I did play it. The game had alot of flexibility and lovely characters to choose from. PvP was rife, so you need to be careful where you choose to level. Graphics were colourful and appealing. As free game, I would say give it a try and see if you have more luck than I did with regards to lag.
Games Im going to be checking out in 2007:
Vanguard http://www.vanguardsoh.com
This looks pretty good, however I was told it's its a 6Gb download, so I will have to get hold of it from friends abroad. The game will be avail in-store though. The beta has just started.
Chronicles of Spellborn http://tcos.com/news/index.php?from=www.thechroniclesofspellborn.com
I've been watching this one closely for sometime. Ive also chatted to some of the developers/community on IRC and they all seem very hyped about it. The graphics and artwork are amazing, and I think it will be a very interesting game to try out.
Star Wars Galaxies http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/
I have a friend who is insisting that the new releases etc coming this year will bring it back to it's former glory. So I will wait and see.
And one that I can't wait to see how it turns out is Africa MMO http://www.africammo.com
Hopefully, I have given some new ideas to some people out there who wish to try out MMORPG's or some new ones. I'd LOVE to hear about your fun/non-so-fun experiences of other MMORPG's out there. So please post!!
