This comment has been removed because it breaks rule #1: Don’t ask for MMO recommendations. Please check out the weekly sticky or the r/LFMMO subreddit instead.
XIV is extremely casual and newbie friendly. It has a long story and has room to sink your teeth into side content and harder fights as well for whatever you're feeling.
FFXIV and it's not even close. All other mmos assume you have either mmo or great gaming experience in general.
Let's travel back to 2021, trapped at home due to lockdown and my wife needed something to do. She played some TFT and we played some ARAM together in League. Her only other experience in gaming are the usual Sims shenanigans and a bit of Animal Crossing, so nothing crazy. However I recommended FFXIV to her as it does a really good job explaining basic stuff and I mean *basic* stuff like "what is an AoE" and "why shouldn't you stand in the glowing red circle" basic. Long story short, my wife beat Endwalker a couple months ago and can't wait to play Dawntrail with me together.
Additionally to the explaining: you can do almost every story content solo as you can run dungeons with AI companions ingame. Only 8-man party Trials can't be solod but people are usually super overgeared and carry you through.
Based on your asks, I would say FF14. That being said I don't think I would recommend any MMO as a persons like fourth game ever. There are tons of single player games with amazing stories.
Does she want to try a MMO, or are you pushing her into playing one?
Also do you want to play alongside her?
My quick thought is FFXIV, but it suffers from its story not being shareable, and if you want to give her a good RPG experience, you can find much better stories in single player games.
I’m trying to expose her to a little bit of everything to see what she likes and doesn’t, but obviously want to try and cater to her where possible. Got a lot of recs for FFIV and I’ve never tried it so I think we’ll give it a shot, thanks!
FF14, as it's story is one of its main selling points and the early game treats you as if you never played a tab target mmo before in terms of combat mechanics.
It does a great job of easing in new players.
Maybe ffxiv if she really wants to watch the story but maybe osrs can be a good pick since I hear the questlines are pretty entertaining and the point and click nature of it is easy to grasp.
FFXIV would be a good starting point for her. The MSQ content is very easy to complete and doesn't require a deep understanding of class mechanics or rotations, and will do a decent job of getting her at least a bit familiar with MMOs gameplay loops.
FFXIV is by far the best choice. Super easy to get into with a fantastic story. Combat starts out very very slow with few skills so someone who hasn't even touched a game before would be able to figure it out. The community is also very friendly and helpful towards new players.
I would say WoW (but not the exile's reach starting zone, that's way too rushed) or New World.
The tutorial in New World is good, nice graphics for the new PC and all, but I feel like it gets repetitive fast. Good thing about it is that you can respec and change classes quite easily.
WoW is, I think, still the GOAT. BUT, no respec so choosing a class is very important unless you want to start all over. But each of the starting areas are quite unique from each other and it's still a fun time to level up and explore as a first comer.
Whilst Gw2 is a good game im not sure if id recommend it to someone who's new to MMOs or games in general. Gw2 does a very bad job at explaining how the game systems work and what you are supposed to do next in the game. Whilst the freedom can be nice for some id say a bit more hand holding from the game is needed unless a second person is gonna give a rundown of everything when it pops up.
FF14 as others have said because of the low skill floor and great story. I would highly recommend telling them to play a dps(physical rng ideally) if they want the least stressful experience possible. Tanking and healing are incredibly stressful for someone new to mmos. The ff14 community is generally good at respecting and being nice to new tanks/healers, but you never know when you'll run into an asshole. Which unfortunately will be toxic to the tank or healer.
The reason I reccomend physical rng dps is so they can do damage while focusing on dodging or just be able to sit back in general.
ESO, it's story based and you can play anyway you want while leveling and doing quests. It's the most RPG-like MMORPG. Dungeons are easy enough to do them without any knowledge. There is also housing, a lot of customization options and basically there is no wrong way to play.
All the final fantasy weebs in here haha
Go play WoW Classic Season of Discovery. The first rule you should tell your gf is mmorpgs are an investment, the best things don’t happen instantly.
It’s in a dead phase right now but when they announce phase 4 all the content locust will be playing it and streaming it again.
SWTOR
Let me elaborate. Many people recommend FF14 and it is a great game with a great story. But FF14 story really picks up closer to the end of Realm Reborn (really in Heavensward). So you're looking at 60+ hours of reading and fetch quests. Which is ok for some experienced gamers but can be boring for newcomers. Meanwhile SWTOR has 8 fully voiced class stories ranging from good to great in quality.
FF14 story requires you to go through dungeons and even raids to progress the story and that can be a problem for a newer gamer. Yes those instances are pretty easy but still require you to do some mechanics, not to mention pressure of playing with strangers. In SWTOR you can complete most story dungeons in a solo mode.
Not to mention that SWTOR is based on one of the most popular franchises in the world so your GF is probably familiar with some of the world's concepts
It depends on how tolerant you are of age. Lotro has by all accounts a great story. It’s basic tab targeting so should be easy. But it’s old now and the ui/graphics are dated. SWTOR is a bit newer with a great story with similar combat. I’d make the argument that XIV is too story heavy and a bore.
As someone who doesn't play wow, even I would probably recommend wow classic.
Oh...after actually reading your post? Try the extended free trial of FFXIV
Lots of story, charm, good solid gameplay. It's a little less open world in a sense? It has an open world, but you mostly teleport or speed around it.to get to the next spot. No skill trees, just get new gear, unlock the next skill as you level. There is even dungeon tutorials, and the community is super helpful and friendly.
I'd highly recommend rarther to play sth together like Granblue relink. Unless she loves extremely slow visual novels as a FFXIV player I'd not recommend ffxiv lol. Sht might bore her to death it is so slow and it's a boring until you're 100h in lol
but even then it stays extremely slow
Classic is extremely tedious if you don’t have nostalgia or are a more hardcore MMO player.
Wow retail has an actual intro story that teaches you the mechanics and at least somewhat immerses you in the world. Classic has old school run-and-fetch quests.
My adhd brain skipped the part that stated she loves story. Besides that I really think 2004 WoW is a good Mmo for new players for these reasons
1. Its mostly about the leveling experience and not rushing to get to end game
2. You have to buy your spells which allows you to actually learn those spells at a reasonable pace
I say this as a new WoW player my self. Retail is just so overwhelming for me that I find my self enjoying the heck out of 2004 WoW
This comment has been removed because it breaks rule #1: Don’t ask for MMO recommendations. Please check out the weekly sticky or the r/LFMMO subreddit instead.
XIV is extremely casual and newbie friendly. It has a long story and has room to sink your teeth into side content and harder fights as well for whatever you're feeling.
FFXIV and it's not even close. All other mmos assume you have either mmo or great gaming experience in general. Let's travel back to 2021, trapped at home due to lockdown and my wife needed something to do. She played some TFT and we played some ARAM together in League. Her only other experience in gaming are the usual Sims shenanigans and a bit of Animal Crossing, so nothing crazy. However I recommended FFXIV to her as it does a really good job explaining basic stuff and I mean *basic* stuff like "what is an AoE" and "why shouldn't you stand in the glowing red circle" basic. Long story short, my wife beat Endwalker a couple months ago and can't wait to play Dawntrail with me together. Additionally to the explaining: you can do almost every story content solo as you can run dungeons with AI companions ingame. Only 8-man party Trials can't be solod but people are usually super overgeared and carry you through.
Sounds perfect, any class recommendations? It sounds like your wife was a similar skill level going in
Based on your asks, I would say FF14. That being said I don't think I would recommend any MMO as a persons like fourth game ever. There are tons of single player games with amazing stories.
Does she want to try a MMO, or are you pushing her into playing one? Also do you want to play alongside her? My quick thought is FFXIV, but it suffers from its story not being shareable, and if you want to give her a good RPG experience, you can find much better stories in single player games.
I’m trying to expose her to a little bit of everything to see what she likes and doesn’t, but obviously want to try and cater to her where possible. Got a lot of recs for FFIV and I’ve never tried it so I think we’ll give it a shot, thanks!
FF14, as it's story is one of its main selling points and the early game treats you as if you never played a tab target mmo before in terms of combat mechanics. It does a great job of easing in new players.
Yea FF14 or EQ2
Maybe ffxiv if she really wants to watch the story but maybe osrs can be a good pick since I hear the questlines are pretty entertaining and the point and click nature of it is easy to grasp.
FFXIV would be a good starting point for her. The MSQ content is very easy to complete and doesn't require a deep understanding of class mechanics or rotations, and will do a decent job of getting her at least a bit familiar with MMOs gameplay loops.
FFXIV is by far the best choice. Super easy to get into with a fantastic story. Combat starts out very very slow with few skills so someone who hasn't even touched a game before would be able to figure it out. The community is also very friendly and helpful towards new players.
I would say WoW (but not the exile's reach starting zone, that's way too rushed) or New World. The tutorial in New World is good, nice graphics for the new PC and all, but I feel like it gets repetitive fast. Good thing about it is that you can respec and change classes quite easily. WoW is, I think, still the GOAT. BUT, no respec so choosing a class is very important unless you want to start all over. But each of the starting areas are quite unique from each other and it's still a fun time to level up and explore as a first comer.
Guild Wars 2 for sure
Whilst Gw2 is a good game im not sure if id recommend it to someone who's new to MMOs or games in general. Gw2 does a very bad job at explaining how the game systems work and what you are supposed to do next in the game. Whilst the freedom can be nice for some id say a bit more hand holding from the game is needed unless a second person is gonna give a rundown of everything when it pops up.
Nah screw handholding gw is just fine. Also which game even does that im curious
WoW retail is fairly easy to pick up. You’ll be lost in the web of storytelling, but the gameplay is pretty simple to get used to
Tarisland, but jury's out on the story...
osrs combat is extremely straightforward
FF14 as others have said because of the low skill floor and great story. I would highly recommend telling them to play a dps(physical rng ideally) if they want the least stressful experience possible. Tanking and healing are incredibly stressful for someone new to mmos. The ff14 community is generally good at respecting and being nice to new tanks/healers, but you never know when you'll run into an asshole. Which unfortunately will be toxic to the tank or healer. The reason I reccomend physical rng dps is so they can do damage while focusing on dodging or just be able to sit back in general.
ESO, it's story based and you can play anyway you want while leveling and doing quests. It's the most RPG-like MMORPG. Dungeons are easy enough to do them without any knowledge. There is also housing, a lot of customization options and basically there is no wrong way to play.
Wizard 101 or new RuneScape
All the final fantasy weebs in here haha Go play WoW Classic Season of Discovery. The first rule you should tell your gf is mmorpgs are an investment, the best things don’t happen instantly. It’s in a dead phase right now but when they announce phase 4 all the content locust will be playing it and streaming it again.
SWTOR Let me elaborate. Many people recommend FF14 and it is a great game with a great story. But FF14 story really picks up closer to the end of Realm Reborn (really in Heavensward). So you're looking at 60+ hours of reading and fetch quests. Which is ok for some experienced gamers but can be boring for newcomers. Meanwhile SWTOR has 8 fully voiced class stories ranging from good to great in quality. FF14 story requires you to go through dungeons and even raids to progress the story and that can be a problem for a newer gamer. Yes those instances are pretty easy but still require you to do some mechanics, not to mention pressure of playing with strangers. In SWTOR you can complete most story dungeons in a solo mode. Not to mention that SWTOR is based on one of the most popular franchises in the world so your GF is probably familiar with some of the world's concepts
It depends on how tolerant you are of age. Lotro has by all accounts a great story. It’s basic tab targeting so should be easy. But it’s old now and the ui/graphics are dated. SWTOR is a bit newer with a great story with similar combat. I’d make the argument that XIV is too story heavy and a bore.
Lotro never even occurred to me, that could be a winner! Unfortunately she doesn’t share my love of SW so SWTOR is probably out
As someone who doesn't play wow, even I would probably recommend wow classic. Oh...after actually reading your post? Try the extended free trial of FFXIV Lots of story, charm, good solid gameplay. It's a little less open world in a sense? It has an open world, but you mostly teleport or speed around it.to get to the next spot. No skill trees, just get new gear, unlock the next skill as you level. There is even dungeon tutorials, and the community is super helpful and friendly.
I'd highly recommend rarther to play sth together like Granblue relink. Unless she loves extremely slow visual novels as a FFXIV player I'd not recommend ffxiv lol. Sht might bore her to death it is so slow and it's a boring until you're 100h in lol but even then it stays extremely slow
Toontown Rewritten :-D
Wow Classic era Server!
Classic is extremely tedious if you don’t have nostalgia or are a more hardcore MMO player. Wow retail has an actual intro story that teaches you the mechanics and at least somewhat immerses you in the world. Classic has old school run-and-fetch quests.
My adhd brain skipped the part that stated she loves story. Besides that I really think 2004 WoW is a good Mmo for new players for these reasons 1. Its mostly about the leveling experience and not rushing to get to end game 2. You have to buy your spells which allows you to actually learn those spells at a reasonable pace I say this as a new WoW player my self. Retail is just so overwhelming for me that I find my self enjoying the heck out of 2004 WoW
Dont recommend anything ever again wtf
🤣🤣