The horrible question

Dooom

Right, I know this is a nasty thing to ask but I think I have to. Mainly because I haven't a clue myself and hopefully some nice person will point me in the right direction.

Which MMOG should I get for the summer?

Here's the main issues:
Connection: I've got a 56k connection (shortly will be yelling at Esat to make my ISDN one work so ISDN for the summer).
Money: I don't want to be spending millions of euros per month.
Enjoyment: Again, I don't want to get depressed while playing the damn thing!

Think that's about all. I've played a good few MMOG's in the past while, and at the moment I'm playing the EQII Trial. It's alright, but it's a bit too....i dunno...mature i think? I mean i like going after giant monsters (currently small crabs) and fighting them to the death (again, currently crabs). And I'm not so much into the PvP aspect of the games.

So I'm in a pickle between EQII, Matrix Online (it's the Matrix...), WoW and that other one that I can't remember the name of.

So if some kind soul who's played 2 or more of the above could point me in the general direction that I'd like I'd be forever greatful.

Thanks a mil.

Ps: Anyone know when Middle Earth Online is out?

Kiith

first of all, pretty much all new mmo's will play very very bad on a 56k modem. the only mmo that works well enough on a 56k modem is eve. and dont get isdn, since broadband is about the same price (i realise that you might not be in a broadband area, so it might not be an option)

other then that, i'd say its a toss up between....

World of Warcraft, which is about €12 a month, but is massive, and has crazy amounts of stuff to do.

Guild Wars which has no monthly fee, looks amazing, and is almost entirely combat based.

Zapp Brannigan

and supposedly Guild Wars runs well on 56K.

Dooom

Kiith: I can't get broadband where I am, so ISDN is the best I can do at the moment. World of Warcraft does look kind of nice, I've been reading up on it recently and it does look quite nice. Any idea how it runs on ISDN/dial up?

ThE_IVIAcIVIAIV

i heard wow and gw both run well on 56k

Drakar

I would be surprised if GW runs well on 56k as it downloads its area content dynamically. While this is pretty cool in that it in theory can do patches on the fly etc, it means that as a broadband user I can sometimes have to wait a good while between area changes. This could make playing the arenas a bit of a no no as much of the battle could be over before you get in.

GW is no subscription though.

jaggeh

eve is a good contender, you can play for 14 days with a buddy key for free without a credit card, it plays well on most systems, i have 1.25g ram xp1800 gf 4200 and i run it on max graphics, no AA or AF tho and it runs at 1600x1200.

EQ2 the trial of the isle is very very small and will run quite well on dialup, however when you get to the larger zones like antonica or the thundering steps you will start to have problems.

id steer clear of WoW on dialup, the lag is terrible for even adsl/cable users.

there is no pvp in EQ2, so lagging and worrying about a player capping you isnt an issue.

Eve is totally pvp, although some systems have high security that doesnt always stop someone from blowing you away. (but thats where the fun is)

wow has some freaky deaky honor system that i cant comment on.

Smellyirishman

GW only downloads the areas if you downloaded the client instead of buying the box.

Drakar

http://www.guildwars.com/gameinfo/default.html the last paragraph discusses the streaming technology. Downloading the client or installing it from your boxed version makes no difference to the streaming.

zekiel

id steer clear of WoW on dialup, the lag is terrible for even adsl/cable users

Thats actually not true.. there is hardly any lag in WOW, the only lag you may encounter is while in a heavily populated area like one of the main city's and even then its not that bad.

wow has some freaky deaky honor system that i cant comment on.

Its not freaky.. its fairly straight forward and is starting to progress fairly well as far as I can make out.

That all said I would have to put EVE up on the top of the list for mmorpg's to play over dial up as it works perfectly well as it uses virtually no bandwidth at all.

The bottom of the list is EQ2.. its a complete pile of laggy crap, possibly the most laggiest game I've ever had the misfortune of playing & the other one being star wars gallxies.

Drakar

I had no lag problems with SWG or EQ2, but definately with WoW. I would say though that any lag problems with WoW are on the server (as everyone in the area has the same problems), so having a 56k connection does not put you at any more of a disadvantage over anyone else than it would in other similar games. It's all a matter of personal choice in the end.

Dooom

Ah yes. EVE. My old arch-nemesis. I remember playing a trial of it over Xmas, and I was addicted to it. Horribly. All though it was very good, but I did end up buying currency from some site because I wanted a really good ship and didn't have enough time to work my way around to getting one. There are a few nice touches in it aswell, like the way you can update your stats even when logged off.

Come to think of it, EVE was very good. Although I might like to give WoW a try at some stage.

Thanks for the input folks, now it's dependant on how much money I have. Aswell as my will power to not buy it before I finish my exams. Nooooooo etc.

Memnoch

the one good reason to steer clear of EQ is the fact that SOE are running it. After playing SWG, I've sworn of ever purchasing another SOE MMO as long as I live. THey have 0 regard for their customers and are complete ****, I hate them so much.

Smellyirishman

Drakar wrote:

as a broadband user I can sometimes have to wait a good while between area changes.

Did you get the client or the box? I got the box and have not had to wait for area changes, the patches stream once I am in the zone (you can see the stream signal in the top right) and at that, it is only a few K most times. Most I ever seen was ~1.5mb (which was STREAMED in the zone, not downloaded and installed before I got into the zone)

Megatron

Hmm good choices there.
I would Mention Dark age of Camelot, but seing as People dont' liek SOE , with GOA you would prob be in a tower shotting at people now.

However saying that i've been playing 3 years and i've always enjoyed it.
You can download a 2 week trial , The latest epsansion has some really nice Fluff on it, however it can be a tad graphic intensive.

It's got loads of Bashing mobs and it's got a fantasic PvP system, but you can choose not to do that if you dont' want to.


it's 12 eurons a month .

thing is not alot fo shops stock it :mad: so you if do decide to go with it , best bet is to order on line.

Snow

Dunno how any game plays on 56k but I know WoW lags all the time even on low population servers.

For cheap games you cant beat the guildwars no monthly subs deal but have a go at free trials for other games and see if you think they are worth sticking with and paying for.

dlofnep

I have the boxed version of GW and I don't wait even a milisecond for area changes. it just happens very swiftly, unlike WoW which is riddled with lagged out servers.

Drakar

Not even a milisecond? That's pretty darn fast :P

With me it takes quite a while (like 30 seconds) on a good spec PC. I'll try installing it again maybe I selected some minimum install option or something...

matdabomb

well i dont know what you guys are talking about with WoW lag i have been playing for a week now on my crappy 28.8 connection and i get an average of 300 and with that you dont notice it at all

[Core]

Get WoW, char on bladefist, join Dudes. It's the best and only choice!