Best MMO on the market right now?

Ok, I'm in the market for an MMO and I'm having trouble wading through all of them because this usually isn't my genre. There are a few caveats I have which make finding a game hard:

-No hotkey combat. I can't stand the slow pace of them and the only one of the lot that felt natural at all was Guild Wars 2, which was still clunky sometimes. 

-Being able to move while casting. Neverwinter and Tera is pretty close to what I want, but playing a mage sucks on account of being rooted while casting.

-It would be awesome if the game had some interesting meta-story. Not really needed, but at least its a nice change from the terrible filler quests.

To date the only MMOs I've really liked are:

Guild Wars 2: The game has pretty much everything I like in an MMO, outside of good solo story stuff. Played this one to death at launch so its gonna be a while before I could boot this up again.

D&D Online: The feel of the dungeons and the number crunching made the game really compelling for me. Played this one to death a couple of times now.

Lord of the Rings Online: The combat majorly sucked in this one, but the world and questlines more then made up for it. Was nice for a one time through, but I could never see myself going back to it.

As of right now the only one I've found that looks good is Dragon's Prophet, and that is in closed beta.

I don't think what you want is an MMO. I can't even think of a game that lets you cast spells while moving. Well, except Avencast where moving IS how you cast spells.

If you are a fan of super heroes, you might really like DC Universe Online then. It feels like a mix of an action game and mmo. It's free, so see if you like it.

LOTRO and DC Universe Online are superb games, hours of gameplay, beyond expectancy.

No hotkey combat.

Whiteblade999

-Being able to move while casting. Neverwinter and Tera is pretty close to what I want, but playing a mage sucks on account of being rooted while casting.

Whiteblade999

On this point alone, I recommend Darkfall Unholy Wars. It has true twitch combat. The caveat is that PvP is not optional. The starter areas are safe from PvP, but most of the world is unsafe. It has some issues and pains because it just came out last month, but it has tons of potential.

I played so far WoW, SWTOR, The Secret World and Neverwinter, and Mists of Pandaria is the best due to the fact WoW keeps been the biggest MMO today nad because of Pet battles which is like Pokemon game. You travel all over WoW world collecting rare species. This is what makes WoW the best MMO for me.

Ok, I'm in the market for an MMO and I'm having trouble wading through all of them because this usually isn't my genre. There are a few caveats I have which make finding a game hard:

-No hotkey combat. I can't stand the slow pace of them and the only one of the lot that felt natural at all was Guild Wars 2, which was still clunky sometimes. 

-Being able to move while casting. Neverwinter and Tera is pretty close to what I want, but playing a mage sucks on account of being rooted while casting.

-It would be awesome if the game had some interesting meta-story. Not really needed, but at least its a nice change from the terrible filler quests.

To date the only MMOs I've really liked are:

Guild Wars 2: The game has pretty much everything I like in an MMO, outside of good solo story stuff. Played this one to death at launch so its gonna be a while before I could boot this up again.

D&D Online: The feel of the dungeons and the number crunching made the game really compelling for me. Played this one to death a couple of times now.

Lord of the Rings Online: The combat majorly sucked in this one, but the world and questlines more then made up for it. Was nice for a one time through, but I could never see myself going back to it.

As of right now the only one I've found that looks good is Dragon's Prophet, and that is in closed beta.

Whiteblade999

Well i played over 30 + - MMO RPGs, And in this moment if Guild Wars 2 isnt your game try RIFT, i played it for more then 1 year, it has all except combat is kinda static, they tried to make it somehow , but still you are moving trowing spells if you play caster class, and for greater spells you need to chanel it.

I think all MMORPG's have hotkey combat. Isnt that the basic staple of the genre? I do remember though that Warhammer online is all about casting and moving.

I will just recommend my favorites, which are:

SWTOR (currently playing)

WoW (retired, but a 6+ year "vet")

EVE Online (hope to go back to someday and play for reals) 

Sorry if this doesnt meet your criteria, but it is hard to recommend a game when you go "I want an MMO, except it cant be an MMO" :P

Oh yeah and Planetside 2 is pretty fun, too

I don't think what you want is an MMO. I can't even think of a game that lets you cast spells while moving. Well, except Avencast where moving IS how you cast spells.

Emraldo

[QUOTE="Emraldo"]

I don't think what you want is an MMO. I can't even think of a game that lets you cast spells while moving. Well, except Avencast where moving IS how you cast spells.

MBirdy88

Diablo 3 would likely be the next best thing, then.  Or Torchlight 2!

World of Warcraft is really the only MMO that brings me back every once in a while. 

[QUOTE="Emraldo"]

I don't think what you want is an MMO. I can't even think of a game that lets you cast spells while moving. Well, except Avencast where moving IS how you cast spells.

MBirdy88

Well technically D&D Online isn't an MMO, neither is Neverwinter, since they both take place in hub towns with instanced areas and not a wide open world. I included it because everyone and their brother calls it an MMO and I liked it.

I actually agree with the bolded part, MMOs typically aren't my thing. With the release of Guild Wars 2 I figured the genre was finally making games that appeal to someone like me, so I've been looking on and off since I stopped playing in October. 

Action RPGs are usually a chore since they are isometric diablo clones and I'm quickly starting to hate isometric RPGs outside of party based ones. Suggestions for some third person action RPGs would work too I guess.

You can cast while moving as a Shaman or Warlock on WoW :P  I think Fire Mages can as well, but f-ck if I know.

Oh, and don't buy into the "No Holy TRinity Hype" ... it really is crap in comparison.... GW2 proved this by being a half-dead game.MBirdy88

[QUOTE="MBirdy88"]Oh, and don't buy into the "No Holy TRinity Hype" ... it really is crap in comparison.... GW2 proved this by being a half-dead game.Elann2008

[QUOTE="MBirdy88"]Oh, and don't buy into the "No Holy TRinity Hype" ... it really is crap in comparison.... GW2 proved this by being a half-dead game.Elann2008

[QUOTE="MBirdy88"]Oh, and don't buy into the "No Holy TRinity Hype" ... it really is crap in comparison.... GW2 proved this by being a half-dead game.Elann2008

well if you're taking a break from GW2, i really can't think of anything else to suggest :P[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="MBirdy88"]Oh, and don't buy into the "No Holy TRinity Hype" ... it really is crap in comparison.... GW2 proved this by being a half-dead game.BrunoBRS

I'm telling you guys, don't be quick to dismiss Darkfall Unholy Wars. It certainly has roughness here and there, but it has some amazing battles. This combat system is the kind of future I see for the MMORPG industry. As hardware, software, and network technology moves forward, more physics and twitch combat will be possible. Just look at this siege video from last night. Aventurine has done some impressive work with this game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3vMohtQtPI

[QUOTE="MBirdy88"]Oh, and don't buy into the "No Holy TRinity Hype" ... it really is crap in comparison.... GW2 proved this by being a half-dead game.Elann2008

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="MBirdy88"]Oh, and don't buy into the "No Holy TRinity Hype" ... it really is crap in comparison.... GW2 proved this by being a half-dead game.Allicrombie

I feel the same. I ran the first instance in GW2, i think it was ascalonian catacombs and everything felt like pure chaos. No one knows what to do, there is no real aggro system other than the enemy cycling who to attack for a couple of seconds and switching over. I quit that game. I was looking for something more traditional i guess. Playing everquest 2 for the first time just to have something to play until ARR

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"][QUOTE="Elann2008"] I agree. I don't get MMOs that "don't have healing" or "healing class." Makes no sense. Even in The Secret World, you can heal. Healing class is one of the funnest, if not the most important class to play aside from the Tank. In GW2, my guardian is useless in pvp and dungeons. I feel like it has no viable purpose. It's too weak to "tank" or "heal." It does crap damage in PVP, and barely makes it as a support class spamming cheap abilities. jaay55

I feel the same. I ran the first instance in GW2, i think it was ascalonian catacombs and everything felt like pure chaos. No one knows what to do, there is no real aggro system other than the enemy cycling who to attack for a couple of seconds and switching over. I quit that game. I was looking for something more traditional i guess. Playing everquest 2 for the first time just to have something to play until ARR

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="BrunoBRS"] i could list a ton of reasons why this post is wrong (guardian is actually a top tier class for both dungeons and PvP), but i know better than to bother defending GW2 in this board.BrunoBRS

FF11's skill combos made GW2's look like watered down uneccesary weak actions that most people dont even bother doing .... OH WAIT thats exactly what they are!

oh and I wouldn't say "No point in defending GW2 on this board" I would say "No point in defending it anywhere outside of its official forums" because the reality is its a shallow game and most MMO gamers see it that way.

You would rather very situational combos that feel weak compared to people actually being able to pick rolls and not all spam damage and their 1-2 healing skills? im sorry.... whatever floats your boat, but its ALOT more mindless.

Dont try and say "mindlessly spamming healing macro" when a Tank, DPS and Healer's in most other games press ALOT more buttons than ANY character does on Guild Wars ... and has alot more variety.

[QUOTE="BrunoBRS"][QUOTE="Elann2008"] Sure, on paper, but in practice, it's still a snooze-fest. Yay.. 5 main skills to spam. Boring. The shield on the Guardian is basically a "prop." There is no tanking and healing in this game. Holy trinity is important and it shouldn't be ignored.MBirdy88

FF11's skill combos made GW2's look like watered down uneccesary weak actions that most people dont even bother doing .... OH WAIT thats exactly what they are!

oh and I wouldn't say "No point in defending GW2 on this board" I would say "No point in defending it anywhere outside of its official forums" because the reality is its a shallow game and most MMO gamers see it that way.

You would rather very situational combos that feel weak compared to people actually being able to pick rolls and not all spam damage and their 1-2 healing skills? im sorry.... whatever floats your boat, but its ALOT more mindless.

Dont try and say "mindlessly spamming healing macro" when a Tank, DPS and Healer's in most other games press ALOT more buttons than ANY character does on Guild Wars ... and has alot more variety.

I may be spoiled on traditional MMO's, but ones like GW2 that don't have dedicated roles, like healer, tank, etc just seem very odd to me.Allicrombie

I feel the same. I ran the first instance in GW2, i think it was ascalonian catacombs and everything felt like pure chaos. No one knows what to do, there is no real aggro system other than the enemy cycling who to attack for a couple of seconds and switching over. I quit that game. I was looking for something more traditional i guess. Playing everquest 2 for the first time just to have something to play until ARRjaay55

Yup.  That's another thing, no aggro system.  So, "let's dodge-roll" instead and pray you live, without any real healing.  All else fails, run and escape, and reset the boss or whatever.  It's not a good kind of chaos where things are challenging,  It's poor design.

[QUOTE="MBirdy88"]

[QUOTE="BrunoBRS"] i find it much more interesting when the group ranger has to lay a water field and my thief uses it to blast heals to the whole party (as long as they get there), while someone else uses crowd control on the boss than "dps keeps mashing his macro, tank keeps mashing his macro, healer facerolls heals on tanks, blame healer if fail".BrunoBRS

FF11's skill combos made GW2's look like watered down uneccesary weak actions that most people dont even bother doing .... OH WAIT thats exactly what they are!

oh and I wouldn't say "No point in defending GW2 on this board" I would say "No point in defending it anywhere outside of its official forums" because the reality is its a shallow game and most MMO gamers see it that way.

You would rather very situational combos that feel weak compared to people actually being able to pick rolls and not all spam damage and their 1-2 healing skills? im sorry.... whatever floats your boat, but its ALOT more mindless.

Dont try and say "mindlessly spamming healing macro" when a Tank, DPS and Healer's in most other games press ALOT more buttons than ANY character does on Guild Wars ... and has alot more variety.

All I see is someone who is getting very upset that someone has a different opinion on a game they do and is doing everything they can to convince people the game is factually bad and everyone who enjoys the game is wrong.  Seriously, the OP was looking for suggestions on some great MMOs.  He briefly mentioned that he really enjoyed Guild Wars 2 and now this thread is a Guild Wars 2 bashing thread.

I've only played FFXI, WoW, GW1 and GW2.  Final Fantasy 11 was alright, but I really enjoyed the others.  Can't really comment much on all the other MMOs out there.  All I can recommend is not listening to certain people here, as they clearly have different tastes than yourself.  Find those who enjoyed the majority of games you listed and see what they recommend.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="BrunoBRS"] i could list a ton of reasons why this post is wrong (guardian is actually a top tier class for both dungeons and PvP), but i know better than to bother defending GW2 in this board.BrunoBRS

[QUOTE="BrunoBRS"][QUOTE="Elann2008"] Sure, on paper, but in practice, it's still a snooze-fest. Yay.. 5 main skills to spam. Boring. The shield on the Guardian is basically a "prop." There is no tanking and healing in this game. Holy trinity is important and it shouldn't be ignored.Elann2008

I'm telling you guys, don't be quick to dismiss Darkfall Unholy Wars. It certainly has roughness here and there, but it has some amazing battles. This combat system is the kind of future I see for the MMORPG industry. As hardware, software, and network technology moves forward, more physics and twitch combat will be possible. Just look at this siege video from last night. Aventurine has done some impressive work with this game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3vMohtQtPI

Falconoffury

There is no MMO avaliable on the market worthy enough for monthly sub. WOW comes as best option, but their greed and fees for all services that come with it on top of monthly sub and paying for expansion is unacceptable.

A game based on team work both in PvP and raiding, while doing nothing to improve the population and merge servers or give players free account transfers occasionally...Greed will be the death of WOW.

Dota 2 or any other MOBA lets you cast spells without being rooted.  And there is grinding and pvp which is close to what you're looking for.

once upon a time in WoW....

I join a dungeon, get inside the instance, check out my group, druid tank, pala healer, rogue/hunter and me (mage). nice

druid switches to boomkin form and starts dps'ing the mobs(WTF???? BOOMKIN?? OMG HE CAN"T TANK WTF?!?!). hunter lays down traps, rogue stunlocks an enemy mage, I sheep one and frost nova some melee. we proceeded to do this the entire instance. no tanking, just CC and playing smart.

IT WAS THE BEST DUNGEON EXPERIENCE EVER. IF YOU LIKE THE "TRADITIONAL" ( READ: RETARDED AND BORING) METHOD IN WHICH ONE GUY PRACTICALY DOES ALL THE WORK ( THE TANK) SINCE HE HAS TO KEEP AGGRO ON A LOT OF MOBS WHILE REST JUST SPAM 1-2-3 MACROS, I ADVISE YOU TO ABSTAIN FROM EVER STATING YOUR OPINIONS ON GAMING.

that was 3-4 years ago but I still remember fondly the moment druid went boomkin and started nuking the mobs and we all just jumped in and did our parts, nobody whined or anything.

that was back in the day when men were men and the women loved it

[QUOTE="ciorlandenis"]

once upon a time in WoW....

 

I join a dungeon, get inside the instance, check out my group, druid tank, pala healer, rogue/hunter and me (mage). nice

druid switches to boomkin form and starts dps'ing the mobs(WTF???? BOOMKIN?? OMG HE CAN"T TANK WTF?!?!). hunter lays down traps, rogue stunlocks an enemy mage, I sheep one and frost nova some melee. we proceeded to do this the entire instance. no tanking, just CC and playing smart.

 

IT WAS THE BEST DUNGEON EXPERIENCE EVER. IF YOU LIKE THE "TRADITIONAL" ( READ: RETARDED AND BORING) METHOD IN WHICH ONE GUY PRACTICALY DOES ALL THE WORK ( THE TANK) SINCE HE HAS TO KEEP AGGRO ON A LOT OF MOBS WHILE REST JUST SPAM 1-2-3 MACROS, I ADVISE YOU TO ABSTAIN FROM EVER STATING YOUR OPINIONS ON GAMING.

that was 3-4 years ago but I still remember fondly the moment druid went boomkin and started nuking the mobs and we all just jumped in and did our parts, nobody whined or anything.

that was back in the day when men were men and the women loved it

Geminon

anyone here in the dragons prophet beta? sounds pretty cool from what iv read, just wondering if i should buy into the betaGamingVengeance

[QUOTE="ciorlandenis"]

once upon a time in WoW....

 

I join a dungeon, get inside the instance, check out my group, druid tank, pala healer, rogue/hunter and me (mage). nice

druid switches to boomkin form and starts dps'ing the mobs(WTF???? BOOMKIN?? OMG HE CAN"T TANK WTF?!?!). hunter lays down traps, rogue stunlocks an enemy mage, I sheep one and frost nova some melee. we proceeded to do this the entire instance. no tanking, just CC and playing smart.

 

IT WAS THE BEST DUNGEON EXPERIENCE EVER. IF YOU LIKE THE "TRADITIONAL" ( READ: RETARDED AND BORING) METHOD IN WHICH ONE GUY PRACTICALY DOES ALL THE WORK ( THE TANK) SINCE HE HAS TO KEEP AGGRO ON A LOT OF MOBS WHILE REST JUST SPAM 1-2-3 MACROS, I ADVISE YOU TO ABSTAIN FROM EVER STATING YOUR OPINIONS ON GAMING.

that was 3-4 years ago but I still remember fondly the moment druid went boomkin and started nuking the mobs and we all just jumped in and did our parts, nobody whined or anything.

that was back in the day when men were men and the women loved it

Geminon

says the insecure 40 year old virgin who's got penis issues lulz

[QUOTE="Geminon"][QUOTE="ciorlandenis"]

once upon a time in WoW....

 

I join a dungeon, get inside the instance, check out my group, druid tank, pala healer, rogue/hunter and me (mage). nice

druid switches to boomkin form and starts dps'ing the mobs(WTF???? BOOMKIN?? OMG HE CAN"T TANK WTF?!?!). hunter lays down traps, rogue stunlocks an enemy mage, I sheep one and frost nova some melee. we proceeded to do this the entire instance. no tanking, just CC and playing smart.

 

IT WAS THE BEST DUNGEON EXPERIENCE EVER. IF YOU LIKE THE "TRADITIONAL" ( READ: RETARDED AND BORING) METHOD IN WHICH ONE GUY PRACTICALY DOES ALL THE WORK ( THE TANK) SINCE HE HAS TO KEEP AGGRO ON A LOT OF MOBS WHILE REST JUST SPAM 1-2-3 MACROS, I ADVISE YOU TO ABSTAIN FROM EVER STATING YOUR OPINIONS ON GAMING.

that was 3-4 years ago but I still remember fondly the moment druid went boomkin and started nuking the mobs and we all just jumped in and did our parts, nobody whined or anything.

that was back in the day when men were men and the women loved it

ciorlandenis

says the insecure 40 year old virgin who's got penis issues lulz

[QUOTE="Whiteblade999"]

No hotkey combat.

nethernova

[QUOTE="GamingVengeance"]anyone here in the dragons prophet beta? sounds pretty cool from what iv read, just wondering if i should buy into the betaGeminon

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]

[QUOTE="BrunoBRS"] i find it much more interesting when the group ranger has to lay a water field and my thief uses it to blast heals to the whole party (as long as they get there), while someone else uses crowd control on the boss than "dps keeps mashing his macro, tank keeps mashing his macro, healer facerolls heals on tanks, blame healer if fail".BrunoBRS

What is wrong with monthly fees and how is GW2 living proof that monthly fees are stupid?