Small MMORPGs that aren't big or popular enough for their own thread

I thought we had a thread like this, but I couldn't find it. This is a place to ramble, rant, and rave about MMOs that don't have their own thread yet - maybe you'll find someone to play with!

Ryzom - French-designed MMO that came out in late 2004, got trampled by WoW, sent a couple of companies bankrupt, and eventually ended up free-to-play and open source. Some really fascinating design choices and some really wtf? ones as well, as well as neat setting details like "entire planet is a tree and there is no metal". Basically everything past starter gear is made by players from player-harvested materials, with a hugely complex system of material stats; abilities are put together out of smaller bits so you can custom-tune them. Graphics are... actually kind of amazingly good for a game that hasn't had a dev budget since 2004? Nothing special by today's standards obviously but they're actually pretty livable, not godawful eyesores. Pretty grindy, although quests have been introduced to some extent. I log on every now and then and run around gathering because it's kind of meditative. Community is small but super friendly and helpful, and it's really neat to look at things people tried out before things got so super-standardized.

Allods Online - Russian MMO, clearly influenced by WoW but has developed into more of its own thing. The skill system is overly complicated and respec costs are kinda punitive, some zones have ways for people to force you into PVP even if you're not flagged, the free server is P2W and the subscription server is so empty it's practically a single player game. BUT! I keep coming back and poking it every now and then because I'm absolutely in love with the aesthetics and setting. There isn't a "bad guy" and "good guy" faction; the Kanian Republic and the Xadaganian Empire both have their idealists and virtues, both have their corruption and social problems. The Kanians are basically fairy-tale-Tsarist Russia, the Xadaganians are very much Soviet Russia, and I love the aesthetics of both sides. Not something I play a whole lot, really, but I'm very glad it exists. Some really neat classes and races and just... very cool to see the way they did things.

Blade & Soul - I kinda burned out on B&S when I got to the point that upgrading my weapon was getting super grindy expensive and I didn't know a good way to make money for it, but it's a truly beautiful game and being a tiny flippy foxie-girl with a sword is super fun. I really like the active combat and the movement abilities, even if I can't really make any progress in it lately.

anyone else got things to share, or questions, or anything?

 

Mabinogi is life. Ignore that its a nexon game.

there are no classes. there are skill sets. and you can learn them ALL. want to be a bard mage? a spellsword? a healing gunglinger? a fighter alchemist? you can, in fact, with enough time and effort you can master everything. and i only named a few sets.

The graphics are ok seeing as it came out in 2008. but its a great game with a huge world. but there are amazing story questlines with great characters, cutscenes and even credits at the end.

I play on Ruairi server. Please give this awesome F2P game a try!

 

I have played many many many tiny mmo's and they've all kinda blended together over time by virtue of being WoW clones, but I do remember having fun with an anime one called FlyFF at one point. I saw another thing pass by on my dash recently that I wanted to try but I can't track it down again ;n;
Played Blade & Soul for a bit, that was fun. I really liked the character creator.
I super like games that are less about combat? Like, if there was one that'd let me just farm, with in depth farm mechanics, or do other inane things and bring friends around, that'd be grand. Homes to decorate is good too. Extensive fashion.
DOMESTIC MMO'S PLS

 

I seem to recall poking Mabinogi and not really having any idea where to start with it, I should install it again and give it another try.

 

Hey, same. I tried it for a bit but never quite got the handle of it.

 

I kicked around in Wildstar for a while before it went F2P, and then even for a bit after. The bright colors give Moony migraines though and there's no color blind mode, so we haven't played it much since, but it's a load of fun and has really good house customization. A friend of a friend managed to build an entire pirate ship, plus a bar and hotel underneath, on their housing plot. It was fucking cool.

 

Got it downloaded, made a character on Ruairi, taking her through the tutorial. Name's Carlitsa.

 

Hm, the tutorial stuff seems a lot friendlier than i remember, but is there any way to rebind keys? especially movement keys? I keep not doing what I'm trying to do.
also i got to the point where you try out a bunch of combat talents and i have no idea what to pick when they end up asking me to pick. gunslinger seems kinda fun but also like it'd probably take a bunch of resources to keep bullets stocked? and bard seems really useful to have in group but useless solo?

 

muffled [old school runescape] in the background

I also should give Perfect World another try, honestly, now that I have ff14 under my belt and can be called Passable at MMOs. I figured out the secret to why I always get overwhelmed in them (other than, you know, relatively low end computer) - WASD movement + abilities keyed to 1234 on the number keys = blargle. but switching the abilities to the 890 end makes it two-handed and thus, actually playable for me.

I think I was stuck in PW because of a quest involving a jump, though... May consider recs.

 

Oh hey, I played Allods for a bit with friend when it first came out. I think i was a tank of some kind and i remember it was...basically impossible to do ANYTHING alone because my damage was terrible. ;_; I remember the world/aesthetics being pretty cool tho. I just...died a lot.

I also played Maple Story years ago for a bit, I don't remember much about it tho. Also Asda Story back when it was in open beta. I recall it being basically impossible because the overworld mob aggro range was MASSIVE and any party of less than 4 would get rapidly overwhelmed and wiped out. Hah.

 

I used to play Atlantica a lot because I liked the PVP. Also the world I liked but really it was a grindy shitshow of a game. Especially the unit unlock quests.

 

theres an options section in the same box you use to log off.

all talents do is give you an exp boost for that skill set. you can change it later so dont worry. the only thing to remember is the first talent you pick you get a corresponding weapon for that set thats repair fee is only 1 gold so keep that in mind. i reccomend close combat for starters because youll always use that to some degree

my name is Aurasuma, ill add you so we can play together.

 

wiki> http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/view/Wiki_Home

 

mabinogi is cute and there's a bunch of stuff to do and i want to like it, but the UI is just so frustrating i keep ending up crying because of how hard it is to make my character do what i want. i'll give it more try later maybe when i'm not so fragile or something.

 

aww im sorry :(

 

WILDSTAR, that was the thing. Looked fun from the post!
They left out a crucial detail though when making it. Super important.

I can play as an AI.

A red/black colourscheme AI.


Hello AR. You have a female model beause the dude robos are unacceptably bulky and you need to be LITHE AND SLEEK.

 

OH MAN THE MECHARI ARE SO FUN

I'm genuinely tied between the Mechari and the Mordesh for my favorite race, thought Transformers has definitely swung me more Mechari. The huge number of color combination is at least part of why I like the game so much, ngl.

(Did you know you can make an Aurin male with the exact color pallete of the pansexual flag? NOW YOU DO.)

 

Sadly it runs like absolute ass for me so I might not be able to actually play ;n;

 

Oh noooooo D:

 

Oh hey, Wildstar! I had such high hopes for that game, because I loved the bright colors and art style and really wanted there to be more science fiction games, and then... just didn't have fun actually playing it. :(

Lately I've been poking around more in B&S and having tons of fun flipping around and slashing all the things.

Spoiler: super pretty landscape with tiny flippy swordfoxie!