u/Roookiee

Hey y'all!!

I am trying to find a new MMORPG to play. There are certain things I am looking for in an MMORPG.

First a little backstory of my MMO experience. I never played MMORPGs when I was young. Back when I was at school the only MMOs that were "known" were WoW and Lineage2 but I didn't give them a try. Finally, in my 2nd-3rd year in the university -around 2012-2013- I gave Lineage2 a shot with some of my friends who did play L2 when younger. I had a lot of fun playing it but I was really not a big fun of just pressing 3 buttons and moving with mouse. Later I played TERA, a bit later than when it was released but still in 2013. For future reference these were my best MMO gaming hours since I really enjoyed a lot of things in that game but that's information for later. In the meantime, I gave a lot of other MMORPGs a shot and played several of them like Blade and Soul (where I really enjoyed the Arenas), Archeage (just a bit only), Bless Online, etc. Always returned to TERA though, which unfortunately got shut down. After that I played Ascent: Infinite Realm (Or later known as Elyon) in Thailand servers which I enjoyed. Played just a bit of Elyon when it came to the west since they completely changed it. Then played again some Lineage2 for the friends and then played some WoW for the first time during Dragonflight season 3. I always played WoW since then for a few months in every expansion and coming back for a bit during some season changes. Then I also played Throne and Liberty and now trying out a bit Aion2 in the TW servers which to me feels like I play a mobile game with that UI and world but it seems fine.

So what am did I enjoy in those MMOs, what did I not like and what am I looking for in an MMO?

1. I was completely in love with TERA's combat. I am searching to find similar combat as well but it is totally in vein. What I am looking for though is for an MMO that has at least Action Combat. Action combat is non-negotiable.

2. I also really liked TERA's dungeons. They had some challenging mechanics (at least a few of them in each expansion) and also mechanics that needed reflexes with dodging using iframes etc. I liked how fast-paced action combat was translating into boss mechanics. I don't want dungeons that you just press W and yolo it. Nor am I looking for dungeons that are actually like M+ where the most difficult part is the mobs.

3. Regarding grind and gearing. I want the dungeons to feel fulfilling to finish but also to have the main drops. I don't want (how TnL does it for example) completely timegated dungeons, able to do like 1 or 2 easy dungeons a day and then go do some horrendous solo grind/farm mobs for 1-2 hours etc. I want to find better equipment in dungeons, put it on, maybe enchant it etc. Or even just drop the main materials in dungeons/raids and go craft my gear.

4. I want to have a mostly new-gen feel, with good graphics a bit like Throne and Liberty but not feel like playing Witcher. For instance, I tried ESO but I really hated it. It felt like I was playing an action RPG rather than an MMO.

5. What about p2w? Well I don't mind the game having p2w elements, as long as they don't lock you out of drops etc if you dont pay for them. Paying to progress faster is fine by me and I might even use it some times since my time is limited due to work. Also I don't mind a game having subscription or being buy to play. For example I see Aion2 as a subscription game since you will have to pay 15 euros a month to play it which is fine by me since I see it like that.

6. This isn't a do or die thing but if it has PvP arenas and BGs it will be great by me.

7. I want to be able to farm for achievements, cosmetics etc since I am some kind of completionist in the games. For example the fact that I was able to farm the whole Legion in WoW for mounts, green warlock fires, titles, transmogs etc was exciting for me and kept me invested in the game.

8. I want to be able to do things without being in a massive guild. I want to be able to do it both with guildies and also be able to log in one day and just Matchmake or find other parties and do the dungeons.

So the question is... Which MMORPG is for me? Is BDO something I would enjoy based on the above? Should I stick with waiting for Aion2? Any other suggestions that I might not know?

So, I returned to the game 2-3 weeks ago. I didn't know that there was going to be an expansion, it was pretty random. I was playing during T1 on release and returned. I have seen quite a few things that I wanted to point out as to why I find TnL really bad for new and returning players.

1. Limited online resources: There is a limited number of content creators covering the game (The ones covering it though are pretty good creators). Also there are only like 2 websites with class guides which are mostly outdated by a few months. Questlog doesnt really have many new buiilds and most of them are for players with archboss weapons which lets be honest, not many people want to drop 1k euros/dollars to get. Finding out things by yourself is really cool though but making mistakes in builds/class selection is really costly and can set you back quite a lot. It's not really possible to fully test out classes and the fact that there are limited online resources can't help you with deciding what you really want to play/how to optimally build it without wasting too much.
2. Not helpful community: The community is pretty hostile for newer players. Not many people are willing to help you out/answer questions. In dungeons if you are not too geared there is a good chance that you will get kicked. The funny thing is that you need these dungeons in order to gear up. So since you are kicked you are gatekept from gearing up by geared-up players. When I returned to the game I was constantly getting kicked at the start of dungeons until I hid my gear. Now they removed the option to hide gear and I see too many kick requests for ppl. If you dont have fully traited heroics you are not welcome and therefore not really able to gear up. There are instances where we clear the whole dungeon and I get kicked on the final boss of the dungeon before even trying to do the boss. You waste too much time for nothing at all so you get no progression. I am a player who always checks out mechanics before entering to not be a burden but even if you do everything right, even if its your healer's fault/someone else messes up mechanic, if your gear is low, its insta kick after one fail. There are of course also newer players who dont give a f and enter raids without even watching 3 minute guides and expect to be carpets and get carried which is also bad for the game but this happens in pretty much most MMORPGs.
3. New expansion not resetting gear: This might be the first time I see a game which even though gets a new expansion, newer players are left so far behind. New expansions are meant to reset things. I don't get how a newer player can ever compete. The game is too unfun for players who havent played for months to a year. You will always be far behind and new expansions not resetting it prevents new players from sticking around. In my opinion when a new expansion with new levels arrives, the old gear should not give you that much of an edge. And when I say gear I mean everything from Weapon Mastery to Runes. Having this many things to grind is already making it difficult but keeping them like this does not help. In order for a game to survive, you need to give players a reason to stay. Not be NPCs for months before catching up after an update. I swear I don't remember a game that doesn't reset making everyone pretty equal after an expansion.
4. Game problems: There are also many game related issues. New dungeons have too many bugs (different ones as well) like in the new cat dungeon, the boss suddenly becomes untargetable on the pillars or even disappears and you can only hit it with AoE skills. Also those server instability issues missing out world bosses, reseting dungeons, raids, new gear not being purified etc. These will be fixed however.
5. Timekeeping: Timekeeping everything, along with geared people gatekeeping does not help new players catch up. No matter how much time I want to invest in the game, rewards are timekept.

Unfortunately, this beautiful game is not built to keep new/returning players. It is built to just have a few fully geared people who just do the same grinds all year long.

PS: On another note even the illusions/skins etc not being available and only having like 1 set of them each time and if you missed out too bad for you is bad but its kinda whatever and it is just for the Fomo...