Been gaming since early 90's from arcade, NES, SNES, PSX, gameboy (completed over 90% of all games, yup...) then some Dreamcast and LAN PC before I got my PC end of 2001 and moved on to multiplayers. Put a lot of hours mainly on RTS and FPS, but also MMORPG's. Played almost all there is to play that was great until 2011, after that DC Universe Online was the last new game to interest me enough to spend $ on.

Why? Because everything felt generic, more of the same, just better graphics. In fact there is less depth and challenge than ever in single player games. I already know I can complete the game on easy/medium/hard, but if the purpose is to go through the story, why waste time going on hard when it allows me to go easy? That's just one example..

Back in the days games were simply challenging, took 60-100 hours to complete, had hidden stories, and I got so involved in their stories and the characters that I was immersed enough to feel like playing a MMORPG. Yes I'm talking about games like Suikoden, Xenogears, Final Fantasy to action ones like Crash Badicoot, racers like Gran Turismo 1/2 with career mode, unlocking licenses, cars and tuning em, to such amazing and deep RTS like Civilization II etc, etc....I've played and completed everything.

This is why MMORPG's are the only genre that holds my interest today, since they can bring the most features, depth and feel like virtual worlds, sadly I have not seen a quality one in the market for way over 5 years.

Today, even if I could play super popular single players for free like GTA V, Witcher 2/3, Tomb Raider, etc I just can't, cuz I already know what they will offer based on how they are designed, and its something I've already went through in previous games, but like I said minus improved graphics.

Only game I hope to spend $ on this year is WOW: Legion, but still not enough info to be sure, beside that nothing basically, cuz I don't see anything pushing gaming to a whole new level, to something greater...

Looking for single player games where I can continue playing them in different scenarios, experiences, achieving things while also not be caught in a repetitive grind.

Civilization II back on PSX comes as the best in terms of long, unique gameplay experience. I'm tempted playing Skyrim, which I'm sure will offer the same thanks to player made content/mods. Are these my best options?

I'm trying to find multi or single player games where they take months to complete without endless repetition (grind).
Any suggestions?

5 years without spending $ on a new product, this comes after 25 years of exceptional gaming. If anything this is a proof that gaming in general has devolved. Some factors I believe contributed to this are

1) Less investors with $ to invest in this private sector.

2) Less investors that understand the market and importantly gamers. The amount of clones and generic games that exist just proves this further.

3) More focus toward graphics, IP, mainstream, marketing over complexity, depth and features in gaming. If you've played games like Xenogears, Suikoden, Final Fantasy, Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Evermore...you'll know what I mean

4) Piracy

5) Competition - We have more games today than ever as well as more consoles competing vs each other plus the PC. I never bought console after I got my PC in 2001 and never needed to.

6) Each year brings more veteran, experienced gamers to the market. I know best myself how much more I was spending the younger and inexperienced I was for gaming.

7) Many investors in this market hoping to his that jackpot/lottery by risking as least as possible, with far less $ and hoping it will be a success or prey on those who will buy the hype or the IP.

I can go on, but others are welcome to add to the list. I know great things are coming for us late 2016 as well as 2017, but we will see if indeed if anything these producers/investors have learned about gaming by now or not. DC Universe Online was the last product that got my $ on Jan 11th, 2011 ($35 with promo for box) and I enjoyed it on and off afterwards for 1-2 years, spending overall $120 for it.

My gaming career goes back 25 years ago and I was fortunate to be able to play so many arcade, NES/SNES/PSX and a lot of dreamcast games (I've completed 80-90% of them). I also remember how I played Civilization II for months on PSX. I remember how much I enjoyed Suikoden, Xenogears, FFVIII/IX, Grandia and almost every other JRPG.

I got my PC at the end of 2001 and prior to that I played a lot of PC games LAN at some net cafe where I made plenty of friends. We played so much Half Life, Counter Strike, Brood War (Star Craft) Unreal Tournament, Quake. Anyways, when I finally got my hands on PC + internet...this is why I never bought another console again. I enjoyed the social aspect and competition of multiplayer games far more than I ever enjoyed single player games.

I still remember going to Walmart purching Everquest 1, and receiving invalid key...so I bought Ultima Online and this is the first time I got introduced to the MMORPG's. After seeing how truly immersive and feature rich these type of games where my single player itnerest diminished further.

I can pretty much say I've played very few single player games over the last 4-5 years and I only recall completing Batman Arkham Asylum and maeby Dead Space 1. I see so many people here praise games like Witcher 3, Tomb Raider, Fallout, GTA V etc...Truth is the reason why I cannot seem to get that spark again to enjoy these single player games is because I know I can easily complete them, especially how these days there is difficulty setting as well, and the main purpose/objective on these single player games is to consume the story, which is the same thing I find myself doing when I'm watching TV series/movies.

The mainstream games often have generic stories, stories I'm already very familiar with. I have yet to play SWTOR or Guild Wars 2 for example to enjoy their stories despite they are being offered for free. I just feel like it's far more enjoyable for me to be part of a community, a world where I can make my own stories, choices and paths with my unique character/abilities. These type of games also are designed to last far more longer than few days to a week. Sadly, I don't see myself playing anything from the multiplayer games out there, but summer just ended and I'm very optimistic for 2016, I just truly need to figure out a way to enjoy these single player games again to kill the time until I wait for several MMORPG's that look promising.

I'm searching for preferably a character progression, F2P or free trial game, but seriously I'm desperately looking for just one multiplayer game that can hold my interest until the end of the year at least.

Recently I lost interest in the 3 multiplayer games I've been rotating through the last 1-2 years. Community please help! :) <3

I'm sorry Ride, thx for trying to be helpful, but as a long term DCUO player. Played it from launch and on off as P2P and F2P for 2+ years I can safely say DCUO is the last MMO anyone would want to be starting right now. Every DLC they added gave significant perks to PvP'ers. They also never increased the cash limit on F2P account to just keep up with gear repairs that kept going up. Planetside (if you are refering to Planetside 2) had hacking issues for a long time. Finally, SWTOR I highly doubt players can experience it fullest, all content (that's essential for continuing play the game) for free, at least from what I've heard.

I also highly doubt there is a product out there available worth spending $ at the moment, but those who care less about this already are in games like FFXIV, ESO, GW2 expansion and so forth.

So, yea as you can see my requirements are simple, yet even this simple of a product is apparently missing...I'm purposely trying to limit my requirements. I'm not even looking for a traditional "MMO". I've enjoyed in the past other genre games with a sense of community, progression like Pangya (some old golf game ruined by hackers and Need for Speed World for a brief period). Currently Marvel Heroes Online is my primary game, but I do need a back up. I understand Wild Star going F2P this month, but my optimism is low on it.

Black Knight, to answer your questions...because undertaking such projects require more than one person and significant $.

That there is not a single game on the market that is:

"Free to play" - So, I can play and see if it's worth the commitment.

"Secure" - mainly from hacking, heavy exploiting.

"Sense of progression" - So, I have long term goals playing the game. I like to play for year+ at least.

"Populated" - Healthy population (this depends on how the game designed though)

"Recent" - I'm not looking to join a server older than 5 years, based on knowledge of what's been available.

That's pretty much it. The rest is minor things like essential patches that expand the lifespan of the game (if it's themepark based around gearing and overcoming content). Competition is a plus, especially amongst players, but being forced to depend on individuals that may not be avaialble most of the time or not even exist to complete goals is no thx. I like to be able to login at 6 am, 6 pm or midnight and pursue goals.

So, yea as you can see my requirements are simple, yet even this simple of a product is apparently missing...

If today you had to choose one multiplayer game to play until 2017, your pick would be? Over the last 5 years I've seen myself spent the most time playing these multiplayer games: World of Warcraft, DC Universe Online, Path of Exile, Ultima Online (p server), Counter Strike 1.6 (warcraft mod) and this year Marvel Heroes Online. Below I'll describe detailed my experience with them until the very end if anyone has nothing better to read.

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World of Warcraft - The PvP seasons take way too long, I expect 3-4 months vs the current 6-7. Similar story with the PvE, I enjoyed 10 man heroic and guild progression/competition which seems to be missing now, mainly due to the lack of PvE content as well being delivered. I also can't see myself to stomach raiding the same raid bosses for 6+ months. That's simply unacceptable. MoP was considered one of the worst expansions, but for me that changed when I enjoyed it far more than WoD. I also remember enjoying hunting those difficult to obtain, limited mounts from defeating hard content (sadly time is limitless now with how long a single raid takes)

DC Universe - This game was truly amazing, especially during its first year since launch and then it all went downhill. Delayed content updates, meaningless PvP (once you get the feats), and unmplayable for the F2P player with the limited cash balance as well as being forced to buy the DLC to be able to PvP evenly with the rest. Bottom line, it wasn't worth the sub, not when WOW was still at it's prime. Now, I've lost track of the game and it feels like on life support since most others have as well.

Path of Exile - A fresh air for the ARPG genre, sadly it never truly reached its potential. The game has great gameplay, lots of build diversity, but now the only thing it offers at endgame is to do some time sink, easy mode challenges that reward some banner in your hideout, where people rarely come to or care about. The ladder is only a gimmick as the competition is nonexistant, with how the game is heavily designed around whoever has the most currency to invest in mapping + with the help of group/friends can rotate highest lvl of maps to reach highest lvl possible. With 3rd party sites offering currency for $, yea the game is basically just another single player ARPG, catering to the casuas who are the majority left playing in the softcore leagues.

Ultima Online (p server) - Sadly, the game is and never will be the same game we've known at its prime. 3rd party programs destroy PvP and on the server I play PvP doesn't matter. So, I did PvE and to get the best loot all you have to do is farm the same mobs over and over and then wait on someone hoping they sell what you want, which rarely happens, mainly due to the very low population that the game is not designed around.

Counter Strike 1.6 (warcraft mod) - This was a blast, sadly recently I installed the game again, but that server is gone now. What I really liked about warcraft mod was how I could pick 10+ different classes and level them up. That combined with how I could equip 3 unique items out of many per round, which cost CS money made CS feel far more unique with strong community. Sadly, just like the Half Life bubble mod server I enjoyed for years, these two mods are no longer popular at all. There was only one warcraft mod server, sadly it's Russian.

Marvel Heroes Online - Beside the amazing combat, the enjoyable heroes and some of the events (which become useless later on) the game mainly focuses on attracting new players since the endgame is severely lacking. It's about prestiging (re-leveling over and over) characters you like (with specific costumes) until you find some other new character/costume you'll do the same. This is pretty much what the entire game is all about. There is one raid you finish in 15-30 min in the week and yea, it's good game to keep it in your backlog, so you can do something on some specific events, but thats about it.

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Anyways, back to topic if I could play one multiplayer game today until 2017 I really don't know which I would pick, but I'll pick one to contribute to this thread soon. So, I'm going to do further research after quitting these games for my next long term game and what would it be if I could pick one of the hundreds out there.