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MMORPGs on Mac?

I

Igorey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hello! I'm new on Mac usage. My bro gave me his MacBook Pro, so I'm looking forward for MMORPGs that work on a Mac too. I know there's WoW, but I don't feel like paying :S.

So if you know any MMORPG for mac (Not Pirateshift, nor Everquest neither Runescape), tell me! 😀

Thanks,
Igore.
 
Huntn said:
Some people like LOTRO.
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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 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.
 
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.
 
jakeguy99 said:
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.
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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. 😀

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
 
rasmasyean said:
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. 😀

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
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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.
 
Ov3rlord Falc0r said:
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.
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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
 
Ov3rlord Falc0r said:
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.
Click to expand...

And the number of real subscribers is actually 150,000. You can't compete in Eve unless you have two accounts. So everyone runs two.
 
rasmasyean said:
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
Click to expand...

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).
 
rasmasyean said:
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
Click to expand...

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).
 
Ov3rlord Falc0r said:
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).
Click to expand...

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😛2p-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. 😛
 
rasmasyean said:
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😛2p-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. 😛
Click to expand...

Ya WoW takes a HUGE piece of the pie. I can't seem to figure out exactly why tho.
 
Ov3rlord Falc0r said:
Ya WoW takes a HUGE piece of the pie. I can't seem to figure out exactly why tho.
Click to expand...

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
 
rasmasyean said:
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
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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.
 
Ov3rlord Falc0r said:
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.
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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. 😱
 
rasmasyean said:
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. 😱
Click to expand...

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!
 
rasmasyean said:
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. 😱
Click to expand...

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.
 
Plutonius said:
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.
Click to expand...

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

​
 
rasmasyean said:
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

​
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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. 🙂
 
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.
 
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
 
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