Searching for a game that meets these criteria

I've been looking for a game to play, and I want to find a game that meets most, if not all, of the following criteria:

Single-player and multiplayer

Open world (absolute must, I can't stand linearity)

Preferably RPG, though I'm not strongly genre-biased (save for strategy games, I don't really care for those)

Multiplayer component, in which you can take your character from your single-player and play with others, not create a new one for multiplayer

Some degree of character customization

Would prefer that it be available on Steam, though if it's good enough I'll live without achievements :P

I already have Borderlands, but for some reason I can't really get in to it that well. Any other games that sound like this?

Diablo 3 - Though it isn't really "free-roam" per se given that you are confined to the chapter you are currently in, but in that chapter you can go where you please whenever you want so long as you have progressed far enough and the world is randomly generated everytime you start a game... So everytime you load up, new dungeons, enemies, etc are loaded up... Your characters are persistant through both SP and Coop... Soon they are adding pvp as well...

Customization is in gear and play style, though late game it comes down to what works (hardest difficulty means precise build, precise gear, but prior to that its however you want...)

Yeah...

EDIT:

Oh and if you are at all interested in MMOs, Star Wars: The Old Republic is very much like a single player game while leveling... It is made by Bioware so the 1-50 process is much like a SP Bioware RPG (a la Mass Effect)...

There's something else I forgot to mention - no bullcrap DRM (I.E., no D3). Not that D3 doesn't look good, I'd just prefer I was capable of playing it in places I don't have access to the Internet. Or did they take that out?

There's something else I forgot to mention - no bullcrap DRM (I.E., no D3). Not that D3 doesn't look good, I'd just prefer I was capable of playing it in places I don't have access to the Internet. Or did they take that out?

soul_reaver_vii

Any game with what you have described is going to have that man... They can't have SP/MP crossover without that kind of protection... Otherwise what keeps you from going offline, cheating, coming online and destroying people who played fairly...

And I don't mean "cheat" outright in a literal sense, like spawning items and the likes, but subtle cheating like editing values of items or skills that make rare things drop and the likes... They can't detect and stop that if you are offline or notice it happened after the fact... And that would ruin the entire game given that it has a player run economy of gear and gold selling for real money (or in game)...

guildwars its not completely open world and it requires online play. it has no offline play but it can be played solo for the major ity of it thanks to customizeable AI helpers called hero's and non-customizeable cheap labor called henchmen

it is one of the best online rpg's in existance and it has 0 peers for pvp balance

i would also like to recommend the eye: divine cybermancy

Any game with what you have described is going to have that man... They can't have SP/MP crossover without that kind of protection... Otherwise what keeps you from going offline, cheating, coming online and destroying people who played fairly...

And I don't mean "cheat" outright in a literal sense, like spawning items and the likes, but subtle cheating like editing values of items or skills that make rare things drop and the likes... They can't detect and stop that if you are offline or notice it happened after the fact... And that would ruin the entire game given that it has a player run economy of gear and gold selling for real money (or in game)...

C2N2

You do realize people do that all the time in Borderlands, right? WillowTree works just fine in online play, and you can play Borderlands offline. You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize that Borderlands may well be the only game that fits all of my points. What other game has everything Borderlands has, but isn't Borderlands? lol

[QUOTE="C2N2"]

Any game with what you have described is going to have that man... They can't have SP/MP crossover without that kind of protection... Otherwise what keeps you from going offline, cheating, coming online and destroying people who played fairly...

And I don't mean "cheat" outright in a literal sense, like spawning items and the likes, but subtle cheating like editing values of items or skills that make rare things drop and the likes... They can't detect and stop that if you are offline or notice it happened after the fact... And that would ruin the entire game given that it has a player run economy of gear and gold selling for real money (or in game)...

soul_reaver_vii

You do realize people do that all the time in Borderlands, right? WillowTree works just fine in online play, and you can play Borderlands offline. You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize that Borderlands may well be the only game that fits all of my points. What other game has everything Borderlands has, but isn't Borderlands? lol

Guild Wars 2

You can play it as single player and enjoy the game on single player too. It has Dynamic events too that will just pop out of no where. Specially lots of RPG Element!

Two Worlds 2 comes to my mind. It's rough around the edges, but I enjoyed it.

Assassins Creed.

Guild Wars 2

You can play it as single player and enjoy the game on single player too. It has Dynamic events too that will just pop out of no where. Specially lots of RPG Element!

_VenomX

It's not even out yet, why would you reccommend it? Also, it's not the first MMO with dynamic events...

I would say the perfect game for you is Saints Row 3

Single-player and multiplayer -You can play story in SP or in MP (a friend can join anytime), and it has some other great modes (Wh0red Mode)

Open world (absolute must, I can't stand linearity)- It's a GTA styled game, a big city to explore and missions to complete.

Preferably RPG, though I'm not strongly genre-biased (save for strategy games, I don't really care for those) - Great :D

Multiplayer component, in which you can take your character from your single-player and play with others, not create a new one for multiplayer - Conditions met

Some degree of character customization - Outrageous customization

Would prefer that it be available on Steam - It's a Steam game

[QUOTE="_VenomX"]

Guild Wars 2

You can play it as single player and enjoy the game on single player too. Also, it is the first game ever with Dynamic events that will just pop out of no where. Specially lots of RPG Element!

HyperWarlock

It's not even out yet, why would you reccommend it? Also, it's not the first MMO with dynamic events...

There ya go hyperwarlock, i fixed it for you so that it doesn't seem like you make poor assumptions.

On the TC note, you wont find any game with that criteria unless there is some random niche game very few people have heard of.

Here is the best I can come up with :(

https://sites.google.com/site/3079game/

i dont know much about the game and havent even played it :P But it is apparently like borderlands + minecraft and i THINK it has online... honestly dont know. Heard about it randomly a while ago.

I would say the perfect game for you is Saints Row 3

Single-player and multiplayer -You can play story in SP or in MP (a friend can join anytime), and it has some other great modes (Wh0red Mode)

Open world (absolute must, I can't stand linearity)- It's a GTA styled game, a big city to explore and missions to complete.

Preferably RPG, though I'm not strongly genre-biased (save for strategy games, I don't really care for those) - Great :D

Multiplayer component, in which you can take your character from your single-player and play with others, not create a new one for multiplayer - Conditions met

Some degree of character customization - Outrageous customization

Would prefer that it be available on Steam - It's a Steam game

SovietsUnited

I second this, fits most of the requirments and it is overall a very fun game. Too bad the flash sale on it is over because it was really cheap yesterday.

I would say the perfect game for you is Saints Row 3

Single-player and multiplayer -You can play story in SP or in MP (a friend can join anytime), and it has some other great modes (Wh0red Mode)

Open world (absolute must, I can't stand linearity)- It's a GTA styled game, a big city to explore and missions to complete.

Preferably RPG, though I'm not strongly genre-biased (save for strategy games, I don't really care for those) - Great :D

Multiplayer component, in which you can take your character from your single-player and play with others, not create a new one for multiplayer - Conditions met

Some degree of character customization - Outrageous customization

Would prefer that it be available on Steam - It's a Steam game

SovietsUnited

I agree, and I do already have Saints Row 3, the only thing that stops me from playing it is that my PC can only run it at about 20 FPS on DX9 (even less on DX11), which limits my enjoyment a bit. Also, I would prefer if it had multiplayer for more han 2 players at one time.