Best Sci-Fi MMORPG

[Alaskan Glitch]

I have been tasked by my friends to look into the best Sci-Fi MMORPG that we can all play together.

So far I have looked at Destiny 2, EVE Online, Star Trek Online, and of course Star Wars: The Old Republic. I've narrowed it down to STO and SWTOR, but I'm leaning towards SWTOR.

I do not like the fact that there is no character development in SWTOR, and it is not Open World, but despite that it appears to be more conducive to group play than STO.

STO was Open World, and seemed to be good for groups, but only if they were under 50th level. Once they reached Admiral the game becomes more of a single-player administrative game than group adventure game.

SWTOR on the other hand, may lead you by the nose (in a Doom-like manner) and restrict character development, but it does seem better suited for groups. Providing everyone is in the same faction.

Am I correct in assuming that those in your group may also share in the Class missions? What about joining them on their spacecraft? I also like the fact that you can buy Stations on different planets where you can invite your friends.

I also understand that joining a guild only requires four people. However, since reputation is important with guilds, would you recommend joining an existing - well established - guild together?

How many guilds can players join?

If you had a group of four or five friends who wanted to play a sci-fi game together, what would you recommend and why?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[NavFamG]

No ground game, only space but there's also Vendetta Online that's now F2p. Has both PvE and Pvp.

[Korden]

STO is heavy on credit card, SWTOR is not. Pretty easy choice IMO

[Alaskan Glitch]

İlk olarak NavFamG tarafından gönderildi:

No ground game, only space but there's also Vendetta Online that's now F2p. Has both PvE and Pvp.

Thanks for that recommendation. I had to look it up online, because it is not available on Steam.

I like the description of "[t]hree major player factions form a delicate balance of power, with several NPC sub-factions creating situations of economic struggle, political intrigue and conflict. The completely persistent universe and detailed storyline add to the depth of immersion, resulting in a unique online experience."

I'm a little leery, however, when I read things like "there are currently 7,681 "sectors", with 256 sectors per solar system. Which indicates to me that there are only 30 solar systems.

The important thing, however, is how well it works with a group of four or five people who want to play together.

[Arauto Kagnos]

İlk olarak Alaskan Glitch tarafından gönderildi:

Am I correct in assuming that those in your group may also share in the Class missions? What about joining them on their spacecraft? I also like the fact that you can buy Stations on different planets where you can invite your friends.

I also understand that joining a guild only requires four people. However, since reputation is important with guilds, would you recommend joining an existing - well established - guild together?

How many guilds can players join?

If you had a group of four or five friends who wanted to play a sci-fi game together, what would you recommend and why?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Your class story are individuals, they are tied to your base class. Even if you and your friends all create the same class you'll still have to individually complete it, though you can bring in friends in your phase even if they're the same class (you must turn on the option to allow same class in your class story mission's phase however) but they will not be able to progress their own quests. Planetary story arcs however and other story missions, as well as the first two expansions (Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Revan) are able to completed in a group. The last three expansions (Knights of the Fallen Empire, Knights of the Eternal Throne and Onslaught) are more like the class stories and much like them you can also bring your friends into your phase save a few exceptions like the solo-story Flashpoints (SWTOR's dungeons)

You can enter your friend's class ship, all it requires is for them to be the group's leader and for you to enter their hangar. Same rule as the class story mission applies if you are both the same class.

It depends on what you want, if y'all want to just play together casually then I would say that its fine just making your own guild but if you want to get into the endgame content its probably best to try and find yourselves an established guild.

Honestly I'd recommend SWTOR because while it can be played a single-player game as far as the story is concerned there are a lot of multiplayer activities a group of friends could do together. Though I'm obviously biased in favor of this game

[Alaskan Glitch]

İlk olarak Korden tarafından gönderildi:

STO is heavy on credit card, SWTOR is not. Pretty easy choice IMO

Actually, I found the free version of STO much less restricting than the free version of SWTOR. I had to subscribe to SWTOR for two months, just so I could do a proper evaluation. You are not even entitled to a bank account or cargo space in the free version of SWTOR. SWTOR is almost unplayable in its free form.

I will certainly be recommending to my friends that they purchase a two month subscription before they install the game. After that, it is up to them, but they definitely do not want to play the free version.

[Dex]

Anarchy Online and Tabula Rasa were two good ones that I enjoyed for a while but that was a long time ago :(

[Dex]

İlk olarak Alaskan Glitch tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Korden tarafından gönderildi:

STO is heavy on credit card, SWTOR is not. Pretty easy choice IMO

Actually, I found the free version of STO much less restricting than the free version of SWTOR. I had to subscribe to SWTOR for two months, just so I could do a proper evaluation. You are not even entitled to a bank account or cargo space in the free version of SWTOR. SWTOR is almost unplayable in its free form.

I will certainly be recommending to my friends that they purchase a two month subscription before they install the game. After that, it is up to them, but they definitely do not want to play the free version.

agreed, STO is a little weird but it's way more accessible for free players compared to swtor. Yes, most ships are behind the cash shop but if you play a lot you can get free ships frequently. swtor on the other hand, good luck getting end-game gear if you're not a sub. It's not happening.

[Alaskan Glitch]

İlk olarak Darth Harbinger tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Alaskan Glitch tarafından gönderildi:

Am I correct in assuming that those in your group may also share in the Class missions? What about joining them on their spacecraft? I also like the fact that you can buy Stations on different planets where you can invite your friends.

I also understand that joining a guild only requires four people. However, since reputation is important with guilds, would you recommend joining an existing - well established - guild together?

How many guilds can players join?

If you had a group of four or five friends who wanted to play a sci-fi game together, what would you recommend and why?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Your class story are individuals, they are tied to your base class. Even if you and your friends all create the same class you'll still have to individually complete it, though you can bring in friends in your phase even if they're the same class (you must turn on the option to allow same class in your class story mission's phase however) but they will not be able to progress their own quests. Planetary story arcs however and other story missions, as well as the first two expansions (Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Revan) are able to completed in a group. The last three expansions (Knights of the Fallen Empire, Knights of the Eternal Throne and Onslaught) are more like the class stories and much like them you can also bring your friends into your phase save a few exceptions like the solo-story Flashpoints (SWTOR's dungeons)

You can enter your friend's class ship, all it requires is for them to be the group's leader and for you to enter their hangar. Same rule as the class story mission applies if you are both the same class.

It depends on what you want, if y'all want to just play together casually then I would say that its fine just making your own guild but if you want to get into the endgame content its probably best to try and find yourselves an established guild.

Honestly I'd recommend SWTOR because while it can be played a single-player game as far as the story is concerned there are a lot of multiplayer activities a group of friends could do together. Though I'm obviously biased in favor of this game:jawagrin:

Okay, so if I understand correctly, only players who are in your same class and you have added to your group can join you on your Class missions or on your Class ship - but they will not gain anything from doing so.

Any other type of missions the players from different classes, but in the same faction, can join your group and also gain experience from completing the mission. Right?

If we form our own guild just for casual play, could members also join other guilds for more end-game content? Or is it just one character, one guild sort of thing?

[Alaskan Glitch]

İlk olarak Gecko tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Alaskan Glitch tarafından gönderildi:

Actually, I found the free version of STO much less restricting than the free version of SWTOR. I had to subscribe to SWTOR for two months, just so I could do a proper evaluation. You are not even entitled to a bank account or cargo space in the free version of SWTOR. SWTOR is almost unplayable in its free form.

I will certainly be recommending to my friends that they purchase a two month subscription before they install the game. After that, it is up to them, but they definitely do not want to play the free version.

agreed, STO is a little weird but it's way more accessible for free players compared to swtor. Yes, most ships are behind the cash shop but if you play a lot you can get free ships frequently. swtor on the other hand, good luck getting end-game gear if you're not a sub. It's not happening.

But you only have to subscribe once. You keep everything your subscription gave you, even when it expires. Right?

So you really only need to subscribe when they release a major update. There have only bee five major updates released since SWTOR was released in 2008, and the first three were free. So that is only one major update every 2.6 years.

[Atomicbean]

İlk olarak Alaskan Glitch tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Gecko tarafından gönderildi:

agreed, STO is a little weird but it's way more accessible for free players compared to swtor. Yes, most ships are behind the cash shop but if you play a lot you can get free ships frequently. swtor on the other hand, good luck getting end-game gear if you're not a sub. It's not happening.

But you only have to subscribe once. You keep everything your subscription gave you, even when it expires. Right?

So you really only need to subscribe when they release a major update. There have only bee five major updates released since SWTOR was released in 2008, and the first three were free. So that is only one major update every 2.6 years.

Not... exactly.

There's a ton of stuff you get from being actively subbed to SWTOR.
While you keep some of it, you also lose some of it.
The biggest one being the credit cap, which didn't used to be an issue years ago, but the economy is now so inflated that the 1M "F2P" credit cap is basically unusable directly.

I'd personally never be able to play swtor F2P, but I'm also pretty much entirely interested in endgame, as the story aspect is... short, comparatively, and repetitive when you move on to subsequent characters.

While you can experience the entirety of the story as a preferred player, you straight up won't be able to do any endgame, from real PVP to Operations (raids), to cosmetic collecting, to basic dailies.

If you're interested in it from a story perspective: It's fine.
If you're interested in it as a more long-term and active thing, you're 100% going to need to either sub, or find someone willing to bankroll via in-game money the ridiculous amount of temporary unlocks every week that is subbed.

That said: I know of VERY few MMOs and F2P games that aren't like this...
But there is one.
And it's Sci-fi.
And you didn't mention it.

Warframe.

[Alaskan Glitch]

İlk olarak Atomicbean tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Alaskan Glitch tarafından gönderildi:

But you only have to subscribe once. You keep everything your subscription gave you, even when it expires. Right?

So you really only need to subscribe when they release a major update. There have only bee five major updates released since SWTOR was released in 2008, and the first three were free. So that is only one major update every 2.6 years.

Not... exactly.

There's a ton of stuff you get from being actively subbed to SWTOR.
While you keep some of it, you also lose some of it.
The biggest one being the credit cap, which didn't used to be an issue years ago, but the economy is now so inflated that the 1M "F2P" credit cap is basically unusable directly.

I'd personally never be able to play swtor F2P, but I'm also pretty much entirely interested in endgame, as the story aspect is... short, comparatively, and repetitive when you move on to subsequent characters.

While you can experience the entirety of the story as a preferred player, you straight up won't be able to do any endgame, from real PVP to Operations (raids), to cosmetic collecting, to basic dailies.

If you're interested in it from a story perspective: It's fine.
If you're interested in it as a more long-term and active thing, you're 100% going to need to either sub, or find someone willing to bankroll via in-game money the ridiculous amount of temporary unlocks every week that is subbed.

That said: I know of VERY few MMOs and F2P games that aren't like this...
But there is one.
And it's Sci-fi.
And you didn't mention it.

Warframe.

Thanks. I knew about the 1M F2P credit cap, but was not aware of the other limitations. That was one of the reasons why I asked if players can join more than one guild.

I expect my friends are going to be more casual PvE players, and not that much into end-game or PvP content. However, there may be one or two that are interested in pursuing the game further. If they could be in our casual guild and another guild that is more into end-game content the game may appeal to them more. If we can only join one guild, then we all need to join an existing guild that does both casual PvE and more hardcore PvP content.

I did look at Warframe briefly, however, it did not fit the MMORPG. The game is more of a third-person multiplayer co-op TPS with no role playing.

[Wenzilber]

Star Trek Online feels administrative only if you're managing multiple "alts" to get around the daily limit on refining in-game credits (Dilithium Ores). Otherwise, it's a good F2P game based on a beloved franchise. It also does spaceship battles much better than SWTOR. Ground battles and the story is much better in SWTOR though.

But if you really want an always changing Open-World SciFi MMORPG with tons of spaceship battles, there's Elite Dangerous to consider that has recently implemented ground pvp battles. It has over 100 billion systems to explore and going from one system to another can take several hours of flying in real life. Like Guild Wars, it's not F2P. I also don't play it anymore though as it's not friendly for solo players so feel free to look into it if it's something that interests you.

[Alaskan Glitch]

İlk olarak Wenzilber tarafından gönderildi:

Star Trek Online feels administrative only if you're managing multiple "alts" to get around the daily limit on refining in-game credits (Dilithium Ores). Otherwise, it's a good F2P game based on a beloved franchise. It also does spaceship battles much better than SWTOR. Ground battles and the story is much better in SWTOR though.

But if you really want an always changing Open-World SciFi MMORPG with tons of spaceship battles, there's Elite Dangerous to consider that has recently implemented ground pvp battles. It has over 100 billion systems to explore and going from one system to another can take several hours of flying in real life. Like Guild Wars, it's not F2P. I also don't play it anymore though as it's not friendly for solo players so feel free to look into it if it's something that interests you.

The Dailies are not that big of a deal in STO, it is more of the fleet and personnel management beginning at level 50 that I was referring to with regard to more management than roleplay.

However, before you reach level 50 STO was a very strong contender, because it does allow for groups to join you on both space and ground PvE missions. However, it does not allow your group to become your bridge crew on your ship. Everyone has their own ship.

There is, however, a Star Trek Bridge Crew multiplayer VR game, that does allow friends to play as bridge crew, but the limit is four people total and the game did not get very good reviews.

I do like STO's open world (as opposed to SWTOR closed narrow corridor world), and combat is better (primarily because they still haven't fixed the mouse issue on SWTOR and it doesn't look like they ever will). I have not played in any space combat on SWTOR as yet, so I can't compare STO to SWTOR in that regard. I intend to give that a try today.

EVE Online was also not friendly to noobs. There was no "safe" spot in which to learn the game, so all the noobs were being raped by the more experienced players. That did not make for an enjoyable environment.

I'm not very keen about being forced to play lower levels and get lower value drops on certain planets in SWTOR. I will attribute it to piss-poor program design. Every other game adapts the monster's stats to correspond to the player. SWTOR is the only game that adapts the player's stats to correspond to the monster.

I want more than just a multiplayer PvP. I'm looking primarily at PvE since that is where the actual role-playing comes in. Which is why I ruled out Warframe and all other third-person shooters, because that is all that they are. Like Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, you just join a random team and kill things. That is not an RPG, or particularly fun to play with friends.

Elite Dangerous Horizons does looks very nice. I do like the fact that it isn't over a decade old. However, Elite Dangerous in Open also resembles EVE Online in that there is no "safe" space where noobs can learn the game, so they fall prey to the more experienced players.

[maVRoyal]

Then i will put my suggestion to look into.
Defiance or Defiance 2050. Both of these are pretty much same MMOs apart that first is on 32x and the second is made on 64x infrastructure with very minimal changes to graphic and unneded changes to gear.
As far as roleplay goes... Well there is none. But it's a mmo with i believe up to 4 people grouping, it's open world with mainly PvE content, third person shooter mechanics but without cover mechanic simple run and gun.

It's very mediocre mmo in the end, kinda dying but servers still seem to be up so i thought i will mention it. If you wanna know a bit more about setting of that mmo then check Defiance Tv series on which the game bases on.

[Avalanche]

The only thing i hate about this game is the RNG, it is annoying.