I'm surprised you didn't recommend this channel. It's free-to-play, got hundreds of hours of content, and the cash shop isn't too bad. The story DOES rely on a single character a bit too much, but he's kind of a fan favorite at this point.

I'm only a minute in, and hearing you say "you might actually enjoy them more if you play them in a more casual way" made me very happy.

I wish that more MMO reviews focused on things other than endgame competitive stuff. It can be hard to find a game when I’m not approaching the game with the desire to spend thousands of hours. Thank you for being a channel that shows the pros and cons of even the early game! It makes it easy to get excited about a game when I know that there’s fun to be had before I hit 100 hours!

As an MMO virgin, I tried getting into FF14 a year back for the first time with some died hard MMO friends that grew up playing WoW. After seeing that they treated leveling up their character and blasting through ARR like a second job I dropped it almost immediately. Coming back to FF14 a year later and going at it on my own pace, playing it very casually and treating it like a game instead of a second job, I can actually see the appeal now. It might take me several months to beat ARR at my current pace, but if this is the game's low point then I'm incredibly hyped about what comes after it.

"GW2s style aged like a fine wine". Captured it perfectly. Didn't know that it was based on watercolor paintings but it makes sense. Such a beautiful game

This guy feels like that mmorpg teacher I'd like to have for some reason, great video

GW2 is definitely my favorite. The sheer fact that I can skip the grind and jump into PVP appeals to me. It's also nice to just journey around that beautiful world.

Man, I’d listen to this guy talk about Anything he has passion for. He could tell me about his favorite kinds of bricks and how he judges them, which brick companies have poor morals, whatever, if he cared about it, I’d sit through a four hour video. It’s the kind of energy I love to see in teachers

Guild Wars 2 is brave enough to sponsor you cause they Actually Believe in their Product. Props to them!

You're on point about GW2. I've played it SUPER casually over the course of the past near decade, sometimes not playing for a year or so at a time, but every time I come back there's something to do, I'm not super behind on having to catch up, and it's just so so easy to pop in and out of. Definitely incredible value.

It's crazy how much empathy this man displayed while talking MMOs he likes.

5:43 guild wars 2 9:09 final fantasy 14 12:15 elder scrolls online 16:15 runescape(s) 19:52 _intermezzo_ and some old and small games and why you should play them all

12:22 "Skyrim was apparently Todd Howard's horcrux based on how many times he's re-releasing it" Lungs and tea are not meant to interact

As someone who now mainly plays Guild Wars 2 after “quitting” WoW … I agree. It is a fantastic game overall.

one thing about ESO that people often sleep on is the armor sets, which are often interesting and powerful enough to build an entire character around. It's a great bit of horizontal progression that also FEELS like vertical progression simply because it's a piece of optimization that a lot of people completely miss out on. There's an armor set that makes you use mana instead of stamina when blocking/dodging/bashing, a set that makes your shield bashes deal an AoE shockwave, a set that lets you donate your Ultimate points to teammates instead of using it yourself, a set that deals damage and stuns when you dodge-roll into an enemy. They're a lot of fun and are where a lot of interesting gameplay can come from for those people who are into theorycrafting or if you just liked making some silly gimmick build in skyrim and want to do the same thing here.

My favourite part of any MMO I jump on is world exploring. I run around all over the maps, getting stuck in places you were not supposed to reach, and just enjoying all the new sights. Repetition is what kills a game for me, so when I reach a point where the grind gets too overwhelming I quit and go to the next game. Two games that stand out the most to me when it comes to exploration are Lord of the Rings Online and Guild Wars 2. So if you're an explorer like me, give both of them a go. There are so many wonderful and nicely crafted environments in those games you'll sometimes forget you are on a quest and instead spend hours just exploring every little nook and cranny.

JSH: "Any hobby comes with a price tag." Also JSH: *looks at WH40K collection and silently weeps*

You should play "GW2", thanks for sponsoring :D

I started playing guild wars 2 this year and as someone who is a “hardcore casual”, as in I’ll spend a lot of time playing the game but often engaging in activities that would be considered pretty casual, it has to be the perfect mmo. It’s so easy to hop in and out, there’s tons of stuff to do, the end game isn’t just solely group content and it’s just fun to play in general.

I got incredibly happy when you mentioned Ultima Online. I’ve been playing it on and off for 20 years and I love that they keep my characters from when I was 13. Thanks for the videos, I’m hooked!

End of Dragons isn't the last GW2 expansion btw, it's just the end of the current story arc

The worst part about trying all the MMOs is slowly building up the perfect MMO in your head made of all the pieces of other MMOs you loved and knowing that no MMO will ever give you all of it. But on the plus side, it means that you're never bored.

For me I want an MMO that I can sink hours into at a time and spend my money on without feeling like I'm wasting time or money. Generally if the game is good this comes as a given but I've tried so many MMOs that just don't stick for me and its hard to filter through the hundreds of games that seem so similar at first glance.

I loved everything about Wildstar, from the humor to the gameplay. The housing was second to none, and hanging out in a train station made by a player was surreal. If I had the money I'd invest in trying to resurrect it.

Always love seeing a GW2 plug. Love how stress free it is as an MMO from the purchase side. It's why I'm that much more willing to spend money on the cash shop; I justify my purchases with "it's my way of showing I want this game to thrive and grow so here is how I help.". With subscription service games, you're already doing your part but with one time purchases (when you like it) it rests with you whether you want to pay in extra for extras and how much you want to pay based on how much appreciation you want to show. Guild Wars 2 doesn't try to take your money, it tries to earn your money. I respect that so much I'm more than happy to throw money towards such an end.

When I gave ESO a second chance, I found that it recaptured my love for the elder scrolls, my favorite fantasy series from my teen years. Every time I boot it back up, it’s like a nostalgia trip. Plus; the ocean of content keeps it fresh.

GW2 without question. Off the top of my head I have played, for varying lengths of time: 1. WoW 2. Aion 3. SkyForge 4. Wizard 101 5. SWTOR 6. OSRS 7. Secret World Legends 8. Tera 9. Elsword 10. Warframe 11. AQ Worlds 12. Guild Wars 2 Of those dozen, and arguably a few more, only SWTOR and GW2 have me continue to come back. SWTOR I can't recommend though because the only reason I'm coming back to it is for the story, and I'm a Star Wars fan. GW2, on the other hand, is worth your time and money and then some! Leveling is fun, exploring the world is fun, world events are fun, crafting is fun, fun fun and more fun! This, and the fact that it respects your time and money, has earned my loyalty several times over. I can safely drop the game for months if not years, and have done so, and returned to the game without missing a beat. I could gush out an entire master's thesis on why I believe GW2 is such a wonderful gem of an MMO, but to summarize and oversimplify I will argue that is, without question, the best jack-of-all trades mmo on the market. It does everything any other mmo you can find does. Perhaps it doesn't do them quite as well, but virtually any system or mechanic you can find in any other mmo you can find in GW2, and executed unquestionably competently. Not only that, but all of these myriad activities are valid avenues to progression, e.g. all reward experience. I brought my main from level 40 to max level (80) just by maxing out a crafting discipline! In almost every other MMO on that list I wrote, in my opinion they all tend to specialize. WoW prioritized its end-game, SWTOR and Secret World Legends prioritize their stories and over-arching narratives, OSRS prioritizes its economy and quests, Elsword, Tera, and Warframe prioritize their combat, etc. GW2, if it could be said to have a specialty, would specialize in the MMO as an art form.

you hit the nail on the head when people play for obsession. That's why I enjoyed games more 15 years ago. I remember logging on maplestory to get my mmo side scroller fix, then ragnarok for the 3d open world fix and cs and cf for fps fix. Never once had I thought to min max my gear or level or skill to be the best. People kind of forget the definition of fun when you chase rankings. And eventually it turns into grinding and daily quest grind, which frankly makes the game turn into a chore rather than fun

GW2 is still my favorite, I love that it can be played somewhat casually since there isn't a constant gear treadmill.

I love GW2 and believe it is the best MMO I have played for some of the reasons you mention. I quit playing ages ago because I didn't have any friends in-game and I feel that is key to being able to stick to any MMO. But even the solo content is so good that one can sink hundreds of hours into this one no matter what.

Late to the party, but I recently logged back in to Star Trek Online. While me and my friends used to joke about it being a terrible game on so many levels, we had lots of fun both following the well-structured story content as well as doing duel-style PvP and grinding marks in PvE. Might get back to playing it regularly, actually. Heck, with the ability to visit the interior of your ship I even briefly yielded to the allure of role playing with friends. It definitely captured a lot of the charm of the shows up to 2001 and they somewhat competently cater to fans of the new stuff as well. Although the ground combat is about as interesting as TNG phaser shootouts, I'd say the space counterpart is quite engaging, with weapons having different tradeoffs (eg. more damage = narrower firing arc, so you need to keep your ship properly oriented to the enemies, broadsiding with beam arrays and keeping enemies front and center with cannons) and end-game skill usage requiring pianist-tier mastery of your keyboard. STO does sometimes toss a bunch of skills at you (not quite like AION, but stuff will appear sometimes randomly on your hot-bars or just on your skill list, forcing you to read it, think about giving it a place in your current routine and so on). On the subject of hot-bars, they should make double- or tripple-line one a default, seeing as there are already hotkeys for that and the default 10 slots will fill up too quickly. Big thumbs up for monetization not being overly on the nose, although prices of the premium currency (when exchanging another in-game, grindable currency) have been maxed out for months, if not years. Top tier builds do require items (ships/weapons/upgrades/etc) only available in the premium shop, limited-time events or guild-accessible shops but once again - the premium currency is available to grind and they recently introduced a system allowing the purchase of items from past events (where previously even recurring events yielded unique grand rewards every time, so skipping meant missing out). Right now Steam player count seems to orbit 1300, so I'd say it's doing well for itself.

I've never actually thought of approaching mmorpg's like this. Just sampling them and sticking with them as long as they're fun, and playing another one when it gets boring. Makes sense when you compared mmo's to other media. Thanks!

I wasnt a fan of Gw2 years ago but about 2 weeks ago I decided to gi it a try again. As some one who isnt the biggest fan of the mmo type i found my self loving the story and combat. I am glad i gave it another shot.

Well, you convinced me to give Guild Wars 2 a try. Sounds like the best parts of RPG games I enjoy, and I've always wanted to find an MMO to enjoy.

I needed to hear this. I play Old School Runescape and I absolutely love the grind. Reaching a certain level in one skill to unlock another training method for that skill is so exciting to me! But that doesn't mean the grind doesn't get heavy sometimes. There are some grinds (like the ironman crafting grind) that can be VERY mind numbing, and I literally needed to be told that it was okay to take a break from OSRS and play something else. I kept looking for other games, just not MMO's because it honestly scared me that I might be pulled away from OSRS and never go back...but I know deep down that I'll always be back. I love the grind too much. I'm gonna go try FF14 now. Thanks for saving my love for MMORPG's, Josh. Really.

ESO gets my vote for MMO you should play. It has so much content and you can choose to do any of it whenever you want. The casual experience is incredible and it does have a challenging endgame if you want it. The biggest downside is most endgame builds need a lot of grinding the secondary guilds to unlock skills, which usually boils down to downloading an addon to tell you where all the lore books are.

GW2 is more about enjoying the journey than the reward (except for legendary gear maybe). And the community is great at helping other player most of the time. You need a hero point but it's a champion and can't solo it ? Ask for help in map, you always got few people coming helping you. It's not for everyone, but definitely one of the best MMO experience I've ever had.

Things I've learnt from playing many MMOs in past few years: 1. Different people enjoy different things. It's fine for other people to not like your favorite game. You can't force people to like it. Just grow up and accept it. 2. Ignore FOMO. They're there to pressure to keep playing it, even when you don't want too. Just play whatever you enjoy the most and move on to new game when you're bored with it. 3. There is no right or wrong way in playing games. Take your time, google the quest, skip all story, do whatever you want as long as it doesn't ruin other people experience. If you don't someone say "you're playing it wrong", they're just an a**hole.

MMOs have always been a genre I wanted to get into, but never had the time, money or hardware when I was younger, then when I had the hardware I had less time, and now I've got some spare time, money and hardware and I think I'm gonna try out Final Fantasy 14. It looks extremely cozy, and as a fan of RPGs I feel like it'll be a nice transition. I've tried a couple of MMOs, like GW2 and ESO. ESO felt a little clunky and skyrimy to me and GW2 was fun, but I just didn't connect with it very much. FF14 seems like it has answers to these problems, and the Final Fantasy world is VERY cool, despite me not having played a ton of them.

Mabinogi was my first MMO and I played back when it was still new to North America in like 2008-2010. I was one of the top players on the North American servers just because I loved it so much I played all the time. And even when I had reached end game and there was nothing really new to do before the new continent was released, I still loved playing so much I ran around finding newbies who needed help or people who needed party members for quests, dungeons didn't get stale no matter how many times I ran them because difficulty changed depending on the item you dropped to enter, they were somewhat randomized for which mobs you got, and the quest versions were always interesting. I'd legit sit at the entrance stone for a single dungeon all day just going in and out with various groups that needed another party member. Then life got in the way and I fell off it. I tried going back to it a few years ago but it had changed a lot. I don't think it's a bad MMO now or anything it just wasn't what I wanted anymore and there was the frustration of all the bits I loved from the old days being changed in a way I no longer enjoyed. All the difficulties got moved around, so the dungeons that in my day were something only the top players could get through solo and even then it was a real challenge were now like, newbie dungeons. Becoming a Paladin or Dark Knight which was more end game and something you wore as a badge of honor was like, almost immediately available to do. Champions (Maxed Paladin) and Infra Blacks (Maxed Dark Knights) were so rare because it took a lot of time and skill to get there. I hit Infra Black and it was entirely possible for me to play all day on a packed server and *maybe* see one or two others. There were just tutorials telling you the best way to kill every enemy and then let you practice it so you never had to learn in any actual danger. Part of the fun for me was figuring things out for myself or from learning from other players when I went questing with them. Be it combos, which blacksmiths were the best, which tailors to go to for which clothing items, etc. Now I just take some tutorials in the beginner village and I've got it all laid out for me. If someone wants a more casual MMO with lovely graphics that (even at the time I tried to go back at least) was free to play and did not try to force feed the cash shop to you or lock any aspect away behind paywalls, and doesn't have the nostalgia factor coming into play I think they'd enjoy it but I chose to quit and will keep Old Mabinogi in my heart

I remember playing ESO at launch and my wife hearing Michael Gambons voice when she walked past my office. She asked if I was watching Harry Potter without her . Game is phenomenal if you want to just go into a world and explore.

5:50 - HOLD UP! This is not the FINAL expansion! They mentioned this on a recent livestream :o

This is an awesome perspective! This is the first of your videos that I've seen, and I can tell as a fellow MMO fan you truly get it. Like the different foods we eat, and other entertainment we enjoy, the most beautiful thing about MMOs are the variety they offer. Thank you for this video

I've tried 4 MMOs, and these are my thoughts about all of them: 1. EVE Online - The first one, off a recommendation from a friend. I was drawn in by the gorgeous graphics and space odyssey feel. The rules were defined, but the world was very open: Stay here and be safe, go out there and be merciless. I never opened spreadsheets, never got into production or selling...I just wanted to build ships and do exploration. I lasted a decade in that game, and had some of my greatest experiences in any MMO, and realized that emergent gameplay was something that could keep me hooked. 2. Final Fantasy 14 - I tried this one a few times over the years, but failed to get past level 20. I tried again during the pandemic (like half the gaming world did), but the difference was that I had a group of friends who were all into it. Now I'm having a good time, and it's probably my main MMO currently. The thing I noticed about FF14 is that I treat it like a game: Unlike EVE, I log in to play through the story. I don't live in the world, I play through it. That being said, the story is phenomenal (past ARR), the combat is satisfying, and I'm having an incredible time playing. But once I discovered the difference.... 3. Elder Scrolls Online - ...I wanted a world I could get lost in. With FF14, I recognized that I was playing a game, not living in the world. I wanted the experience like EVE where I felt that I was a member of a shared universe writing my own story, not playing through another. So while I enjoy FF14 as a game and still play it often. I started looking for a world I could "live in." I went to Elder Scrolls because I love the lore. The quests were amazing and the lands were vast...but I already had a questing MMO. I wanted something a bit different--basically high-fantasy EVE. That doesn't exist, but the closest I came to it was... 4. Black Desert Online - An incredible fantasy world--one large, seamless map that you traverse by horseback, many of the buildings are ones you can enter and look around in which makes the towns feel real and not just aesthetic, varied biomes, phenomenal graphics, all in a sandbox that allows you to choose how you want to play the game and find your own way to enjoy it. This scratches the itch left by EVE Online in a good way. It can get mindless and repetitive if you let it, but there are many ways to play the game, and I find enough variety to keep coming back. It helps that the combat is among the best in the genre; it doesn't help that the main story quest which introduces you to the lore is still mainly text and isn't that engaging at all. But I'm having fun with it either way. So now I play FF14 as my main MMO with friends and regard it as a game...and I play BDO mainly by myself as a world I can live in.

You know he played everquest when he says you stop after PoP. Made me laugh out loud.

I’d like to think that this entire video was made specifically to NOT recommend World of Warcraft. And I loved it

Found your channel recently, you do a great job in your vids :D I've gotten burnt out on World of Warcraft recently. Thanks to this one and others, I've been giving Guild Wars 2 a shot, and have been enjoying it greatly. Just leveling is fun, going around and doing content doesn't feel grindy.

I have played runescape on and off for 15 years. I still love it. They keep making bosses and new versions of skilling and fighting. Both RS3 and OSRS are always going to be my favorite games for the rest of my life!

As someone who plays both Guild Wars 2 and Final Fantasy 14, both games are amazing in their own right. Guild Wars 2 hits all the right notes for me. The fact that it is horizontal progression means I can take long breaks without losing progression. While the story isn't anything to write home about, it is fairly decent for an MMO. It still has one of the most unique mount systems in any game with each mount doing something unique to it. The game is designed for and rewards cooperation. This fosters a good community that helps each other instead of being at one another's throats. Final Fantasy 14 is by far one of the best story driven games I have ever played and it has some of the best writing for a Final Fantasy game. Although A Realm Reborn starts rough, Heavensward is one of the best expansions for an MMO and somehow Shadowbringers tops even that. There is so much to experience in FF14 and the community is some of the friendliest in the genre.

I recently started Guild Wars 2 again after quitting in HOT, and I haven't regretted it. It's so fun.

I've been somewhat stuck on MMOs since I started playing WoW in 2005 and I came back to this video after I watched it shortly after release. The final message is so important. Approach MMOs like you approach other cultures. This has opened up the whole genre for me. Looking into games I'd otherwise not play, having multiple MMOs installed just because I don't consider my "main MMO" the only game I play. It also got me off of "the most popular" MMO (globally or within my social bubble). I managed to get away from WoW because I really liked FFXIV but just how I started to think "I can just play WoW instead of this" when I played other MMOs, I started to think "I can just play FFXIV instead of this" but I neither have the drive nor the time to really get into the vertical progression gear treadmill.

You made a very good point in this video, really appreciate this man

I love Gw2 so much. It makes me happy seeing other people enjoy it. I've never been a super hardcore player but its always been my go to game if I want to be able to hop back in without getting stuck behind a huge grind wall before I can actually have fun.

Guild wars 2 and FF14 are my current games I spend time with. But I've been trying every mmo I could get my hands on since 2006 haha.

Tbh I just wanna be a pretty character and play support casually

the way you talked about risks of making a game your personality was a massive eye opener for the way ive acted a lot. wow

I've tried a bunch of MMOs and had fun with them but I've only gotten really invested in GW2. I love that game so much. Sometimes I get really into it and play it alot. Sometimes I take a break from it. But I always come back to it. Of course it does have issues though. One of the biggest problems in my opinion is that the game can be confusing for new players. Both MMO veterans and noobs have so much to learn and the game doesn't really explain it all. Like just the idea of what you should be doing after reaching max level. The fact is that you can do pretty much whatever you want and there are tons of things you can do. It's one of the best things about GW2, but noobs and players of other MMOs may have a hard time adjusting to the horisontal progression where you just explore what you can do and do what is fun to you. GW2 requires a certain mindset compared to other MMOs. If you can get into that mindset there is SO much to enjoy.

After years of trying MMOs and getting bored around lvl 20-30, I’ve realized they just aren’t my thing. But this channel? This channel is my thing. I feel that I can experience the best any MMO has to offer through your thoughtful and comedic content.

In the past I really looked forward to what the future would hold for the MMO genre. Here i am still playing OSRS

My poison is FF14 but I've given up suggesting the game to people. For a long time I've only argued with people on Reddit about how good the game is and everyday there would be someone who appears and asks people to convince them to play FF14. After a time I came to the decision that people have eyes and hands and they can play the game themselves or watch reviews, but absolutely no one has the same brain as another person. Thus I began seeing my efforts as constantly leading horses to water but never able to make them drink. So nowadays I'm happy to discuss my memories of the game or show them something of the gameplay, but if they ask me whether they should play it I never ever make the decision for them. It's not my job to make people like the game.

I think Star Wars The Old Republic and Lord of the Rings Online both deserve consideration if you are interested in the content. The gameplay is somewhat dated but still enjoyable. And then of course there is Eve online - it is still extremely unique.

I used to play GW2 a little some time back when I was on the hunt for THE MMO. I liked it but not enough to continue it. I realize now that I was going in with the wrong mindset. I was searching for the ULTIMATE MMO that has everything I wanted instead of looking at what the game has that I would enjoy. It also didn't help that at the time I just didn't enjoy tab targeting combat. Since then I've played A BUNCH of FFXIV, completed shadow bringers and really enjoyed the game ALOT. That made me change my view on how I should approach games (I used to skip stories in ARR because i wasn't a reading dialogue guy) and set my expectations. This video makes me wanna go back to GW2 with my new mindset and a fresh experience to try it out again.

Keeping variety in your mmo is the best advice I've heard from the mmo community. I often play 3-4 different mmo games in a month. Currently playing everquest (f2p now, a little predatory cash shop but not the worst I've seen), wow: ascension (classless wow private server with a rather large playerbase), starwars galaxies (private server, f2p, no cash shop), and currently reinstalling repopulation (b2p, no cash shop, alpha swg-ish mmo). I honestly cant argue with any of the picks mentioned in the video either. Variety IS the spice of life, virtual or otherwise.

While my main mmo is Star Wars Galaxies, I'm still an advocate of trying bunches of mmos. There are sooooo many out there, and many of them are still amazing.

I love Guild Wars 2 because I can play it for an hour a day and still make actual progress. No increasing level and gear cap means all content in the game and all progress I make stays relevant. I can just pick the content I like, be it map exploration, story, achievements, fashion, endgame group content, jumping puzzles, mount races, or whatever, do it at my own pace for as long as I like and never fear that I'm falling behind some arbitrary power curve. Could I grind my face off for thousands of hours to completely fill out my legendary armory and be the shiniest hero in all the land? Sure, but I don't have to, if I don't want to or don't have the time. And most importantly I don't need to in order to stay relevant in any part of the game.

GW2 100%! The game is just amazing with so many different layers to enjoy. I tried pretty much every major MMO out there + a lot of smaller ones and GW2, in my opinion, is the most complete MMO on the market as of now. The fact that it doesn't use the prehistoric subscription model is a nice bonus :)

I spent so much time playing Guild Wars 2 over the years. When Heart of Thorns dropped I came back, played a bunch of the new content, and eventually stepped back again after scratching that itch. Might be time to check out the final expansion.

I think that the question "Which mmo should I play?" does have some well found roots. I love many different MMOs but several either feature or require a subscription fee and I personally don't want to be spending too much money for subs. Of course there are tons of free to play games out there, but the field is spearheaded by games like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, and others and its hard to choose where you want to spend your hard earned money.

I recently left WoW and have started playing GW2 again. I tried it a few years back but couldn't quite get into it, but that's not the games fault. That's my fault because I was so hardcore into WoW that nothing else at the time could compare. I'm trying to get out of that mentality and having a different approach to GW2 since I know it's not a typical mmo. But I'm having a lot of fun with it and am going through LW4 right now (I just finished the Path of Fire main story).

the mmo i put most time into was The Secret World, got totally engrossed in the story, was with it from pre launch and enjoyed the out of game ARG elements. The modern day setting was also a breath of fresh air.

i honestly respect josh for this video even more than i did, you know its made by someone for passion for the genre and even tho i tried most of those games now i feel my own passion for the genre re-ignited and of the mind to try more or even give the old ones i tried another shot with a different approach and perspective.

I've been playing FFXIV for a little over a year now and it's pretty much replaced my previous hobby which was Destiny 2. A bunch of my Destiny mates signed on at the same time with me and it was great fun playing through all the MSQ and exploring the world with our rag tag group but there's something recently that's been getting me a bit bogged down. Most of these friends and myself are endgame raiders. In Destiny, we have multiple Day One clears and a few months back in FFXIV e started Savage raiding. Both have been very fun, but after the most recent Day One for Destiny (Vow of the Disciple) considering a number of factors such as playing through the night (UK btw so start time is 6pm) for 24 hours (48 after technical mishaps this time), I felt incredibly sick during it and myself and one of the others dropped out at some point around the 36th hour mark (wee had a decent sleep during that time don't worry). After seeing how a video game put me in that much physical and mental pain, I felt it wasn't worth it, so I've not only taken a break from Destiny but I've also told the group to find a replacement for Day Ones because with how my life is nowadays with not being a student with more free time, a job to do and more recently than this a girlfriend I want to spend time with I'm unable to do the brutally hard endgame content. And now sadly, I'm finding the same thing with FFXIV. Our static now consists of 7 players with and 8th levelling his character, probably ready by next week. But this video has really got me considering dropping out of the Savage content becasue I'm not sure if I'm having fun anymore, alongside the fact I have a full life schedule where I barely have the option to just sit down and play a game. I had some rather shatterign personal news late last week so I've taken a week to just relax and play Monster Hunter Sunbreak which I have been loving and it feels like I've been able to just relax with a game I enjoy playing for the sake of playing - I want to always find new builds and get better, but not in the way Savage raids in FFXIV do by slowly over several weeks incrementing a number to be slightly larger. It felt like a breath of fresh air from the usual 'meet three nights in the middle of the week to prog' with the others. It's sad because a few of the players there also love MonHun and some of my best times were going through the previous games with them. But they're now so focused on FFXIV and Savage content they haven't had a care in the world to pick up Sunbreak and join in like old times - I know there's nothing I can do to force them off of what they love doing but I can lament a bit. I've said in frustration for trying to first time clear the Savage bosses that I hate that this feels like a second job (our raid times our literally timetabled), but it took me taking this week away from Discord and FFXIV to realise that's actually what it feels like. So, like Destiny 2, I may just back out of doing the high level stuff. I still love FFXIV and will continue to play it; I'm probably going to at least keep going with Savage until the next expansion comes out in a few weeks to see if anything changes but it's highly unlikely. With my whole schedule nowadays I find less and less time just for myself or at least playing games that are relaxing. For reference: Sunday & Monday are DnD (I host the Monday one); Tues, Wed, Thurs are the progging days; Fri & Sat is time spent with my girlfriend - mix in a 9am - 6pm job Mon-Fri that sometimes involves weekend shifts and you can see that there's basically not time to just sit down and relax. So I feel I have to cut one off and idf it's going to be any, it's endgame raiding. It's a sad fact and the others will continue on without me regardless, in which case goood for them But I'm tired and I want to go back to playing FFXIV like I now play Destiny - simply for the fun of it.

As someone who grinded his way through Lineage 2 and then WOW, my heart now belongs to ESO. The relaxing journey, the amazing community and really fun quests and dungeons, it's all like a breath of fresh air. Appreciate that you covered it and you underlined the best parts of the game.

GW2 is the only MMO I started then immediately binged the main quest line. I skipped all dialog and I had so much fun. Getting a griffon was so damn satisfying.

for serious content this is my go to channel, thank you sir a combination of documentary and comedy... love your work. never a bad time for these vids

You didn't take 1 sip of that drink you were holding the entire video lol

I quit WoW a few months ago, probably dont have to say why. I found my home in Lost Ark, the game has literally everything I want from an MMO, I know some people dont like the camera angle, but what this game is capable of showing because of that is truly special, especially in the raids. GW2 is also one that I come back to every now and then, the fact that I dont have to do anything at all and I can just PvP from lvl 2 or something is wonderful for me.

Every time I try to play a new MMO, I’m reminded just how great of an MMO that GW2 actually is. I really enjoy SWTOR too though. They’re both such great games. GW2 will scratch that open world Zerg, world boss, large scale group pve content that’s missing from so many MMO’s. SWTOR is still, in my opinion, the best story driven MMO out there. Each class has their own individually catered story that is completely voice acted all the way through

much respect bro. greatly appreciate your objectivity. never thought about games like that.

I loved your intro! my Channel focuses on Tolkien and a lot in the MMO LOTRO where I do Voice overs and Guides. also, LOTRO is a Great game with a wonderful community and so much more. I also love the games you showed! I have played them all so Awesome! but again, Each person is going to like different MMO's Your intro to this video was so well done. It already made me like your channel! Wonderful to see another MMO player who just loves all MMO's! I have played a good chunk of other MMO's too. I agree you got to find something fun in each one! Look at the Goods and the bad. So many focus on just what is bad. I think it's a bad mindset really. find a game you love and play it! look for the good in games too! :D keep it up! I agree with you! Also, Looking at it as a Hobby Vs Job. loved that made me laugh and agree. also, I agree there is no perfect MMO. your Ending was fantastic too.

One thing I would also point out about GW2 is that they have pretty much the most immersive, realistic feeling mount system out there/ All of the mounts have purposes and things that they are good at/ not good at. The models move very organically and feel like real creatures. They are also customizable. With the base skin having 1 dye channel, and cash shop skins with 4 dye channels, you can make your mounts literally whatever colours you want. Also, you don't even need to spend real money on the game aside from the expansions. In GW2, you can transform in game gold to cash shop currency using in game conversion.

_"it implies you can only play one at a time"_ People with lives and jobs: well, yea..

An MMO I personally love and would like to recommend (that is not on the list that is) is Trove. It's a rather light-hearted voxel MMO where collecting is the main goal and the gameplay is pretty fun thanks to how nice things such as movement and combat work. It's free but it has a cash shop, and while said cash shop offers a lot of useful things, I'd say it's not scummy as the game is made for the grind and collecting and not for just pumping high damage. Best part is the game's not dead! It's rather small compared to other MMOs, but the community's very active and healthy!

"come on guys, don't you all have phones" haha, I got that reference.

Guild wars 2 has a feature that no other MMO can even come close to touching: traversal. It is so much more fun to explore the GW2 world than any other mmo world I can think of.

GW2 -- the best value for sure. Over the years, GW2 accumulated so many content. Even if you just play the solo content, it will still be worthy to get the game. The core game is free. No sub. Expansion is coming next Feb. Best time to pick it up now.

One of the reasons I don't recommend Guild Wars 2 first when I answer this question to someone is because of certain "later" areas, like The Silverwastes and the first zones of the Heart of Thorns expansion. These areas cannot be reliably solo'd to experience the story, which is what I prefer to experience in an MMORPG. I know in the Silverwastes there are "Solo Instances" you do to do the main story leading up to Heart of Thorns, and the solo instance in there can be laughably easy in comparison to some of the other story content you experience. In addition, once you do get to the first Heart of Thorns area, you'll realize very quickly some of the enemies cannot be solo'd at all with "Casual" builds due to their "Armor" Bar, Break Bar, or whatever it's called. In addition, to progress in it, you have to do Dynamic events, most of which have these enemies or bosses, to force you to work with others. I know you "Don't have to do" the expansions in Guild Wars 2, but I like story, and that's why I wanted to play it. The core game felt extremely rushed when it came to story, and the story in Heart of Thorns feels more like a crawl in comparison. The "Living World" Seasons are neat, but the first one (with the tower) can only be experienced in a sort of recap cinematic, unless this was finally changed to be like Series/Season 2 where you do solo instances. On top of all of that, a lot of people don't realize Guild Wars 2 is actually a "Tab Target" MMORPG in disguise. If you mosey over to the settings dialogue, you'll find a setting called "Target Promotion" or something similar. Unticking that box, which is ticked by default, will from then on require you to hit tab whenever you want to target an enemy, like many other MMOs, such as WoW. However, despite all this, Guild Wars 2 will always be my THIRD MMORPG to recommend to people. --- This is why I will always recommend Final Fantasy XIV first, because, the progression is pretty standard, and you soon can pick up what you need to do quickly. You don't have to remember specific mechanics for specific content, like a fractal versus a dungeon, or a jumping puzzle (in a fractal) versus a boss. A lot of mechanics are re-used, and specifically indicated in-game on what they do. The game tries to hold your hand as much as possible, but some parts of FFXIV could still use that bit of polish, such as Jobs versus Classes. The game won't give you an active help window for Jobs until you receive your first Job stone, rather than when you complete your last level 30 class quest. Final Fantasy XIV also has a roaring Fashion "End game" and most people won't be satisfied with FFXIV until they've given their characters at least one, or two, or six ensembles of fashion glamours. --- For Free to Plays, I will always, ALWAYS, recommend Phantasy Star Online 2 / PSO2: New Genesis. It is developed by a Japanese company, and much like FFXIV, the staff at SEGA will actually formally apologize when things go wrong. While it is a full ACTION Online Service game, it's easy to ask its community on its many discord servers, and its user-run reddit on what to do and how to do it if need be. The original game, Phantasy Star Online 2 is definitely dated, but because it's considered "Complete" it has an end goal in terms of gameplay and Story. Yes, much like FFXIV, PSO2 does have a story. It is a bit cliche here and there, and follows more closely to sci-fi Anime shows than it does to others. The biggest downside to PSO2 is that you cannot trade to others unless you subscribe to the premium service, which is obtained through the Cash Shop Currency, AC. However, in New Genesis (NGS), you cannot trade directly with players at all, you must sell items marked as sellable/marketable via the market board system. These steps were mainly to deter RMT and Bots, though the game very much still has them, like a lot of MMOs. Like with FFXIV, PSO2's (and NGS') "End game" (with quotes) is Fashion, a lot of the fashion is locked behind the cash shop currency, but some of it is locked behind a slightly less cash-shop currency called SG (Star Gems), which can be earned over a long period of time by doing certain tasks in either PSO2 or NGS. (In fact, it's usually much easier to obtain SG in the original PSO2 game, by a large amount.) However, unlike the actual premium Cash Shop currency, AC, the Star Gem's items cannot be traded or marketed on the in-game market board. This is of course intended. --- So for me, it would be in order of recommendation: 1. Final Fantasy XIV 2. Phantasy Star Online 2 / PSO2: New Genesis 3. Guild Wars 2 4. The Elder Scrolls Online

I jump through mmos, but the ones i keep going back on are ff14 and dungeon fighter online. Those two have always given me something great to enjoy. I recommend DFO, its a niche game MMO beat em up with 2d graphics but gorgeous 2d graphics with an amazing story line. end content is fun and challenging, and the community is honestly pretty decent.

End message is what I needed to hear. I think I'm going to be much less hesitant about trying new games, now that I realize I was the audience this video was targeted at (asking the wrong questions). Thanks Josh, and thanks to my wife for introducing me to your channel.

One thing I feel that needs to be pointed out: Josh talks about the importance of not committing to an MMO to seriously, avoid making it your job... however a major aspect of MMOs are guilds, free companies, clans, whatever. And running a guild in an MMO either as Leader or Officer can take some serious commitment, be it organising raid schedules or social events or even just making sure every member is vetted properly and potential drama is resolved (for even vetted people can start drama). 1:20 Josh talks about loving the idea of playing with other people. But the way communities build nowadays, unless you have less than a dozen people to maintain (and even then... some of my d&d groups... smh), it takes commitment... and it's often a thankless role. So if you play an MMO, and join a community... give the people running them your thanks. If you really find yourself loving an MMO and your community, get involved. Sharing the burden makes it less (for the lack of a better word) work for everyone, allowing everyone to have more leisure to enjoy the game that brings you together.

I'm 2 years late but this is just such a beautiful video from Josh Strife Hayes. I personally fell in love with the mobile MMORPG SAOIF because of the anime story, the skills and the combat. A popular Mmorpg that I really couldn't get into that was popular at the time was Arcane Legends, Im glad that even though the games I play like Saoif isnt really the most popular or a mainstream of the genre. I still enjoy playing it regardless.

I give this guy props for not talking about wow with the end speech he gave

I've been playing Damascus on Steam for over a year now. It's a small Runescape like, point and clicker game and recently I've even maxed my stats in Damascus. It has a pretty small playerbase, but it's super tight knit and fun to be around. The developers listen to what the playerbase has to say, listens to their suggestions and make the game a better place each update. It's honestly awesome!

As someone who literally grew up with both GW2 and FF14 and with characters at both nearing a decade old I can’t express how lucky i am seeing these two games grow. I can’t wait for endwalker in a week and you can count me in EoD first day as well.

The first portion of the video was a self stroking philosophical waxing of the question “what mmo should I play” by a man who has an entire series telling you what you shouldn’t play.

The Thieves Guild quest in Oblivion is one of my favorite gaming experiences ever. The final quest is just so perfect. I loved the Dark Brotherhood questline too but man, the Thieves Guild is almost perfect.

I haven't played Guild Wars 2 in years and despite my lack of recent experience, I fully agree with your assessment of it. It's an excellent game to just play and have fun with, emphasis on the word "game". I'm especially a fan of the world vs. world combat, where three servers are lumped into several huge maps filled with PvP objectives. Running around in a train of 50+ players and attacking and defending keeps and castles is great fun to me. It's casual PvP done exceptionally well. Good on ArenaNet sponsoring this video, I might just give it another go.

Ah yes Y'shtola in the thumbnail, i can tell you're a man of culture.

That epilogue gave me life. Thank you.

Thanks for the Ultima Online shout out. (That $60 monocle though.)