MMORPGs on Mac? [Archive] - MacRumors Forums

rasmasyean

May 24, 2009, 02:40 PM

Some people like LOTRO (http://www.lotro.com/).

I think he means games for OSX. You have to install Windows for LotR. But I guess that goes for most games...and most Apps. :(

Check here for some free stuff. I think some are browser based.
http://www.onrpg.com/

EVE Online (http://support.eve-online.com/Pages/KB/Article.aspx?id=124) works but it's pretty hardcore...you can try it for free. If you want to try this, I should be able to give you some money to help you get started a bit...if they allow transfering to trial players. But I think there are ways to get arround that anyway.

Your best bet if you want to play MMO's is partition Windows. You don't need Vista and unless you got a MBP, it might be slow and you have to turn down settings. However, graphics games like LotR and Conan use DX10 so... But it's only the graphics effect so you'll be fine with a cheaper XP for most situation.

rasmasyean

May 24, 2009, 04:52 PM

Check out this amazing free-play game. Tough it looks appealing to perhaps little kids and some girls, it's pretty cool for a free game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NldR5ULFSM

jakeguy99

May 25, 2009, 12:13 AM

rasmasyean

May 25, 2009, 12:21 AM

There are not many mmorpgs that are legit and run on OSX as well. WoW is pretty much the main one, Eve online also comes to mind. If your going to want to run some of the other mmorpgs your going to need to put windows on your macbook pro.

That's kinda funny when you think about that.
WoW - 11.5 million players
EVE - 300 thousand players

Boy I feel sorry for the rest of the competitors. :D

I see WoW and EVE in those flash ads on Gamespot everytime I go there. I remeber seeing LotRO with ring thing spinning in the beginning. But haven't seen that Ad in ages. I guess those two are like the ones who can actually afford the spot. lol

Ov3rlord Falc0r

May 25, 2009, 02:17 AM

That's kinda funny when you think about that.
WoW - 11.5 million players
EVE - 300 thousand players

Boy I feel sorry for the rest of the competitors. :D

I see WoW and EVE in those flash ads on Gamespot everytime I go there. I remeber seeing LotRO with ring thing spinning in the beginning. But haven't seen that Ad in ages. I guess those two are like the ones who can actually afford the spot. lol

Really if you think about it, 300 thousand isn't that many. Guild Wars (my personal fav MMORPG) just recently hit over 4 million. I'm sure there are a few others in the million(s) mark too.

MasConejos

May 25, 2009, 11:50 AM

City of Heroes/City of Villians (http://www.coh.com) has had a mac native client for a few months now. It's a cider wrapper, but it works fairly well.

rasmasyean

May 25, 2009, 12:13 PM

Really if you think about it, 300 thousand isn't that many. Guild Wars (my personal fav MMORPG) just recently hit over 4 million. I'm sure there are a few others in the million(s) mark too.

I don’t think the free-play games make as much money as the pay-play games however. Otherwise, the premium games will adopt the free-play model too and get even more subscribers. Unless ppl in those free-play games actually buy a lot of RL priced things or the devs can charge a lot for in-game billboards (prolly not).

One thing I do know about EVE is that they allow you to trade subscription-time for in-game currency. I see a lot of this happening (like every couple of minutes at least on the forums). So people buy months of game time and “trade” it to a virtually rich player for fake money that they will blow probably really fast if they have to do this to begin with. And as you have heard, it’s a pretty hardcore game so you CAN even loose that within a day if you suck/unlucky.

Look at this forum.
Almost every one of those posts is a successful transaction for a 60day subscription (or more).
http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=channel&channelID=544711

mongrol

May 25, 2009, 06:37 PM

Ov3rlord Falc0r

May 26, 2009, 01:46 AM

I don’t think the free-play games make as much money as the pay-play games however. Otherwise, the premium games will adopt the free-play model too and get even more subscribers. Unless ppl in those free-play games actually buy a lot of RL priced things or the devs can charge a lot for in-game billboards (prolly not).

One thing I do know about EVE is that they allow you to trade subscription-time for in-game currency. I see a lot of this happening (like every couple of minutes at least on the forums). So people buy months of game time and “trade” it to a virtually rich player for fake money that they will blow probably really fast if they have to do this to begin with. And as you have heard, it’s a pretty hardcore game so you CAN even loose that within a day if you suck/unlucky.

Look at this forum.
Almost every one of those posts is a successful transaction for a 60day subscription (or more).
http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=channel&channelID=544711

Well ya, I know/knew that. But don't discount how much free to play MMO's make. Take Guild Wars for example (just because play it) 50 bucks to purchase the game or account key times the 4+ million people that have subscribed. Thats 200 million right there. Not including the ones who have bought the 2 expansion packs (both stand alone also) at 50 bucks a piece, or even those who have multiple accounts. Then there are the bonus mission and other "in game store" stuff people purchase as well.

So that's not quite anywhere near the billions Billizard makes off of WoW but thats still a big chunk of change for a free to play game to rake in. NCsoft/Arenanet obviously make enough off of it to warrent a Guild Wars 2 (currently in production).

Ov3rlord Falc0r

May 26, 2009, 01:46 AM

I don’t think the free-play games make as much money as the pay-play games however. Otherwise, the premium games will adopt the free-play model too and get even more subscribers. Unless ppl in those free-play games actually buy a lot of RL priced things or the devs can charge a lot for in-game billboards (prolly not).

One thing I do know about EVE is that they allow you to trade subscription-time for in-game currency. I see a lot of this happening (like every couple of minutes at least on the forums). So people buy months of game time and “trade” it to a virtually rich player for fake money that they will blow probably really fast if they have to do this to begin with. And as you have heard, it’s a pretty hardcore game so you CAN even loose that within a day if you suck/unlucky.

Look at this forum.
Almost every one of those posts is a successful transaction for a 60day subscription (or more).
http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=channel&channelID=544711

Well ya, I know/knew that. But don't discount how much free to play MMO's make. Take Guild Wars for example (just because play it) 50 bucks to purchase the game or account key times the 4+ million people that have subscribed. Thats 200 million right there. Not including the ones who have bought the 2 expansion packs (both stand alone also) at 50 bucks a piece, or even those who have multiple accounts. Then there are the bonus mission and other "in game store" stuff people purchase as well.

So that's not quite anywhere near the billions Blizzard makes off of WoW but thats still a big chunk of change for a free to play game to rake in. NCsoft/Arenanet obviously make enough off of it to warrant a Guild Wars 2 (currently in production).

rasmasyean

May 26, 2009, 02:21 AM

Well ya, I know/knew that. But don't discount how much free to play MMO's make. Take Guild Wars for example (just because play it) 50 bucks to purchase the game or account key times the 4+ million people that have subscribed. Thats 200 million right there. Not including the ones who have bought the 2 expansion packs (both stand alone also) at 50 bucks a piece, or even those who have multiple accounts. Then there are the bonus mission and other "in game store" stuff people purchase as well.

So that's not quite anywhere near the billions Billizard makes off of WoW but thats still a big chunk of change for a free to play game to rake in. NCsoft/Arenanet obviously make enough off of it to warrent a Guild Wars 2 (currently in production).

I’m sure lots of MMO’s besides those 2 are making money. I’m just saying that WoW kinda takes a pretty large part of the pie. I don’t know how “copies” many EVE online sold and at what price, but after 6 years they have 300 k subscribers presently which actually beat the newer Warhammer (whom analysts believe is on decline).
http://www.homelessgamers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120:eve-online-now-has-more-subscribers-than-warhammer&catid=25:p2p-games (http://www.homelessgamers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120:eve-online-now-has-more-subscribers-than-warhammer&catid=25:p2p-games)

All I know is when I go to game sites for info, I often see spaceships flying about and I’d imagine that costs some good money to have that kind of ad campaign. So whether it’s by people who have 1 account or 5, they make good money. And others still buy time and trade it to others for currency over and over again (which is kind of unfair imho). But this opens up a different type of playing option as well which I guess makes it unique.

Honestly I think the EVE world is pretty darn empty for its potential size, even in prime time. But it still lags like mad when you have 100 vs 100 in one area. :p

Ov3rlord Falc0r

May 26, 2009, 03:00 AM

I’m sure lots of MMO’s besides those 2 are making money. I’m just saying that WoW kinda takes a pretty large part of the pie. I don’t know how “copies” many EVE online sold and at what price, but after 6 years they have 300 k subscribers presently which actually beat the newer Warhammer (whom analysts believe is on decline).
http://www.homelessgamers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120:eve-online-now-has-more-subscribers-than-warhammer&catid=25:p2p-games (http://www.homelessgamers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120:eve-online-now-has-more-subscribers-than-warhammer&catid=25:p2p-games)

All I know is when I go to game sites for info, I often see spaceships flying about and I’d imagine that costs some good money to have that kind of ad campaign. So whether it’s by people who have 1 account or 5, they make good money. And others still buy time and trade it to others for currency over and over again (which is kind of unfair imho). But this opens up a different type of playing option as well which I guess makes it unique.

Honestly I think the EVE world is pretty darn empty for its potential size, even in prime time. But it still lags like mad when you have 100 vs 100 in one area. :p

Ya WoW takes a HUGE piece of the pie. I can't seem to figure out exactly why tho.

rasmasyean

May 26, 2009, 01:58 PM

Ya WoW takes a HUGE piece of the pie. I can't seem to figure out exactly why tho.

Well, I would guess it’s the artistry they put into it. The music is orchestrated. Not like those cheesy medieval mandolin sounding games. Even though the graphics is not exemplary and is sort of dated, the setting and the creativity they put into it makes it immersive and novel. If you have good speakers it’s even better.

The world is flexible and they make up the stories and environment. They don’t have to stick to copyrighted lore like LotR. It’s often not too serious and has some humor in it. And there is variety as well to suit different tastes.

But most importantly, they put a lot of effort into balancing the game and economy. Unlike other games which often has some “power build” for a long time, they nerf things left and right. And they even change things that aren’t “messed up” just to give the whole game a different dynamic.

The technology is pretty good too as it often seems fairly smooth compared to other games. It’s easy to play, yet has elements for the hard-core. It caters to both casual and the enthusiast. People make all sorts of interfaces for it.

Perhaps another thing they do that is important to some people is that they moderate fairly strictly. You can curse someone out just a little and be reported and banned for a few hours to life after a few too many “warnings”.

And Blizzard has a reputation and award winning tracks.

I don’t play it anymore, but after experiencing it, I would definitely be able to see why it’s so successful. All I have to say is that if you haven’t played it, this is the game to try out. ;)

And you can join this thread in this forum on WoW that has gone on for like 461 posts! LOL

Ov3rlord Falc0r

May 26, 2009, 08:15 PM

Well, I would guess it’s the artistry they put into it. The music is orchestrated. Not like those cheesy medieval mandolin sounding games. Even though the graphics is not exemplary and is sort of dated, the setting and the creativity they put into it makes it immersive and novel. If you have good speakers it’s even better.

The world is flexible and they make up the stories and environment. They don’t have to stick to copyrighted lore like LotR. It’s often not too serious and has some humor in it. And there is variety as well to suit different tastes.

But most importantly, they put a lot of effort into balancing the game and economy. Unlike other games which often has some “power build” for a long time, they nerf things left and right. And they even change things that aren’t “messed up” just to give the whole game a different dynamic.

The technology is pretty good too as it often seems fairly smooth compared to other games. It’s easy to play, yet has elements for the hard-core. It caters to both casual and the enthusiast. People make all sorts of interfaces for it.

Perhaps another thing they do that is important to some people is that they moderate fairly strictly. You can curse someone out just a little and be reported and banned for a few hours to life after a few too many “warnings”.

And Blizzard has a reputation and award winning tracks.

I don’t play it anymore, but after experiencing it, I would definitely be able to see why it’s so successful. All I have to say is that if you haven’t played it, this is the game to try out. ;)

And you can join this thread in this forum on WoW that has gone on for like 461 posts! LOL

Ya, I used to play WoW. I played for 7 months and had some fun, but it got old after a while. I hated having to party up all the time and how long quests took to complete later in game. Sometimes I don't have 3 hours to lay down and play. That's why I prefer GW, besides the fact that its free to play, you can solo the entire game with NPC toons in your party. Most (if not all) of the missions and quests can be completed in under a hour so it allows me to play for just a little bit and not have to dedicate a fairly large portion of my day to it.

rasmasyean

May 26, 2009, 11:06 PM

Ya, I used to play WoW. I played for 7 months and had some fun, but it got old after a while. I hated having to party up all the time and how long quests took to complete later in game. Sometimes I don't have 3 hours to lay down and play. That's why I prefer GW, besides the fact that its free to play, you can solo the entire game with NPC toons in your party. Most (if not all) of the missions and quests can be completed in under a hour so it allows me to play for just a little bit and not have to dedicate a fairly large portion of my day to it.

Yo, that's not even the end of it. My guild used to schedule a Saturday and Sunday with "backup/reserve" players for 1 dungeon. And the raid was like 12 hours and we still didn't make it to the end! That's not even counting the "preparations" some of us had to do during the week. We actually rehearsed things and when they down a boss and clear that area, they would switch some ppl out and teleport other people into the area and rehearse things before the mobs respawn. LOL It was like a job after a while. :eek:

Ov3rlord Falc0r

May 26, 2009, 11:47 PM

Plutonius

May 27, 2009, 12:48 PM

Yo, that's not even the end of it. My guild used to schedule a Saturday and Sunday with "backup/reserve" players for 1 dungeon. And the raid was like 12 hours and we still didn't make it to the end! That's not even counting the "preparations" some of us had to do during the week. We actually rehearsed things and when they down a boss and clear that area, they would switch some ppl out and teleport other people into the area and rehearse things before the mobs respawn. LOL It was like a job after a while. :eek:

It sounds like you played awhile ago and WoW has changed a lot since then (I went through the same thing years ago on MC and BWL runs :) ). Blizzard has tried to change things such that specific classes / specs are not required for a successful instance run (other than having enough tanks and healers). Blizzard has also implemented dual specs where your character can take two specs and easily change between them (note: there is a level requirement and it cost 1k gold to get the dual spec ability). What all this means is that you don't need a guild group / guild raid group to do the instances (with the exception of the latest WotLK raid instance). PuGs (pick up groups) are now easy to form and can easily do the content. With a PuG, you aren't constrained to be on at a certain time or stay on. WoW is much more casual then it used to be.

In WotLK, most of the 5 man instances (both normal and heroic difficulty) can be done in little more then an hour (assuming limited wipes) (VH takes 25 minutes or so)). A 10/25 OS raid takes about 1/2 hour. A 10/25 Naxx run takes hours but in a PuG you can leave when you want.

rasmasyean

May 29, 2009, 12:26 AM

It sounds like you played awhile ago and WoW has changed a lot since then (I went through the same thing years ago on MC and BWL runs :) ). Blizzard has tried to change things such that specific classes / specs are not required for a successful instance run (other than having enough tanks and healers). Blizzard has also implemented dual specs where your character can take two specs and easily change between them (note: there is a level requirement and it cost 1k gold to get the dual spec ability). What all this means is that you don't need a guild group / guild raid group to do the instances (with the exception of the latest WotLK raid instance). PuGs (pick up groups) are now easy to form and can easily do the content. With a PuG, you aren't constrained to be on at a certain time or stay on. WoW is much more casual then it used to be.

In WotLK, most of the 5 man instances (both normal and heroic difficulty) can be done in little more then an hour (assuming limited wipes) (VH takes 25 minutes or so)). A 10/25 OS raid takes about 1/2 hour. A 10/25 Naxx run takes hours but in a PuG you can leave when you want.

Yeah, haha. I haven’t played since then. But honestly, I think it’s good that they kept at least the very end-game content for people who are willing to make “sacrifices” to compete with each other. Some people do play this game where they want to outdo each other just to say they’re the best. I mean, I once had a run-in with another “partner guild” and my guild took it seriously and I wondered why because to me it was “just a game” too. But after a chat with one of the “officers”, I understood. It is like a competitive sport and they are there to “win” and “gain recognition”. And being political and forming alliances was a big part of that play sometimes if you want to succeed. A lot of people enjoy that type of play.

I wonder though, how much money these free MMO’s make. Maybe that’s the way to go with a new MMO because it seems like WoW is the only premium MMO that makes money. Here are the fates of the other “darlings” of premium MMOs.

Age of Conan
As of January 13, 2009, The amount of active players has diminished so significantly that Funcom has cut its 49 servers down to 18 remaining via merges. There is currently one server of each type active for each region in which the game is available. [14] Funcom posted an overall net loss of $33.8 million when their subscriber base fell from 700,000 following it's May 2008 release to below 100,000. [15]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Conan:_Hyborian_Adventures#Community

Warhammer Online
As of December 31, 2008, the number of active WAR subscribers had decreased to "over 300K paying subscribers in North America and Europe."[36] EA execs confirmed in an investor conference that they only have 300,000 subscribers left at the end of March 2009 shortly after the company reported an FY2009 loss of $1.08 billion. [37]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_online

Ov3rlord Falc0r

May 29, 2009, 01:05 AM

Yeah, haha. I haven’t played since then. But honestly, I think it’s good that they kept at least the very end-game content for people who are willing to make “sacrifices” to compete with each other. Some people do play this game where they want to outdo each other just to say they’re the best. I mean, I once had a run-in with another “partner guild” and my guild took it seriously and I wondered why because to me it was “just a game” too. But after a chat with one of the “officers”, I understood. It is like a competitive sport and they are there to “win” and “gain recognition”. And being political and forming alliances was a big part of that play sometimes if you want to succeed. A lot of people enjoy that type of play.

I wonder though, how much money these free MMO’s make. Maybe that’s the way to go with a new MMO because it seems like WoW is the only premium MMO that makes money. Here are the fates of the other “darlings” of premium MMOs.

Age of Conan
As of January 13, 2009, The amount of active players has diminished so significantly that Funcom has cut its 49 servers down to 18 remaining via merges. There is currently one server of each type active for each region in which the game is available. [14] Funcom posted an overall net loss of $33.8 million when their subscriber base fell from 700,000 following it's May 2008 release to below 100,000. [15]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Conan:_Hyborian_Adventures#Community

Warhammer Online
As of December 31, 2008, the number of active WAR subscribers had decreased to "over 300K paying subscribers in North America and Europe."[36] EA execs confirmed in an investor conference that they only have 300,000 subscribers left at the end of March 2009 shortly after the company reported an FY2009 loss of $1.08 billion. [37]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_online

Ya that last part is what I've been looking for on the web. I got into an argument with my buddies over how well MMO's are doing now-a-days. I told them that other than WoW, pay to play games are slowly (use that term loosely) failing. WoW is the only one that has a big enough subscription base to keep it going for the years to come.

Like you said, I think free to play MMO's are going to be a growing trend. Like I've said in this thread before, I play Guild Wars and love it. I really like the fact that the main game itself is long enough to justify the 50 dollars to put down upfront but what I love more is that there is TONS of stuff to do after the main game is over. Granted there isn't as much as WoW, but they aren't really even in the same ballpark. I've been happily playing for 4 years and have no desire to stop. *Patiently* awaiting news about GW2 as well. :)

Plutonius

May 29, 2009, 01:19 AM

Most of the people that I know who went to AoC or Warhammer, returned to WoW. Both AoC and Warhammer released early and they had many issues. In most cases, I think it takes a couple years for a MMORPG to work out all the bugs and balance issues.

MacsomJRR

May 29, 2009, 01:31 AM

I can't wait until they release a 40K MMORPG. That is all for now.

rasmasyean

May 29, 2009, 01:36 AM

I wonder how Lord of the Rings is doing. They won a few awards here and there but I couldn’t find any hard data because Turbine apparently doesn’t release it. However, they did offer some “2nd anniversary” drastic price cut deal so I wonder if that’s like a sign they are struggling for subscribers. You can like get the original and the practically new expansion for $10 total and play for like $10 a month until who knows when.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3173904

rasmasyean

May 29, 2009, 03:37 AM

Ya that last part is what I've been looking for on the web. I got into an argument with my buddies over how well MMO's are doing now-a-days. I told them that other than WoW, pay to play games are slowly (use that term loosely) failing. WoW is the only one that has a big enough subscription base to keep it going for the years to come.

Like you said, I think free to play MMO's are going to be a growing trend. Like I've said in this thread before, I play Guild Wars and love it. I really like the fact that the main game itself is long enough to justify the 50 dollars to put down upfront but what I love more is that there is TONS of stuff to do after the main game is over. Granted there isn't as much as WoW, but they aren't really even in the same ballpark. I've been happily playing for 4 years and have no desire to stop. *Patiently* awaiting news about GW2 as well. :)

Yeah, I guess you can say that MMOs are a league in complexity over any other genre. Especially if you’re going for PVP. Just hope these guys have some large investor cushions to last that long. You can only go so long before losing momentum. I’m sure EA has ways to go before failing, but the other companies…I guess the economy isn’t helping when everyone looks for free crap.

Ov3rlord Falc0r

May 29, 2009, 05:20 AM

Yeah, I guess you can say that MMOs are a league in complexity over any other genre. Especially if you’re going for PVP. Just hope these guys have some large investor cushions to last that long. You can only go so long before losing momentum. I’m sure EA has ways to go before failing, but the other companies…I guess the economy isn’t helping when everyone looks for free crap.

Ya MMO's are indeed very complex especially when it comes to PvP and all the Nerfs that devs have to do! Lol.

But ya, the economy isn't helping these smaller MMO's at all. I know its kind of old news but Tabula Rasa closed down a while ago because there werent enough subscribers. I'm just afraid that is going to happen to all of these MMO's in the not so distant future.

rasmasyean

May 29, 2009, 02:01 PM

Ya MMO's are indeed very complex especially when it comes to PvP and all the Nerfs that devs have to do! Lol.

But ya, the economy isn't helping these smaller MMO's at all. I know its kind of old news but Tabula Rasa closed down a while ago because there werent enough subscribers. I'm just afraid that is going to happen to all of these MMO's in the not so distant future.

OMG Lord British is still arround? :D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Garriott

Sad...fate. What a historical figure in video game history. I remeber when UO was like the "life-killer" and people sold property for hundreds of dollars on ebay making the news.

rasmasyean

May 30, 2009, 02:29 AM

Hey check this out. Gaikai may be able to offer World of Warcraft and Eve Online on Flash in the browser. Too bad, those titles are already on the Mac! LOL

Based on Flash, Gaikai requires no downloads and, according to an interview with GameDaily (http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/gdc-exclusive-david-perrys-entry-into-serverbased-gaming/?biz=), is already supporting World of Warcraft and Eve Online.
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/03/gaikai-bringing-3d-mmos-to-the-browser.html (http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/03/gaikai-bringing-3d-mmos-to-the-browser.html)

But hey, maybe they will offer more titles and you can grind away on your whitebook. :p

PracticalMac

Jun 3, 2009, 02:39 PM

WW2 Online: Battleground Europe

OS X Universal

1000's of players, persistent game.

More info here:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=7040864

Gasu E.

Jun 3, 2009, 03:40 PM

YA! Thats exactly what I am talking about. After a certain point in the game it becomes too serious to play casually. You either A) have to invest the time/money to "have fun" or B) stop playing. I obviously chose B. IMO, WoW needs/needed to be slightly more solo friendly. Just my opinion though. People take that game way to seriously to the point of where if you cast the correct spell 1 second too late they'll hate you forever. That happened to me, I got booted from my guild for it!

I played in a raiding guild for a while, until I found it was taking over my life. When WOTLK came out I created a Death Knight, leveled to 80, leveled my crafting to the point of making good armor, did nearly all the available solo quests (a few are quite tough), etc. I played completely solo-- never even ran a dungeon. And I never exceeded 8 hours any week. It was really fun for a month or two, but then petered out; so I've stopped again, possibly until the next major update. So I think there is some provision for casual, solo play, but not enough to sustain. But isn't that a good thing?

Ov3rlord Falc0r

Jun 4, 2009, 02:51 AM

I played in a raiding guild for a while, until I found it was taking over my life. When WOTLK came out I created a Death Knight, leveled to 80, leveled my crafting to the point of making good armor, did nearly all the available solo quests (a few are quite tough), etc. I played completely solo-- never even ran a dungeon. And I never exceeded 8 hours any week. It was really fun for a month or two, but then petered out; so I've stopped again, possibly until the next major update. So I think there is some provision for casual, solo play, but not enough to sustain. But isn't that a good thing?

Ya I've heard that a lot lately. A bunch of my old Guild mates are trying to get me to come back because they need a another tank...

I've heard Blizzard has made it more solo friendly as of late, but I don't know. At this point I don't even have 8 hours to play. :( There are 168 hours in a week. I work 74, in class 30, study (group) 3, study (alone) 3, marathon training 20-30. That leaves me 28-38 hours of sleep per week!! Divide that by 7 nights and that 4-5 hours. Its a VERY good thing that I don't need tons and tons of sleep to get by. I eat very healthy and am in good shape so my body manages very well on 4-5 hours sleep. So 8 hours is out of the question! Lol.

rasmasyean

Jun 4, 2009, 04:30 AM

Ya I've heard that a lot lately. A bunch of my old Guild mates are trying to get me to come back because they need a another tank...

I've heard Blizzard has made it more solo friendly as of late, but I don't know. At this point I don't even have 8 hours to play. :( There are 168 hours in a week. I work 74, in class 30, study (group) 3, study (alone) 3, marathon training 20-30. That leaves me 28-38 hours of sleep per week!! Divide that by 7 nights and that 4-5 hours. Its a VERY good thing that I don't need tons and tons of sleep to get by. I eat very healthy and am in good shape so my body manages very well on 4-5 hours sleep. So 8 hours is out of the question! Lol.

You take 30 hours of classes and study for 3 hours? You must be a genius or that's one hell of an easy college. :eek:

Huntn

Jun 4, 2009, 09:20 PM

Ya I've heard that a lot lately. A bunch of my old Guild mates are trying to get me to come back because they need a another tank...

I've heard Blizzard has made it more solo friendly as of late, but I don't know.

WoW is very solo friendly. In both the classic area and in TBC, most of the mobs in regular quests that used to be elite (regarding a party of some type) are now non-elite. I'd say the most difficult to solo is a healing priest, but I have a L59 Priest who just jumped over to Hellfire Peninsula (TBC), and he can function adequately on most solo quests (but not all) . A few of the quests are listed as 3 player quests and unless you are well above the target level it probably would take 2 or 3 players to complete.

You probably know about this but I'll mention it any way- dual spec is outstanding. It cost 1K gold but allows your healer to spec as a true healer or as a DPS shadow priest. All classes allow for dual specs so it really opens up opportunities to catch parties going into dungeons.

After playing several toons up to high levels, I'll say this, solo questing can easily take you to the level cap. However I am not really a raider, especially not 25 player raids. I find the most fun and best action in the multitude of 5 player party dungeons. They are relatively short 45-90 minutes with a couple of bosses and are great for group interaction. There is no where as much pressure or time commitment to participate in these dungeons. You still have to know your class "duties" as part of the group, and that is what keeps me playing.

Plutonius

Jun 5, 2009, 12:21 AM

WoW is very solo friendly. In both the classic area and in TBC, most of the mobs in regular quests that used to be elite (regarding a party of some type) are now non-elite. I'd say the most difficult to solo is a healing priest, but I have a L59 Priest who just jumped over to Hellfire Peninsula (TBC), and he can function adequately on most solo quests (but not all) . A few of the quests are listed as 3 player quests and unless you are well above the target level it probably would take 2 or 3 players to complete.

You probably know about this but I'll mention it any way- dual spec is outstanding. It cost 1K gold but allows your healer to spec as a true healer or as a DPS shadow priest. All classes allow for dual specs so it really opens up opportunities to catch parties going into dungeons.

After playing several toons up to high levels, I'll say this, solo questing can easily take you to the level cap. However I am not really a raider, especially not 25 player raids. I find the most fun and best action in the multitude of 5 player party dungeons. They are relatively short 45-90 minutes with a couple of bosses and are great for group interaction. There is no where as much pressure or time commitment to participate in these dungeons. You still have to know your class "duties" as part of the group, and that is what keeps me playing.

When you hit 80, I highly recommend trying some 10 and 25 man raids. Many people raiding now do it in PuGs (except Uldaur - recently came out) and raids no longer require the time commitment they used to. At the very least,, try an OS raid which usually takes under 1/2 hour to run.

Huntn

Jun 5, 2009, 05:21 PM

When you hit 80, I highly recommend trying some 10 and 25 man raids. Many people raiding now do it in PuGs (except Uldaur - recently came out) and raids no longer require the time commitment they used to. At the very least,, try an OS raid which usually takes under 1/2 hour to run.

I do plan on trying some 10 player raids. I did some previously, prior to my 2 year break from the game, in some place like Stratholme (if I recall correctly). It's also possible I'll tag along on at least one 25 player raid if my guild will allow me to go. ;)
Thanks!

PracticalMac

Jun 20, 2009, 01:52 PM

WoW is very solo friendly.

While its quite different from WoW, Battleground Europe is also very solo friendly when one joins in groups.
Just like WoW, comms is key, but unlike WoW it is more fluid. No stopping and casting spells on everyone and planning who does what. There are pauses as players gather for a mass attack.
In short, a completely different play method.

BTW
I made a MMO Wiki for MR.

Please add/change as needed, as I do not know all the Mac MMO's

Yes, I stole the Intel Mac games page, but can be modified as needed.

http://guides.macrumors.com/Mac_MMO_Games

Ov3rlord Falc0r

Jun 20, 2009, 06:49 PM

Battleground Europe is also very solo friendly when one joins in groups.

You just completely negated your own statement within the same sentence. How can a game be SOLO friendly if you join GROUPS?

PracticalMac

Jun 22, 2009, 12:37 PM

You just completely negated your own statement within the same sentence. How can a game be SOLO friendly if you join GROUPS?

I did, didn't I.

I was thinking new players, not solo. DOH! :o

Smuurfisar

Jun 22, 2009, 05:30 PM

Ya I've heard that a lot lately. A bunch of my old Guild mates are trying to get me to come back because they need a another tank...

I've heard Blizzard has made it more solo friendly as of late, but I don't know. At this point I don't even have 8 hours to play. :( There are 168 hours in a week. I work 74, in class 30, study (group) 3, study (alone) 3, marathon training 20-30. That leaves me 28-38 hours of sleep per week!! Divide that by 7 nights and that 4-5 hours. Its a VERY good thing that I don't need tons and tons of sleep to get by. I eat very healthy and am in good shape so my body manages very well on 4-5 hours sleep. So 8 hours is out of the question! Lol.

Fake. That is more than 10 hours of work everyday (including weekends)+ school+ running+ wanking(because you dont have time with a GF).... I call fake
**Edit** fakefakefakefakcake

Huntn

Jun 22, 2009, 08:17 PM

While its quite different from WoW, Battleground Europe is also very solo friendly when one joins in groups.
Just like WoW, comms is key, but unlike WoW it is more fluid. No stopping and casting spells on everyone and planning who does what. There are pauses as players gather for a mass attack.
In short, a completely different play method.

Several years ago I played an outstanding modern warefare game, called ?? (forgot) but it was online only and the demo map was a tropical island and the goal was to hold 3 control points to win. You could crawl through the grass and snipe people. You could drive vehicles and fly helos. It was a blast! If you wanted a private server, the company would rent you one. What was that name? :confused: Yes you could be on a team side and function as a solo player, but the ones who did the best were those who came on as teams with voice comms. They would wipe the floor with unorganized teams. Not really a MMO though, as the number of players on each map were limited to maybe a 100. How many players can be on a BE map at a time I wonder?

PracticalMac

Jun 25, 2009, 12:22 PM

Several years ago I played an outstanding modern warefare game, called ?? (forgot) but it was online only and the demo map was a tropical island and the goal was to hold 3 control points to win. You could crawl through the grass and snipe people. You could drive vehicles and fly helos. It was a blast! If you wanted a private server, the company would rent you one. What was that name? :confused: Yes you could be on a team side and function as a solo player, but the ones who did the best were those who came on as teams with voice comms. They would wipe the floor with unorganized teams. Not really a MMO though, as the number of players on each map were limited to maybe a 100. How many players can be on a BE map at a time I wonder?

Sounds interesting!
100 players? i would count that as MMO. There is no clear def for MMO, but over 30 would count as MMO.

In BE I was in an event that had about 400 players on a bridge.
Last week we had some 40 paras in a transport airplane.
In past we had air battles involving over 150 aircraft.

Daily there are battles that easily reach 100 total in a town/city.

There is shortcut used to compensate for numbers, "Viz Limit", where only the nearest units are rendered, with priority to enemy units.

Sandman1969

Jun 25, 2009, 03:58 PM

YA! Thats exactly what I am talking about. After a certain point in the game it becomes too serious to play casually. You either A) have to invest the time/money to "have fun" or B) stop playing. I obviously chose B. IMO, WoW needs/needed to be slightly more solo friendly. Just my opinion though. People take that game way to seriously to the point of where if you cast the correct spell 1 second too late they'll hate you forever. That happened to me, I got booted from my guild for it!

Most of my characters I have solo'd their entire careers. Save for a few Guild Raids. If anything I think WoW caters to all types of players. Hardcore and casual. I can get alot done in an hour a night. I may not have the best gear, but I don't need that.

It is NOWHERE compared to what EQ was. I remember playing for hours and not even get one bubble of exp.

Hell my rogue went through a couple 70+ levels in 4 hours.