Early game of Aion 2 makes you think its a PVE game. Run around open world, kill mobs, do dungeons, do expedition, etc. Late game is the opposite. When you are done with MSQ and sidequests you will have a weekly cap of energy. When you expend that energy within 8 hours or so the major content left for you is the abyss.

The abyss is an open world PVP zone where everyone just camps each other and the winners are normally the one who swiped the most, do not have jobs so they can no life the game, or remote workers who can play and work. You have to participate in the abyss to make meaningful PVE progression too. About 60 stigma shards are from PVE, and 200 are from the abyss. You buy stigma shards with abyss points, and outside of abyss related activities the amount of abyss points you get are pretty pitiful. I spent a fair amount of time in the game only to be highly dissapointed by the PVP end game. So I'm just putting this out there for others who might solely be interested in PVE like myself.

Hey MMO community,

I posted here a couple of months ago about my little roguelike MMO, and thought I'd share another update now that it's part of Steam Next Fest which is currently underway.

SpringTale is a 2D roguelike platformer MMO inspired by MapleStory, Realm of the Mad God and Vagante. Meet other players, fight bosses and collect gear that shapes how you play.

You can play the demo now, which includes over 2+ hours worth of content. The demo is available on Windows and MacOS, and can be downloaded via steam here: SpringTale on steam.

Hope to catch you online :)

My first mmorpg was runescape, I played it for 3 to 4 years. I recently learned its very different from how it use to be. People play more "efficient" now and dont talk much, theres not much pking or castle wars, its mostly ppl minmax grinding (the opinions I gathered from their reddit)

This got me thinking, and I noticed similar things before. It seems after a game has been out for a while it becomes less social and more "just follow this guide"

When they are new everyone's finding out things for the first few months to years, and people talk in open a lot, and it just seems more fun

I noticed this with Tera Online, GW2, FFXIV (the 2012 version), Aion, New World etcs

The beginning of Tera and New World

Everybody talked in the world chat constantly, I met a lot of friends who were figuring things out, formed groups, etcs

Then I came back a year later to try both again and most areas nobody's around, barely any talking in World chat, etcs

I dont know if that's just a thing with all mmorpgs though, because runescape was still very social and exciting and new throughout all those 2002 to 2006 years I played.

But supposedly new its more afk grinding and not much socializing, im not sure of all the details but I heard they focused on PvM and a lot of wildy peers left, as well as made the GE so no more trading, and took away random events so ppl can afk skill now

I think all those features help the game to be more solo oriented lol

Anyway, I dunno what im saying, I was thinking of trying OSRS but I think it won't ve as fun as before. So I though about these other mmos ice played

I basically play most new mmos at release regardless if their good or not its still pretty fun cause a lot of newbies and chatting, but a lot of recent mmos dont even require socializing theres dungeon finders, market boards, etcs

I feel like mmorpg makers should implement ways to make it more social somehow because that's my fav aspect of mmos lol

This is a post for awareness in online gaming as companies attempt to create highly predatory monetization, this is what you might be facing in most mmo's eventually.

Hey so ill be traveling around asia for work for the next few months was wondering if you guys had any recommendations? Preferably not too expensive as i wont use it much afterwards. I mainly play star wars galaxies, anarchy online and everquest! Im just not sure if a thinkpad or a hp, dell would be the best !

I am a bit curious about what is your dream mmorpg, more classic, modern, one we never saw ?

What is your idea about that and what this one really needed to be THE MMORPG ?

^{(PS : Don't mind the dog, it's to catch your attention})

Hey everyone! :)

Some of you might remember my post here a while ago, where I shared the game my twin brother and I have been working on! We received a ton of valuable feedback from this community, which has genuinely helped us shape and improve the game over the past year. We just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts and suggestions. It really means a lot to us!

For those who missed it, after spending over 15 years raiding in WoW, we decided to make the kind of game we always wanted. One where we could experience the challenge and depth of MMO raids without having to rely on a group showing up on time.

Sil and the Fading World is our take on a solo-raiding RPG. It combines the mechanical intensity of MMORPG boss fights (like in WoW or FFXIV) with the loot, buildcrafting, and progression of ARPGs like Diablo or Grim Dawn.

You fight complex, multi-phase raid bosses in third-person combat, dealing with mechanics, managing cooldowns, optimizing rotations, and figuring out your own builds. All balanced around single-player. No guild schedules, no PUG wipes, just you, your build, and your skill!

After more than 5 years of working on this passion project, we're finally part of Steam Next Fest!

We've made a ton of progress since our last post and just released a massive update to our free demo!

Here's some of the new stuff:

• New Rogue Specialization: Assassin, with its own skills, talents, and playstyle
• New Raid: Dunevault, featuring an entirely new raid boss and mechanics
• Visual Progression, so your character's appearance evolves as you gear up
• Increased Level Cap and plenty of new talents to experiment with
• Loot Rework, including new items and item sets
• New Pet System
• Reworked Abyss System for more challenging and replayable endgame content

We're still just two brothers who grew up loving MMORPGs, trying to make the kind of game we always wished existed.

The new demo is completely free to play on Steam

Players who purchase WoW: Forever beta package will receive 1 to 3 special launch codes allowing them to invite a friend to experience the game during its launch week.

According to a message sent to purchasers, invited players will not need an active World of Warcraft subscription to access WoW: Forever.

The invitation code will grant access starting November 5, allowing friends to join the adventure throughout launch week.

This initiative gives existing players an opportunity to introduce friends to WoW: Forever without requiring them to maintain an active subscription.

This was the only job listing which said ”MMO”. Must be a mistake?

XL Games posted a video detailing what can be expected when the game launches into early access, the TL;DW is:

• The game will launch into early access with three regions, each with 10 hours of main story gameplay per region, totaling 30 hours.
  • Obviously, this does not include additional content such as side quests, dungeons, raids, etc.
• Launches with four classes: Warrior, Ranger, Mage, and Berserker.
  • Each class will have access to two class-specific weapons initially.
• Housing, crafting, trade, and PVP channels will all be there at the early access launch.
• B2P model, priced at $30 USD for the early access launch.
• Updates that are currently being worked on and will be the first to come after early access launch are:
  • Removing gender lock, class by class.
  • Adding a third weapon for each class, one at a time.
  • Combat balance, character growth, and quality-of-life improvements (party and channel systems are specifically mentioned).

Video Link

Never played it before but I just saw the ghost in the shell collab so I was wondering if anyone here played it? Would you say that its good?

Action combat is just not fun. It's alright at first but doesn't hit the same as tab targets do. I do believe a hybrid of the system could work, but so far the only game I know that's done this was ashes of creation and that game was an utter failure(although I don't think the combat is why). The top MMOs of all time current and recent all use tab target with one exception and that's guild wars 2. Tab targeting just feels good when you hit high damage numbers where action it doesn't feel the same. In wow I feel accomplished if I take on 4-5 enemies solo(classic eras we all know open world in retail is easy af) Action not so much.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3218230/view/712289492929610762?l=english

Gender-locked classes: In my last letter, I said this was something we would continue to consider. Since then, we’ve received even more feedback on this topic, and I’m glad to share that development is now underway. We plan to introduce additional gender options gradually, starting with select classes, rather than for all classes at once. These changes won’t be ready for the Steam Next Fest demo, but we’ll share more about the rollout as soon as we can.

Makes me pretty hesitant to play a game that have gender lock but from this Producer letter, it is going to get removed. There's other information in the Producer letter but that's the biggest one for me.

Horizontal progression is a term that gets thrown around a lot and I felt like it might be helpful to paint a picture of what that actually looks like for me in Guild Wars 2, an MMO that is known for its level and gear caps remaining unchanged through all the years and expansions that have released since launch. While gear is still important, and absolutely worth grinding for, getting the highest DPS in a raid or winning a 1v1 in PvP almost never comes down to having better gear - it comes down to skill expression and build knowledge.

Note that the point of this post is *not* to simply glaze Guild Wars 2. The game is not for everyone, and that’s okay. It has many flaws too, but for me at least, the positives greatly outweigh the negatives. I’d specifically like to address some common misconceptions about the game’s open-ended progression and people writing it off as a “casual” MMO with no purpose behind grinding. GW2 is as casual or hardcore as you make it, and for those who enjoy hunting achievements (like I do) or unlocking account-wide perks that benefit all your characters, there is a seemingly never-ending amount of content to play.

One of the reasons GW2’s maps are “evergreen” and are always populated with players is that veteran players are incentivized to return to older maps for achievements.

For example, right now I’m working on unlocking Aurora, a legendary trinket (jewelry) that requires completing collections and achievements across 6 different maps from Living World Season 3.
These achievements reveal a much more detailed world than you might have noticed on your first time exploring the maps while playing through the stories You will complete events, fight bosses, or talk to NPCs you might have missed the first time you were here. You will be taken to obscure locations you might not have had a reason to seek out before. You can think of these achievements as long term quests, things you chip away at.

Last night I was in a map where I’m doing one of the more tedious steps of the Aurora collection where I have to complete the 4 heart quests on the map each day for several consecutive days. Thing is, because I enjoy the gameplay loop so much, it never feels boring. I’m always having fun because of GW2’s combat system, and because I recently rolled a new character and am playing Mesmer, a class I’ve never played before, everything feels fresh as I approach combat with a completely different lens and playstyle than my previous characters.

As I’m chipping away at the heart quests, someone in map chat asks if anyone wants to fight the destroyer boss - a huge lava scorpion thing that had just spawned. This boss has devastating AOE and ranged attacks, which means dodging for iframes is essential to survival. One missed dodge could put you in downed state. I thought sure, why not? So I stopped what I was doing and went over to the boss arena.

During peak hours, a larger group might have taken down this boss no problem (the difficulty does scale depending on number of players) but late night on a weeknight, we began the fight with just the two of us. It was a thrilling fight as a duo, and we danced around the boss, rescuing each other when we got downed, and gave a valiant effort, but both ended up dying and the boss healed back to full health. We both throw ourselves at it again, and just when it seems like we might have the same fate as before, a third player flies in and joins the fight. The third player tilted the scale in our favor, and this time, the boss goes down and I hear the sound of an achievement popping - the boss had dropped an item I didn’t even know I needed for my achievement collections.

Last night was an absolute blast for me, and the reason I’m highlighting it is because there are so many opportunities for spontaneous gameplay that occur in the open world across every map, and every time I log in it feels like a unique experience in the game that is always progressing my goals in some way.

What will I do after I unlock Aurora? I will move onto Vision, another legendary trinket that has completely different achievements on completely different maps with completely different gameplay. While it’s true open world content is generally easier than instanced group content, there is still plenty of challenge available should you decide to go looking for it. Open world gives me the variety and freedom I feel I often miss out on in other games.

And if you do get tired of open world? Maybe you’d rather go for Coalescence, a legendary ring that requires getting raid boss kills, or Conflux, a legendary that requires playing World vs. World PvP. And at any point the grind starts feeling stale, you can do what I did, and try out a profession or elite spec you’ve never played before, gear it up, and pick up right where you left off on another character.

And that’s another factor that gives GW2 so much replayability is how alt-friendly it is. Feeling yourself progress and master a new class or role to the point you feel like you can confidently play your new class in raids or fractals is awesome. Because mastery levels, achievements, and legendary gear are account-wide unlocks, things you do on one character benefit another.

GW2 just gives me so many different options in how I’m able to spend my time in the game. Some of the most fun I’ve had in any MMO has been simply traversing the open world and jumping in to help other players with events whenever I feel like it. Or joining a 50-player squad for a meta event just because I happened to be there as it was starting. It feels more like I’m playing an action adventure RPG game in a shared online world than it does in other MMOs. The maps are grand, vertically layered, with all sorts of puzzles and secrets built into them, not just scenery populated by mobs.

But at the end of the day, if the progression that feels best for you is more vertical - grinding dungeons and raids and getting more and more powerful gear - that’s okay, and GW2 might not be for you. But for people like me, it’s never-ending fun.

Or does it have to be something like Aion 2 where you can directly buy more power than another player?

I have been playing Monsters and Memories for a little over a week now and my intial thoughts are this game has a lot going on for it IF you are the right kind of person for this game. Who is the right person you might ask? Well there are probably a lot of people who would enjoy it. I think some of the biggest things are you must be patient, resourceful and not afraid to ask NICELY for help. Nothing in this game is given to you. You want a party? Go to the different camps and ask or make one your self. You died and cant get your body? As for an invis from a Necro or other caster. This game gives you a lot of tools to help your self and others but it isnt going to just make it easy and make it a button press to get somewhere to to your body.

YOU HAVE TO BE SOCIAL.

This game is incredibly social. To all those mmo gamers who have been begging for a social game. This game requires that you talk to people. When you are camping people actually chat with each other and the gameplay isn't so fast you don't have time to type.

The sense of exploration has been like nothing else. The places are actually dangerous theres always been new camps and places to go and see. Some of the areas are beautiful and the vibes of the camps can be amazing.

Not everything is perfect about the game. It currently can be a bit buggy and laggy but I'm not sure if they expected the game to be this popular. They do seem to be working actively on remedying these issues though.

Who this game isnt for? Anyone who wants instant gratification, who needs on button teleports everywhere. Someone who wants to speed through leveling. I would also say this game does require some time. If you only have 30 minutes to play at night I really wouldnt reccomend it. You can get away with 2-3 hours but if you want to do anything meaningful you need about that much time minimum. Im just being honest about that.

If you are coming from more modern MMOS there are some things that will feel foreign and strange but I promise if you take the time to learn the game it might just be one of the grandest adventures you will have.

Heres my hot take. It was actually a great classless system that allowed for plenty of build diversity and creativity. And the only reason people complain about it being bad is because some streamers were so bad at video games that they didn't even think to repair their gear. Being unable to kill trash mobs in the starter zone is a player problem. Not a combat problem.

Everything about the game screams mobile korean slop at best. UI was horrendous for PC player, combat was a fucking clunk-fest, audio/sfx was like it has total of 500$ budget.

Reminds me of Bless Unleashed but worse (and the game is already among the worst slop in MMO history, tf srsly XLGames?)

Hell, this game makes New World Alpha version looks and feel 10 times better.

I was hoping, at least if u want to butcher an IP and go for the "souls-like" combat route at least make it play like souls games (OR mistfall hunter at the very minimum..thats already a pretty low bar btw).

This game however feels and plays like a browser game. There is no weight, no hit feedback, just a souless asian slop. Even freaking GoT Kingsroad...a literal mobile slop adaptation made by netmarble, feels 3-4 times better than whatever this is.

Dont even make me start talking about the performance.

Sub 60fps max settings on 5080 without frame gen, really?

Honestly i have been sceptical about the game since its original game director (forgot the name, but its the founder of OG AA) left the project some 2 years ago. But recently i have been seeing countless of CCs, full of copiums, mainly NW refugees, over-glorifying the game and trying to build the hype towards the demo. Like srsly?

IMO, game needs another 18 month minimum in the oven or its definitely a DoA. If you think they will be able to pull some miracle for the December release then you must be on crack.

Ppl who have actually tried the demo, how do you feel about the game?

Seriously, every good MMO is over a decade old at this point. The most current release, Aion 2, shows what a real next gen MMO can look like, but western studios aren't making them. So instead eastern studios are the new MMORPG market by default while western studios seem content to keep the same game running for the next 50 years.