>>2172581
GW2 living world was shit and boring. I'm playing through FFXIV as a noob, story isnt super engaging thus far but it feels like a final fantasy game (you do a bajillion meaningless fetch quests until the plot unfolds).

>>2172581
GW2 has an awful story.
FFXIV has a story that unironically gets good after hundreds of hours (I only stuck around that long since I liked the dungeons and later the raids)
SWTOR has a great story but doesn't actually play like an MMO, you'll forget you're not alone

>>2173179
I wanted to like FFXIV so bad but it's such a slog to get through the base game. Sure they sped it up but it doesn't help you're still stuck playing through flat out boring content just to get the potential for a decent story.

SWTOR to me plays how BG3 should have. I was playing through BG3 recently with a friend and the co-op is horrendously designed. It's clearly a 1 player experience they've added controls to for a second character.

>>2173537
Weird, BG3 is my friend and my favorite co-op game meanwhile SWTOR is kind of painful to play together but it's worth it for the story

>>2172581
DO NOT PLAY MMOS FOR THE "STORY"

>>2173565
I don't understand how you could like BG3 co-op. You lose out on half the quips/character interactions and the second player has zero input on the story unless they're taking over which kind of makes the first player irrelevant in the process.

SWTOR you're treated as an actual party and each person has input/chat options.

>>2173593
We take turns
and I'm not too concerned about quips normally

>>2173568
Secret World would prove you wrong. Some of the MMOs in op too.

If you're willing to do retro mmos FFXI and Mabinogi are pretty good for story. Mabi has some weak bits but the vibes are immaculate.

World of Warcraft had a good story up until WotLK but it all went to shit after it. Maybe wait for Blizzard to rerun the trilogiy (vanilla, tbc, wotlk) again, although I'm not sure if they're gonna do that. Also be warned the quests leveling quests aren't really story focused, but the story unveils in dungeons and raids.

If you really want a super chill almost singleplayer experience FFXIV is a good choice. Realm Reborn starts a bit slow but the story gets faster and better after it.

>>2172581
>i want to play a strategy game for the action, which one should i play
>im looking for a casual sit down indie game that is also triple a and also call of duty

>>2173914
What's wrong with wanting an RPG with some social elements bro?

>>2173593
>SWTOR you're treated as an actual party and each person has input/chat options.
doesn't STWOR do that thing where for each choice, each player gets their own micro-universe where they pick an option, and then the game randomly decides which is the "canon" one for your group?
not exactly a cohesive party experience

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>>2172581
What about many different plots?

>GW2
>story
lmao. the story is dogshit from start to current especially when you're stuck with the most insufferable cast of companions whose most redeeming traits is to annoy you or steal your spotlight every chance you get. i admit though the 2nd expansion was kinda cool in all aspects but the next seasons and expansions fucked it up by propping up their tumblr OCs and the whole they/them nonsense

>>2172581
>FFXIV
Story gets good after tens of hours of the most unfun combat/quests you can imagine. Heavensward and Shadowbringers specifically are absolutely kino, provided you don't get filtered by ARR. Experience it until Endwalker (6.0) if you like it, then quit. Nothing good awaits you after that story-wise.

The combat system at it's best is actually brilliant (Savage, Ultimates) if that's your thing too. Everywhere else it's a boring snorefest.
Community is somewhat friendly, often two-faced. Highest amount of mental illness I've ever encountered in a game.
Personally, played about 2000 hours.

>WoW until WotLK on private servers
WoW has some interesting stories if you don't mind experiencing it through wandering through the world and reading quest text, then putting the pieces together yourself. There are many interesting little plotlines throughout many zones and especially the Vanilla ones feel like a DnD campaign at time. Unfortunately the playerbase is mostly made up of minmaxxing retards whose sole purpose is to optimize every bit of fun out of a mathematically solved game they played for the past 20 years.

Combat is more fun than XIV's at low levels, though I think XIV has the edge at the hardcore endgame content.
Personally, played about 11 000 hours.

>GW2
Dogshit story, imo doesn't get much better at any point. Some game systems are very interesting. Probably the coolest world to just get lost in without doing structured activities.

Combat is more dynamic and more chaotic than the other two.
If you avoid the rainbow squad, there's some small communities you can have fun with.
Personally, played about 300 hours.

>>2172581
People won't tell you this but GW2 is mostly interesting as a sequel to 1, and you lose a lot of what makes playing it/exploring the world worthwhile if you haven't touched 1 at all

Vanilla wow has fairly interesting quest design and is more about micro-stories you find through exploration. People will tell you the game drops off after Cata, but MoP has a worthwhile setting & narrative, too.

XIV primarily has SHB but it takes a while to get there. Heavensward was the former fan favorite, but you're better off playing an Ivalice game.

People gas SWTOR's base profession stories to this day, which are completely free(?), but I've *heard* everything after is lesser.

ESO is so dull to play and likely not worthwhile unless you were invested in the setting to begin with, and even then, you have to be at a sort of awkward midpoint between appreciating both Morrowind & everything after, as well as more liberal takes on the lore.

>>2172581
>SWTOR
Yes it's great.

>GW2
No it's shit.

>>2173661
Second for Mabinogi the generation quests are pretty interesting though I didn't play past G12 or something.

I would also recommend Blade and Soul. It's classic chink story but I still enjoyed it. Past that the game is pretty trash though especially after they "revamped" it.

PSO2 was also decent but I don't know if it's even still accessible now that they replaced it with NGS (that one is shit don't play it)

>>2177408
PSO2 is still around but you have to download NGS along with it, and most of its collectables (music, fashion, furniture) are either no longer obtainable or bought from players for obscene amounts. You're better off waiting for the private server being developed rn.

GW2's main storyline isn't very good but the world has great vibes. If you ignore the main quest and just do map exploration and hearts it's a nice time.

city of heroes

Go read a book instead. MMOs are for open world PVP and making the stories yourself.

>>2172581
aqw unironically

>>2172581
Lotro

>>2172581
haven't played final troon or tortanic but unfortunately I have played gw2
the vanilla game's story is like someone asked chatgpt to make a generic high fantasy setting and a lazy mainstory to go along with it and then it gets worse in expansions and """living""" world shit

WoW isn't a strong contender for a story-driven MMO but I would honestly say MoP's overarching story was pretty good.

>>2208315
Problem with WoW and its storytelling is that it's difficult to really get the feel for all of it. Sure, you can level a character and play through an expansion, but you go so fast and have little context for why everything is going on in the story. Before you know it you might be halfway through the story of the expansion and then you hit 60 or whatever and have to go level in the main expansion area. WoW has no reliable way to tell its story from beginning to end unless you want to play on a max level character. And on top of that, the further you go, the worse and worse it gets.

>>2173593
The "quips" and writing is the worst part. Straight outta netflix.

>>2172581
FFXIV is beloved by midwit weebs everywhere. If you want to watch an anime, with cringe anime dialogue, acted out by NPCs /emoting at each other, you've got your game. I don't know any other mmo that has players who play just for the story like XIV does.

>>2172581
>MMO
>good story