Even though I'm neither a new MMO player or that casual, I really enjoyed this series and having played all of these games for at least a few hours each, and some of them dozens or hundreds of hours (WoW, GW, GW2, and FF14) my ranking would have been very similar. I probably would have GW2 and FF14 tied for the top slot in my recommendation for a new casual player, with my personal preference being for GW2.
There's only two MMORPGs that satisfied me in the ways I needed - housing - roleplaying - things to do at low levels and high levels - very much to explore - PVP - player driven economy One was the classic Ultima Online on the Siege Perilous advanced server with no non drop and no protected zones and no stat loss for murderers. It had the most dedicated roleplaying base I'd ever experienced. There's also now classic and modified servers that still host the old hardcore version of the game, although this could fall into the least casual due to the skill and knowledge required. Although, the community is so helpful and there's so much to do as a noob that there's nothing stopping you from just not being top tier and enjoying yourself The other was Endless Ages, which never got out of beta to my knowledge but was a phenomenal project filled with beauty and with an excellent guild community. Their use of vast lonely landscapes, massive difficult dungeons, all that needed to be traversed without fast travel, plus the major differences between races made the game challenging in a way that required intense coordination with large numbers of people. Another may be a MMORTS called Shattered Galaxy. At least during it's beta there was the ability to have massive battles with a limited number of units per player, and there was a political system that had a second planet that was a perpetual war between player created factions. I've never seen anything else like it but I'm just getting back into gaming Open up suggestions based on my taste
The top three are easy to choose and it depends on your personal tendencies: 1. Guild Wars 2 if you want a solid feeling combat system and an easy to follow story with no extra fees & weekly/monthly gear farming. Best open world experience in any MMO in my opinion. 2. World of Warcraft if you want fast paced & solid and responsive combat system with a lot of content to go through. Story is mostly zone specific and you don't need to focus on it at all, which means it's great to play while focusing on other stuff, like a podcast, music, movie or whatever. Great for multitaskers and people that enjoy farming. 3. Final Fantasy XIV if you want a detailed & long story with a lot of character development and a lot of content to play like WoW. Less responsive combat than WoW or GW2, but has a well balanced, fun and in-depth rotation for most classes. Focuses much more on PvE due to the innate lag in the combat system and a slower GCD. Game modes are less toxic because the game does not punish you as harshly as WoW does. Shout outs to TESO because it does decently well in most categories. I'm sure I'll hop back in at some point and enjoy the open world questing & lore of the world.
moist of these are outdated or have serious problems. final fantasy lack social features and good action combat, gw2 a bit of outdated too. wepons ystem not good, wow has no balanced pvp englishs ervers and p2w tokens...
@@GamingDualities "Outdated" by itself is not an argument. You gotta get into the specifics. "Weapon system is not good". Says who? You? Subjective claim. You didn't really do anything with that comment.
I don't know if i'm considered a casual gamer or a hard core gamer. I don't look up builds, but I do look up how-tos (do something, find something, get somewhere) on the wiki. (gw2's wiki is the best game wiki I've come across in my 25+ years of playing video games) My top two games are: gw2 ffxiv 10 years ago I would have said wow and gw2, but i fell out of love with wow, when the subscription became too much, and the guild that I played the game with disbanded, it was never fun to play again after that. Plus, I could never get any help when I asked the chat. The help was needed to progress the part of the story my main character is stuck on (to this day). My love for a game tends to down drastically when the chat becomes unfriendly. In the present: I just rediscovered ffxiv last year and it is now my gw2 companion game. I like the game play and the various content features, but I hate the long cutscenes (especially when they are unskippable), and the longer than necessary dialogue. I prefer it when the story isn't so blatantly thrown at me. I want the story to happen passively while I'm playing the game. But despite this, I still love ffxiv (mainly for the community). I consider GW2 story to be a passively occurring story that takes mostly in the open world in partnership with story instances. Where dialogue happens while I'm on the move, fighting things, and reaching the objective destination. There's not many stand still and chat with an NPC moments in the gw2 story. It's mostly walk and talk, fight and talk, it's a lot of talking while doing something else. I play other games, but I always have gw2 installed and updated and ready for whenever I feel like playing it again. Currently that again moment is now, since the SoTO expansion just released, and I have a ton of new content to work through, achievements to collect, features to unlock, etc. Now after all that has been said, I did like your video and how you described things from your perspective. However, I was left with 1 question at the end of the video. Is the winner GW2 or New World?
New World has a thoroughly enjoyable solo content, and the MMO parts come in the PvE and PvP varieties. As a casual player, I love the ad hoc "just tag along and join in" parts - if you get killed, other players will usually revive you (that's a mechanic in the game) - and the "invite someone to join a casual group for whatever" parts. And then there are the more formal kind of group, called a raid, where there is a leader and you are taking on an end-game boss/dungeon. However, you can still tag along and join in the fun anyway, you just won't get the boss rewards or quest achievement. It's just a smooth transition between the kinds of MMO play - ad hoc vicinity group play, ad hoc group chat play, raid play, and then there's the separate gameplay of PvP "mini games" set within the same PvE open world (although the PvP activities can't interact with PvE players during a PvP event). There are even people manually creating ad hoc PvP events in the PvE world for fun. It's a welcoming player base actually in the game in my experience. Just a lot of people looking for attention by being negative or hyper focused on the game not meeting their super-specific criteria that almost never include the aspects that make casual MMO fun and entertaining.
Bravo - Ive really enjoyed how you've broken down your analysis, and come to your conclusions! I'd be super interested to see a follow-up series for "first formal group content", and how that experience feels - at least for series you are interested in exploring further To share a little of my own experience - my first time playing FFXIV I stopped precisely at the first MSQ Dungeon - mostly because I felt nervous diving in with other players. Thankfully I gave the game a second chance - and have been playing ever since! But more generally, I think that transition between mostly solo/open world group content, to more structured Group content is definitely something I'd be interested to see as perhaps a future project! I think that kind of content is somewhat of an inevitability for most/all MMORPGs - so understanding how they handle that aspect is something interesting to explore
That does sound like an interesting idea! That's a fun thing to work toward in a few different games. FFXIV would definitely be one. While I've technically done group activities in Guild Wars 2, never with a group of randoms, only with friends on Discord. So that could be a part of it as well.
well put together video! kinda lost interest in new world after 50 hours in 3 months but kept it installed cause it was fun. going to check out guild wars 2 now. thanks!
As an ESO player it really feels like ZoS relies on FOMO to keep players around… and ESO plus is an absolute must for most players. With seasonal content replacing chapters I’ve decided to change things up next year. In 2025 I plan on rotating around different MMOs throughout the year just to do something different. I’m interested in actually getting into WoW with the new War Within Saga expansions coming out, GW2 has been on my list for awhile & I bought New World just to only spend 3 hours in game and leaving so I plan on giving it a shot again as well. I figure switching every three months will give me time to really experience each game.
Easiest reason why GW2 is best for Casual players are, 1. No subscription so not wasting money if not playing. 2. No endless gear chase like you get in WoW etc that casuals don't have to constantly chase "BIS" gear to be able to play "end game" because GW2, the top is lvl 80, and stays that way, not having to endlessly chase levels to play "current content" because all content is current.
I've lost count of the mmo's I've played in the last 21 years and of the ones mentioned, only Albion that I haven't given a chance to. WoW since 2006 (back and forth), GW2 since launch, New World since launch, and so on. GW2 is an anomaly (a good one) among MMO's and is the best today without a doubt. New World started out half-baked and is now a great game. There are a lot of options for casual players but with that "feeling" you mention, I completely agree with you. Great video.
I finished the main story and am doing Living World 1 now as a Norn Firebrand... I know I should do fractals and wvw but I'm too lazy to get a team and figure out how it works. I've just been pressing random numbers and it felt like a walking simulator through and through. Also skipped all cutscenes and dialogue, I can't be bothered to experience a book while playing a videogame I just don't care. That being said, I also played OSRS and even there I enjoyed it more than the story of GW2. Should I do fractals and wvw or play OSRS or what MMO do you recommend for me?
This was a super helpful video! I’m looking to get into gaming more as a way to destress but it’s been really hard to find one that fits my preferences as a full time student who’s not into video games already, and this video has really helped me to find some good choices. I don’t usually go out of my way to like and subscribe but you’ve got a new fan 😊
Glad I could help! I hope you find something you enjoy and helps you destress! It's not an MMO, but similar enough, I'm currently loving Last Epoch as my chill game.
i think you hit on what bothered me about ff14, it builds out instead of up too much. i didn't see a lot of people while i was playing because most people were either above or below me. when i was playing a healer i had the best experience ever by being able to heal wandering players, but that only happened organically like twice, the rest of the time i was almost always either on my own or in an instanced dungeon with a group finder group.
I was asking myself a similar question: which MMO feels like an MMO the most. And though I'm playing mostly GW2 right now I must say that WoW Classic era is the best in that regard. I always find myself grouping and talking to people, interacting with them in there. Every single time. Other games feel very lonely in comparison. Unfortunately I don't like any of the classes in Classic era so I don't play it :D
Oh man couldnt have said it better myself when you mentioned the end game goal for MMO's. So many times it boils down to mashing through text boxes to speedrun to end game content thus leaving a terrible world impression.
I play MMOs that have a good leveling experience. That being said, GW2 is the only game that has kept me playing after max level and that's for the storyline and excellent way dynamic questing is done.
this content speaks in behalf to all gamers who have a full time job, with families to take care of, and real life responsibilities on daily basis to prioritize. I for one still enjoy the mmorpg virtual experience to some extent minus the aspect of heavy paytowin, toxic/greedy players, tons of dailies. I tried gw2 but i don't understand the controls how to move around even i played with the settings already. For now i am with MIR4 i have to hire a pilot just recently (hard to trust) and possibly (don't know for how long) shell 150cad/month for that service in game gold, because im all behind in everything like main quests, upgrades, requests/mystery scroll quests which are very tedious to do in manual mode. Basically i have no choice but to choose an mmorpg which has auto function without it i don't know even how to be relevant with contents and fair with other players specially the pvp part but other players CRY on auto BECAUSE they dont put their shoes on other peoples current state of living, Maybe in the future i am still open to find a pc mmorpg which is hopefully casual friendly while enjoying mmorpg features fingers crossed on AOC, i am not sure with New World. Lastly its not easy to get heavily invested in a game with your "time and money" just to switch one after the other so some players like me takes time to decide to leave current game and move on possibly to a next one so why some utubers make it sound so easy to say "which is your next mmorpg" just LOL
I wish New World had a higher active player count, I cant do certain content towards the end of the original campaign because there are so few players that no one else is at the same spot as myself so I feel stuck trying to get to the last dungeon before Brimstone Sands.
It’s funny you bring that up. I did some quick research on “hours to end game” for various modern MMOs and the average was roughly 20. This was VERY unscientific, but it’s worth mentioning I didn’t completely pull that number out of my butt. 🤣 2400 hours is crazy, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
an awkward ESO story: my main was a sorc which i worked hard to almost main to be tanky but actually was a secondary objective to be tanky. this doesn't seem like a non casual story but hear me out. so as i'm making a tanky sorc, largely cuz the hardcore friends i have that promised we would have toons that could play together just leveled said toons that we would only play together without me, i was making this tanky sorc for the fun dynamic of it. now on to the point: i had played some LFG dungeons before as a dps sorc, it went fine. but suddenly i'm in a group that doesn't have a dedicated tank and i say "hey i got this." the response is umm hey you're a sorc...no offense...and the like. they basically get to "hey fuck it" no one else is stepping up so i get the nod. i'm able to taunt and get overhsheld for doing so, i have a lot of overshield type stuff in the sorc tree, my ult is a shotgun electric blast that gives me overshield. granted the weapon set shift i thought i would be prestine in executing turned out to be more difficult in the spur of the moment but everything worked out 'wonderfully'... fine. eventhough i was near dead fairly often and sometimes i didn't get agro quick enough to stop some teamates from taking 'a hit' we did really well in the dungeon. after the fact everyone was like "holy shit dude, that's the coolest/funnest shit" they came in just like fuck it i want to try and came out like i can't believed that worked. TL;DR: I turned a caster type into a tank in ESO, was a fun challenge that was accepted by the random people that i matched with in a dungeon LFG I think the main takaway is that as bad of an idea in concept and in the head of everyone in the randomly assembled party through the games LFG system, nobody was like "boo, get out of here" and that says much on the community but also the games random party joining system
Idk if you will actually see this comment but can you make a similar list but for mobile, i dont have much time to play on my pc but i can on my phone but im not gonna be playing hardcore but just have casual fun and not have to commit much into it
Really good video! You've rekindled my interest in wanting to play GW2, always have but never did. Was big into FFXI and FF14 so never go around to it. Downloading it now!
If WoW didn’t have a monthly fee, what would you rate it? I’ve got thousands of hours into WoW, around 500 in New World, and none in GW2. As a busy dad, I’m trying to choose one MMO that offers collectibles, variety in classes, and fun content based around interacting/playing with other viewers.
Oh without the subscription it would push New World back. I would still put GW2 above it simply for the action cam combat. WoW probably wins in the collectibles category, but maybe not by as much as I think. GW2 is more about chasing skins than anything else, and I feel like WoW has a lot more to offer in terms of loot with unique stats. I play too casually to have a good opinion on that though.
did i not get something? U said GW2 is the best but then in the 10-1 its not even in the list? Is it just TOP TOP Tier even before NW? Or how does ur list work
The first half explains why GW2 won. Then at the midway point I explain that I didn’t want to just leave it at that so I made a top 10 list of the remaining games.
im causal on most games, however im a min max raider in Lotro, minecraft , diablo , monster hunter only 4 franchises where a have enough enjoyment to slog through the pain and learning curve from good, better, best at, I tried them all, and for me guildwars is... a bit of a let down, it feels ilke and idle game and with no clear roles i just get confused why Im playing a guardian when I cant aggro anything and my hp is shiz...
Did you try playing with action cam? I can understand any tab-target combat system feeling like an idle game, but that's almost every MMO. I'm no expert on builds, but the fact that almost any profession and play almost any role is pretty cool. It's just something you have to research and test different builds.
yes yup yup Gotta give respect to someone so direct no foreplay needed just you searched for it and I answered but let me give you a bit of details to solidify it for you :) anti social king if I do not gotta dungeon its all the better and 1:47 never felt so understood before
New World is a game that needed some time to overcome its initial issues, and from the last time I tried it, it already looked okay. Problem was that I started playing with a group of other players and their reliance on these specific servers and merging and creating new servers was irritating, and I needed to start over twice... and then the group stopped playing. Next time I try it, I will do it the truly casual way - just by my own and on my own schedule. It just didn't happen yet, with the new GW2 expansion and Baldurs Gate 3 and Palia and stuff. Speaking of that - I also noticed Palia is was not on this list, and I wonder if it is because it is still in beta, not considered as a typical MMORPG (as it is lacking the whole combat stuff) or you were not aware of it. In all honesty, it would not be on the top of the list anyway as it doesn't give many reasons to play cooperatively. You CAN, but so far there is only the hunt for very specific resources that really encourage you to actually do so.
Oh I'm very aware of Palia. I did a lot of fighting to get the Bundle Deal's fake discount removed from the store. I'm glad they've said they're going to fix that at some point. I'm not sure if they have yet or not. You're correct, it was not included in this series because it isn't an MMORPG in my opinion. Not due to the lack of combat, it just lacks content and (as you said) is devoid of meaningful multiplayer mechanics. I also didn't include games like Destiny 2 and Warframe because they are only vaguely MMORPGs. I'm still following Palia, but don't have much hope for it. S6 seems very immature, unprofessional, and unprepared to be running a game like that.
@@kyleblaneplays Ah right, forgot about that video with the bundle prices. Yeah, Palia has a long way to go and S6 are undoubtly newcomers and need to learn a lot. I personally still have hope and enjoy what is there.
gw2 is a game that has made it so easy for me to do things with other people constantly no matter what im doing and its amazing, also as soneone who does like pvp it has the best ive experienced
I can't get myself to play Guild Wars 2. It is mindblowingly boring combat, and way too many mobs just standing around everywhere, to slow down any walking around and enjoying the games. There are great moments, there are many plusses, but as a new player the game suck.
doesn't exactly slow down the play. that becomes a constant on the move game. Which to me is only fne in certain places, but not all the time, everywhere.@@bmw9616
Fun vid cool list. Really reminds how vid game experiences are like music, subjective and aesthetic. My personal list has ESO ranked near the top, along with WoW, GW2, and FFXIV (that a game has a sub is less important to me). The others are a tier below that for me. Graphics seem to matter more to me than apparently you (probably an immersion thing). I'll also throw Warframe in that top tier, altho tech not an MMO it has enough of that feel to me. Good vid, really enjoyed it.
I think of myself as a casual MMO player, never taking it too seriously and rarely making it to "end game". Anarchy online 2001-2004. Everquest 2 from 2004 to 2012, with some short lived returns later. Guild Wars 2 from 2012 to 2015, I quit with Heart of Thorns - not casual friendly at all, hated it. Returned for Path of Fire in 2015 for about a year or so. New World for a few months on and off, got bored. MMOs just got worse over the years, I'm now a homeless MMO player.
gw2 is easilyyy the best for casual play while still feeling like an mmo. as soneone who has tried others, none compare. ff14 is pretty good for casual but because the sub fee and expansion cost its not worth it for me at all right now and doesnt feel too much like an mmo pretty often
I've tried to come back to gw2 for quite a while. Kinda gotten over it though, some classes are just not really good at solo content. I really wanted to play deadeye but it's just not viable solo :( I gave up just getting stun-locked constantly by normal minions in open world content till i died. Casually playing, i couldn't go anywhere when i couldn't really go where i wanted with the short time i could play. I've started playing New World again and i'm surprised how far i've gotten in the short few days i've been able to play and al the changes that's been made. The game is completely different and surprising fun. The new expansion will be an amazing step towards the game being amazing, where it really should have been in the beginning.
Your take on GW2 is completely wrong. If you throw celestial gear or something with tank stats, and pick atleast 1 trait thay provides some sort of survivability, all classes are strong in open world. I’d wager that you never got to level 80, or even unlocked full trait lines, or looked at gear stats. Highly recommend just boosting to level 80 as GW2 really is a horizontal progression game so skipping the vertical lets you get to the good horizontal progression faster. Also normal minions literality don’t stun lock you out of attack animations. They can’t. So that’s wrong. If you mean stun lock out of gathering resources/interacting with items, that’s a game mechanic that all classes have to work around equally.
I totally agree with you. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate GW2, I actually do enjoy playing it sometimes but to say that it's the best MMORPG for casual players is just too much. I know a lot of casual players who stopped playing the game for the same reasons that you've mentioned. Core Tyria or the standard free-to-play map of GW2 is definitely a great game for casual players but it could get boring at some point. The expansions and LW seasons are definitely not for casual players. WOW has better gameplay for me though as the video said is just too expensive for casual players. ESO is the game that I would call the most friendly game for casual players, I've played the game with role-playing builds and I'm not dying as easily as in GW2 and can even do dungeons without being kicked out of the group like in WOW. FF14 is also a much friendlier game compared to GW2 but there's really not much diversity in builds. I haven't tried New World yet. What professional gamers fail to see is that casual gamers love to play games that are easy and fun to play. More time playing and exploring the game and less time practicing with your mouse and keyboard skills to time your dodges correctly, also less time researching how to properly play your characters. I remember the time when I had to redo stories in GW2 multiple times just to get it done. Hardcore players who don't have much time because of their busy schedules don't count as casual gamers for me.
Deadeye is probably one of the best solo classes, but you have to use a proper build around rifle or your weapon. The rest is speed, if you're slow, you're dead.
NW is a great game. Amazon did work 2 years to fix issues game had on release. And in fact they did fix most of them. And keep working on ones that are still there. It is very good game for casual player that like pve or pvp.
I do really enjoy GW2 and largely agree that it's the best "casual" MMO. One criticism I have is that after you hit level 80 in GW2, a lot of the cooperative and MMO aspects of the game are dropped and it essentially becomes a single player game while you grind through each expansion pack, which are mostly made up of instances. I might be in the minority here, but I really wish that the structure of the Expansion and Living World content after level 80 stayed closer to the leveling experience, because in some ways it feels like a bait and switch.
2:41 means that every k-mmorpg can be out of the question since every single one of them is a tutorial till level cap. But a video coming from someone that likes even a spec of star wars or star trek is untrustworthy opinion.
I love the fact that I am not casual player, but I need game that is for casuals because I don't have that much time to focus on it. And because of that I just don't know, gw2 is too casual, there is something about it that makes me try it every year and left it after week or something like that. New world is amazing, but at the same time amazon just knows how to make bad decisions. WoW and FFXIV don't feel worthy of paying so much (in my country) for so little time to play. Albion Osrs Eso and other games like that almost require sub from you, ofc you don't need to pay it, but I just don't like not having some options or benefits just because I am not paying. So either I need to pay monthly for mmo or choose gw2. Well... Time to install it again...
The only MMO I've ever REALLY gotten into (like hundreds of hours, if not a thousand or more) was City of Heroes. Shame it shut down, game was perfect for how I want to play MMOs. Don't give a shit about endgame, just give me cool looking abilities and a bunch of different builds to try and I'll just keep making new characters and levelling them up. I've tried pretty much every other MMO and the only ones I've been able to get sorta into are: Star Trek Online (80 something hours) D&D Online (30 something hours, game is very fun but has way too little content without paying out the ass) ESO (30 something hours, still playing on and off) New World (Just started, 10 hours in, very fun so far) I wish MMOs in the future would start focusing more on gameplay and mechanics and simplify all the different currencies, crafting, menus, etc. Give me addicting gameplay that's as good as a non-MMO game, a big immersive world to explore, and simple menus to navigate and a straightforward and intuitive character progressing and crafting system, and I will probably play your game for at least 100 hours. New World has great combat by MMO standards, but when I compare it to say, Remnant 2, which my buddy and me are playing right now, it becomes hard to justify spending time playing it. Why can't MMOs have better gameplay? I just don't get that tbh.
@ForeverMasterless Hey, in case you didn't know, City of Heroes is back up as Homecoming: City of Heroes; they have a license from NCSoft so it's a legal server as far as I know. If you did already know this (or just don't care that much), sorry to bother you. I hope you have a great rest of your day!
I appreciate that u gave Albion online but sadly as casual as u played u hyper focused on what u d expect from other MMOs that u didn't experience where the game actually shines , the pvp aspect is far more advanced and more engaging than any other MMO not just the full loot one but the faction warfare would been fun for u experience it's safe in yellow zones hope u give it another try and rather than focusing on crafting go pick up fight and just buy ur gear to not waist much time farming
I think partially cuz u limited ur self to the small town rather than discovering bigger cuties where near then u see more unscripted fight from both npcs and other factions
I know it's subjective, and a personal taste, but I hayyte GW2. I've tried off and on for so many years to get into that game and it's just so bad. I was sure hoping for a new perspective on an MMO, still worth a like though.
I love exploring the map when playing MMORPG and ignore grinding. When i played BDO i exploring every part of the unlocked maps and when they open the ocean content i waste my time sailing and sea monster hunting and im among the very first player to own my own crafted ship in BDO sea. I quit BDO sea 2019 and the last mmorpg i played is mir4 but that game i can't feel the content it gives. Large guild controls world boss and casual player can't even enjoy its content. I swear to avoid such game now im waiting for new mmorpg probably Throne and liberty, tarisland.
Mann GW2 could be fun if free 2 play have mounts :'> i cant buy the game since its very expensive in my local price(even though they sale its still expensive LOL) alas I max my character, play events and never look back again. Running Point A to B without mount wasted/consume much of my time. So if i were ya better focus on event areas and group events to level up much faster, only explore when you level up enough to do the main quest so you could get into "Living world" to get a better gear after that feel free to roam the the areas! for scenery, etc. :>
It's all on tape if you'd like to make any suggestions. I just found the actual gameplay to feel empty. The combat was boring button mashing (maybe a problem with the class I chose) and the areas (both peaceful and hostile) felt 10x larger than they needed to be. SOOOOooooo much walking around, it needs a better fast travel system. I never used it because it was so expensive.
@@kyleblaneplays Fair enough. Different strokes and all that. I will say, that while the light side Jedi Knight storyline is allegedly the "canon" story, I didn't find it particularly interesting until the third act (iirc, it's been a while...) I, personally, found both sith storylines to be far more interesting, and really prefer the sith marauder mechanics. Also, the sith warrior storyline makes perfect sense both light and dark side, other classes less so. Mounts are available much earlier than they were on release, although I wouldn't know how easy they are to acquire on a new account. I will say that the economy is utterly broken. I logged on for the first time in a couple of years last year, found a relatively rare lightsaber hilt in my imperial agent's inventory that I placed on the market for 250 million credits. It'd sold within 20 seconds (which left me kicking myself), and I was able to solo fund the purchase of a guild star destroyer, despite my guild being inactive for the best part of a decade... Later expansions were ok. The KotFE and KotET storylines were great for one play through, but an absolute drag if you wanted to move any alts past them. If you ever do go back, and try the sith side, I would recommend just turning off the local chat on Korriban and Dromund Kaas. Some areas of online gaming haven't grown past their toxic teens. Further into the game it's fine, though. (Apologies for the length of the reply, apparently I had more to say than I thought I did. May have to reinstall when I finish my current run through GW2.)
No. I disagree with your synopsis of what a casual player is. I for one find myself to be a casual mmo enjoyer, who enjoys theory/build crafting, challenging encounters tough boss fights, and engaging mechanics. I HATE grinding, time gates, fetch quests and FORCED group content where I'm liable to get screamed at for not playing optimally.
Not gonna lie it was like i watching someone that has no experience on mmo's, LOTR you can later farm yourself a membership for what im aware and its a csual game, New world 40$ grind fest with nothing in it beside grind levels and nonsense systems only the newest update brought content and its payed, if you gonna invest time on guild wars just go directly to GW2 its very casual game and you can get expansion ingame just by farming coins, runescape its a good casual game but you later on see you limited and needs membership, Wow depends on how you see it can be seen has casual or not the most expensive on around which makes no sense, albion online casual game but lack content and needs better combat but limited due to mobiles being their priority, ESO really casual game cause its meant to be played like its a single player game but the only problem it has its reaching max level that can take months if you dont use the exp scrolls aside of that con the rest of the game is pretty damn good and dont need expansion to expirience the game.
Not gonna lie, I can't be bothered to read poorly formatted comments. I'll just respond to the first statement. I'm sorry you feel that way. Please, feel free to create your own opinion piece. I'd be happy to see it and appreciate your take on it without belittling your opinion with a wall of poorly written text. I will however belittle your ability to communicate properly.
Oh, and the fact that you think I have no experience with MMOs means my take on casual play is more authentic. If there's one thing I've learned throughout this series, it's that veteran MMO players have lost touch with how casual players enjoy MMOs.
Just for kicks, I decided to reformat your comment for you. I'm bored, and I'm a sucker. (I'll go ahead and add my responses in parenthesis while I'm at it. TLDR: You said a whole lot of nothing in an attempt to tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Not much of what you said goes against anything I said.) Not gonna lie, that was like watching someone that has no experience playing MMO's. (Doesn't that make my opinion on casual gameplay MORE valid? Who would know what a casual player wants better than a casual player?) In LOTRO you can eventually farm in-game to earn a membership as far as I'm aware and its a casual game. (How does this refute anything I said in the video? I said nothing about the membership, nor does it matter for a casual player.) New World costs $40 and has nothing in it besides grinding levels and meaningless systems. Only the newest update added content and it costs money. (It's not everyone's cup of tea. I found it very enjoyable as a casual player.) Rather than investing time with Guild Wars, I would recommend just playing GW2. It's a very casual game and you can purchase expansions with in-game coins. (This is not true. You cannot, and have never been able to purchase HoT, PoF, or EoD from the gem store. But maybe I'm wrong. After all, I'm the one with no MMO experience.) Runescape is a good casual game but later on you are limited and need the paid membership. (Again, I don't see how this refutes anything I said in the video.) WOW can be casual depending on how you look at it. It's the most expensive all around, which makes no sense. (This was the statement I had the hardest deciphering. No matter how I interpret it, I don't see how it refutes anything I said. I'm also not sure how WOW being the most expensive makes no sense. It's just a fact.) Albion Online is a casual game but it lacks content and it needs better combat. Unfortunately, it's limited due to the mobile version being their priority. (I don't disagree with any of this, nor does it refute anything I said.) ESO is a really casual game because its meant to be played like its a single player game. The only problem it has is that reaching max level can take months if you don't use the exp scrolls. Aside from that, the rest of the game is pretty damn good and the player doesn't need expansions to experience the game. (It is indeed a really casual game with a solo experience, which is why I said the things I said about it. Casual players aren't concerned with how long it takes to reach max level. Do other games require expansions to experience the game?)
I can think of a few negative things about new world that drive me nuts, no elemental seconrary effects like freeze, burn, poison dot from elemental gem slotting. What is the point in putting these in? Its boring your weapon glows fire bur doesn't burn anything. The other is the lack of magic weapons and how the devs love melee type of gameplay so all because they work there anyone who doesn't love melrr has to suffer. Maybe this is changing but as of Right now its bs. And allot of weapon animations are boring and medicore.
I really hate they keep calling gw2 casual just because it doesn’t have a monthly subscription. you can literally play any MMO at your own pace doesn’t mean it feels good.and gw2 has some of the craziest grinds Ive came across. Skyscale (even the “streamlined” grind) or legendary grind. And I’ve played everything from Aion, Tera,PWI. And have played wow since Lich king. I find GW2 way more grindy and way harder to get into for a new player. And the real downside you never really feel character progression in GW2 until you’ve 100s of hours in. I like gw2 but I feel this casual, super noob friendly branding that everybody wants to put on it. It’s absolutely misleading. Hell you can now do end game dungeons in wow completely solo now.
This is the first I’ve ever heard of anyone describing GW2 (or any MMO for that matter) as casual because there is no subscription. I can see that being a benefit to casual players, but certainly not specific to GW2. So I agree with you, I’ve just never heard anyone say that.
albion use to be vry fun wen there wass no skill points it wass auto lerning depending on what u were doing but since it's start to monetize everything i lost interest even skill point for premium is much more then doble, casual mmo i recomand is lineage2 and mu online only private servers vry fun and f2p pvp/pve olso rec pathofexile toons of fun
hard-core players are either teens (who are more like children with much knowledge, and even more time at their disposal) OR no-lives who live under their mommy's roof and, even though they may have a job, well... real world offers them very little in terms of entertainment. That said, I do agree with you on what a casual player seeks.
There's also a lot of rich people, disabled people, retired people, or people that have other computer based business that allow them to be present in games while they are working and then to hop on when something relevant happens
Bro albion aint for casual players you got to play on certain times of the day and is not for relaxing since the game is almost all Full Pvp Loot you die you lose your set
Albion has the most fragmented community of any game on the list. It’s like y’all are playing completely different games. Enjoy it the way you enjoy it. I played it casually and enjoyed it just fine.
Never had issues with it personally. I like how simple it is. MMOs love complicating everything with a thousand popups. GW2 only has the essentials and any popups are often hidden for you to click on when you want to, rather than having shit thrown at you interrupting gameplay
I'm honestly only asking out of curiosity, what is exactly bad in the interface? I mean, it's clean, thematic, uncluttered, not sure what is so bad so that is why I'm asking, for me interfaces like FFXIV, LOTRO and so on seem bad because they look so extremely generic, I could list out at least 20-30 games that have nearly the exact same UI and it just feels bad TO ME! of course this is my taste and my preference, I think other than GW2 the only UI I'm okay with is WoW edit: also New world is fine, it is thematic enough so it is not offputting, looks okay
No, not at all. The whole point is wanting to play with other players in the easiest way possible. This is specifically for people who want an MMO experience without the stress that can come with it.
Omg, this was not a player but a bot! And GW2 is soooo boring. I have played for like 10 hours and didn't need to even drink a single health potion. There is not tension whatsoever!
To me being a "casual player" means you aren't score pushing on some leaderboard or in some top tier tier pvp guild or pve raid group, or trying to become some pve or pvp legend. If you aren't being social to some degree, or trying to get good enough to just complete the end game content and at least be decent then you aren't having an mmo experience. You are looking for a solo experience within an mmo, not a casual mmo experience.
That’s a pretty high bar. I think you may be missing that I want an easier, more approachable, time-respecting MMO experience. Like I said in the video, if you don’t care about the MMO aspect, it’s all up to personal preferences. If you want it in a casual way, then GW2 offers it in droves.
only one game i gona disagree with on this list is albion online , albion got one of the worst communities in any game , it's so competitive and it doesnt have any causal content in it , it's only fun for hardcore players , the game is full of scammers , you get scammed on frist sec playing game it's so unfriendly towards new players and got one of worst the playerbase of any game online ever , worst personalities , worst scammers , worst ragging kids , hackers , ddoss'ers , pedos ,etc even worse than league of legends and other competitve mobas out there , i would never recommend albion to anyone it's a scam .
My apologies for what I’m about to say. You just happened to touch on one of my biggest pet peeves. I would give your opinion so much more value if you even attempted to use proper capitalization. It’s objectively easier to read. Instead, you come off looking like one of the people you’re describing. (A raging kid, specifically)
@@kyleblaneplays My apologies for what i'm about to say , Get out of your cave , Not everybody speaks or type in english , you read , you understood it , Sorry if i hit a nerve , i was just stating my opinnin of someone who has alot of time in this game :) , so maybe grow up look at context instead of looking at " proper capitilization "
@@kyleblaneplays No problem , i hope you less triggered this time and ready to read ,it seems you have no time in this game , It's even obv from footage that you show ,Tip:do a better research next time ;) .
Yeah, you’re right, casual players have hours upon hours to form an opinion of a game and games shouldn’t be judged or held accountable for how good or bad they are in the first 10 hours of gameplay. I should have thought about that.
GW2 is the most chill and has a great community, however like ESO and New Word the combat stinks, fluid? Like WHAT... BDO has fluid combat not those games, problem is beyond it's CMs the game's community is pretty trash, the MSQ is spam R and the graphics which could be great if there wasn't popins everywhere.
I actually found BDO’s combat to be quite disjointed and not fluid. So many flashy spins and over the top animations (which are beautiful) just end up making me not understand what’s happening in combat. Guild Wars 2 and New World have very snappy combat where the animations communicate more clearly, for me anyways. ESO is super stiff and the combat is only fun with specific builds.
"The game gets better after 100 Hours" is a casual players worst nightmare.
I love how you give your answer at 0:01 and then give your explanation after
For real. I started just to hear why.
You defined a casual player better at the beginning of this video than anything I've heard on TH-cam in the past ten years. Spot on!
Ha! Glad you liked that. As the self-appointed king of casuals, I basically just described myself and hoped for the best. lol
I stop playing any game as soon as I hit “end game”. Period.
End game is how people turn gaming into a job.
And that’s when cynicism and toxicity starts kicking into high gear. I’m too busy for that life. 🤣
yes. and i dont need a job, i have one.
Even though I'm neither a new MMO player or that casual, I really enjoyed this series and having played all of these games for at least a few hours each, and some of them dozens or hundreds of hours (WoW, GW, GW2, and FF14) my ranking would have been very similar. I probably would have GW2 and FF14 tied for the top slot in my recommendation for a new casual player, with my personal preference being for GW2.
So GW2 or New World?
Same question. I was confused after this video.
Rewatch the first 3 seconds. It has the answer. New World was merely the best of the others that remained.
There's only two MMORPGs that satisfied me in the ways I needed
- housing
- roleplaying
- things to do at low levels and high levels
- very much to explore
- PVP
- player driven economy
One was the classic Ultima Online on the Siege Perilous advanced server with no non drop and no protected zones and no stat loss for murderers. It had the most dedicated roleplaying base I'd ever experienced. There's also now classic and modified servers that still host the old hardcore version of the game, although this could fall into the least casual due to the skill and knowledge required. Although, the community is so helpful and there's so much to do as a noob that there's nothing stopping you from just not being top tier and enjoying yourself
The other was Endless Ages, which never got out of beta to my knowledge but was a phenomenal project filled with beauty and with an excellent guild community. Their use of vast lonely landscapes, massive difficult dungeons, all that needed to be traversed without fast travel, plus the major differences between races made the game challenging in a way that required intense coordination with large numbers of people.
Another may be a MMORTS called Shattered Galaxy. At least during it's beta there was the ability to have massive battles with a limited number of units per player, and there was a political system that had a second planet that was a perpetual war between player created factions. I've never seen anything else like it but I'm just getting back into gaming
Open up suggestions based on my taste
The top three are easy to choose and it depends on your personal tendencies:
1. Guild Wars 2 if you want a solid feeling combat system and an easy to follow story with no extra fees & weekly/monthly gear farming. Best open world experience in any MMO in my opinion.
2. World of Warcraft if you want fast paced & solid and responsive combat system with a lot of content to go through. Story is mostly zone specific and you don't need to focus on it at all, which means it's great to play while focusing on other stuff, like a podcast, music, movie or whatever. Great for multitaskers and people that enjoy farming.
3. Final Fantasy XIV if you want a detailed & long story with a lot of character development and a lot of content to play like WoW. Less responsive combat than WoW or GW2, but has a well balanced, fun and in-depth rotation for most classes. Focuses much more on PvE due to the innate lag in the combat system and a slower GCD. Game modes are less toxic because the game does not punish you as harshly as WoW does.
Shout outs to TESO because it does decently well in most categories. I'm sure I'll hop back in at some point and enjoy the open world questing & lore of the world.
moist of these are outdated or have serious problems. final fantasy lack social features and good action combat, gw2 a bit of outdated too. wepons ystem not good, wow has no balanced pvp englishs ervers and p2w tokens...
@@GamingDualities "Outdated" by itself is not an argument. You gotta get into the specifics. "Weapon system is not good". Says who? You? Subjective claim.
You didn't really do anything with that comment.
@@GamingDualitiessunmoon what MMO do you recommend to play right now?
Chimeraland for suree. free. and u can tame monsters. it is amazing. sleeper game@@sorenarica
I don't know if i'm considered a casual gamer or a hard core gamer. I don't look up builds, but I do look up how-tos (do something, find something, get somewhere) on the wiki. (gw2's wiki is the best game wiki I've come across in my 25+ years of playing video games)
My top two games are:
gw2
ffxiv
10 years ago I would have said wow and gw2, but i fell out of love with wow, when the subscription became too much, and the guild that I played the game with disbanded, it was never fun to play again after that. Plus, I could never get any help when I asked the chat. The help was needed to progress the part of the story my main character is stuck on (to this day). My love for a game tends to down drastically when the chat becomes unfriendly.
In the present: I just rediscovered ffxiv last year and it is now my gw2 companion game. I like the game play and the various content features, but I hate the long cutscenes (especially when they are unskippable), and the longer than necessary dialogue. I prefer it when the story isn't so blatantly thrown at me. I want the story to happen passively while I'm playing the game. But despite this, I still love ffxiv (mainly for the community).
I consider GW2 story to be a passively occurring story that takes mostly in the open world in partnership with story instances. Where dialogue happens while I'm on the move, fighting things, and reaching the objective destination. There's not many stand still and chat with an NPC moments in the gw2 story. It's mostly walk and talk, fight and talk, it's a lot of talking while doing something else.
I play other games, but I always have gw2 installed and updated and ready for whenever I feel like playing it again. Currently that again moment is now, since the SoTO expansion just released, and I have a ton of new content to work through, achievements to collect, features to unlock, etc.
Now after all that has been said, I did like your video and how you described things from your perspective. However, I was left with 1 question at the end of the video. Is the winner GW2 or New World?
New World has a thoroughly enjoyable solo content, and the MMO parts come in the PvE and PvP varieties.
As a casual player, I love the ad hoc "just tag along and join in" parts - if you get killed, other players will usually revive you (that's a mechanic in the game) - and the "invite someone to join a casual group for whatever" parts. And then there are the more formal kind of group, called a raid, where there is a leader and you are taking on an end-game boss/dungeon. However, you can still tag along and join in the fun anyway, you just won't get the boss rewards or quest achievement.
It's just a smooth transition between the kinds of MMO play - ad hoc vicinity group play, ad hoc group chat play, raid play, and then there's the separate gameplay of PvP "mini games" set within the same PvE open world (although the PvP activities can't interact with PvE players during a PvP event).
There are even people manually creating ad hoc PvP events in the PvE world for fun.
It's a welcoming player base actually in the game in my experience. Just a lot of people looking for attention by being negative or hyper focused on the game not meeting their super-specific criteria that almost never include the aspects that make casual MMO fun and entertaining.
Bravo - Ive really enjoyed how you've broken down your analysis, and come to your conclusions!
I'd be super interested to see a follow-up series for "first formal group content", and how that experience feels - at least for series you are interested in exploring further
To share a little of my own experience - my first time playing FFXIV I stopped precisely at the first MSQ Dungeon - mostly because I felt nervous diving in with other players. Thankfully I gave the game a second chance - and have been playing ever since!
But more generally, I think that transition between mostly solo/open world group content, to more structured Group content is definitely something I'd be interested to see as perhaps a future project! I think that kind of content is somewhat of an inevitability for most/all MMORPGs - so understanding how they handle that aspect is something interesting to explore
That does sound like an interesting idea! That's a fun thing to work toward in a few different games. FFXIV would definitely be one. While I've technically done group activities in Guild Wars 2, never with a group of randoms, only with friends on Discord. So that could be a part of it as well.
well put together video! kinda lost interest in new world after 50 hours in 3 months but kept it installed cause it was fun. going to check out guild wars 2 now. thanks!
As an ESO player it really feels like ZoS relies on FOMO to keep players around… and ESO plus is an absolute must for most players. With seasonal content replacing chapters I’ve decided to change things up next year.
In 2025 I plan on rotating around different MMOs throughout the year just to do something different. I’m interested in actually getting into WoW with the new War Within Saga expansions coming out, GW2 has been on my list for awhile & I bought New World just to only spend 3 hours in game and leaving so I plan on giving it a shot again as well.
I figure switching every three months will give me time to really experience each game.
Easiest reason why GW2 is best for Casual players are, 1. No subscription so not wasting money if not playing. 2. No endless gear chase like you get in WoW etc that casuals don't have to constantly chase "BIS" gear to be able to play "end game" because GW2, the top is lvl 80, and stays that way, not having to endlessly chase levels to play "current content" because all content is current.
No casual gives about gear or current content lol what do you think the point of being casual is?
I think that’s their point, in GW2 the gear is so horizontal there’s less focus on it.
I've lost count of the mmo's I've played in the last 21 years and of the ones mentioned, only Albion that I haven't given a chance to. WoW since 2006 (back and forth), GW2 since launch, New World since launch, and so on. GW2 is an anomaly (a good one) among MMO's and is the best today without a doubt. New World started out half-baked and is now a great game. There are a lot of options for casual players but with that "feeling" you mention, I completely agree with you.
Great video.
I finished the main story and am doing Living World 1 now as a Norn Firebrand... I know I should do fractals and wvw but I'm too lazy to get a team and figure out how it works. I've just been pressing random numbers and it felt like a walking simulator through and through. Also skipped all cutscenes and dialogue, I can't be bothered to experience a book while playing a videogame I just don't care.
That being said, I also played OSRS and even there I enjoyed it more than the story of GW2. Should I do fractals and wvw or play OSRS or what MMO do you recommend for me?
@sorenvc If you want deeper gameplay to dive into, wvw and fractals might be a good idea.
GW2 is alternate MMO (ESO is my main). It’s fun to explore and just hang around in the world.
This was a super helpful video! I’m looking to get into gaming more as a way to destress but it’s been really hard to find one that fits my preferences as a full time student who’s not into video games already, and this video has really helped me to find some good choices. I don’t usually go out of my way to like and subscribe but you’ve got a new fan 😊
Glad I could help! I hope you find something you enjoy and helps you destress!
It's not an MMO, but similar enough, I'm currently loving Last Epoch as my chill game.
Thank you for the video! I'd heard of GW2, but never considered it as an option. I'll give it a go!
i think you hit on what bothered me about ff14, it builds out instead of up too much. i didn't see a lot of people while i was playing because most people were either above or below me. when i was playing a healer i had the best experience ever by being able to heal wandering players, but that only happened organically like twice, the rest of the time i was almost always either on my own or in an instanced dungeon with a group finder group.
14:25 How about the performance?
Very deep and comprehensive; I can't really fathom why you have only 6k subs
Was really refreshing to get an answer in literally one second too.
I was asking myself a similar question: which MMO feels like an MMO the most. And though I'm playing mostly GW2 right now I must say that WoW Classic era is the best in that regard. I always find myself grouping and talking to people, interacting with them in there. Every single time. Other games feel very lonely in comparison. Unfortunately I don't like any of the classes in Classic era so I don't play it :D
Agree wow classic hits different. But gw2 is a close second to me
Guild Wars 1 is a fantastic game, but it’s not an MMO, it’s an Online RPG. Great video.
Oh man couldnt have said it better myself when you mentioned the end game goal for MMO's. So many times it boils down to mashing through text boxes to speedrun to end game content thus leaving a terrible world impression.
I play MMOs that have a good leveling experience. That being said, GW2 is the only game that has kept me playing after max level and that's for the storyline and excellent way dynamic questing is done.
Answering the title in the first second, kudos to you sir!
I like to be the change I want to see in the world. lol
this content speaks in behalf to all gamers who have a full time job, with families to take care of, and real life responsibilities on daily basis to prioritize. I for one still enjoy the mmorpg virtual experience to some extent minus the aspect of heavy paytowin, toxic/greedy players, tons of dailies. I tried gw2 but i don't understand the controls how to move around even i played with the settings already. For now i am with MIR4 i have to hire a pilot just recently (hard to trust) and possibly (don't know for how long) shell 150cad/month for that service in game gold, because im all behind in everything like main quests, upgrades, requests/mystery scroll quests which are very tedious to do in manual mode. Basically i have no choice but to choose an mmorpg which has auto function without it i don't know even how to be relevant with contents and fair with other players specially the pvp part but other players CRY on auto BECAUSE they dont put their shoes on other peoples current state of living, Maybe in the future i am still open to find a pc mmorpg which is hopefully casual friendly while enjoying mmorpg features fingers crossed on AOC, i am not sure with New World. Lastly its not easy to get heavily invested in a game with your "time and money" just to switch one after the other so some players like me takes time to decide to leave current game and move on possibly to a next one so why some utubers make it sound so easy to say "which is your next mmorpg" just LOL
what's 1:48 game?
I wish New World had a higher active player count, I cant do certain content towards the end of the original campaign because there are so few players that no one else is at the same spot as myself so I feel stuck trying to get to the last dungeon before Brimstone Sands.
After playing original EQ in 1999 I had to laugh when you referred to 20 hours as end game. I logged over 2400 hours and still wasn’t max level. 😎
It’s funny you bring that up. I did some quick research on “hours to end game” for various modern MMOs and the average was roughly 20. This was VERY unscientific, but it’s worth mentioning I didn’t completely pull that number out of my butt. 🤣
2400 hours is crazy, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
an awkward ESO story: my main was a sorc which i worked hard to almost main to be tanky but actually was a secondary objective to be tanky. this doesn't seem like a non casual story but hear me out. so as i'm making a tanky sorc, largely cuz the hardcore friends i have that promised we would have toons that could play together just leveled said toons that we would only play together without me, i was making this tanky sorc for the fun dynamic of it. now on to the point: i had played some LFG dungeons before as a dps sorc, it went fine. but suddenly i'm in a group that doesn't have a dedicated tank and i say "hey i got this." the response is umm hey you're a sorc...no offense...and the like. they basically get to "hey fuck it" no one else is stepping up so i get the nod. i'm able to taunt and get overhsheld for doing so, i have a lot of overshield type stuff in the sorc tree, my ult is a shotgun electric blast that gives me overshield. granted the weapon set shift i thought i would be prestine in executing turned out to be more difficult in the spur of the moment but everything worked out 'wonderfully'... fine. eventhough i was near dead fairly often and sometimes i didn't get agro quick enough to stop some teamates from taking 'a hit' we did really well in the dungeon. after the fact everyone was like "holy shit dude, that's the coolest/funnest shit" they came in just like fuck it i want to try and came out like i can't believed that worked.
TL;DR: I turned a caster type into a tank in ESO, was a fun challenge that was accepted by the random people that i matched with in a dungeon LFG
I think the main takaway is that as bad of an idea in concept and in the head of everyone in the randomly assembled party through the games LFG system, nobody was like "boo, get out of here" and that says much on the community but also the games random party joining system
Idk if you will actually see this comment but can you make a similar list but for mobile, i dont have much time to play on my pc but i can on my phone but im not gonna be playing hardcore but just have casual fun and not have to commit much into it
Thank you for this - Will try it out.
i am concerned to keep grinding on my job and that is the reason i am looking for casual mmorpg just to wander around so i can give my head some rest.
Really good video! You've rekindled my interest in wanting to play GW2, always have but never did. Was big into FFXI and FF14 so never go around to it. Downloading it now!
If WoW didn’t have a monthly fee, what would you rate it? I’ve got thousands of hours into WoW, around 500 in New World, and none in GW2. As a busy dad, I’m trying to choose one MMO that offers collectibles, variety in classes, and fun content based around interacting/playing with other viewers.
Oh without the subscription it would push New World back. I would still put GW2 above it simply for the action cam combat. WoW probably wins in the collectibles category, but maybe not by as much as I think. GW2 is more about chasing skins than anything else, and I feel like WoW has a lot more to offer in terms of loot with unique stats. I play too casually to have a good opinion on that though.
@@kyleblaneplays i appreciate the response, the video and series has been great to watch!
very interesting! thank you for putting it all together!
did i not get something? U said GW2 is the best but then in the 10-1 its not even in the list? Is it just TOP TOP Tier even before NW? Or how does ur list work
The first half explains why GW2 won. Then at the midway point I explain that I didn’t want to just leave it at that so I made a top 10 list of the remaining games.
im causal on most games, however im a min max raider in Lotro, minecraft , diablo , monster hunter only 4 franchises where a have enough enjoyment to slog through the pain and learning curve from good, better, best at, I tried them all, and for me guildwars is... a bit of a let down, it feels ilke and idle game and with no clear roles i just get confused why Im playing a guardian when I cant aggro anything and my hp is shiz...
Did you try playing with action cam? I can understand any tab-target combat system feeling like an idle game, but that's almost every MMO.
I'm no expert on builds, but the fact that almost any profession and play almost any role is pretty cool. It's just something you have to research and test different builds.
Thank you for your dedication \O/
yes yup yup Gotta give respect to someone so direct no foreplay needed just you searched for it and I answered but let me give you a bit of details to solidify it for you :) anti social king if I do not gotta dungeon its all the better and 1:47 never felt so understood before
Yes! Dungeons are so stressful, I just avoid them!
New World is a game that needed some time to overcome its initial issues, and from the last time I tried it, it already looked okay. Problem was that I started playing with a group of other players and their reliance on these specific servers and merging and creating new servers was irritating, and I needed to start over twice... and then the group stopped playing. Next time I try it, I will do it the truly casual way - just by my own and on my own schedule.
It just didn't happen yet, with the new GW2 expansion and Baldurs Gate 3 and Palia and stuff.
Speaking of that - I also noticed Palia is was not on this list, and I wonder if it is because it is still in beta, not considered as a typical MMORPG (as it is lacking the whole combat stuff) or you were not aware of it. In all honesty, it would not be on the top of the list anyway as it doesn't give many reasons to play cooperatively. You CAN, but so far there is only the hunt for very specific resources that really encourage you to actually do so.
Oh I'm very aware of Palia. I did a lot of fighting to get the Bundle Deal's fake discount removed from the store. I'm glad they've said they're going to fix that at some point. I'm not sure if they have yet or not.
You're correct, it was not included in this series because it isn't an MMORPG in my opinion. Not due to the lack of combat, it just lacks content and (as you said) is devoid of meaningful multiplayer mechanics. I also didn't include games like Destiny 2 and Warframe because they are only vaguely MMORPGs.
I'm still following Palia, but don't have much hope for it. S6 seems very immature, unprofessional, and unprepared to be running a game like that.
@@kyleblaneplays Ah right, forgot about that video with the bundle prices. Yeah, Palia has a long way to go and S6 are undoubtly newcomers and need to learn a lot. I personally still have hope and enjoy what is there.
gw2 is a game that has made it so easy for me to do things with other people constantly no matter what im doing and its amazing, also as soneone who does like pvp it has the best ive experienced
Glad to hear that New World is fun to you. I wish more people would see it like you do.
You gave the answer at 0:01, instant like from me.
I can't get myself to play Guild Wars 2. It is mindblowingly boring combat, and way too many mobs just standing around everywhere, to slow down any walking around and enjoying the games. There are great moments, there are many plusses, but as a new player the game suck.
You can just mount up and run by them...
doesn't exactly slow down the play. that becomes a constant on the move game. Which to me is only fne in certain places, but not all the time, everywhere.@@bmw9616
Fun vid cool list. Really reminds how vid game experiences are like music, subjective and aesthetic. My personal list has ESO ranked near the top, along with WoW, GW2, and FFXIV (that a game has a sub is less important to me). The others are a tier below that for me. Graphics seem to matter more to me than apparently you (probably an immersion thing). I'll also throw Warframe in that top tier, altho tech not an MMO it has enough of that feel to me. Good vid, really enjoyed it.
I think of myself as a casual MMO player, never taking it too seriously and rarely making it to "end game".
Anarchy online 2001-2004.
Everquest 2 from 2004 to 2012, with some short lived returns later.
Guild Wars 2 from 2012 to 2015, I quit with Heart of Thorns - not casual friendly at all, hated it. Returned for Path of Fire in 2015 for about a year or so.
New World for a few months on and off, got bored.
MMOs just got worse over the years, I'm now a homeless MMO player.
gw2 is easilyyy the best for casual play while still feeling like an mmo. as soneone who has tried others, none compare. ff14 is pretty good for casual but because the sub fee and expansion cost its not worth it for me at all right now and doesnt feel too much like an mmo pretty often
I've tried to come back to gw2 for quite a while. Kinda gotten over it though, some classes are just not really good at solo content. I really wanted to play deadeye but it's just not viable solo :( I gave up just getting stun-locked constantly by normal minions in open world content till i died. Casually playing, i couldn't go anywhere when i couldn't really go where i wanted with the short time i could play. I've started playing New World again and i'm surprised how far i've gotten in the short few days i've been able to play and al the changes that's been made. The game is completely different and surprising fun. The new expansion will be an amazing step towards the game being amazing, where it really should have been in the beginning.
Your take on GW2 is completely wrong. If you throw celestial gear or something with tank stats, and pick atleast 1 trait thay provides some sort of survivability, all classes are strong in open world.
I’d wager that you never got to level 80, or even unlocked full trait lines, or looked at gear stats. Highly recommend just boosting to level 80 as GW2 really is a horizontal progression game so skipping the vertical lets you get to the good horizontal progression faster.
Also normal minions literality don’t stun lock you out of attack animations. They can’t. So that’s wrong. If you mean stun lock out of gathering resources/interacting with items, that’s a game mechanic that all classes have to work around equally.
I totally agree with you. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate GW2, I actually do enjoy playing it sometimes but to say that it's the best MMORPG for casual players is just too much. I know a lot of casual players who stopped playing the game for the same reasons that you've mentioned. Core Tyria or the standard free-to-play map of GW2 is definitely a great game for casual players but it could get boring at some point. The expansions and LW seasons are definitely not for casual players. WOW has better gameplay for me though as the video said is just too expensive for casual players. ESO is the game that I would call the most friendly game for casual players, I've played the game with role-playing builds and I'm not dying as easily as in GW2 and can even do dungeons without being kicked out of the group like in WOW. FF14 is also a much friendlier game compared to GW2 but there's really not much diversity in builds. I haven't tried New World yet. What professional gamers fail to see is that casual gamers love to play games that are easy and fun to play. More time playing and exploring the game and less time practicing with your mouse and keyboard skills to time your dodges correctly, also less time researching how to properly play your characters. I remember the time when I had to redo stories in GW2 multiple times just to get it done. Hardcore players who don't have much time because of their busy schedules don't count as casual gamers for me.
Deadeye is probably one of the best solo classes, but you have to use a proper build around rifle or your weapon. The rest is speed, if you're slow, you're dead.
NW is a great game. Amazon did work 2 years to fix issues game had on release. And in fact they did fix most of them. And keep working on ones that are still there. It is very good game for casual player that like pve or pvp.
I do really enjoy GW2 and largely agree that it's the best "casual" MMO. One criticism I have is that after you hit level 80 in GW2, a lot of the cooperative and MMO aspects of the game are dropped and it essentially becomes a single player game while you grind through each expansion pack, which are mostly made up of instances. I might be in the minority here, but I really wish that the structure of the Expansion and Living World content after level 80 stayed closer to the leveling experience, because in some ways it feels like a bait and switch.
What's the game starting at 1:03?
Lord of the Rings Online
@@kyleblaneplaysThank you!
bravo no padding just the answer in the first second
lol, I'm glad people appreciate that.
The man asking THE questions! very philosophical
2:41 means that every k-mmorpg can be out of the question since every single one of them is a tutorial till level cap. But a video coming from someone that likes even a spec of star wars or star trek is untrustworthy opinion.
I love the fact that I am not casual player, but I need game that is for casuals because I don't have that much time to focus on it.
And because of that I just don't know, gw2 is too casual, there is something about it that makes me try it every year and left it after week or something like that.
New world is amazing, but at the same time amazon just knows how to make bad decisions.
WoW and FFXIV don't feel worthy of paying so much (in my country) for so little time to play.
Albion Osrs Eso and other games like that almost require sub from you, ofc you don't need to pay it, but I just don't like not having some options or benefits just because I am not paying.
So either I need to pay monthly for mmo or choose gw2.
Well... Time to install it again...
The only MMO I've ever REALLY gotten into (like hundreds of hours, if not a thousand or more) was City of Heroes. Shame it shut down, game was perfect for how I want to play MMOs. Don't give a shit about endgame, just give me cool looking abilities and a bunch of different builds to try and I'll just keep making new characters and levelling them up. I've tried pretty much every other MMO and the only ones I've been able to get sorta into are:
Star Trek Online (80 something hours)
D&D Online (30 something hours, game is very fun but has way too little content without paying out the ass)
ESO (30 something hours, still playing on and off)
New World (Just started, 10 hours in, very fun so far)
I wish MMOs in the future would start focusing more on gameplay and mechanics and simplify all the different currencies, crafting, menus, etc. Give me addicting gameplay that's as good as a non-MMO game, a big immersive world to explore, and simple menus to navigate and a straightforward and intuitive character progressing and crafting system, and I will probably play your game for at least 100 hours. New World has great combat by MMO standards, but when I compare it to say, Remnant 2, which my buddy and me are playing right now, it becomes hard to justify spending time playing it. Why can't MMOs have better gameplay? I just don't get that tbh.
I completely agree with what you would like to see out of future MMOs. Do away with the spreadsheets and make the game fun.
@ForeverMasterless Hey, in case you didn't know, City of Heroes is back up as Homecoming: City of Heroes; they have a license from NCSoft so it's a legal server as far as I know. If you did already know this (or just don't care that much), sorry to bother you. I hope you have a great rest of your day!
I appreciate that u gave Albion online but sadly as casual as u played u hyper focused on what u d expect from other MMOs that u didn't experience where the game actually shines , the pvp aspect is far more advanced and more engaging than any other MMO not just the full loot one but the faction warfare would been fun for u experience it's safe in yellow zones hope u give it another try and rather than focusing on crafting go pick up fight and just buy ur gear to not waist much time farming
I think partially cuz u limited ur self to the small town rather than discovering bigger cuties where near then u see more unscripted fight from both npcs and other factions
Ok but this is about casual pve play not really pvp that's just a bonus
Albion Online. Buy silver and zerg. Who has more IP or more people. 1850 mists, yah okay.
Interacting without actually interacting (Fates, GW2 open world zergs) is what MMOs are about. got it.
Is that what I said? 😜
When dragon nest 2 gonna release?
I’m not familiar with it, but Google tells me it came out back in July.
@@kyleblaneplays wait sry I was talking about dragon sword
@wineey070 Sorry, I’m not familiar with that one either.
The barrens in the background. Para los del Conalep Los baldios
I know it's subjective, and a personal taste, but I hayyte GW2. I've tried off and on for so many years to get into that game and it's just so bad. I was sure hoping for a new perspective on an MMO, still worth a like though.
We need more of these videos great video
I love exploring the map when playing MMORPG and ignore grinding. When i played BDO i exploring every part of the unlocked maps and when they open the ocean content i waste my time sailing and sea monster hunting and im among the very first player to own my own crafted ship in BDO sea. I quit BDO sea 2019 and the last mmorpg i played is mir4 but that game i can't feel the content it gives. Large guild controls world boss and casual player can't even enjoy its content. I swear to avoid such game now im waiting for new mmorpg probably Throne and liberty, tarisland.
Mann GW2 could be fun if free 2 play have mounts :'> i cant buy the game since its very expensive in my local price(even though they sale its still expensive LOL) alas I max my character, play events and never look back again. Running Point A to B without mount wasted/consume much of my time. So if i were ya better focus on event areas and group events to level up much faster, only explore when you level up enough to do the main quest so you could get into "Living world" to get a better gear after that feel free to roam the the areas! for scenery, etc. :>
I think the newish dynamic events in new world where done by manaworks which are funny enough ex gw2 developers
Ha! That wouldn't surprise me!
Oh shit, I forgot that I own New World
I honestly think you must have been doing something wrong in SWToR. The core class story levels are fantastic.
It's all on tape if you'd like to make any suggestions. I just found the actual gameplay to feel empty. The combat was boring button mashing (maybe a problem with the class I chose) and the areas (both peaceful and hostile) felt 10x larger than they needed to be. SOOOOooooo much walking around, it needs a better fast travel system. I never used it because it was so expensive.
@@kyleblaneplays Fair enough. Different strokes and all that. I will say, that while the light side Jedi Knight storyline is allegedly the "canon" story, I didn't find it particularly interesting until the third act (iirc, it's been a while...) I, personally, found both sith storylines to be far more interesting, and really prefer the sith marauder mechanics. Also, the sith warrior storyline makes perfect sense both light and dark side, other classes less so. Mounts are available much earlier than they were on release, although I wouldn't know how easy they are to acquire on a new account.
I will say that the economy is utterly broken. I logged on for the first time in a couple of years last year, found a relatively rare lightsaber hilt in my imperial agent's inventory that I placed on the market for 250 million credits. It'd sold within 20 seconds (which left me kicking myself), and I was able to solo fund the purchase of a guild star destroyer, despite my guild being inactive for the best part of a decade...
Later expansions were ok. The KotFE and KotET storylines were great for one play through, but an absolute drag if you wanted to move any alts past them. If you ever do go back, and try the sith side, I would recommend just turning off the local chat on Korriban and Dromund Kaas. Some areas of online gaming haven't grown past their toxic teens. Further into the game it's fine, though.
(Apologies for the length of the reply, apparently I had more to say than I thought I did. May have to reinstall when I finish my current run through GW2.)
No. I disagree with your synopsis of what a casual player is. I for one find myself to be a casual mmo enjoyer, who enjoys theory/build crafting, challenging encounters tough boss fights, and engaging mechanics.
I HATE grinding, time gates, fetch quests and FORCED group content where I'm liable to get screamed at for not playing optimally.
amazing video
Not gonna lie it was like i watching someone that has no experience on mmo's, LOTR you can later farm yourself a membership for what im aware and its a csual game,
New world 40$ grind fest with nothing in it beside grind levels and nonsense systems only the newest update brought content and its payed,
if you gonna invest time on guild wars just go directly to GW2 its very casual game and you can get expansion ingame just by farming coins,
runescape its a good casual game but you later on see you limited and needs membership,
Wow depends on how you see it can be seen has casual or not the most expensive on around which makes no sense,
albion online casual game but lack content and needs better combat but limited due to mobiles being their priority,
ESO really casual game cause its meant to be played like its a single player game but the only problem it has its reaching max level that can take months if you dont use the exp scrolls aside of that con the rest of the game is pretty damn good and dont need expansion to expirience the game.
Not gonna lie, I can't be bothered to read poorly formatted comments. I'll just respond to the first statement.
I'm sorry you feel that way. Please, feel free to create your own opinion piece. I'd be happy to see it and appreciate your take on it without belittling your opinion with a wall of poorly written text. I will however belittle your ability to communicate properly.
Oh, and the fact that you think I have no experience with MMOs means my take on casual play is more authentic. If there's one thing I've learned throughout this series, it's that veteran MMO players have lost touch with how casual players enjoy MMOs.
Just for kicks, I decided to reformat your comment for you. I'm bored, and I'm a sucker. (I'll go ahead and add my responses in parenthesis while I'm at it. TLDR: You said a whole lot of nothing in an attempt to tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Not much of what you said goes against anything I said.)
Not gonna lie, that was like watching someone that has no experience playing MMO's. (Doesn't that make my opinion on casual gameplay MORE valid? Who would know what a casual player wants better than a casual player?)
In LOTRO you can eventually farm in-game to earn a membership as far as I'm aware and its a casual game. (How does this refute anything I said in the video? I said nothing about the membership, nor does it matter for a casual player.)
New World costs $40 and has nothing in it besides grinding levels and meaningless systems. Only the newest update added content and it costs money. (It's not everyone's cup of tea. I found it very enjoyable as a casual player.)
Rather than investing time with Guild Wars, I would recommend just playing GW2. It's a very casual game and you can purchase expansions with in-game coins. (This is not true. You cannot, and have never been able to purchase HoT, PoF, or EoD from the gem store. But maybe I'm wrong. After all, I'm the one with no MMO experience.)
Runescape is a good casual game but later on you are limited and need the paid membership. (Again, I don't see how this refutes anything I said in the video.)
WOW can be casual depending on how you look at it. It's the most expensive all around, which makes no sense. (This was the statement I had the hardest deciphering. No matter how I interpret it, I don't see how it refutes anything I said. I'm also not sure how WOW being the most expensive makes no sense. It's just a fact.)
Albion Online is a casual game but it lacks content and it needs better combat. Unfortunately, it's limited due to the mobile version being their priority. (I don't disagree with any of this, nor does it refute anything I said.)
ESO is a really casual game because its meant to be played like its a single player game. The only problem it has is that reaching max level can take months if you don't use the exp scrolls. Aside from that, the rest of the game is pretty damn good and the player doesn't need expansions to experience the game. (It is indeed a really casual game with a solo experience, which is why I said the things I said about it. Casual players aren't concerned with how long it takes to reach max level. Do other games require expansions to experience the game?)
I can think of a few negative things about new world that drive me nuts, no elemental seconrary effects like freeze, burn, poison dot from elemental gem slotting. What is the point in putting these in? Its boring your weapon glows fire bur doesn't burn anything.
The other is the lack of magic weapons and how the devs love melee type of gameplay so all because they work there anyone who doesn't love melrr has to suffer. Maybe this is changing but as of Right now its bs. And allot of weapon animations are boring and medicore.
I’m a Deadeye main and I think it’s a lot of fun.
And yes, there are absolutely negatives to GW2. I’m in no way claiming it’s perfect.
@@kyleblaneplays Sorry I thought I put new world in here dang it! I was talking about new world gw2 does not lack in magic classes!
Oh gotcha! That makes more sense now. That’s very understandable.
I really hate they keep calling gw2 casual just because it doesn’t have a monthly subscription. you can literally play any MMO at your own pace doesn’t mean it feels good.and gw2 has some of the craziest grinds Ive came across. Skyscale (even the “streamlined” grind) or legendary grind. And I’ve played everything from Aion, Tera,PWI. And have played wow since Lich king. I find GW2 way more grindy and way harder to get into for a new player. And the real downside you never really feel character progression in GW2 until you’ve 100s of hours in. I like gw2 but I feel this casual, super noob friendly branding that everybody wants to put on it. It’s absolutely misleading. Hell you can now do end game dungeons in wow completely solo now.
This is the first I’ve ever heard of anyone describing GW2 (or any MMO for that matter) as casual because there is no subscription.
I can see that being a benefit to casual players, but certainly not specific to GW2.
So I agree with you, I’ve just never heard anyone say that.
@@kyleblaneplays out of all the videos I do think you described it best
albion use to be vry fun wen there wass no skill points it wass auto lerning depending on what u were doing but since it's start to monetize everything i lost interest even skill point for premium is much more then doble, casual mmo i recomand is lineage2 and mu online only private servers vry fun and f2p pvp/pve olso rec pathofexile toons of fun
hard-core players are either teens (who are more like children with much knowledge, and even more time at their disposal) OR no-lives who live under their mommy's roof and, even though they may have a job, well... real world offers them very little in terms of entertainment.
That said, I do agree with you on what a casual player seeks.
I know too many who don't fit that description to fully agree, but in a general less-offensive way, I agree. lol
There's also a lot of rich people, disabled people, retired people, or people that have other computer based business that allow them to be present in games while they are working and then to hop on when something relevant happens
Love your genuine excitement from GW2 episode 5.
Bro albion aint for casual players you got to play on certain times of the day and is not for relaxing since the game is almost all Full Pvp Loot you die you lose your set
Albion has the most fragmented community of any game on the list. It’s like y’all are playing completely different games.
Enjoy it the way you enjoy it. I played it casually and enjoyed it just fine.
Also, please let me know where in the game it tells me I need to play at certain times of the day.
NW expansion coming 3rd october cheers! BANGER EXPANSION
I love all the ideas of GW2, I cant with the interface... I just can't...
I’ve had that with other games, so I totally understand.
Never had issues with it personally. I like how simple it is. MMOs love complicating everything with a thousand popups. GW2 only has the essentials and any popups are often hidden for you to click on when you want to, rather than having shit thrown at you interrupting gameplay
I'm honestly only asking out of curiosity, what is exactly bad in the interface? I mean, it's clean, thematic, uncluttered, not sure what is so bad so that is why I'm asking, for me interfaces like FFXIV, LOTRO and so on seem bad because they look so extremely generic, I could list out at least 20-30 games that have nearly the exact same UI and it just feels bad TO ME! of course this is my taste and my preference, I think other than GW2 the only UI I'm okay with is WoW
edit: also New world is fine, it is thematic enough so it is not offputting, looks okay
I just wish the target healthbar could be dragged somewhere else than the top 😅
I actually love it lol
i guess you just described a guy who actually does not want to play a MMORPG, they should play a single player.
No, not at all. The whole point is wanting to play with other players in the easiest way possible. This is specifically for people who want an MMO experience without the stress that can come with it.
Born to be a hardcore player, forced to be a casual
I like hearing facts 👍
To relax and albion online? these two words are mixed together? nooo man no!
Outside of pvp I find it quite relaxing.
GW2 is perfect. New World is amazing addictive
Omg, this was not a player but a bot! And GW2 is soooo boring. I have played for like 10 hours and didn't need to even drink a single health potion. There is not tension whatsoever!
lol what?
Who was a bot?
Your take is pretty questionable.
Gw2👏💪👍❤️
FFFFF, 1st 2 seconds he laready answer it XD
Hahahaha! I don’t want to unnecessarily waste anyone’s time.
Lost Ark
To me being a "casual player" means you aren't score pushing on some leaderboard or in some top tier tier pvp guild or pve raid group, or trying to become some pve or pvp legend. If you aren't being social to some degree, or trying to get good enough to just complete the end game content and at least be decent then you aren't having an mmo experience. You are looking for a solo experience within an mmo, not a casual mmo experience.
That’s a pretty high bar.
I think you may be missing that I want an easier, more approachable, time-respecting MMO experience. Like I said in the video, if you don’t care about the MMO aspect, it’s all up to personal preferences. If you want it in a casual way, then GW2 offers it in droves.
lmao, much better casual mmorpg than gw2 would be New World or ESO
ESO is a fine game, but never once felt like an MMO. New World is a close second for me.
Yayyy New World
only one game i gona disagree with on this list is albion online , albion got one of the worst communities in any game , it's so competitive and it doesnt have any causal content in it , it's only fun for hardcore players , the game is full of scammers , you get scammed on frist sec playing game it's so unfriendly towards new players and got one of worst the playerbase of any game online ever , worst personalities , worst scammers , worst ragging kids , hackers , ddoss'ers , pedos ,etc even worse than league of legends and other competitve mobas out there , i would never recommend albion to anyone it's a scam .
My apologies for what I’m about to say. You just happened to touch on one of my biggest pet peeves.
I would give your opinion so much more value if you even attempted to use proper capitalization. It’s objectively easier to read. Instead, you come off looking like one of the people you’re describing. (A raging kid, specifically)
@@kyleblaneplays My apologies for what i'm about to say , Get out of your cave , Not everybody speaks or type in english , you read , you understood it , Sorry if i hit a nerve , i was just stating my opinnin of someone who has alot of time in this game :) , so maybe grow up look at context instead of looking at " proper capitilization "
Thank you for trying this time.
@@kyleblaneplays No problem , i hope you less triggered this time and ready to read ,it seems you have no time in this game , It's even obv from footage that you show ,Tip:do a better research next time ;) .
Yeah, you’re right, casual players have hours upon hours to form an opinion of a game and games shouldn’t be judged or held accountable for how good or bad they are in the first 10 hours of gameplay. I should have thought about that.
New World is insanely time-intensive lol GW2 is loads better
You think so? I never felt like New World required too much of my time.
Bad thing new world its dead rn
GW2 is the most chill and has a great community, however like ESO and New Word the combat stinks, fluid? Like WHAT... BDO has fluid combat not those games, problem is beyond it's CMs the game's community is pretty trash, the MSQ is spam R and the graphics which could be great if there wasn't popins everywhere.
I actually found BDO’s combat to be quite disjointed and not fluid. So many flashy spins and over the top animations (which are beautiful) just end up making me not understand what’s happening in combat.
Guild Wars 2 and New World have very snappy combat where the animations communicate more clearly, for me anyways.
ESO is super stiff and the combat is only fun with specific builds.
@@kyleblaneplays Totally disagree but to each their own.
What's the game starting at 1:33?
I found out it's Runescape.