MMO with the best story, lore and quests

[Val the Moofia Boss]

WAIT WHAT?!

But... I figured we'd be 90 next xpack and 99 the xpack after... We should have two!

Yoshida has repeatedly stated in interviews that the story will end in 6.0. The ending narration of 5.3 straight up says that 6.0 is going to be the final chapter.

Ofcourse, FFXIV is profitable so we will still get more content (probably set in either Meryacdia, the New World or (5.0 spoiler) the original timeline, but the story of the Ascians, Hydaelyn, Zodiark, and the sound will end in 6.0.

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What are you basing that on? I searched around and cannot find anything that says the story is going to end in the next expansion. Or are you just saying they are going to conclude the current storyline and start a new one?

See above

[Super Kami Dende]

After Shadowbringers, none really come close Storywise to FFXIV.

SWTOR 1-50 class stories are pretty good too.

[Witchblade77]

Are the later parts of the game good? I loved the first region but as soon as I got to the desert area, Realm of the Sun God or something, I was completely bored. Didn't help that the progression and gear in that game are a total mess or at least they were when I played. That was just after Legends started so they may have made improvements to it since then.

Some of the stuff in that first region is just outstanding. Like the amusement park, the motel that is a gateway to hell, or that one haunted house? I think it was called the Black House? Man, some of the best story telling in any MMO ever.

I'm in a minority where Egypt is actualy my favorite area (in part because i'm a sucker for tragedy which is the entire vibe of Temple of Sun god area, and in part because in Egypt proper, you meed Said AND one of my favorite characters in the entire game - Nassir), but.. the story does get really good. Transylvania is brilliant IMO and incorporates an incredible story pack with a song that STILL haunts me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2aHcANs4GE

some of the Tokyo stories are great too. can't speak for the last expac though as I.. kinda lost steam midway through Tokyo (more gameplay issues than anything else, to be fair) and never got to it, but I hear its not as good as earlier stories, which is a shame, as it focuses on cult of scientology, I mean... its secret world equivalent - Morninglight :P

[kail]

Black Desert, FF14, Archeage... fucking Terra? I don't even dislike those games and I play 3 of 'em somewhat frequently. But, come on now.

How is FF14 discarded from having a story? I get that some sandbox MMOs in the OP's list are almost disqualified from having a story (like EvE and PS2), but FF14 has a mandatory story to complete.

[Itori]

FFXIV imo, especially with the new expansion the story is just epic and 5.3 that just dropped gave an amazing ending. The trial just got upgraded to allow progress to lvl 60 and gives the heavensward expansion for free, which is another great expansion.

[Dezerte]

I think SWTOR sets itself apart from most (if not all?) MMOs on that list when it comes to level of depth you can roleplay. I gave an honorable vote to Guild Wars 2 because I enjoyed their living story content.

[Merie]

Yoshida has repeatedly stated in interviews that the story will end in 6.0. The ending narration of 5.3 straight up says that 6.0 is going to be the final chapter.

Ofcourse, FFXIV is profitable so we will still get more content (probably set in either Meryacdia, the New World or (5.0 spoiler) the original timeline, but the story of the Ascians, Hydaelyn, Zodiark, and the sound will end in 6.0.

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See above

I did a google search and I couldn't find the ones you're referencing. Could you link them? I'd love to read them. When he said it ends in 6.0, did he really mean 6.0 or could it go to 6.5?

[Very Tired]

Oh damn, what class are you playing?

Playing the Scholar I believe, the spell I cast is Ruin. They give me some dots to cast but they are based on damage over 30 seconds, and most everything you fight should be dead in a third of that time.

[Fencers]

How is FF14 discarded from having a story? I get that some sandbox MMOs in the OP's list are almost disqualified from having a story (like EvE and PS2), but FF14 has a mandatory story to complete.

I do not think it is either coherent or consistent in narrative.

[I Push Buttons]

I enjoyed SWTOR's original story, several of the planet stories, and most of the class stories I played. I went back with that first Knights of the Fallen Empire story and I didn't enjoy it at all. Everything just went completely off the rails, IMO. Never played the second story expansion.

With ESO, I very much enjoyed the main story quest and tons of the zone stories. I haven't kept up with the expansion stories, so I can't really comment on those. But since the game is Buy2Play now and the original goes on sale for ~$5 all the time, I'd say the main story alone is definitely worth those $5.

I used to think WoW's story was passable, but starting with WoD I thought it was getting too farcical and I hardly pay attention anymore.

[Saltysquidoon]

FFXIV is hands down the best story of any mmo I don't think any other mmo tries to tell a story on the same scale.

SWTOR's class stories range from 'why wasn't this kotor III' (SW, IA, JK) to 'I guess you tried' (JC, Trooper, Smuggler). All that fanfiction secret empire nonsense in the expansions is binable.

I can't believe people actually have the gall to unironically vote for WoW in 2020 though, I guess that's the power of blizzard.

[PACOX]

A mix between TSW and SWTOR. SWTOR falls apart a bit in the expansions/DLC.

I kind of want someone to take TSW (or it's premise) and just turn it into a singleplayer game so they can polish the gameplay making it a complete experience. It's a shame the gameplay is just too clunky for most.

GW2 does not have the best story but the overall package blends together nicely. It would be better if it took more risks.

I really like the Scourge and Legion in WoW but hate everything else.

The other games come off as being too cliche for me.

[Mehrunes]

ESO is also quite cool: expansive, detailed, and quite cohesive. While it isn't as original as you might wish, at least you won't see there the crazy amount of retcons that plague WoW. It continues nicely the story from where it ended in Skyrim, and it adheres to the KISS principle, and it also dispenses with the heavy moralising that the latest batch of writers in WoW are so fond of.

It is rather hard for ESO to continue the story from when it ended in Skyrim given how it takes place around a millennium earlier.

[Baconeggcheese]

I think SWTOR is right where it should be despite me not playing it much in years. At least the vanilla campaigns was well above anything else I've played in an MMO.

How WoW is above FF14 and ESO is beyond me though. WoW's story / lore is a mess, its really gameplay that it has on the others.

[Mace]

Some amazing responses here, it looks like most of the top 5 have a decent story line, and everyone agrees they're all better than how wow handles its story. i.e. GW2, FFXIV, ESO, SWTOR and WOW for story, and Runescape for quests

I guess it's either between ESO and FFXIV - I have played the SWTOR storylines up to 4 years ago ( so about 2-3 expansions behind, up to the eternal throne was pretty good overall I pariticularly liked the Jedi sage and jedi knight for wonder, the Imperial Agent had the most exhilarating storyline. Sith Inquistor was too dark/occultic for me - but the expansion storylines were nice, shame they made so little effort tto personalise them a little for your class.


Question I have about ESO, does the story change based on what race/class you pick? Same with FFXIV? In which case which yields the best?

I know Guild Wars 2 story changes based on what you pick, do they continue it through to their expansions or does it pretty much end with the original release?

[Orby]

I used to think WoW's story was passable, but starting with WoD I thought it was getting too farcical and I hardly pay attention anymore.

I think it failed from WotLK maybe even later TBC onward and thats coming from a guy who considers TBC his favourite expansion.

The thing is vanilla was about a liner story within the world revolving around your character. I am not a huge classic or Vanilla defender Classic has many problems, but one of the thing I appreciate looking back was its ability to tell a story within the world itself as you experience that world and learn about it. You are a nameless hero and your actions don;t really have a major effect on the lore, Warcraft 4 could have come out after vanilla and you wouldnt have missed anything. But after TBC? Or after WotLK? The effect is more bigger.

Blizzard have gone so overboard with storytelling that it cannot carry itself in a MMO. With large over reaching arcs, and multiple story elements. They have over complicated things to a point where they have made it hard to establish any real narrative. It wants to tell a story from another characters perspective but instead its forced in to our silent hero's perspective. a silent hero that has no personality and isn't even a real drive to the plot.

while I was collecting lumps of wood in BfA I was wondering what Jaina and Genn are up to because they have put themselves into a spot where its not become about YOU anymore yet at the same time cannot do anything about having us in the story anyway. Its like Blizzard had this story to tell and wanted badly to make another RTS or warcraft 4 but upper management were like 'RTS don;t sell' or 'that doesn't make all the money' and the ground floor guys were like well lets shove it into the MMO instead.

[Ryzeth]

I can't believe people actually have the gall to unironically vote for WoW in 2020 though, I guess that's the power of blizzard.

It's almost as if this poll is based on personal opinion, and different people liking different things. Weird, huh?

And no, I voted for FF14 before you try claim I'm defending WoW or what have you.

[darkwarrior42]

FFXIV hands down. Shadowbringers and Heavnsward in particular were amazing. The original was a bit of a grind at times, but they've gotten much better over time. (Stormblood was good, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the surrounding entries.)

GW2 had some great concepts and a fantastic world, with decent presentation. Not the most coherent thing I've ever seen, and it has some issues, but quite enjoyable overall.

WoW.... in many ways they've actually gotten worse. There are still huge sections of the story and lore you don't get if you're not willing to buy and read books outside the game, which as far as I'm concerned is a categorical failure. (If you think you can't tell those stories in game, go play FFXIV.... though I will agree that it is certainly beyond Blizzard's ability to tell such stories in-game.) The worst part, though, is that there is no unifying story or overarching course. There are themes and goals that carry through from expansion to expansion on GW2 and FFXIV, but WoW is eternally held back by the faction conflict and their need to "fully resolve" a story before moving on.

Other entries either don't qualify for good story (BDO, etc) or I haven't played them enough to know.

Notable point of failure: Phantasy Star Online 2. I'm going through Episode 1 right now, and the story in that game has easily the worst presentation I've ever seen. I think even BDO did better. I've heard they did better with Episode 4, and I can only hope that's accurate.

[Edge-]

Question I have about ESO, does the story change based on what race/class you pick? Same with FFXIV? In which case which yields the best?

I don't believe so. There may be some racial specific mentions, but that's about it. ESO used to lock you to your factions zones before opening up the other two factions but I think that's been removed and you can pretty freely quest wherever.

I know Guild Wars 2 story changes based on what you pick, do they continue it through to their expansions or does it pretty much end with the original release?

Sorta kinda. That realistically happens during the main story quests, and even then your decisions aren't gonna be super impactful no the narrative. I believe they largely did away with most of that kind of stuff with the first expansion, now you're mostly along for the ride with dialogue options more being for flavor.

Though don't sleep on Secret World Legends, seriously. It lacks the budget and production values of the other titles but it's honestly got the best world building around, and some absolutely fantastic writing and characters. The gameplay...not so much.

[PACOX]

I know Guild Wars 2 story changes based on what you pick, do they continue it through to their expansions or does it pretty much end with the original release?

Everyone has the same story with subtle references to old stuff.