Looking for another MMORPG to play aside from GW2/Warframe

[mossy mountain]

Currently, I'm playing GW2 and Warframe (grinding and focusing on the story). I'm looking for another MMORPG to play as much as these. I don't stick to one game forever, so I need some variety.

My requirements:

No monthly subscription or more than $25-30 to play (GW2 is an exception since I've been playing it since launch).
High daily player base (not as high as WoW, but enough for party content).
Slightly story-driven, though it doesn't have to be on par with GW2 or Warframe.
Destiny 2 is out due to the cost, and I've played around 300 hours of BDO, but the lack of story makes it less compelling. I'm still considering it but want another game to compare it with.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

[shut garnet]

Lotro, FFXIV (has a free trial which I understand provides pretty solid content).

Is that $25-30 forever, or an annual cost? That may unlock a few new options I think.

Maybe swtor too. I forgot what the f2p excludes.

[frank canyon]

check out the first descendant: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2074920/The_First_Descendant/

it pretty much takes inspiration from warframe and destiny 2

Steam

The First Descendant

The First Descendant is a free third-person cooperative action RPG shooter featuring high-quality graphics. Experience the fun of strategic boss fights through 4-player co-op and various unique characters, exciting gunplay, and looting. A variety of equipment is necessary for growth, and you can obtain them through clearing scenario missions wit...

Release Date

Jul 2, 2024

▶ Play video

[past wyvern]

ESO

[frank canyon]

it's releasing in a couple of days and should provide you a similar experience to warframe or something

[past wyvern]

they want a story driven game more or less

all respect but

TFD isnt not that

is not*

[frank canyon]

i mean throwing it out since they liked warframe lol

and "slightly" is very variable

[frank canyon]

strictly being f2p has a lot of annoying restrictions in swtor. most people subscribe 1 month then cancel the sub to get all expansions and some restrictions loosened up a bit

much much more annoying than being f2p in gw2 or free trial in ff14 lmao

[stoic socket]

I think in Swtor, if you sub for 1 month, you get most content for free (pretty sure). You cant do Ops without being cubbed tho (raids)

[shut garnet]

Cheers, it's been awhile and gave up that game fairly early on heh

[mossy mountain]

Not annually of course, I could spend more throught the months, but definitely do not want to pay subscriptions :/

[mossy mountain]

I will check it out!

[mossy mountain]

I am definitely considering ESO since it will take my sometime before I have to buy the expansions/DLCs

[shut garnet]

Trying to juggle 3 games seem a lot, so I think some of the recommended games would fit what you're looking for, and doesn't require a super hardcore approach to it. However, if you're planning to be hardcore, then those recommended games might be limited due to payments

*content being locked behind payments.

[mossy mountain]

I did not know that SWTOR was subscriptions based

though it was completely free for the whole content

[frank canyon]

swtor only gets you the base class stories and 1 expansion after that iirc

to unlock every content up until latest expansion you need to sub once

(and then just cancel)

there's also limitations like you cant equip the highest tier of gear unless you buy the unlock for it in the cash shop (this doesnt apply if you are a subscriber)

[mossy mountain]

Well in Warframe for example I am at MR25 and by playing around 6-8h a week I can easily one MR per month and I am not interested for the legendary collection or achievements of GW2, otherwise have reached the ent content with fully equipped characters so there is no issue to start a 3rd game

[mossy mountain]

oh so if you subscribe for a whole month, and at the end of the month you dont renew it, you would have unlocked the whole content?

[frank canyon]

more or less

when your sub end some restrictions come back

like the "cannot wear the best gear" restriction

your money will also be capped to like 1million (and if you have more than that you cannot access it)

like say you have 10m credits, 9m is frozen

[mossy mountain]

ugh annoying restrictions

[frank canyon]

swtor has really great base game stories though

[mossy mountain]

ESO doesnt have anything like that right?

[frank canyon]

ESO has none of that bullshit

lol

it has optional subscription if you want a crafting bag and a few more QoL but nothing you can't live without

[shut garnet]

These games flood you with so much crap in your inventory so that they can find a way to sell you more QOL haha. ESO crafting bag is so addictive.

[frank canyon]

its the same with fallout76, they sell you a scrap box (like the crafting bag) when you sub

without it part of your endgame is inventory management

BUT it's do-able

[mossy mountain]

well I am definitely a sw fan but I hate the subscriptions a lot, especially when they put a lot of restrictions, so ESO definitely seems the best choice mentioned here

[shut garnet]

GW2

Too

[frank canyon]

i think he alr plays gw2

[mossy mountain]

yy

been playing from 2015

[frank canyon]

but yeah gw2 and eso are like often compared

in their forums

and such

[mossy mountain]

then I should invest some of time watching some videos and make sure if that's what I should choose

thank a lot guys!

[past wyvern]

Just play the DLC with the free subscription

They give out trials every now and again

and you just need the latest expansion tbh

the xpac/dlc is optional content too btw

[shut garnet]

Oops sorry I meant like how they force you to buy all these QOLs to manage your inventory.

[frank canyon]

AHH yeah bank space unlocks, material storage extenders etc.

shared inventory unlocks, etc. etc.

it's gw2's tradeoff for having no sub at all i guess (not even an optional/premium one)

the nice thing about gw2's take on it is it's a one time purchase

but in stages/staggered

[mossy mountain]

I never had any issue with that, just made my characters as banks xD

and for some stuff I could easily farm gold to convert it to gems

[shut garnet]

Actually I wonder which game has no insane inventory management.

[mossy mountain]

same as warframe

BDO had an interesting inventory management

[frank canyon]

ff14 has you buying extra retainers (like mule npcs to hold your stuff)

[shut garnet]

At least for GW2, it's not locked behind a sub haha

[frank canyon]

but it's not required if you dont like transmogging/crafting/collecting fashion

[past wyvern]

ESO you really dont need the mat expansion lmfao

ive played day 1

just dont hoard fucking items

you wont have an issue unless you literally pick up every single material you come across

and if you do, just use the free trial for the material storage

stock up

then wait for the trial to end, you can still withdraw from the ESO Plus extra storage after the trial is over

people really overblow the ESO and FO76 subscription perks

[frank canyon]

depending on the person. this can be a hard habit to break lol

i noticed it more on fallout ppl than on eso

[past wyvern]

yeah but fallout is even less restrictive than ESO

FO76 just scrap to junk

throw in your box

IMO anyways

[frank canyon]

since the single player games have unlimited storage

[past wyvern]

Fallout76 subscription is so not worth it unless you want to just play singleplayer

for separate servers

[mossy mountain]

though fo76 was a singleplayer game

[past wyvern]

nah fallout76 is like

mmo-lite

youre in a server with 32 other people

but if you subscribe you can host a shard/instance for just you (singleplayer) or a few friends

[mossy mountain]

well it would be worth it as long as you are playing with friends I assume

[frank canyon]

it's worth it imo even if you're alone or with a group of friends

there's public parties/teams you can drop-in drop-out of

the story is not-great but not-bad either

[past wyvern]

Fallout76 has improved a lot tbh

[frank canyon]

there's no impactful decisions (world changing choices/paths) though given the open world multiplayer nature of the game

[past wyvern]

It's basically better Fallout 4

I played solo

[past wyvern]

eh its not woprld changing

but the game has dialogue options/paths

[frank canyon]

yes it does

but most outcomes is the same

in the grand scheme of things

[past wyvern]

yeah but its still a nice touch

more than what most online co-op games offer

and MMOs

only other MMO that does better is probably ESO

that has some actually more impactful decisions story-wise

[frank canyon]

im not saying it's a bad game, i've been playing it heaps while waiting for dawntrail

[shut garnet]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ESO. Helpful perspective

[past wyvern]

Np, when it comes to story you can't really go wrong with ESO (or SWTOR if you want something more linear/sci-fi)

SWTOR is f2p and you can experience all the story free

and ESO is like $5 on sale

base game + morrowind (which comes with the base game) will keep you busy for a long time, you can hit max level, raid, pvp etc with just base game

xpacs go on heavy sale too, or they do deals whenever a new expansion drops so you get the latest xpac + all previous ones

and for ESO Plus, just use a trial to play through all the DLC tbh you can finish them all within a week or two

[mossy mountain]

I have tried out SWTOR but the gameplay did not compel me that much to be honest

but I had around 20-30hours

[shut garnet]

Anyway, looks like we hijacked op thread

[past wyvern]

Yeah that's fair, the combat needs an update ngl i feel you

[frank canyon]

swtor certainly hasnt aged as well as wow did

even if it took inspiration from wow a lot

[shut garnet]

Do you generally not like tab targeting?

[mossy mountain]

I think the issue is that after playing gw2 for almost 10 years, the swtor combat is a bit lacking and not that exciting if you can understand what I mean

[past wyvern]

SWTOR just chose a really bad engine

and now theyre stuck with it