Help Me Pick My "2nd" MMO

[donjn]

WoW will always be my first MMO. It is just the way it is. I just tried ArcheAge this past month and liked it, but it never quite felt at home the way GW2, LOTRO and Rift do. I want your help help to pick my backup "go to" MMO when I take a break from WoW. I will play them all, but I need a better pecking order.

Please try to pick the better for my current situation as listen below. I am not really a raider. I prefer to get to max level, enjoy the journey and then figure it out. In other words I would like a max level character in all these games.

GW2
I have a max level 80 Engineer and a couple other characters that are above level 50. I played the crap out of this game in late 2012 and a good chunk of 2013. Ive been burnt out for several months now, but he itch always comes back. I never got ascended gear. But I also dont feel I have unfinished business the way I do with these other two below.

LOTRO
Kind of a vet here. Been playing off and on since early 2008. However, I have taken massive breaks from this game, sometimes as long as a year. Only to come back and play for a month, get bored, then a big break, and the cycle continues. The game has somewhat of a slow combat, leveling and feel to it. It is casual, yet very relaxing. I have a level 75 Champion. I want to get to max level. I want a level 100 Champion. But it feels like a grind to get there.

Rift
Rift I think is one of the most underrated MMOs out there. Tried the new expansion last night. Once again, I love the open world and feeling of the game. The combat feels a little sluggish as usual, but I have a level 60 that I want to get to 65 then go from there.

I also am starting to get the Elder Scrolls Online itch again. You can reply and mention in the thread because I can't edit my poll.

[RoninaThorstone]

The combat feels a little sluggish as usual

It's more that the combat looks sluggish rather than actually being sluggish.
It's just as fast and responsive as WoW but the animations don't communicate it as well.

[donjn]

It's more that the combat looks sluggish rather than actually being sluggish.
It's just as fast and responsive as WoW but the animations don't communicate it as well.

VOTE! I need votes. I am curious how this plays out.

[RoninaThorstone]

I also am starting to get the Elder Scrolls Online itch again. You can reply and mention in the thread because I can't edit my poll.

Oh, well... if TESO is an option than that.

[Krothar]

I do feel the same about the combat. Been playing it a little recently but I can't really decide on a class. I loved Rift when it first came out but soon got bored, but now that I'm pretty sure I'm not going back to WoW, I've been having little hits of Rift.

[Fencers]

Rift I think is one of the most underrated MMOs out there. Tried the new expansion last night. Once again, I love the open world and feeling of the game. The combat feels a little sluggish as usual, but I have a level 60 that I want to get to 65 then go from there.

The combat looks sluggish due to Rift's poor animation rigging relative to direct input. However if you use some parsing tools it will be revealed that Rift interprets command input relative to input delay with a high degree accuracy.

In talking with a friend about this I once told them that had to not look at their character in Rift. As the actions your character takes in swinging a sword or casting a fireball are not synched to what you may be pressing- though what you are inputting is going through exactly.

Playing Rift is kind of like typing quickly.

In gameplay terms Rift is as good as any 2nd era MMORPG.

[Valeron]

It's more that the combat looks sluggish rather than actually being sluggish.
It's just as fast and responsive as WoW but the animations don't communicate it as well.

have to echo this and what Fencers said. it's not that the combat is sluggish, its the relatively poor animations (in comparison to some other games) which gives it that sluggish "feel"

[Fencers]

Conversely that is why World of Warcraft feels so "responsive and fast" by comparison to other 2nd era MMORPGs; because Blizzard's animation rigging and input interpretation are absolutely excellent.

Absolutely fucking excellent.

[Sj]

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...Suggest-a-Game!