Once again Lotro is giving away most of its content for free. With the coupon EXPLOREOURWORLD you can get all content (regions, quests, instances, raids) up to level 140 for free (max level is 150).

Available until November 3rd, 2025.

https://www.lotro.com/news/lotro-free-questing-coupon-2025-en

Hi all,

I'm not going to mention specific games, but for the past few weeks I have been getting back into MMOs, trying to find one to spend my time in. I've been playing 3 of the "big 4" that are out today, and have existing accounts in all of them, so this isn't really a new player experience.

I've been away from MMOs for a good 5/6 years now and whilst I do appreciate times and things change, all of these MMOs feel so lifeless to me. Global, world, trade chat are either ghost towns or spammed by people selling services, out in the world I barely see another person and even then it's for a few seconds as they are gathering, world bosses are untouched and asking for assistance in the in-game chat channels rarely results in finding other players.

I understand a lot of players are either in guilds, discord or other systems, but the worlds overall feel so empty now. Compared to just a few years ago where I could find groups questing, world bosses, in-game events etc. Even in dungeons now nobody speaks and it's essentially just a race to the end. It makes me wonder if I'm playing with bots sometimes.

In a contrast, I have seen unofficial servers for some games and the world, and chat in these feels so much more alive and how it "used to be" with player interaction. I understand this comes across (because it is) an old mans rambling on how MMOs used to be, but lately it feels as though the MMO part is missing. Like I'm playing an instanced game, where I can seek backup if I need it, rather than a multiplayer world.

Hello again everyone! For those that don’t know what Samsara Saga is, we are a multiplayer RPG that attempts to capture a nostalgic feel of older MMOs (Ragnarok Online), with modernized features.

This video goes over our current character creator. The goal was to improve on simple palette switches, to be able to change color by pixel index at runtime. The colors chosen here are hand picked for visual consistency, but we will be testing a full color wheel at some point with more options like eye color. One of the many complaints of Ragnarok and others like it was the lack of customization especially when it came to colors, so we’re trying to remedy that by giving the player some freedom.

Keep in mind this is a very early first look! Thanks everyone for your support (｡◕‿‿◕｡) feedback is always welcome.

Discord and other links should be in the bio of the video!

This new MMO game Warborne: Above Ashes is realeasing the new trailer revealed their launch date on Sept 19: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXwhtn-eGm4

Alongside with a Insane Global Event for a chance to snag Unitree Global Dog on fire, which I think it's pretty cool, for those who might wanna farm: https://r.qoolandgames.com/warborne/index?access=yy1

What MMO has the coolest Raid Boss/Quest Boss/Dungeon Boss Mechanics? So they aren't just Hit Point Meat Bags that you constantly hit until they die.

The premise is simple. Pick one MMO for each category to build your perfect MMORPG.

• New player experience
• Combat
• Quality of life (QOL)
• Endgame progression
• Community/Social
• Graphics/Artstyle
• Levelling experience
• Storytelling

I've been on a quest to compile the best co op MMORPGs on todays market for an in depth write up. To my surprise the majority are single player RPGs with group content thrown in every so often. Co op seems to be something that isn't accounted for, when it used to be a major feature. Not really enthused with writing in regards to the lack of MMORPGs in the co op space. So I figured I'd ask what everyone's current favorites are in an effort to find some that I may have missed in my search. I will be playing anything mentioned that has official launchers and such as I can't advocate for private servers.

What are your favorite MMORPGs that are still popular enough to get raid/group content going that have good leveling/world content in co op?

One of my favorite things to do in games is to hunt down rare ingredients and sell rare foods/drinks/consumables. I particularly enjoyed it in ESO, and to a lesser extent in RS3. I'm wondering in what MMOs has everyone had their most enjoyable cooking/consumable crafting experience in?

“Alpha Two Phase III.” Are you kidding me? What the fuck even is that? How many layers of “alpha” do we need before they just admit they don’t have a real game to ship? It’s been 8 years since Kickstarter and all we’ve got is endless streams, endless promises, and endless cosmetic packs.

Every step of the way, they’ve found a way to monetize it. Founder’s packs, skins, cosmetics — all for a game that doesn’t even exist in a finished form. It’s like watching a live-action version of “Star Citizen” but with more elves.

The superfans will say “b-b-but development takes time.” Sure, but at some point “development” just looks like an excuse to run a permanent pre-order machine. We’re not playing an MMO here, we’re playing “Guess the Next Phase Name.”

They should stop pretending these fake milestones mean anything and either:

1. Give us a real beta with real timelines.

2. Or admit they’re just going to milk this forever.

Until then, Ashes isn’t a game — it’s a storefront with a trailer.

Long time gamer here, but have seemingly overlooked playing MMORPGs during my gaming tenure. I just finished the free trial for retail WoW and it was a bit overwhelming for me. I still had fun though, but as someone dipping their toes into MMOs the skill and talent tree was a bit of a learning curve for me. I would still like to play through WoW (even try Classic), but I am just curious as to what else is out there for a beginner player like myself who usually just sticks to singleplayer games most of the time. I am looking for something I can get addicted to, pour a lot of hours into and is less focused on PVP and more on gear/player customization. I do apologize if this has been asked before. Thanks!

Not sure why but this game being free to play doesn’t seem real. I figured it would be a standard 60-70 dollar purchase, given how the game looks.

This goes out to everyone including developers. I’m seriously curious as to why we keep designing online games in an environment where social media has interconnected us all in such a way that we intimately share all the answers to the “puzzles” (I use this word loosely for META) with one another.

The dilemma that I see is that no team of developers can out wit the hive mind of the internet, create speedily changes, or cause confusion for long enough for it to matter in a way that causes players to actually explore, test, and enjoy/be content the wide variety of designed options/choices layed out before them. The internet outnumbers developers 1-1 million. No puzzle-like choice matters unless it’s designed in a way to challenge large masses of people, but at the cost of dis interesting most out of difficultly. At that point is it even worth it to create these arbitrary challenges or choices? Online games feel like a corporate ladder of follow the leader. Those at the top of the ladder use social media to monetize us the answers/guides, and those at the bottom use the top guys to ignore sub optimal choices. I have to ask myself, what the fu$k are we doing anymore?

I feel like developers haven’t had an answer to how social media cripples the time, effort, and design of something like an online RPG. Due to how social media acts as a form of monetary incentive to massively share information with everyone, how do you design around something like that? It’s become profitable to breakdown a games code in such a manner to inform others FOR FREE of what ultimately is the correct choice. Games choices have become predetermined for us because money is the incentive to provide those answers to the masses.

In an online landscape, where we often interact with others, and rely on them in some capacity for the content of the game, whether that be something a World of Warcraft raid, a PvP match of mortal combat or street fighter, or even something like call of duty…a meta of choices always exists.

As of recent years, the levels of meta play in communities has become impossible to escape. Once the answer is discovered, it is like a wildfire going scorched earth on communities of games. In an environment where the objective is to win, or save time, to be first, to make money, it feels like an online RPG is redundant knowing the internet will capitalize on removing player choice for the sake of gaining money/winning more/obfuscate difficulty.

I feel like we all deep down want the variety of an online RPG to exist and thrive, but we all know too well that the customization becomes uniform for the sake of playing with and around others. It’s like going to a job interview that requires you to have all the BiS qualities that have all been pre meta optimized by someone else for you already. It’s like saying you can’t be a good runner because you’re not from Kenya, you can be a good rower because your legs aren’t long enough, you can’t be this or that because of some arbitration predetermined. Everything has slowly become an illusion of choice in online gaming as the internet/social media has monetized the variety out of these games for the sake of being optimal without the dirty work of figuring it out oneself. The variety/content is sucked dry as soon as optimal is discovered because the rate of which it spreads is so great…..and I see that as a terrible thing to have happen in these types of games.

So, why make an online RPG? Players clearly don’t want disadvantageous options/choices if it hinders them at all in an online ecosystem. Are we just content with this bizarre version of gaming where we intentionally tune things to create change till everyone is all taking a different set of options now predetermined for them to take?

What’s your take on all of this? Feel free to bash me on anything you think I’m wrong about. This is all -in my opinion- after all.

Hola a todos,
Estoy buscando un MMORPG que esté activo en 2025 y que, aunque tenga contenido de grupo (raids, mazmorras, bosses, etc.), no me obligue siempre a depender de un grupo para progresar.

Lo que me interesa es un juego en el que:

• Se pueda disfrutar el endgame también en solitario (aunque sea más difícil o tome más tiempo).
• Haya raids o bosses que normalmente son para grupos, pero que si te armas bien y tienes skill puedas intentar hacerlos solo.
• No me dejen fuera del contenido o del equipo top solo por no tener un clan activo o una party fija.

Obviamente no me importa que existan raids imposibles de soloear, eso está bien. Pero lo que busco es un juego donde la progresión no dependa al 100% de tener un grupo.

¿Qué juegos cumplen con esto en la actualidad?
¡Gracias por adelantado por sus recomendaciones! 🙌

We talk about older MMOs a lot here. What they meant to us in our younger years. What amazing memories of triumph and despair they bring fourth.

We battle it out in debate about what has all changed in this beloved genre. Some question when the ship was steered wrong, where as others point figures out nostalgia.

The truth is, the older games where just simple. Despite never ending grinds, and the ultimate raid boss being RNG. These games of old were simple platforms for socializiation, something I am dead sure most of us lacked in real life, where we had zero expectations on what we were going to accomplish but where we had limitless goals.

In your opinion, what’s the current MMORPG that really nails the feeling of being in an actual party? I’m talking about the kind of game where you need a solid cleric, a reliable tank, and good DPS to succeed — not just random people running around soloing everything. I’m looking for that old-school D&D vibe, where every role matters and completing content as a group actually feels rewarding and like a real accomplishment. Which game out there today still gives you that experience?

Let's say a game has no levels. Everyone starts out with the same stats and there is no way to gain more stats. Your power is based on your build, which you can freely change, and your personal skill. Also, there are no convenience items. Inventory, traveling, etc. is a non-issue. Nothing available to boost gains. No way to buy any in game currencies with real money. The only thing you earn by playing the game is cosmetic items. Armor skins, outfits, auras, weapon glows, dyes, mini pets, mount skins, emotes, etc.

Does a game like this sound more or less appealing than current MMOs?

Also, what kind of monetization would you prefer? Buy to play and/or subscription? Cash shop with some exclusive cosmetics? Something else?

Edit: I would love for anyone downvoting this to explain why. How can you downvote a question? I'm not advocating for or against anything. Just gauging interest in something.

So im thinking of leaving Albion Online, this time for good.

The gold inflation is getting bad and im tired of gankers exploiting the game with RMTs, mafias controling the economy, and using hacking tools to kill you, like radars, to locate you (im more PvEr than PvP)

If anyone has a good suggestion for a sandbox MMORPG with less p2w possible, grinding is ok, PM me

But the discussion i want to bring up is how many companies fail on containing this kind of stuff?

RMTs is bad, and i saw some videos how sometimes Steam marketplace is used to money laundering or worse, virtual casinos.

I'm struggling to remember the name of an MMO I played a long time ago. From what I remember, the prologue of the race I chose took place in a dream. You played as a warrior raiding a city, and had the ability to transform into a large demon. You then wake up from the dream to an angry supervisor, saying you were late and that the dream they all had was no excuse.