Where to?

August 10, 2009 5:16 AM

If you had a dying WoW guild, full of buddies who have been playing together since Tribes 2 as a core with a band of new guys picked up along the way who have squeezed all of the life out of WoW and are looking for something new, in any genre as long as we could have some new experiences hanging out and having fun on vent...what would you suggest?

I hate Wrath of the Lich King.

Obviously looking for something fun for a big band of people playing together, but not many other requirements. What is out there in the PC Gaming world?

posted by furiousxgeorge to sports, hobbies, & recreation (23 comments total)

And a somewhat casual bent...no Eve I mean.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:20 AM on August 10

Experiencing the same problem you are in now, my group has moved through all the mainstream MMO games out there. If you're looking for long-term, the only game I could recommend is Everquest 2. If you just want something to play for a couple months, look into Warhammer or Lord of the Rings Online. My friends and I will be playing Aion when it comes out in September, and until then I've been flip-flopping between Age of Conan and Warhammer.

If you guys love pvp you should give Warhammer a try. It's a fantastic game short-term, but there's really not much to do other than grind levels and run battlegrounds.
posted by Sufi at 5:27 AM on August 10

Another thing; all of these games have free trials. Take advantage of them!
posted by Sufi at 5:34 AM on August 10

I really liked Warhammer for awhile.

But I'd recommend some different social games. Something like Left 4 Dead. These games that aren't focused around grinding, but still around intense teamplay, have been such a breath of fresh air to me and my friends.

I love Insurgency for HL2, cool war game. I'm sure some people could recommend better.
posted by teabag at 5:45 AM on August 10

Team Fortress 2 in the FPS category might be up your alley. It's not your average FPS, as there are many different classes to play, which makes teamwork a vital part of the gameplay. And it's definitely fun with a big group of people, because some hilarious stuff happens, and the game itself is pretty funny, too.
posted by Grither at 5:49 AM on August 10

I enjoyed Warhammer, but you do have to be pretty big into PvP to get to much of its content.
posted by transporter accident amy at 5:55 AM on August 10

You might want to consider Lord of the Rings online, which seems to be going strong.

However, many new MMO's are about to be released in the next few months, so you might consider being "pioneers" on one of them - check Massively's Upcoming MMOs or some such place for news.
posted by Spacelegoman at 6:00 AM on August 10

If it's new experiences you want, why not try out a different game every week or two weeks for a while - your team could become gaming dilettantes (critics?) for a while. Eventually, you can all choose something together to stick with, but for now, you all can have a great big meta-adventure and become experts, yourselves, on "what's out there".
posted by amtho at 6:12 AM on August 10

Seconding both Team Fortress 2 & Left 4 Dead.

Me and my WoW playing buddies love both of those games and have nearly ditched WoW for them.
posted by nokry56 at 6:42 AM on August 10

This is all anecdotal, grokked from my gamer SO. He was really, really into Warhammer for awhile because of the more casual style of the game. Then something the admins did broke the game--it seems like it's a bit better since they merged the servers, but his guild is still planning on leaving. They play a bit of Left 4 Dead in the interrim (off topic, but I find the sound effects of Left 4 Dead to be incredibly stressful; tried playing once and it absolutely freaked me out!) but they have bigger plans next month.

They're all going over to Aion when it debuts in September. I've watched Mr. WanKenobi play during the beta sessions and I have to say that the graphics and gameplay look absolutely amazing. And if you like a casual game, it even reminds you to take a break every few hours. Can't beat that.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 6:54 AM on August 10

Team Fortress 2 in the FPS category might be up your alley.

And you can join MeFightClub as part of being a member of Metafilter - they have regular Left4Dead and TF2 matches that keep me awake at night when my gaming SO is shouting through a headset about witches.
posted by mippy at 7:00 AM on August 10

I'm not sure about for PC but the new Modern Warfare is coming out in November.
posted by sporaticgenius at 8:27 AM on August 10

You might want to consider Lord of the Rings online, which seems to be going strong.


Nthing Lord Of The Rings Online, if you're interested in another MMOG. Good fun, doesn't become a second job at higher levels(unless you want it to), much easier to play casually than EQ or WoW, and the 2nd expansion is due in the fall...Rohan, I think.
posted by spirit72 at 8:29 AM on August 10

This is pretty anachronistic, and lowfi, but I have killed way to much time on MUD's, the first large scale multiplayer Internet games. WoW is basically a MUD with pictures and a point-and-grunt interface. There will likely be a big culture shock with this option though. Realms of Despair is a pretty good medium sized mud if you want to try one out.
posted by idiopath at 9:42 AM on August 10

I would definitely suggest Warhammer. I think it's a fantastic experience as long as you have friends to share it with. I feel like WoW is more centered around personal achievement, while Warhammer stresses (and essentially requires) teamwork. However, if you're sick of WoW, this may not be the best option for you.
posted by SharkLangasta at 9:58 AM on August 10

I second left for dead. If everyone has a tv/monitor and an Xbox you can play 4v4 one side humans and the other side zombies. Fun stuff.
posted by Mastercheddaar at 10:00 AM on August 10

Allow me to suggest City of Heroes/Villains, which is a MMORPG that is a lot more casual than WoW; you still have task forces (read: raids, more or less) and enhancements (read: gear), but there's a lot more soloable content and a higher average level of maturity, although griefers still exist. It's superhero/villain oriented, but there are still fantasy elements, if that matters. Characters are much more customizable at the start and they're fixing the Mission Architect system, which allows you to create your own missions/quests (heavily exploited by farmers and PLers at the beginning). They're about to introduce an expansion called Going Rogue, which allows a hero to become a villain and vice versa; imagine being able to switch an alt from Alliance to Horde or vice versa. Great fun!
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:23 AM on August 10

Possibly Diablo 3 when it hits. Wait for Left 4 Dead 2 in my opinion, but if you're dieing for something the first one's great.
posted by Submiqent at 12:13 PM on August 10

I am not a gamer, but my boyfriend plays games for about 7 hours a day. He used to play WoW, now plays Warhammer, but is most excited about Champions Online coming out soon. May be worthwhile for you to look into, it's currently in open beta.
posted by WeekendJen at 1:54 PM on August 10

L4D, but if you have more than 4 (or 8) people at a time that won't work very well. TF2 is quite fun for this sort of thing. You wouldn't be shelling out money for WOW every month so between you, your own TF2 server would be pretty affordable ... probably 30 or 40 bucks a month.
posted by Happydaz at 3:15 PM on August 10

Kingdom of Loathing!
posted by Night_owl at 3:21 PM on August 10

As mentioned above, join us at Mefight Club. We have 4 dedicated TF2 servers, 3 L4D servers, and we play lots of other games besides. Our only barrier to joining the group (over 600 strong now) is that we strongly prefer members to be Metafilter members (or friends and family of, is generally OK, too). We're not collectively as big on the MMORPG front as we are on other genres, but all are welcome.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:50 AM on August 11

Warhammer is great, but I wouldnt want to play it with any of those guys.
posted by Palerale at 10:58 PM on August 29