MMO's you enjoyed playing or have fond memories of?

[Spellslinging Sellsword]

I was heavily into Ultima Online when it came out. Used to basically go to work, come home play until I went to bed. Also played a ton of Dark Age of Camelot. Great memories of playing both of those games. Others that I had fun playing were Shadowbane, Asheron's Call, Guild Wars, Warhammer, and World of Warcraft.

 

[bleys21]

I still am in LOTRO

Yes, but are you a farmer?

 

[Endless Flight]

Also, sometimes my wife forces me to go outside and, you know, do activities and shit.

There’s only so many snowmen you can make before it gets old.

 

[Raleel]

I was a fairly big deal on my Dark age of Camelot server. One of the top runemasters. Did a metric ton of pvp. A group of us (some Danes and myself) got us nerfed because we were running a Death Ray group - essentially, a skald, a mezzer, one debuffer runemaster, and the rest runemasters keyed to the debuff. Tag them with the debuff and they didn’t make it through two full rounds of casting by the runies. It lasted about a week, but it was a sight to behold. I also ran a lot of raids with a good friend of mine and got fucked out of some epic gear by some johnnie come lately.

I did a fair chunk of Planetside (very fun), city of heroes ( super jump is the best travel power in any game), and a little bit of DDO.

I nearly flunked out of school on MUDs (hello, Lost Souls), but ended up recovering and getting a CS degree ahead of time because I knew how to program from the MUD.

 

[Bunch]

I was a fairly big deal on my Dark age of Camelot server. One of the top runemasters. Did a metric ton of pvp. A group of us (some Danes and myself) got us nerfed because we were running a Death Ray group - essentially, a skald, a mezzer, one debuffer runemaster, and the rest runemasters keyed to the debuff. Tag them with the debuff and they didn’t make it through two full rounds of casting by the runies. It lasted about a week, but it was a sight to behold. I also ran a lot of raids with a good friend of mine and got fucked out of some epic gear by some johnnie come lately.

I did a fair chunk of Planetside (very fun), city of heroes ( super jump is the best travel power in any game), and a little bit of DDO.

I nearly flunked out of school on MUDs (hello, Lost Souls), but ended up recovering and getting a CS degree ahead of time because I knew how to program from the MUD.

We had a Comm major who learned typing and programming from MUDs in our college gaming group.

 

[Raleel]

We had a Comm major who learned typing and programming from MUDs in our college gaming group.

the MUD i was on used LPC which made my transition to C++ VERY easy. I was at least a semester ahead of the rest of the folks who hasn't done it. Of course, that semester was at least two years of learning on my own. quite the cost.

 

[Bunch]

the MUD i was on used LPC which made my transition to C++ VERY easy. I was at least a semester ahead of the rest of the folks who hasn't done it. Of course, that semester was at least two years of learning on my own. quite the cost.

We used LPC too. MUD Wizards were an interesting collection. I found quite a few who had no programming experience besides MUDs. It could make for some interesting features when Wizards who were competent programmers slipped "features" in that the novices just couldn't read. Weapons that strangely did more damage in some people's hands, armor that was substantially better for some folks. Good times.

 

[Raleel]

We used LPC too. MUD Wizards were an interesting collection. I found quite a few who had no programming experience besides MUDs. It could make for some interesting features when Wizards who were competent programmers slipped "features" in that the novices just couldn't read. Weapons that strangely did more damage in some people's hands, armor that was substantially better for some folks. Good times.

we had a brief while where you could donate to the server non-profit and get custom made weapons and armor. Microtransactions in the early-mid 90s!

 

[Bunch]

we had a brief while where you could donate to the server non-profit and get custom made weapons and armor. Microtransactions in the early-mid 90s!

BatMud had a formal Wish system where a donation got you either a major or minor boon for how much you donated to keep it running.

 

[Rich H]

I've just started playing LotR Online again and I'm enjoying it so far. Laurelin server if anyone is interested.

The MMO I have the most regret over, for what it could have developed into, and because it felt very cool and different was Tabula Rasa. Such a shame that died.

 

[Fenris-77]

Wait, does Zork count? Asking for a friend...

 

[chuckdee]

The MMO I have the most regret over, for what it could have developed into, and because it felt very cool and different was Tabula Rasa. Such a shame that died.

Totally agreed.

 

[Dr. Gnome]

I've been playing online multiplayer games for decades. I started in the 90s with MUDs and MUSHes, mostly Vampire: The Masquerade and World of Darkness games. I also played Neverwinter Nights through America Online, which was different from the Neverwinter Nights game released in the 2000s. It was a multiplayer game in the style of the old Gold Box games like Curse of the Azure Bonds and Pool of Radiance. I remember feeling like I had found the most amazing thing ever: D&D, online, with strangers, using a game engine I knew and loved. My parents eventually took away my AOL account because I didn't realize that my hourly playing racked up a $450 phone bill. But then I found the free MUD and MUSH worlds, which were pretty cool for a time.

Then college hit and so did Everquest. I spent a lot of time in Everquest. I saw a friend drop out of college due to an online addiction, I saw people meet spouses and cheat on spouses in the game. I learned what a "train of monsters" was and how to camp out in the East Commons cave with the other people new to the whole thing.

Around 2002, I got married and my wife and I did a lot of gaming together, both tabletop and on desktop computers. We fell in love with games like Age of Wonders and Civilization, franchises that are still going strong.

In 2006, we started playing Dungeons & Dragons Online. We would play a lot of other games over the years like Guild Wars, The Secret World, and Fallen Earth, but we always came back to DDO. I tried to get into WoW over the years, but it never clicked for me like DDO or EQ did.

I would love for there to be a fresh MMO like DDO using updated 5E D&D rules. DDO is still being updated and I still play occasionally. I would play other MMOs if I found one I liked, but I am usually turned off by competitiveness in my gaming. I game to relax, so I avoid PvP style games. I am also relatively picky about online communities. Finding a good guild or online tribe to play with makes almost any game more fun and worthwhile for me. My wife and I are still playing Age of Wonders.

 

[Dr. Gnome]

I was a fairly big deal on my Dark age of Camelot server. One of the top runemasters. Did a metric ton of pvp. A group of us (some Danes and myself) got us nerfed because we were running a Death Ray group - essentially, a skald, a mezzer, one debuffer runemaster, and the rest runemasters keyed to the debuff. Tag them with the debuff and they didn’t make it through two full rounds of casting by the runies. It lasted about a week, but it was a sight to behold. I also ran a lot of raids with a good friend of mine and got fucked out of some epic gear by some johnnie come lately.

I did a fair chunk of Planetside (very fun), city of heroes ( super jump is the best travel power in any game), and a little bit of DDO.

I nearly flunked out of school on MUDs (hello, Lost Souls), but ended up recovering and getting a CS degree ahead of time because I knew how to program from the MUD.

I totally forgot about the time we spent in DAOC - one of the only PvP games I loved because it was very cooperative PvP. They had one of my favorite character class/combos every in that game with the... oh I forget what they were called but the Celtic themed realm with the plant-people and the class I think focused on DOTs and/or HOTs.

I *do* miss that game. I played it for years with my wife and some dear friends that I still see to this day.

 

[Raleel]

I totally forgot about the time we spent in DAOC - one of the only PvP games I loved because it was very cooperative PvP. They had one of my favorite character class/combos every in that game with the... oh I forget what they were called but the Celtic themed realm with the plant-people and the class I think focused on DOTs and/or HOTs.

I *do* miss that game. I played it for years with my wife and some dear friends that I still see to this day.

dirty Hib! ;)

Sylvan Mentalist probably. they have DOT and HOT

yea, the PVP was really really good.

 

[Spellslinging Sellsword]

I loved my Lurikeen characters

 

[Picaroon Jack]

Of the games mentioned, I really logged in some hours on EverQuest, Dark age of Camelot, City of Heroes/Villains, and WOW. Looking back, my favorite was Planetside (I never played Planetside 2).

It was three factions fighting to control 10 maps (the later added mechs and subterranean maps). With different roles/skills like sniper, hacking, piloting, assault, etc. And it was perpetual, so when you went to bed with your faction controlling most of the board, you could wake up and those damn Vanu took it away in the night.

Each faction had a speciality: Vanu = hover tanks and beam weapons, Terran Republic = rapid fire weapons, Rebel Conglomerate = shot gun-like cone weapons.

Here are some pics:

 

[GiantToenail]

Of the games mentioned, I really logged in some hours on EverQuest, Dark age of Camelot, City of Heroes/Villains, and WOW. Looking back, my favorite was Planetside (I never played Planetside 2).

It was three factions fighting to control 10 maps (the later added mechs and subterranean maps). With different roles/skills like sniper, hacking, piloting, assault, etc. And it was perpetual, so when you went to bed with your faction controlling most of the board, you could wake up and those damn Vanu took it away in the night.

Each faction had a speciality: Vanu = hover tanks and beam weapons, Terran Republic = rapid fire weapons, Rebel Conglomerate = shot gun-like cone weapons.

I've only ever played Planetside 2, Slinking around as a Terran infiltrator using the TAMP and the Ripper along with manning gunner seat on a Bastion with my guildbuddies at the time was the most fun I've had in an MMOFPS bar none.
Getting the odd bonus Check from the NC Suits wasn't so bad either, Punking out the spandex wearing punching bags was fun either side.

 

[Dr. Gnome]

dirty Hib! ;)

Sylvan Mentalist probably. they have DOT and HOT

yea, the PVP was really really good.

Yup, Sylvan mentalist. I have a thing for tree people and gnomes. DAOC had some of the best tree people aesthetics I've seen.

 

[yosemitemike]

I played quite a bit of City of Heroes/Villains and enjoyed it though I could happily go the rest of my life without ever seeing The Hollows ever again.

I go through periodic bouts of playing WoW. I get the new thing, play it for a few months, get bored of it and cancel my subscription again. Ditto the Star Wars MMO.

I played DC Universe Online until my progression pretty much came to a dead halt and then stopped playing it. Here's a ton of content you can't play even though you have a subscription because your gear isn't good enough. Okay bye.

i played Star Trek Online for a while but got tired of the ridiculous endgame gear grind and stopped. Let's do that one with the Enterprise-J and the wormholes again so I can get some more useless crap to salvage. Oh it's that one with the Romulans and the mines again? I wonder what pile of useless crap I will get this time. I also don't like games where you have to need on everything all the time whether you actually need it or not or you will never get anything because everyone else is doing that.

I played Final Fantasy XIV for a while and enjoyed it. Then all of the people I knew who played stop playing. This game isn't nearly as fun if you don't have friends that play.

 

[PolarBlues]

dirty Hib! ;)

Sylvan Mentalist probably. they have DOT and HOT

A hot Sylvan named Dot?

 

[chuckdee]

I played DC Universe Online until my progression pretty much came to a dead halt and then stopped playing it. Here's a ton of content you can't play even though you have a subscription because your gear isn't good enough. Okay bye.

That's old school MMO progression, so I'm used to it. Even some MMOs now have it.

 

[Lunar Ronin]

Let's see, where do I begin...

I played several MUDs and online BBS door games back in the '90s.

From December 2002 until early 2005, I played The Sims Online. It had its moments. I made some friends and we had in-game pizza parties together, but I didn't play it a whole lot. It was just something fun to do online that didn't involve medieval fantasy nor PvP as I intensely dislike both.

From February 2005 until December 2012 (with a break in 2007/2008), I played City of Heroes/City of Villains. City of Heroes was my jam. I have been collecting comic books since before I could even read. It was really fun, especially City of Villains. I eventually helped lead and co-lead a bunch of raids and events on the server I played on, and made several good friends from a couple of supergroups/guilds that I joined that I'm still good friends with today.

That break in 2007/2008? From October 2007 until November 2008, I played Tabula Rasa. Much like comic books, science-fiction is also my jam. I didn't really make any friends there, but the game had a lot of great potential, especially the control points and the public battles that ensued. When NCsoft announced that they were shuttering the game in November 2008, I hopped back to City of Heroes.

From around May 2009 until September 2009, I played Champions Online. That game also had a lot of potential, but then the launch day patch happened in September 2009 which severely nerfed players' abilities and pretty much killed the game for me. It went from feeling super-heroic to feeling like hitting super-villains with wet paper towels.

From around January 2011 until March 2011, I played DC Universe Online. I'm a comic books geek in general, but I'm a DC Comics geek in particular, especially Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes. I went in and bought a lifetime subscription before the game launched, and I really wanted to love it. However, it felt like a bad console port on PC, (my preferred video gaming platform). There was no borderless windowed mode, maximizing the window on the second monitor was impossible, there was no anti-aliasing, and IIRC the game was capped at 30 FPS. Just trying to play the game exclusively on my second monitor was an exercise in frustration. I eventually gave up and went back to City of Heroes.

From December 2011 until about August 2012, I played Star Wars: The Old Republic. I'm not a big Star Wars fan (a little too much fantasy in the science-fantasy), but I enjoy The Old Republic era the most out of all of the Star Wars eras, and the game was pretty fun. However, my friends from City of Heroes and I merged with another group to form a guild in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and... it wasn't a good fit. Not only that, but we played on a PvP server. They were both huge mistakes (especially since I abhor PvP), and it kind of soured the game for us for a very long time. Well, for me anyhoo.

At some point in 2012, I played RIFT for a few months. I'm not a fan of medieval fantasy, but several of my friends from City of Heroes played it and really liked it, so I gave it a try. I could see why they liked it. It had a good system and the "souls" system of letting pretty much every class do everything was a good, unique, twist. But ultimately it was just too fantasy for me, and the few attempts I made at playing with PUGs all went poorly, so I left.

From July 2012 until around October 2012, I played The Secret World. I played a Dragon, with a mix of Blood Magic and Blade. I really enjoyed the voice acting and the storyline. However, I didn't care that some missions/quests were forced solo. I didn't get very far... I am a completionist and tried to do everything. By the time I reached Egypt, most of my friends had left as they didn't care for the game, and it was too hard (or I was just too bad, or both) for me to finish Egypt on my own, so I left as well.

From 2013 until around 2016, I floated around between Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Secret World, and RIFT. First with my friends from City of Heroes, and then myself. I'd play one of the three MMORPGs for a month or two, and then float off as none of them really stuck with me. I also tried a brief stint in Star Trek Online since I'm a huge Trekker, but it was pretty clear early on that the game is pay-to-win. $400 for a tier six starship? Yeah, no thank you.

There was a couple year period between 2016 and 2017 where I didn't play any MMORPG. I just didn't care enough for any of them. Then I tried DC Universe Online again for a couple of months in 2018, but ran into the same issues that chased me away back in 2012 and left again. I played The Secret World Legends for a few months in 2018 as another Blood Magic/Blade combo Dragon, but somehow ended up being permanently banned from the game out of the blue one day. I suspect because I was using a VPN, as I played entirely solo and I think I only ever talked with one person the entire time I played, (which was only for a few minutes).

In April 2019, City of Heroes rogue servers came online, Homecoming: City of Heroes being the largest of the bunch by far. I played on Homecoming just about every day from April 2019 until December 2022. It was great to be back in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles after six and a half years. My friends that I made from my original stint in City of Heroes mostly all came back, and we played a lot together for about a year and a half. It was a lot of fun. I eventually started leading and co-leading raids and events again. But burnout is real, there was some drama in 2022, and I wasn't happy with the direction that the game was being taken, so I eventually left.

Now I'm playing both DC Universe Online and Star Wars: The Old Republic again, alternating between the two. DCUO is no longer capped at 30 FPS as long as vertical sync is disabled, and two of my biggest problems with the game have been solved thanks to a program on Steam called Lossless Scaling. I'm finally happy playing it on PC. I occasionally play with a friend, but otherwise I play both games solo. Both video games have very good stories and voice acting, so that's enough for me. Being a DC Comics fanboy, I get sucked into the lore and setting of DCUO.

 

[Silverlion]

Let's see, where do I begin...

I've sort of been in every game you've been in though less time in Tabula Rasa. I played COH until its death on and off, I still poke at the rogue server of my choice from time to time. I ditched DC mostly because I hit endgame and gear is important and some missions can't be done without it, and meh. I don't like grinding much. I enjoyed it a lot as I leveled all the characters up and even did one twice (Changing him from Magic to Rage, because the latter fit better.) Though ugh. I'm back in SWTOR though for a bit. But not sure how long I will be.

 

[chuckdee]

Let's see, where do I begin...

I've been through all the games that you have with the exception of The Secret World. I spent a lot more time in Tabula Rasa, and my group of friends that I have left from that are some of my closest online.

The only one that really gave me that feeling again was Defiance. Then they put out 2050 and killed my enthusiasm.

 

[Silverlion]

I've been through all the games that you have with the exception of The Secret World. I spent a lot more time in Tabula Rasa, and my group of friends that I have left from that are some of my closest online.

The only one that really gave me that feeling again was Defiance. Then they put out 2050 and killed my enthusiasm.

Oh, I agree with you there. I really enjoyed it before that. I felt it was more shooter than trad-MMO RPG, but not a bad hybrid.

 

[Acmegamer]

Let's see, where do I begin...

I played several MUDs and online BBS door games back in the '90s.

From December 2002 until early 2005, I played The Sims Online. It had its moments. I made some friends and we had in-game pizza parties together, but I didn't play it a whole lot. It was just something fun to do online that didn't involve medieval fantasy nor PvP as I intensely dislike both.

From February 2005 until December 2012 (with a break in 2007/2008), I played City of Heroes/City of Villains. City of Heroes was my jam. I have been collecting comic books since before I could even read. It was really fun, especially City of Villains. I eventually helped lead and co-lead a bunch of raids and events on the server I played on, and made several good friends from a couple of supergroups/guilds that I joined that I'm still good friends with today.

That break in 2007/2008? From October 2007 until November 2008, I played Tabula Rasa. Much like comic books, science-fiction is also my jam. I didn't really make any friends there, but the game had a lot of great potential, especially the control points and the public battles that ensued. When NCsoft announced that they were shuttering the game in November 2008, I hopped back to City of Heroes.

From around May 2009 until September 2009, I played Champions Online. That game also had a lot of potential, but then the launch day patch happened in September 2009 which severely nerfed players' abilities and pretty much killed the game for me. It went from feeling super-heroic to feeling like hitting super-villains with wet paper towels.

From around January 2011 until March 2011, I played DC Universe Online. I'm a comic books geek in general, but I'm a DC Comics geek in particular, especially Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes. I went in and bought a lifetime subscription before the game launched, and I really wanted to love it. However, it felt like a bad console port on PC, (my preferred video gaming platform). There was no borderless windowed mode, maximizing the window on the second monitor was impossible, there was no anti-aliasing, and IIRC the game was capped at 30 FPS. Just trying to play the game exclusively on my second monitor was an exercise in frustration. I eventually gave up and went back to City of Heroes.

From December 2011 until about August 2012, I played Star Wars: The Old Republic. I'm not a big Star Wars fan (a little too much fantasy in the science-fantasy), but I enjoy The Old Republic era the most out of all of the Star Wars eras, and the game was pretty fun. However, my friends from City of Heroes and I merged with another group to form a guild in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and... it wasn't a good fit. Not only that, but we played on a PvP server. They were both huge mistakes (especially since I abhor PvP), and it kind of soured the game for us for a very long time. Well, for me anyhoo.

At some point in 2012, I played RIFT for a few months. I'm not a fan of medieval fantasy, but several of my friends from City of Heroes played it and really liked it, so I gave it a try. I could see why they liked it. It had a good system and the "souls" system of letting pretty much every class do everything was a good, unique, twist. But ultimately it was just too fantasy for me, and the few attempts I made at playing with PUGs all went poorly, so I left.

From July 2012 until around October 2012, I played The Secret World. I played a Dragon, with a mix of Blood Magic and Blade. I really enjoyed the voice acting and the storyline. However, I didn't care that some missions/quests were forced solo. I didn't get very far... I am a completionist and tried to do everything. By the time I reached Egypt, most of my friends had left as they didn't care for the game, and it was too hard (or I was just too bad, or both) for me to finish Egypt on my own, so I left as well.

From 2013 until around 2016, I floated around between Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Secret World, and RIFT. First with my friends from City of Heroes, and then myself. I'd play one of the three MMORPGs for a month or two, and then float off as none of them really stuck with me. I also tried a brief stint in Star Trek Online since I'm a huge Trekker, but it was pretty clear early on that the game is pay-to-win. $400 for a tier six starship? Yeah, no thank you.

There was a couple year period between 2016 and 2017 where I didn't play any MMORPG. I just didn't care enough for any of them. Then I tried DC Universe Online again for a couple of months in 2018, but ran into the same issues that chased me away back in 2012 and left again. I played The Secret World Legends for a few months in 2018 as another Blood Magic/Blade combo Dragon, but somehow ended up being permanently banned from the game out of the blue one day. I suspect because I was using a VPN, as I played entirely solo and I think I only ever talked with one person the entire time I played, (which was only for a few minutes).

In April 2019, City of Heroes rogue servers came online, Homecoming: City of Heroes being the largest of the bunch by far. I played on Homecoming just about every day from April 2019 until December 2022. It was great to be back in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles after six and a half years. My friends that I made from my original stint in City of Heroes mostly all came back, and we played a lot together for about a year and a half. It was a lot of fun. I eventually started leading and co-leading raids and events again. But burnout is real, there was some drama in 2022, and I wasn't happy with the direction that the game was being taken, so I eventually left.

Now I'm playing both DC Universe Online and Star Wars: The Old Republic again, alternating between the two. DCUO is no longer capped at 30 FPS as long as vertical sync is disabled, and two of my biggest problems with the game have been solved thanks to a program on Steam called Lossless Scaling. I'm finally happy playing it on PC. I occasionally play with a friend, but otherwise I play both games solo. Both video games have very good stories and voice acting, so that's enough for me. Being a DC Comics fanboy, I get sucked into the lore and setting of DCUO.

Oh sure! Come at it all organized and complete like. Just make the rest of us look bad why don't you! Hrmph! If you tried to follow what I've done online gaming since returning from your in 1992, it would be like trying to read a Jackson Pollock painting! Or the meandering of a drunk down a red light district at best!

 

[Raging Iron Thunder]

Everquest:

Played this at the tender of 14 in 1998. Was amazing, and I had so much fun playing it. Lasted a few years before quitting when I hit grade 11 and wanted to focus on my marks to get into a good university.

World of Warcraft:

Got this as a wedding gift from my high school buddies in 2006. Played it for several years, on and off, had tons of fun. Lasted until Wrath of the Lich king, then had to work on a masters degree so I quit.

SWTOR:

As a star wars fanboy, had TONS of fun with this game. Between the play style and the music, once you're past about level 15 or so, you really start feeling like a Sith or Jedi (in my opinion).

 

[Lunar Ronin]

Just a heads up that Daybreak Games announced EverQuest III today, for 2028, along with a co-op MechWarrior game for 2027.

 

[Chris24601]

Like several others here, for me, it’s always been (and still is) City of Heroes.

These days I play it over on the City of Heroes Homecoming servers; where it’s been rebuilt to a 64-bit client (even expanding the ranges on various graphics settings because it sings at its max settings even on a mid-range laptop).

All the costumes and powersets and everything are free (with some things like the old subscriber rewards now available for inf) and they’ve even ported NPC costume pieces and powersets and zones that were in the code but not yet active at the time of shutdown.

So, if you’re feeling nostalgic; check it out.