Looking for a new PvE MMORPG...

[Thespeckledkiwi]

I've been tempted to pick up World of Warcraft but apparently there is some issues with the class I want to use (hunter) and they keep screwing up the hunter, so I'm wary about throwing down any money to play the game if they continue to tinker and make it weaker (though I've heard also this is only for PvP which I rarely play).

I played Guild Wars but that seems to be dying (there isn't very many people on anymore. Most of the outer cities have become almost ghost towns). And NcSoft is still adjusting. I don't know how long I can wait for Guild Wars 2 to come out since they haven't had a target date nor a beta date.

So what else is out there? Age of Conan I've heard has a lot of issues. Warhammer is mainly PvP...

 

[Gryffindorian]

I've tried different PvE MMOs before, and the only one I still play and has an appeal on me is City of Heroes/City of Villains. Based on your note, I think you'd probably enjoy fantasy-based MMOs. You may want to try Lord of the Rings On-line.

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Hmmm thanks. I forgot about that one.

 

[Arrqh]

There is some nice PvE stuff in WAR (specifically the public quests), but yeah the main focus is PvP. I don't think the PvE stuff that isn't in the PQ's is bad, it just isn't really noteworth. There's no equivlent to instances or anything like in WoW.

 

[darthraidr]

most mmo's have trials you can check out.

i had a lot of fun with CoH/V for a bit, but it really got grindy and it's not really a great game for a solo player.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Well, with any luck, DCU Online and Star Trek Online should be available in 2009.

 

[TheBrew]

What issues? I always loved my hunter and was always competitive in DPS even when I had worse gear. It is the easiest class to level and play, just takes some doing to master.

 

[JonathonWally]

What issues? I always loved my hunter and was always competitive in DPS even when I had worse gear. It is the easiest class to level and play, just takes some doing to master.

Yuck, hunters. Pally Tank FTW!

 

[TheBrew]

You maybe be able to tank 'em, but I sure as hell spank 'em.

 

[Dude]

I've gotten a lot of enjoyment from playing Everquest.

 

[Garrett]

What issues? I always loved my hunter and was always competitive in DPS even when I had worse gear. It is the easiest class to level and play, just takes some doing to master.

That was my thought concerning hunters, as well. They are supposedly really easy to level, and do great dps. Well played hunters are usually welcome in any group. Plus, if this makes it to live, they'll be able to spec to take mobs like core hounds and King Mosh as pets. Honestly I don't follow the class enough to know what has been nerfed/improved in pvp lately.

There's a hunter/ranger type class in LOTRO, but they don't have pets, I believe. There's a few hunter type classes in WAR also, but that's more a pvp game.

There is some some PvE content in WAR, but there's not very many dungeons in the game. I haven't played any myself, but I hear they're pretty short. Most of the PvE content in WAR is questing and PQs. If you want to level at a decent rate in that game, you'll probably want to spend a good deal of time in RvR scenarios due to the way xp is scaling right now.

I'd recommend at least checking out a trial for WoW and playing a hunter if you're at all interested in the game. LOTRO also has a trial.

 

[Arrqh]

There is some some PvE content in WAR, but there's not very many dungeons in the game. I haven't played any myself, but I hear they're pretty short. Most of the PvE content in WAR is questing and PQs. If you want to level at a decent rate in that game, you'll probably want to spend a good deal of time in RvR scenarios due to the way xp is scaling right now.

I'm level 15 in WAR and I've found that a good balance of PvE and RvR is the way to go. The RvR scenarios can get really repetitive if that's all you do, and you're at the mercy of the crowd/your guild to get a good fight in the RvR lakes going (I suspect that won't be an issue in T4). And since you get really good items from the PQ's it's well worth the time.

Also, the most "hunter like" class in WAR is the shadow warrior... which is actually nothing like the hunter. But they look like hunters so peoeple were expecting them to play the same. Lots of complaining on the forums about that one!

 

[JonathonWally]

What issues? I always loved my hunter and was always competitive in DPS even when I had worse gear. It is the easiest class to level and play, just takes some doing to master.

That was my thought concerning hunters, as well. They are supposedly really easy to level, and do great dps. Well played hunters are usually welcome in any group. Plus, if this makes it to live, they'll be able to spec to take mobs like core hounds and King Mosh as pets. Honestly I don't follow the class enough to know what has been nerfed/improved in pvp lately.

I used to try never to take any hunters in my groups. 99% of them earn the "Huntard" title. 5 man, 10 man, 25 man, give me a ret pally. No one will take them into groups. I used to spam trade looking for them.

 

[Rincewiend]

There is some some PvE content in WAR, but there's not very many dungeons in the game. I haven't played any myself, but I hear they're pretty short. Most of the PvE content in WAR is questing and PQs. If you want to level at a decent rate in that game, you'll probably want to spend a good deal of time in RvR scenarios due to the way xp is scaling right now.

I'm level 15 in WAR and I've found that a good balance of PvE and RvR is the way to go. The RvR scenarios can get really repetitive if that's all you do, and you're at the mercy of the crowd/your guild to get a good fight in the RvR lakes going (I suspect that won't be an issue in T4). And since you get really good items from the PQ's it's well worth the time.

Also, the most "hunter like" class in WAR is the shadow warrior... which is actually nothing like the hunter. But they look like hunters so peoeple were expecting them to play the same. Lots of complaining on the forums about that one!

I'd say the most hunter like class in WAR is the Squig Herder...

 

[Garrett]

I used to try never to take any hunters in my groups. 99% of them earn the "Huntard" title. 5 man, 10 man, 25 man, give me a ret pally. No one will take them into groups. I used to spam trade looking for them.

Yeah. Most of them that I've come across have earned the "huntard" title, but the few who do play them well are great to have around. I find it rare to come across one that can even trap without getting themselves nearly killed in the process.

I'm level 15 in WAR and I've found that a good balance of PvE and RvR is the way to go. The RvR scenarios can get really repetitive if that's all you do, and you're at the mercy of the crowd/your guild to get a good fight in the RvR lakes going (I suspect that won't be an issue in T4). And since you get really good items from the PQ's it's well worth the time.

Also, the most "hunter like" class in WAR is the shadow warrior... which is actually nothing like the hunter. But they look like hunters so peoeple were expecting them to play the same. Lots of complaining on the forums about that one!

From what I've been reading you can do a mix and level decently a ways into tier 3. Around level, er rank, 26, that's when the quests start drying up unless you do RvR. That's not too much of a problem if you're on a well populated server with active scenarios. The new queue system helps, too. RvR lakes are pretty much empty unless a guild is going through there to capture a keep.

I love doing PQs, but they can be a tad annoying if you don't have enough people. What seems to happen is only one per chapter gets a lot of activity, while the others get ignored. You miss out on the extra xp from doing all three stages of all of them. It's also annoying when you really need a tank to complete one and can't find any. But the rewards are nice, and some of the boss fights are actually fairly cool.

I'm not very familiar with the Order classes yet. On Destruction, there's squig herder. I'm not usually drawn to the hunter/ranger type classes so I haven't checked any of those out.

 

[Evil Twin]

I'd highly recommend Lord of the Rings Online. I started playing in January and have pretty much been addicted to it ever since. If you like hunters, they're probably the fastest levelers in the game due to their high DPS and swift travel ability (considering how many of the storyline quests involve going from one side of the map to the other, talking to one person, then going all the way back, it's a boon.) Currently I have a 50 hobbit minstrel, 50 elf hunter, 50 man lore-master, 50 man burglar, and 35 dwarf champion and they're all fun in their own right. Mines of Moria expansion is due out next month as well, raising the level cap from 50 to 60 and bringing with it two new classes. PLUS there's currently a 25% bonus for all xp earned this weekend (Oct. 2-6), so it's as good a time as any to start. Come join me on Arkenstone!

 

[Arrqh]

I'd say the most hunter like class in WAR is the Squig Herder...

Thing is that the Squig Herder and the Shadow Warrior are supposed to be counterparts... not sure why, exactly, as we don't get a pet! The issue a lot of people have as that we're outclassed as both an RDPS and an MDPS... it's really intended to be more of a support role, with the ability to go ranged or melee depending on the situation. Lots of people were expecting SW's to be a strong RPDS only and it doesn't realy work that way.

And yeah, the PQ's can be sort of lame if there's no one around. I've actually soloed a few of them by just doing stage 1 over and over until I get full inf, not sure if that's possible on later ones though. Last night, though, I was running around in a chapter 6 PQ and someone formed a party which turned into a 10 person warband and we went back and forth between two chapter 6's for about an hour. And that was satisfying!

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Well, with any luck, DCU Online and Star Trek Online should be available in 2009.

Star Trek Online -- looks interesting. From what I can understand. I think the approach they are taking isn't the right one from what has been released but time will tell.

What issues? I always loved my hunter and was always competitive in DPS even when I had worse gear. It is the easiest class to level and play, just takes some doing to master.

I think the main issues will be popping up in the Lich King IIRC. Reading the boards, a lot of hunters are taking exception to the fact that WoW is ignoring them essentially and cutting into their buffs and such.

I've played WoW. I liked it enough that I am thinking about buying an actual 30 day copy but I am hesistent if they change some things on the hunter. But the hunter is one of my favorite so far.

 

[Garrett]

Thing is that the Squig Herder and the Shadow Warrior are supposed to be counterparts... not sure why, exactly, as we don't get a pet! The issue a lot of people have as that we're outclassed as both an RDPS and an MDPS... it's really intended to be more of a support role, with the ability to go ranged or melee depending on the situation. Lots of people were expecting SW's to be a strong RPDS only and it doesn't realy work that way.

Yeah, some of the counterparts seem a bit odd. Supposedly, the White Lion is a counterpart to the Marauder. They might have the same basic class mechanic, like builders for Swordmaster/Black Orc, or the ability to build up energy that backfires against the caster like Bright Wizard/Sorcerer but most of the mirror classes aren't very well balanced. Some I wouldn't have guessed were mirrors at all had that not been pointed out over at the Warhammer Alliance forums.

 

[Orintho]

Currently playing Age of Conan, past player of LOTRO (an excellent game) WOW, and UO.

Age of Conan is good, but you need a big system for it. Had to do a minor computer upgrade to play it. Its got a rather different combat system and mounts can also be used in fighting which is good. And once I had upgraded, a lot of my technical problems went away.

Games like WOW and LOTRO are bit more system friendly. And although LOTRO is not associated with the LOTR films, they did a marvelous job re-imaging Middle Earth. The game has a similar feel to the films. My favorite LOTRO character was my hunter. I found the class to be quite versatile.

Not sure about War Hammer although I've got a friend trying it out..