The "What are you playing?" topic.

[econ21]

I need a recommendation on some games to buy... recently I've been looking into trying/playing some of he MMO's out there, ...

One issue to bear in mind with MMOs is the "time sink" issue. Do you want a game that may come to take most of your gaming time for months, if not years? A related issue is the subscription fee, although that can act to restrain the "time sink" problem.

It may depend what kind of personality you are. If you tend to have an addictive personality, trying a MMO requires some thought as they can be very addictive. I think it is partly because they are designed to keep you playing for a long time (to keep getting the fee). So you level slowly, farming may be required, you have to repeat activities to get good drops etc. Paradoxically, you can also productively chip away at your MMO tasks by playing for very short periods of time, so they may end up taking up more and more of your life. Whereas a richer single player game you may load up only if you have an evening to devote to it. The social nature of MMOs may also be addictive - you can be joining an internet community (a guild or whatever) and that can be much more compelling than a single player game.

Some other people - with different personalities - can stop and start MMOs just like other games. I am not sure why people react so differently. Sometimes gaming with your real life mates (e.g. if you are at school or whatever) may help keep it under control.

I tried WoW and after an hour was going to quit. I was persuaded to continue and then gradually found it utterly compelling. However, looking back on it, I wonder if some addiction was involved, as objectively speaking the core activities - the combat, the grinding, the raids - were not as impressive experiences as what you might get in single player games. But psychologically, I found them much more compelling than an SP game. An MMO will fill your time, but you may be better served looking for other games that may have a shorter life span, but offer a richer one.

I also tried Warhammer Online for a short time - too short to develop an addiction. It seemed decent, but not good enough to justify a subscription fee (compared to just buying and playing single player games).

BTW, on Lord of the Rings - have you tried the Third Age mod for M2TW? And the Last Days mod for Mount and Blade. Both are fantastic.