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Role Playing (Games)

MMORPG King of the Hill 91

eToyChest has a look at some current MMOG market leaders, and specifically takes a look at what they're 'good' at. If you've been thinking about playing an online game, this might be a useful tool to help pick the one game you'll enjoy most. From the article: "MMORPGs have evolved rapidly in terms of technology and gameplay, and with the continually growing number of gamers being pulled into these games, more and more titles have been shoveled onto retail shelves in order to keep up with the demand. Despite the fact that there isn't any one clear front-runner in the genre currently, the diversity and variety in MMORPGs today (both in the games available now and in the months to come) give many more options to most any gamer. However, here we will discuss those games that serve as the premier offerings for gamers today, as well as those set to be released in the near future, and we'll identify why these games are the Kings of the Hill."
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MMORPG King of the Hill

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  • Dangit, I thought I'd be playing as Hank Hill. Another dream shattered by reading the details
  • 1. World of Warcraft.

    <end of list>
  • by Donniedarkness ( 895066 ) <Donniedarkness@g ... BSDcom minus bsd> on Monday February 06, 2006 @07:55PM (#14655597) Homepage
    Everquest II wins two of the catagories, but I NEVER hear about this game anymore (I hear about City of Villians/Heroes and WoW all the time), but Eve Online won NOTHING? It didn't even get mentioned...
    • EVE has been steadily, sustainably growing in population. It also isn't very accessable to the PL kiddie. Personally, I like it that way and hope it continues along that path.
    • Naah. who cares about market leaders? That is the sort of mentality that makes Top40 music so..... so..... mund-numbing and yet nauseating at the same time.

      Anyway, Eve won Lots of awards elsewhere [mmorpg.com]
    • > but Eve Online won NOTHING? It didn't even get mentioned...

      Because it's like playing a screensaver, perhaps?
  • by jchenx ( 267053 ) on Monday February 06, 2006 @08:11PM (#14655746) Journal
    With all the MMORPGs that are out, we definately do need a nice article that sums up the pro's and con's to all the games out there. This article is a nice start, but it's much too short, and misses several games (EVE Online and Guild Wars, to name a few).

    It'd also be nice to have an MMO history article of sorts. Quite often I see people (mainly WoW players) complaining why feature X isn't in the game. For example, a few hardcore PvP gamers wonder why we don't have a real PvP world where you can kill someone and loot their actual belongings. I'd love to point them to an article that shows that Ultima Online tried this years ago and it didn't turn out well for the casual player ("Corp Por" anyone?). Or that anybody who complains about long flight times between Auberdine and Theramore (currently clocking at 11 mins) needs to go back to the original Everquest and try doing some travelling in that game.
    • I wish the article was more legible. It seems to wrap the actual body text to about nine characters wide. And the "print" link, which is sometimes helps to get readable versions of content from sites of this ilk, is... javascript.

      The content might be wonderful, but I just can't be bothered to work around such broken site design to get to it.

    • Guild Wars is not a MMORPG. It is a MORPG (and less RPGish than most others) with MMO chatrooms.
  • better howto: (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by awing0 ( 545366 )
    1) Bring your phone and egg to the gas station.
    2) Talk on phone while filling your car and holding egg.
    3) Wait for explosion.
    4) Enjoy.

    Next on Slashdot: How to summon dead relatives by changing the refresh rate of your monitor.
  • Not long after AO came Star Wars Galaxies. Sadly the Star Wars part of the title was really the only great thing about the game, though it has since improved beyond its lackluster beginnings.

    Looks like somebody finally liked the NGE!

  • don't forget to bring your GPS device and cellphone.

    It can get kind of busy with 50,000 players all trying to run up a hill randomly selected around the world.

    Plus, make sure your credit cards have enough left on them to buy a round trip ticket.
  • by zerocool^ ( 112121 ) on Monday February 06, 2006 @08:48PM (#14655984) Homepage Journal

    There's not one clear front-runner in the genre?!?

    I'd say the fact that 5 MILLION WoW accounts exist would say otherwise. 1 in 100 Americans have a WoW account. That's statistically significant.

    ~W
    • You assume that all WoW subscribers are american?
    • Sure, WoW is at the forefront of selling its game... but does that mean its the best? Checkers is a fun game, but most would say Chess is a better game compared to Checkers. And I hear of many people that get bored with WoW and the lvl 60 grind.

      Sure WoW is the frontrunner on sales and subs, but its also one of the few games that is sold in pretty much every continent. Its a game that has players Worldwide. Lots of other games don't get that.

      Blizzard is also a well liked company by the players of their other
      • That you care more about the MM than you do about the G.
      • Consistent massive appeal is the only benchmark for best. A game that grows it's own base through sheer appeal that doesn't suit you, must be maddening. Don't try to armchair that somehow a scant few have a true vision of what fun entails and everyone else is just ignoring it.
      • Blizzard is also a well liked company by the players of their other games.

        It's also a well-hated company by the players of their other games.

        • Blizzard is also a well liked company by the players of their other games.

          It's also a well-hated company by the players of their other games.

          Pittsburgh is a well-hated team by fans of Seattle.

          The Red Sox are a well-hated team by fans of the Yankees.

          The Yankees are a well-hated team by most other fans in the country.

          If they liked the game, they probably wouldn't be a subscriber of another game. Duh!

          • I'd suggest going back and reading my post again, as you obviously don't understand my point.

            Also, this is nothing like being a fan of a sports team. Do I have to be a Red Sox fan to go to a game at Fenway? I didn't think so.

    • Rather more than one in a hundred Americans also watch MTV on a regular basis.

      Does that mean you should also? At the upper end of the curve, subscriber numbers are a better indicator of mediocrity than they are for anything else.
  • Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday February 06, 2006 @08:49PM (#14655990)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • From what you hear? If you didn't try...WOW PvP is certainly better than a lot of MMORPG out there, if not all of them. Its no FPS, but its pretty solid as far as MMORPG goes.

      As for Dark Fall, the article is talking about current market leaders. And beside, to have cool PvP you need to have other players to kill... Which do not lack in WOW.
    • Seconded.

      King of the PvP hill belongs to Dark Age of Camelot which is entirely built around 3 realms fighting for land and control of powerful artifacts. It has siege machines, tower and keep capture and repair, guild ownership of towers and keeps, whole dungeons that are pvp areas. You can have sieges against massive castles with catapults, rams and trebuchets that last hours.

      Or possibly guildwars for smaller scale pvp, but thats a bit light on some other elements of mmorpgs.

      But to call World of W
  • What I want (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ShawnDoc ( 572959 ) on Monday February 06, 2006 @08:51PM (#14656005) Homepage
    What I want is a MMORPG that lets me solo and play for short periods of time. I normally drop out of an MMORPG about the time I *have* to start teaming to gain any experience. Don't get me wrong, I love to interact with others and enjoy team gameplay. But in all honesty I have a very busy life and more often than not I don't have several hours at a time to sit down, try and find a good group, wait while everyone stocks up on regeants or whatever, debates where to hunt, and then goes there to do their thing. It just takes too long. Its fun on the weekend when I've got more time, but I want something I can just log into for 30-45 minutes and actually make some progress/have some fun every night before bed.
    • It's not technically a MMO, but Guild Wars [guildwars.com] sounds like what you're looking for. There are a few missions which really require a reasonable team but mostly you can grab some AI henchmen and just go, or play random-team PvP arena (usually 5 min or less per round).
      • Exactly what I was about to suggest. Best of all, no monthly fee, so you aren't shelling out however much per month for a game you'll have limited time to play...
    • Re:What I want (Score:2, Redundant)

      by SB5 ( 165464 )
      No, what you want is Diablo II / Guild Wars, not an MMORPG. MMORPG's were made for interaction, if you want to solo 99% of the time go play something single player.
      • Interaction != Forced Grouping

        I like having other people around in a game. I don't like being forced to rely on them.

        I also like a dynamic world, with updates and content. A single player game does not offer that.

        And yea, I do enjoy grouping with friends when our schedules permit.

        What I will NOT do is have my activities in a passtime I pay to participate in dictated by how readily I can find a group.
      • MMORPG's were made for interaction, if you want to solo 99% of the time go play something single player.
        I live in the biggest MMORPG on the planet every day. It's called life.

        I really enjoy having the other people around. They make the game interesting. But I don't have to grab 5 of them when I decide I want to go out for lunch.

        If I followed your advice, I'd live on an asteroid.
    • Tho dated and half empty, Asheron's Call was problably the most solo-friendly game. Certainly for the 1st 75 levels or so, which is good because you wont find anyone under 75 to play with now..... :(

      I agree, other games seem to want to have perfect little parties to fight that take half the day to get going.
    • City of Heroes/Villains is actually very solo-friendly, depending on your class. Play a Scrapper, Tanker, Brute, or to some extent a Mastermind and you'll hardly ever have to see another player if you don't want to--especially now that a fix is in turning Arch-villains into the much-easier-to-solo Elite Bosses if your team has fewer than a certain number of people in it.

      Squishier classes have trouble, of course.
    • You can solo right up to the level cap in World of Warcraft. Earn gold and reputation, do profession stuff. Craft equipment, or buy decent stuff at the Auction House.

      After the level cap? Well, you can do the PvP battlegrounds. If your server has an even Alliance to Horde ratio [warcraftrealms.com], then you can PvP quite a bit. Matches are generally short, and you can earn honor and faction rewards.

      Otherwise, Blizzard is adding more solo and 5-man endgame content in the near future. Quests to upgrade armor sets, that kind
    • There are a lot of options in a lot of games that let you do the solo thing. Each one has classes or traits or skills or what-have-you that would allow both solo and team play, when you like. I play Dark Age of Camelot in the Albion realm, and a deathsight necro will let you do either solo or team play. There isn't a class in the Albion realm that can compete with the Necromancer for PvE play. With the newer instanced dungeons and easily solo'd quests you can level yourself pretty easily in half-hour an
    • But in all honesty I have a very busy life and more often than not I don't have several hours at a time to sit down, try and find a good group, wait while everyone stocks up on regeants or whatever, debates where to hunt, and then goes there to do their thing. It just takes too long.

      You should try Guild Wars. They actually implemented something called "Henchmen"... AI controlled characters that will group with you to help you complete quests on your own. It's great for those of us that don't have the time
  • Dangit - when I read the article headline I was hoping for an MMO set in Arlen, Texas.
  • The design of that web page is so bad that I refuse to read the article. I have zero tolerance for flashing ads. I clicked on the "print" button hoping to get a more-readable page, but instead got a page of gray text on a blue-gray background, unreadable in Safari.

    Bite my shiny metal ass, etoychest.org.
  • I was not too pleased with the article failing to mention so many other games out there. They author(s) stuck to only the big names in gaming, using WoW,, FFXI EQ/EQ2, CoH/V, DAoC, SG:G,, AC, and a mention of the soon to be released DDO.

    What happened to Eve, Linenage II, Guild Wars, and various others? No mention of the psuedo-betas like Silk Road or any others?

    I can live with some of their assessments. DDO is going to take top prize for A/V when it is released. The graphics really are that good.

    As for
  • And here I was looking forward to being Bobby.
  • It's pvp is fucking SHITTY. It's class/level/gearbased, and like .3% of it is based on skill. The #1 pvp game is/was Asheron's Call, the one skill (player and character skill) based game out there pvp wise. Since Throne of Destiny and the year or 2 leading up to it the game has become shittier and shittier, but it will always be the #1 pvp game to have come out so far. AC:Darktide was the pinnacle of MMORPG Persistant PVP Worlds, and the most dramatic and amazing fights/politics in the genre occurred on
  • From beginning to end, ranging from 5-man grouping, various PvP settings, to difficult large scale raiding instances, WoW manages to keep a steady learning curve throughout while also catering to numerous types of gamers.

    As someone who's been playing WoW for the past 4 months, I can safely say the writer has no idea wth he is talking about. '5-man groupings' are alsow done only because people don't want to share to the loot with too many people. 5-man groupings are perfect sizes for most instances (1, mayb

  • King of the Hill MMORPG? Can I play as Hank Hill?
  • "MMORPGs have evolved rapidly in terms of technology and gameplay"

    More like MMORPGs have evolved rapidly in terms of ram reqs while gameplay has stay at or below M59...
  • Look for me (as Lars Overshank) in Expodrine [progressquest.com], scragging those Cheese Elementals.
  • I know it's not the same, but it's the only MMOG I can stand to play. Finally, a virtual world for the terminally brilliant.

    It's like those dumb puzzle games on Yahoo, but every puzzle works towards a piratey goal, like drinking someone under the table, or running a smoothly operating pirate ship, or defeating an army of other pirates. The games are fun and short, and you can get interesting things done in less than half an hour.

    Best of all, if you don't have much of a stake in getting ahead in the game or

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