What MMORPG Should you Play? 

Looking for a DIFFERENT MMO? Check out the upcoming MMORPGS here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wPQ_0GCDNBc.html

Started playing retail FFXI a few months back. Haven’t been this into a game in a while. Probably the most soulful game ever made.

SWTOR, especially the Knights of the Fallen Empire and knights of the fallen throne xpacs for solo story content, those 2 xpacs are peak (only surpassed by ffxiv's 2 newest xpacs) in terms of story, ive never been so immersed in the star wars universe than with those 2 xpacs. I would recommend everyone just go for playing those 2 xpacs as a solo rpg experience, its incredible

Great job with the list! I especially liked the honorable mentions.

Happy Friday, RED! EverQuest Live, TLP and P99 - this is more than enough gaming for me! 😺

I started GW2 recently and it's awesome! I work a 9-5 and I feel like I don't miss out on anything by only playing an hour or so a day. The players are really sweet and it's very nice to see people gather to attack random event bosses.

actually can't wait to check a series of you trying oldschool runescape. It seems very overwhelming yet shallow at first, but when you really dig in, i think it has the best combat, exploration, and immersion. Bad is grind times.

Quarm just released and is an emulated EQ progression server going up to PoP. Super popular with 1800 people on atm. Also, chainbreaker is an insane EQ emulated server where you can mix and match your classes. It is insanely fun to play on and theorycraft.

Gw2 has been my favourite for 5 years now. What I love about it is the customization, the fashion, the end game challenging content, the movement being so smooth thx to mounts and also the community is amazing. it's easy and accessible from start, but gets harder yet more enjoyable throughout your journey of understanding the game. And the best part is, it's getting progressively better and better. Definitely give Guild Wars a chance, if you want perfect balance between solo and group content, plus very neat pvp with the world vs world system. it's also always easy to pick up on the game if you take a break. 9/10

Runescape was a huge part of my life. The one thing I would say is stand out for the game is its quests. It's been almost 2 decades since I last played it, but I still remember details of many of the quests I've done in the game when talking to a friend that's still playing it. I am currently only playing Guild Wars 2 when it comes to MMOs. The combat is what makes me stick by it. I've played almost all the MMOs that was talked about in the video, and while there are games that feel better at first in terms of combat. GW2 follows the same philosophy as Pokemon imo. Very simple gameplay mechanics, but the depth is there for people that look for it. In Pokemon, you can easily just pick a team with high stats, and use moves with high power and sweep through the story. There is however, a lot of depth when it comes to team synergies, and battle strategies when actually fighting against another player. The same goes for Guild Wars. You can easily just use the weapon with the highest numbers in their skills (usually greatsword or scepter), and just treat it like a typical action RPG. If you want more engaging and deeper gameplay, you can think about combo fields and finishers, as well as trait and skill synergies. the team synergy is also extremely good. Unlike most MMOs where team play is basically a trinity system or 4-5 ppl playing a single player game, GW makes it rewarding to think about team composition. Some things that come to mind are things like a trait for Guardians makes it so you gain an extra 25% crit chance when you have the Resolution boon. It is hard for a Guardian focused on DpS to supply that much for themselves, but there are some support classes that can provide you that boon if they change their build for it. Another example would be Chronomancers with the Slow debuff. Similarly, they gain 15% crit chance against slowed enemies. Someone else in your party can trait for slow application to increase your contribution.

As someone who has spend most of my time playing mmos, playing gw1 and gw2 i feel like i rarely hear the complaint about the direction the game takes, and i 100% agree, the main reason i quit was because of the direction, i feel like the parts of the game that are in a bad state often never get looked at, and the parts people care about sometimes get ignored or altered to a point where people dont care, they dont seem to be in touch with the community and thats unfortunate

The FFXI disrespect! :D Its essenitally Japanese EQ that was made by Square-Enix in its heyday and made available on PS2, 360, & PC that could be played with a controller and/or keyboard. (Or K+M if you're a masochist.)

EQ2 continues to be my favorite solo MMO experience. Low populations means that grouping isn't great, but you can level up your toon to max 125 and never have to group once. Great quests, good alternative advancement system, hundreds of hours of gameplay. i've played dozens of MMOs, and EQ2 continues to be my absolute favorite. Hints: 1. Get an all access pass, as it's more than worth it. 2. Join a friendly guild with a lot of helpful, established veterans. They love to see new blood, and you will get loads of helpful advice.

This is the best video about the MMORPG genre I have even seen, well played there! Keep up the great work, subbed =)

Ive just got into Guild Wars2 after 15 years of wow and its incredible. Pvp is smooth, quick but revarding at any lvl. No subscription, you buy the game and thats it. Mounts are amazing, dungeons, raids, mechanics feel great. I couldnt stick with anything after wow but this game at this stage is amazing. And you dont have to worry about being left behind since everything stays relevant…

Haven't seen a frost giant is 25 years. So happy to see its still going. I played on Bristlebane, long live Pouty, leader of Club FU. So many fond memories.

Everquest was my first mmo. I was instantly addicted. 1999 - 2000 was a good time. Quake arena was also on 🔥

Just found ur channel. First upload of urs ever watched by me.. and I’m an instant sub. Good stuff. Watched it til’ the end. And although there was no mention of FFXI (🤣) ur delivery of the info was fantastic 👏 👏 👏

Great video, Can tell you have done alot of research and game play. I wish 4 story was in here! Huge game back in the day

I saw an article about an Everquest 1 remake. I know the Everquest 2 remake was a scrapped. If they remake Everquest 1, then I'll definitely play it.

I just can't get away from EQ, I come back to it almost every year. P99 is defiantly fun for a while, but if you've played lots of progression or emulated servers it can get kind of old. I personally prefer p2002 or Wayfarers Haven emulator. I allows you to 3 box and has a few more expansions (notably Planes of Power and recently added Omens of War.)

finally someone mentions project gorgon, ive been having alot of fun on it.

Dude you are awesome! I love your video I am torn on what game to play next I've played almost all the mmos u listed some I've played extensively for years great takes the pros and cons. Great video.

UO will always always pull at my nostalgia. Thanks for adding it to the list.

Funny enough when people play FFXIV for long enough to get to know other people, create (or join) Free Company, start doing content together, eventually it leads people to realise the amount of player-driven content in that game and amount of social aspect there

Love your EQ videos, please make more of them! Do you still play?

been playing BDO for two years i love it i really only spent money on the tent and inventory weight i feel like both those make the grinds far more bearable. i have full pen gear and tet accessories at the moment.

Every aspect of outlands is super in depth and you can spend months on just one specific aspect, just when you think you have a grasp on something and you decide you want to try something else on the server you find out its another super deep system you can spend hours and hours learning and advancing in.

Loved the video! It was super nostalgic hearing about Everquest in 2023. The music and sound design for FFXIV and New World are absolutely fantastic.

Please do a video on Anarchy Online, Shadowbane (both steam and emulator), Earth & Bryond emulator, the different UO and SWG emulators, etc.. so many great forgotten games that people dont realize they can still play. Love your videos keep up the great work!

correction, i would argue that EQ has 6 class roles - puller, tank, healer, dps, crowd control and damage mitigation. as someone who've play this game for years, without a good puller like a monk, you will not only wipe out your group, but literally cause the entire zone to to evacuate away from the train of mobs. likewise, without a shaman, most healers cannot keep up with the amount of damage the tank takes against a mob that not been slowed by a shaman. that is ultimately the demise of the game, because it is very difficult to gather a person from each of these classes and often players will have characters of multiple classes.

Awsome video, really useful. I started playing ESO but had my doubts about if there were better options

Very good video. it may be because I'm getting older so perhaps I "lucked out" on the timing, but for FFXIV, ARR felt like worldbuilding (fine, well done, enough that I felt like I couldn't skip story), Heavensward felt fun but a cliche MMO story (tons of fun though, it wasn't bad), Stormblood had a really really good story (post-Stormblood content being a step up to what was coming so much so that there was a boss fight with literal story content going on during it), and Shadowbringers was the pinnacle of MMO storytelling for me. As far as the older bit, as corny as it sounds, I very much remember thinking and being serious when doing so "I better live long enough to see the end of the Hydaelyn saga/Endwalker completion because this is going to feel sad otherwise" and then Endwalker, much like Shadowbringers, did an excellent job of doing callbacks to earlier content and just bringing everything to a satisfying conclusion. Which was one thing I hated about WoW's story and to an extent EQ's (though admittedly, I was late high school/early twenties when playing EQ so I may be downplaying EQ on story), but WoW always felt like we were getting better and better and then we kill the big bad and then we're back to square one: all the stuff we did was fairly meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Comparing that to FFXIV where, sure, there's new stuff with the next expansion, but everything you did felt like it was getting your side into better position to combat the other side. Just beautiful stuff, honestly. Stormblood and on, masterwork. Endwalker was the conclusion of the previous story so I'm kind of hoping the next expansion is just, well, fun maybe. Maybe an expansion without life or death stakes would feel like a nice palate cleanser for whatever comes next. The PvP can be pretty meh though, you are right. I do mildly enjoy the Crystalline Conflict stuff though. But it feels like a very fun mode held back by the skill system a bit (though can kind of tank in it, even as a healer, if everyone is focusing you which is kind of interesting)

Eve Online pros: 1) A huge social system, including group missions, extensive corporation systems and massive alliance battles. 2) Player driven economics. Nearly everything that you buy and sell was created by a player, excluding some PVE loot which can drop. 3) Meaningful penalties when you die. You lose a battle and you lose everything, making every decision during an encounter important. Eve Online con: 1) You WILL be ganked within 15 seconds of undocking...

Very cool video! Bunch of things I didn't know about

Played WoW since July-2007 until December-2021. But, been playing GW2 since january-2022 until now and I am loving it.

I just started playing Ultima Online again and I am hooked. That game will always have a special place in my heart ❤️

To be honest.. while it's still alive, if you haven't tried Age of Conan, I think it's well worth putting a bit of time into. Especially if you're just looking for another world to explore, even if it's just for a short time. Very enjoyable game, immersive, great combat, detailed environment etc.

LET'S GOOOOO! Best video man - well done!

As someone that played most of these games that were mentioned i can say that you nailed most of the info pros/cons and as for rs3/osrs the game has so much content, has so many skills that can literally take you weeks or months to max each as a new player. The playerbase does kind of has this (doing quests is exp waste) mentality and sorry but i am also one of them lol! Dont get me wrong i do a new quest once a blue moon and i dont even got half of them done. Theres just so much to do and on top of that you can get into the market system of it and learn to basically understand its economy and get to meet other people that have unique setups for bosses or even grinding exp. You can literally go and just be free and do whatever you want and reap benefits one way or another but most importantly you get to learn what weapons and combos work best on each NPC and just have tons of fun. I know you didnt mention DCUO or ASE but those 2 are literally dying specially ASE. I played those 2 for years and ASE is getting its official servers shut down but the unofficial/dedicated servers are still fun. Just wouldn't attach myself to it if i were new to it. The new game ASA is coming out as well but im kind of boycotting it so please dont buy hehe. As for DCUO it was great when it had a bigger playerbase but i believe that changed when they "adjusted" the pvp side years ago. They only made it so those who can exploit can easily kill you while you stand no chance as abilities do no pvp dmg on public areas unless youre in a pvp arena. All 3 of those games for sure require you to be social to do end game stuff but playing solo is still very possible! FINAL FANTASY!! That game was just amazing when i played it years ago. I believe i only quit it because my ex girlfriend hacked into it and stole all my stuff in it but if it wasnt for that i would of probably kept on playing! Amazing story and content all around for sure!! Only bad side was the pvp like you said..it just felt empty.. like even if you died or killed lots of the pther team playrrs it never felt like it was a accomplishment. The market in all of the games above were super fun to mess with as well. Im still pretty active on rs3 and ASE until they shut the servers down at the end of September. All ive been doing is giving my tamed dinos to those who never even probably got the chance to tame one or use one in official server so it feels nice to see and hear people 's joy as they ride a maxed out giga or mana or even just going in to kill bosses and then using TEK to mess around and punch t rexs with it 😂

I got my introduction to MMOs with City of Heroes/villains back in 2005. I played that game for 7 years until they shut down the servers. However, now there is the Homecoming server which hosts city of Heroes/villains that is public facing so anyone can play it again for free. They only ask for donations for operating expenses.

I keep coming back to LOTRO and FFXIV. LOTRO's world just puts you in a headspace where you don't need to rush, it's like the retirement stage of an MMO player, and I'm currently completing all of the story books (of which there are tons) at my own pace, taking it like a real adventure. It's an exercise in immersion and you feel yourself getting invested in lots of small tasks and making your own priorities as to what you want from your stay on Middle Earth. In FFXIV I enjoy the social aspect, the world, as well as the MSQ, but I only find my self returning a couple months a year or every two years, and I tend to be an expansion behind in terms of story, taking my time. Ultimately, these two games don't make you feel guilty for playing them casually and I'm happy to give them money when I feel the urge to revisit them as someone in his 30s without the drive to no-life an MMO like I used to when I was in a race to server first raiding guild on WoW.

Global cooldown is really only an issue in earlier levels. Once you get to near max level you’ll need to press enough buttons on your rotation that GCD isn’t noticeable

Living my best eq life on Thornblade right now!

OSRS and RuneScape 3 honestly have some of the best story in any game you'll ever play. They have hundreds of quests that can take 20-40 mins to complete without a guide and a few massive quests that can take hours. They don't have any gather x of y quests and the quests are truly a masterpiece when it comes to storytelling. I've spent approx. over 300hrs questing exclusively and I haven't even completed half of the quests

Great list, although sometimes your choice of games for categories sometimes feel a bit weird, I can mostly agree with the pros and cons of the games I know.

I love hearing about EverQuest. I am on a expansion server. Can you bring up best ways to get muramite runes. I can't afford to buy them all. I would love your ideas on how to get more with a 2 or 3 man group

Glad you speaking about Project Gorgon. Also i'd liek to add Broken Ranks to the old school VIBES MMORPG category, it's a modern MMORPG disguised as a Baldur's Gate/Neverwinter Nights old school game

I tried to play New World again after playing it 300 hours at star and I must say game is gooooood. I'm not satisfied with fishing but still do it :) Everything else is pretty cool. Sounds of chopping a tree & mining ore still gives me gousebumps

Dark age of Camelot, one of the longest running MMORPG that started in 2000 (beta) launched retail in 2001 and has never stopped and still going strong today, DAOC is still one of if not the best PVP based MMO ever made and really should have been on this list!

Very helpful overview! Thanks!

I was in the alpha for ESO because I am a huge Elder Scrolls fan. I played it for a bit after launch but I was heavy into hard core raiding in SWTOR and then moved to FFXIV.

Can SWTOR get an honorable mention? Great story, voice acting, good combat UI, ok social, and ok pvp but definitely a value game

Nice one, really enjoyed it. Thanks!

Hell of a review - love it

Honestly, Guild Wars 2 is just amazing. I've been playing it for a few weeks already, and I haven't found a single toxic player. Everybody was so helpful and friendly, I really like the GW 2 community, and of course how big the game is, the freedom you have in it. If you don't care about graphics and you just want to have fun and mostly make new friends while exploring, this game is for you :)

Gw2 only seems aimless before reaching level 80, because aside from doing personal story every 10 level, you have a ton of choices to level up to get to those story contents. You can do hearts quests, crafting, open world events, and meta events to level up, even map completion could do that.

what an amazing and insightful video loved every second of it

I love your review on GW2 here.

I think Classic Era (not WotLK) deserves a separate mention. It's almost a completely different game from Retail, without many of the BS systems that are a plague upon modern gaming.

Eve online. A space MMO 20 years old and still gorgeous. Varied PvE and constant PvP. Maybe the ultimate sandbox MMO, so much player driven content.

Nice overview current MMO offerings.

Really good job, this was a good summary

Started playing WoW in Dezember 2006 and I will not stop playing until they shut it down at some time. It's the only game I really love! ❤

You did really good in this. I see top channels do the same video but give nowhere the same amount of depth of info.

Solid rewiev and recommendation ☕👌

Great vid!

i totally agree with ur gw2 points. it's a pretty good game and you really don't need to pay money after u buy it, save perhaps for some inventory space to make your life easier or to unlock the living stories, which is a fair trade for not having a sub and are also things u can unlock with in-game money if you grind. my problem with the game was the same as yours, i honestly felt purposeless in it after finishing the story and doing some strikes and fractals and gearing up a few characters. i know there are plenty things to do in the game, i know people that have been playing for many years and still find motivation for things to do in the game but i'm not that type of person and i know many others aren't either, which is why gw2 was never a massive success, which is a shame really cuz many other mmos have stolen a lot from this game, which just shows how much potential the game has. i had the same problem with eso too but that game was much worse in every aspect compared to gw2, i even have that sort of problem with ff14, which is my favorite mmo. i'm not saying these mmos need to hold ur hand all the way through and tell u do this or do that or force u to play and do chores like wow but i do believe there needs to be a balance between freedom and some direction and not forcing people to play but giving them reason to do so if they please.

The game I come back to is BDO - it's the easiest to leave and come back to and there is always a new character to try. New World might be worth another try by me - it was ok just not really a reason to stick around. With more PVE it might be better. Archeage is another one that I've been back a couple of times and now that it has a stable publisher I might try again. Archeage 2 is also on the horizon. Another game I dive back into every other year or so is EQ2 -- I have never been able to play EQ1, the controls are weird. EQ2 I dive back into as a new Gnome Monk and level my way up to the point of fighting Giants by kicking their big toes. I usually get a couple of levels past that point and then I'm good for a couple of years. I also dive back into GW2 every couple of years - slowly making my way through each of the races, once I get one levelled I take a long break so it is fresh when I come back. Looking forward to Pax Dei and a few others that are in the works. I don't mind playing in a world with PVP (good thing since BDO is one of my favs) but I prefer PVE. Also you forgot A Tale in the Desert (ATITD)- which is a very small old school non combat MMORPG that takes place in Egypt and wipes everything occasionally and makes everyone restart.

EQ2 - vastly overlooked. Amazing graphics, polished UI, Endlessly diverse map and enemy content, group role specific and solo specific classes. 14 different classes and 14 races to choose from, some simple roles, some complex. A skil tree to amplify or modify chosen abilities or add new ones. Named bosses with specific loot tables. "God mode" - a system for leveling down to take down lower level bosses you might have missed. A crafting market where you can use supply and demand to create profit or get gear for alts. Adventure, strategy, teamplay, questing. Still simply amazing.

Some big things to be aware of with FFXIV. The stormblood extension of the trial is actually live starting October 3, 2023. For the pvp stuff, you mentioned it feels like it was added after the fact, which you are correct. It was.

I feel like Warhammer Return of Reckoning deserves a mention. While it might seem like a complete WoW clone it's pvp experience is one of the best out there.

New World developers have no plan, and no idea where they are going. They throw spaghetti at a wall, waiting for something to stick, and if it does they clean the wall removing anything being enjoyed. They said a ten year plan, but at the current rate it will not even be ready for release in 10 years( yes I know it has been technically released). It also has so many bugs, issues, and exploits, that it's real hard to enjoy things it does correctly. They do not play to their strengths, but they have become real good at highlighting the weaknesses. There are no joke multiple bugs and issues in every single territory in the game, and each patch brings more, like missing terrain(not kidding). Pair this with using discord and having """"NO FORUMS""" it's hard to get them to fix anything. It took me a solid six months of complaining and reports, to get them to fix a Faction mission in weavers that was broken for an entire faction after the weavers update. We are talking Crowfall, and Anthem level game development. It's sad because it does have potential, it will just never be realized.

My friend and I recently enjoyed the Beta test for First Descendant. It's over now but I can not wait for the release, supposedly it will be free to play.

EverQuest is pure nostalgia I know for a lot of people DandD started it all but for me it was EverQuest turning my self needlessly into a tree was the coolest thing ever!

I've played pretty much every MMO that's been released (I'm 48 years-old) and I can safely say that The Lord of the Rings online is probably my personal favorite because you are never in a rush and there is a TON of lore friendly content in it. The world is massive and there are always things to do, the pvp is lacking but other than that the game is nearly perfect. I've played World of Warcraft, Everquest 1+2, Star Wars Galaxies/The Old Republic, Star Trek Online, Ultima online, Runescape, Guild Wars 1+2, The Secret World, Ragnarok, ArcheAge, Mabinogi, Runes of Magic, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, Aion, Rift, Anarchy Online, among many others and none of them quite scratched the itch for me. Lord of the Rings online has a beautiful world, a lot to do, great quests, the best MMO community, and a fun profession system that is actually useful.

On the games I've played the biggest points for me are class choice and tradeskills. Obviously FFXIV hits both those points being able to play all on one character. I love BDO because there are so many classes to choose from not to mention the graphics. ESO is next with class choice and TS, both great. New World imo hit a homerun on TS and the rest is ok. WoW was good when I played and the TS were good, but cannot do all on one character, class choice not so much and quit during SLs. EQ is good with good TS and class choice, havent played in quite a while. Dabbled in Lotro, Albion, and Lost Ark, but not much else, so really cant comment. One more point I'd like to mention is lore. For me WoW is tops since I have been so deeply entrenched in it since the beginning, with EQ second. I am sure I will try others as they come out and maybe come back to old favorites.

I have always been a free2play player in BDO for like 5 years now and even though I play other mmo whenever a potential good one is released, I don't know man, i still find myself going back and logging in to BDO from time to time. There's something about the feeling of playing bdo that other new mmo's doesn't have. The p2w elements advantage just doesn't really apply fo most of the player because it doesn't affect the game experience at all except if your that dude that really cares about being on the top of PVP which majority of us doesn't really care. Of course we still want to progress the gears but, it's only being used to massacare more monsters lol

I wish we had truely social MMO's again like the 2000's. Limited to No action or combat. Just casual world building or social gathering with minigames, housebuilding/decorating themes and things to do. Closest thing now is VRchat, but while an open room world, its options are so limited.

Watching this video made me wonder how Dark Age of Camelot is these days. DAoC and EQ were my thing back in the day. Miss those days.

So essentially there is NONE.

305k views! Congrats. I wish we could pull those numbers every video lol. Frigging algo is an enigma to me.

I'm looking for a great graphic mmo that has co-op, PvP, PvE, Boss Fights and safe areas for players to socialize. I'm looking for Sword Art Online vibes. Any suggestions? I got Xbox Series X

I'm a huge fan of ESO but I never liked the One Tamriel update, nor the removal of hostility from enemy faction guards. I always felt like being able to interact with npcs, and pick up quests in enemy territories, WHILE having to avoid what is basically enemy military was more compelling gameplay than just being able to go anywhere and do anything. Also, I hyped for Necromancy myself, and fyi OSRS has a magic book that is commonly called the necromancy book.

It is sad that DDO gets looked over in many of these lists. It's game mechanics were way ahead of its time. In fact, I am puzzled why many new mmo's can't or don't really employ these mechanics. Good vid. (Not a complaint lol)

Started playing Mabi again. It amazes me that they are still making contact and they're looking to upgrade the graphics to unreal.

Great video! Thank you! I tried a lot of MMORPG's. But waiting, when somebody will realise game with getting older characters by playtime and possibility to extend lifetime or reincarnation storyline. With loosing of some stats- talents after dying in any circumstances, but not so hard total death like in WOW Hardcore, when after couple weeks of levelling you feeling really dead.😂 The breevity of life, what makes the world to move.😊

Ok so for OSRS: good thing 1: Your freedom of choise. There are 23 (maybe soon 24) skills in the game, many of them go hand in hand and feed into other skills, there are usually many different ways to level those skills and you have full freedom to do it in any order you'd like and use any method you like. 2: The way you explore the game. Many areas in the game are locked behind quests, some armours and weapons are locked behind quests or minigames, you can unlock new spellbooks with quests. It doesn't mean you have to do all the quests, but if you want to try out something new, there probably is a quest that will lead you there or make it easier for you. 3. The player driven economy. Not everything can be bought with gold, but most items can, and you will be buying and selling stuff all the time, and the best gear in the game isn't locked behind group content, it's probably alot easier to get it if you have friends who do group content with you, but if you know how to make money you can just go make money and buy the gear you want. Some people even play the game for the sole purpose of roleplaying as a merchant and invest in rare items like in the stock market. The bad thing about the game: The grind. You better have some spare time if you want to play this game, because everything is a grind. This game will eat your time like I eat my tacos.

Should make a part 2 covering the rest of the games out there. DDO, STO, Allods,etc.

The first MMO I played was the first iteration of Runescape, the 2.5D one. But played a lot of Legend Of Mir and MU before WoW

1:49 I LOVE THE DING

You know this videos good when the most replayed part is the end of the WoW section and the start of the FFXIV section

There is sure alot Id like to comment on here, but I just picked a couple of things. #1 Albion Online: I just loved this game at launch. It was so much fun until the later levels where you were forced to go into pvp zones to progress your crafting skills. In my older age, I have nothing against pvp, it did indeed have its time and place for me. However, I much more prefer consensual pvp now. I would jump back into this game in a heartbeat if they made a pve (or consent pvp) server. #2 Project Gorgon: I played this one for a few months. I have to say its an old school gem of a game. What was fun about this game was the learning curve. You grind and struggle only to find out a week later you could have made it easy by talking to a certain NPC, or doing something simple you never thought of. The player base is pretty friendly and helpful but there is alot of know/learn. If it goes on sale, I highly recommend it. The starter island seems a bit dull, but once you get to the main game, it picks up and opens quite a few possibilities for character advancement.

You should probably look at the latest game state when talking about this because u got some things wrong. BDO as an example, you probably haven't played it recently but the huge monitization issue has long been significantly reduced where its even more f2p than some of the other big mmos you listed.

I know this video came out a bit ago, But been trying to figure out what new mmo to play. I played FF14 since realm reborn beta, and got bored of it about a year ago. Not as excited for anything about it anymore. I been looking at ESO or maybe Albion online, ESO seems big and overwhelming, like theres so much and not sure where to start and Albion i am not a big fan of PVP that when you die you drop loot so i am hesitant on trying it. Anyone got advice or suggestions?

the more harder content you do in wow, the more you have to talk with people. in reality when I play tlps in EQ i spend more time watching netflix than communicating with people in EQ, compairded to group content in wow.

You should definitely play Old School RuneScape. Constant new updates and QoL updates. New content is constantly being developed. Funny and kind community. Give it a go, once you get hooked on it. You won’t possibly be able to quit. Only take breaks…

Just a quick comment RE: FFXIV's "Slow combat" because of the 2.5s GCD (for outsiders looking in)--That's not truly indicative of the overall experience. There are skills on the GCD and skills off the GCD, and some classes have a lot of oGCD skills that you are supposed to be weaving in between GCD skills, and some have fewer. Some classes give themselves Haste to decrease their GCD as well. So it's not like ALL classes play slowly, but speed and pacing is something you can control by playing different classes. But it's also true that EVERY class starts slow, and generally all feel slow up to like level ~50 or so. All classes speed up, a lot or a little, as every expansion adds new dynamics to your overall kit design. But the slower start is by design. If you're an MMO vet, you already understand how the core of combat works, nothing to learn other than how FFXIV does it their way. But for the Final Fantasy fan who has never played an MMO..? They need a little more time to come up to speed to be awesome like you. So it's a slower experience to start for MMO vets, but it comes up to speed based upon your preferred job and job level. It does get better, and so many would love to help you start down the path that sounds best for you. But feel free to try them all out if you're feeling it, so many people main swap because the grass actually was greener to them! (And yes--it is not the MMO to play for PvP.)

"DarkAgeOfCamelot" on private servers is pretty awesome (epic fraction against fraction fights) ... "Outward" is also for single pvp in realism mode (very hard & storage management)

The pvp aspect of ffxiv is not a concern for me or anyone i know, because ffxiv never wanted to really do pvp. It was never a priority of any kind. Id not say it is an actual negative, just not what the game is about. Some games focus on pvp, some focus on pve.