Looking for a MMORPG

I played WoW for nearly a decade now. I use to really enjoy the game in classic/bc but it seems the game has moved farther away from what I want over the years. The game is ridiculously easy now, nearly everything is reduced to faceroll with little to no chance of failure and no strategy needed to succeed. The introduction of LFG/LFR which if you aren't aware let's you literally click on a dungeon or raid and automatically be thrown into a group for it completely removed server communities, I use to love making friends when I had to make my own groups and generally knowing the people on my server. And now microtransactions, I really hate the idea of being able to buy in game items with real currency and don't want to play a game that does that. Is there any MMORPG's out there that are still difficult, social and aren't pay-to-win?

Almost every MMO has microtransactions these days, because they're such a huge source of income. However, you shouldn't assume that microtransactions = pay to win. There are plenty of games out there that have them, but manage to avoid anything that gives players an advantage of any sort and instead just are just cosmetic.

Good luck finding one that doesn't have any at all though.

How about FFXIV in august? It also has absolutely no Microtransactions and wont have any for a long long time XD

EVE.

It can be a little overwhelming in terms of learning curve and there is a great GB community built up in game who will gladly talk your face off.

IMO Tera Online is the best MMO at the moment. As far as I can tell from my experience, it isn't pay-to-win, it has a fan-TASTIC battle system which will keep you engaged for quite some time and takes away the mindlessness of a grind. It's got the friendliest community of any MMO I have played, and some really cool content ideas such as glyphs which you equip to skills to improve them, swapping them out depending on what you're currently focusing on (PvE or PvP). Wow, I really have not explained that well.

Anyway, good class diversity, races are purely aesthetic (which means you aren't restricted to a certain race-class combination), and an all around beautiful world. Start downloading now.

@bobgnarly said:

I found the leveling process in TERA to be mind-numbingly boring. I went back to it a few months ago for the first time since launch, and I made it to around level 44 before I called it quits. The combat is great so I really wanted to reach end game, but I just couldn't take it anymore. Besides the amazing combat and beautiful aesthetics, it doesn't really have a lot going for it in my opinion. With that said, it's definitely worth checking out. I'm pretty picky when it comes to MMORPGs (not a big fan of themeparks) so my opinion differs greatly from most. I'm still waiting for ArcheAge to hit the western world and I'm hoping Everquest Next's reveal blows me away come August.

I've been curious to re-try Warhammer - Age of Reckoning from time to time. It seemed to have a lot of potential back in launch, but all the bugs and clunkyness kinda made it hard to enjoy, with Wrath of The Lich King being the final nail in the coffin. Is anyone here still playing that and, if possible, able to answer me how on earth is it still alive *and* with sub-payments? Especially when that F2P Warhammer didn't even make it out of the beta before crashing and burning.

Personally, I'm looking forwards to Wildstar. Not expecting wonders from it, but I'd already be happy to get another game with visuals similiar to WoW's, instead of "realistic" fantasy shizzle.

I say, wait for Wild Star to come out, that game actually looks pretty damn good.

@nights That's a fair point you make. I don't play it constantly, so I guess I don't get to that mind-numbingly bored stage. Although I can imagine that the quest grinding may get a little dull from time to time.

EVE Online (You did ask for something difficult. :D).

The learning curve's bloody steep, yeah, but the game has tutorials now, and there's a lot of great folks in both the giantbombing channel and Kite Co that'll answer any questions you'll have.

The only real microtransaction is paying for Pilot Time EXtensions (PLEX) which you can buy for a bit more then a straight of subscription costs and sell on the market for people who don't want to pay for a subscription but have enough in-game money to buy them. Good if you want to make a lot of ISK without spending much time and/or effort doing it.

It's also more social then any other MMO I've played (Which is admittedly pretty few, but still.), teamwork and a community is really required to have a good time, even if you're off doing things on your own you want folks to ask for advice and joke around with.