Short version: looking for a new MMO.
Long version: About 3 years ago life got complicated and I didn't have time for gaming anymore. However I now have some time for this hobby we all enjoy. The problem is that a lot changes in 3 years and while I could research the rather large pool of recent games and make my decision based on those findings, playing a game is more fun that research. So I bow to your experience and am asking for suggestions.
MMO's I've played:
- Star Wars Galaxies - Yea I know its old but it holds the special place of being my first MMO
Impressions: It being my first venture into the world of MMO's I didn't really know what was good or bad but I did enjoy the open world and I have yet to see a better crafting system or player driven economy. During my time playing SWG I played as a doctor(read "healer/buff master"). My issue with the game was that it lacked endgame group content. Now I recall that the game did eventually get some endgame group content but that was after I had stopped playing.
- World of Warcraft
Impressions: The part of wow I enjoyed most was the endgame raiding. Putting a group of people together from all over and implementing a strategy is great fun. I never did much pvp. Usually only when someone else in my guild queued for a battleground and wanted a pocket healer which was nice but not really my thing. Most of my time in wow was spent healing or tanking... well just about everything. In fact in nearly every game I have every played that has the "tank, healer, dps" paradigm I end up playing a healer. I liked being in a position where a single mis-click or mistake on my part could result in the failure of the entire group. I found that in healing and to a lesser degree tanking. I guess you could say that I have a type. I have considered going back to wow and I still may but, after being away for so long I want to take a bit of time to look around and explore other options.
- League of Legends
Yea I know its not an MMO exactly, but in the last year or so I have only been able to spare 30-40 minutes and only sporadically so it worked. While I do enjoy the competitive nature of the game, but I have always been more of a pve than pvp person. Also I want more of a community in a game. By community I mean that when I login I see the same people. Now I know that this does exist in LOL to some extent but to me it seems to be missing something that I'm not quite sure how to define...
What I'm looking for in a MMO:
- Group Content
This is possibly my favorite part of gaming. I enjoy playing as part of a group working together towards a common goal and usually the larger the group the better.
- Endgame Content
Once my newly minted character hits what passes for "level cap" I want there to be a good amount of group content to participate in.
- Both gear and skill progression
This is from my experience with League of Legends where you start every game at the beginning. I know that there are those that consider this a good thing but I like to be able to have my character be stronger today that he was yesterday. I guess you could say that I want to be able to improve both my character and myself as a player.
- Not a first person shooter
Just not my cup of tea.
- Relatively new
Something that has come out in the last 2-3 years. This is not a hard and fast rule. Its more an attempt to avoid stepping into a game where everyone has been playing it so long that it would require an exorbitant amount of time for a new player to "catch up" and be relevant.
- Prefer Sword & Sorcery over SyFi setting
Like the above not a hard and fast rule. Its just over that years I have found that I tend to enjoy Sword & Sorcery settings more.
Side notes: The system requirements of the game don't matter. You may assume that I have a computer and internet connection that can handle it.
So finally what I would like you is a few ideas on games I might try and the reason(s) for your suggestions. Some may think that this is a bit much just to decide which game to play, and they may be right. However when I do something I tend to do it all the way and the last time I made this decision I ended up playing WOW for 4 years. Anyways thanks in advance for the help and for sticking around despite the length of this post and if you have any questions please ask.
Happy gaming.