francisbaud

I enjoy playing MMORPG and more particularly the ones that feature strategy elements (politics, territory conquest, player-driven economy, hauling, etc.). Games like EVE Online - barely a mmorpg though - Darkfall Online and Shadowbane.

Some of the key differences I guess between those games and traditional MMORPG are:

• the primary objective is to "dominate", whether through strength, wealth, politics or conquest, as opposed to normal MMORPG where the goal is to level up and find the best gears
• almost everything - gears, structures, controlled territories - is impermanent or dynamic, will change according to players' actions
• there's no end-game, or the whole game is the end-game
• more a sandbox than a theme park
• usually more horizontal progression (higher number of skills rather than stronger skills)

Some indie studios are creating interesting strategy mmorpg, maybe they've heard the call: Camelot Unchained, Crowfall, Dual Universe, Ashes of Creation, *insert other games I've missed*...

Anyone has played one of those games? Or maybe another one that match the description?

I think it's impossible for those who haven't tried those games back in the days to get this feeling of amazement and excitement that we once felt. Those games were offering something new and they had the best graphics available. Now with the newer generation of gamers being used to those big budget AAA games and recent technology, it's normal that it looks like crap for them though.

@ravensword: "Dreamcast" and "noise" return a lot of results on Google so I guess it's a pretty common issue. I don't remember to have heard any weird sound myself when I owned this console but even it is was the case I would probably haven't noticed it.

I guess that "Where were you 10 years ago?" is different than "What happened in your life this past decade?"

I used to relax a lot while playing Knight Online, it was repetitive grind for the most part and some sweet music. Now the game is old and likely uninteresting for any gamer.

League of Legends is a game in which you can put your brain off pretty much, at least if you don't take competition seriously. No Man's Sky probably is relaxing too, exploring different planet in a sci-fi setting. There are a lot of exploration games that focus on the ambiance and immersion, with amazing landscapes and sweet music. On Steam it shouldn't be too hard to find one, maybe even for free.

I'd say from 1997 to 2010 were the golden years of gaming in terms of innovation and connectivity, especially on the MMO scene. Ultima Online, Everquest, Shadowbane, Dark Age of Camelot, World of Warcraft, etc. pushed some technological boundaries and allowed players to connect together.

The graphics improvement and tech advancement during those years were pretty incredible too. Comparing the realism / immersion of a game in late 1990s with a AAA photo-realistic project of 2010 is mind blowing.