What got you interested in MMO's?

[Dualblade]

First MMO: Runescape 2

I was in middle school, some classmates and a teacher played and got me into it. I played a good bit but it wasn't what really got me into MMOs. What got me into it was a few years later with Fiesta Online. Korean F2P, I went on it on and off but it got me interested enough in other MMOs, and eventually I even got into it enough to get near the level cap (super grind/loss exp when you die stopped that though.) From there though I made some good friends and while I don't see most of em anymore I do still keep up with one of em.

[Kotemon]

Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast.

Reasons: It was free, on a console and didn't look like it had to use a lot of keyboard and mouse inputs and special command stuff like I heard about Ever Quest (helped with text). Also I could be a mecha-robot-ranger and have it be all anime ish like Appleseed or Patlabor and fire lasers at things instead of lightsabering stuff up close. But that was cool too. So I guess that's why in comparison I prefer FFVIX over XI now. It just feels closer to that sort of Action MMO gameplay and not a complete life sync just to get through the main story.

[Ehra]

I was watching my dad play Dark Age of Camelot over his shoulder. Outside one of the starter towns seeing groups of players running around killing stuff together. Players running away from giant ants. Giant spears and hammers being conjured up in the air and crashing down on the ground with a explosions of fire or lightning. Then being told that it was all other players and not just AI controlled NPCs. I read the manual and looked over the classes and saw that I could just be a healer. It blew me away that I could make a character who was a small part of this huge world and just wander around healing random people I encountered and become best buds. I've been a fan of the genre ever since.

MMOs have come a long way since then, but FF14 has some little things here and there that bring back a little bit of that old school MMO feel. FATE grinding, while not the most exciting thing in the world, reminds me of the old camp farming. Classes having their own unique epic quest lines. ect.

[Kurogaea]

Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast. ( I thought that game was sweeeeet )

Off topic but you know their releasing Phantasy Star Online 2 on the japanese Playstation store? Also there's a private server with a rockin Englsh patch already released for pc called the Arks Layer project. Its awesome-sauce lol.

To contribute a bit, FFXIV was amazing the first year I played it, but somehow died down during heavens ward. It just seemed plain and more plain as it went on. Like the magic just wasn't there or something. It wasn't because the little lalafel "died" in the trailer lol but more of the fact that our character now begins to show a sign of weakness that's not your own and its not in your own power. Like why do I need to run when I can beat every guard into submission? Or why not use alliances of friends you actually helped besides random passerbys like Alphinaud did? But that's just me. Also the long wait for content was a big kicker but tats different.

Games like Wizardry would have me busy for days since theirs so many possible outcomes with its intense difficulty and the urge to become stronger to defeat every foe you come across. In 14 its like, get some people to do this fight. Get tomes for gear (wow this looks cool, worked so hard for it!) do new dungeon drops better gear (oh, ok, this gear is cool too :/ ) an extreme primal that drops a better weapon than the weapon I did that insanely difficult quest that took me 2 weeks to do and I got this weapon by beating this bosses face in with my overstronk team of WoLs. Not sure why I feel that way. Its probably for being such a heavy subber for this game over the 2 years its been out. Its great for friends though, like most mmos....

[AskaRay]

My first MMO was Ragnarok Online.

I'm....not into MMOs. I don't really like them. RO was the only one to even hold my interest for longer than maybe a week. I played a couple text-based multiplayer online games for maybe up to a year, and that was pretty fun, but nothing "massive".
But I DO like Final Fantasy games, and this one is something I enjoy playing, so I continue playing it.

The thing that draws me most to any game (including MMOs) is the story. I genuinely liked the RO overarching story about until King Morroc woke up and fucked things up. Ugh, whatever.
Most games and MMOs, if I can't engage in the story in some way I'll just stop caring. It doesn't have to be AAA writing or anything, but I have to like it.

[Rakiria]

blah blah fedoras are so great

You might start with actually seein woman as people and understanding that of course some of us don't like being called girl or women and barely any like being called female. So how about you stop being so sensitive that you are hurt by girls "friendzoning" you because when you're the one to girlfriendzone them first anywway. geez.

[Rakiria]

First MMO: WoW
My dad played WoW when I was very little so I naturally wanted to play it too (my best character reached level 11), but stopped when he moved out. I startet playing mmos with friends again, but only interacted with them. The reason I kept playing is because every dungeon run, and every just standing at the aetheryte in Limsa while waiting is different because of all the other people. Nobody can code people, so you never know what to expect. Exitement!

[Nora_of_Mira]

Though it wasn't an MMO in the traditional sense, my first foray into online gaming was Monster Hunter Tri. I loved being able to play and fight monsters with friends and messing around together, and I got hooked. After the servers went down, I gave Aion a try, but it nearly fried my computer and I wasn't feeling it, so I didn't bother renewing. WoW didn't appeal to me either, and I think the general reputation of MMOs put me off looking any further.

Then last year I heard FF had released an MMO playable on the PS4, and wanting a new game to try, I gave it a shot. Ended up hopelessly addicted, and here I am! Being relatively new to MMOs, it's been an... educational experience, to say the least.

Monster Hunter Tri was my introduction to to Monster Hunter AND staying up until 6am playing online with friends. Probably logged over 3000 hours and have played every Monster Hunter since. That game really taught you teamwork.

[tinythinker]

My first MMO was a social MMO that launched in late 2006. My first MMMRPG was a free trial weekend of Shadowbane back in 2003. I never left the starting area I avoided actually getting into MMORPGs because of elitism, more math than playing, mastering new terms/concepts just to play, the sub, and the huge time sink.

Did late beta testing for and bought The Elder Scrolls Online while recovering from major surgery, I guess that was my true "first" MMORPG, even though I have downloaded a few others to try from time to time to get a feel for how other games in the genre work/look.

Which is what brought me to Eorzea. Tried the 14 day trial one week ago, last Friday, and played a bit more on Saturday, hitting the level 20 limit pretty quickly. Bought the base game Sunday, now have a Conj 30-Thaum-20-Arc16. FFXIV has a unique charm, great art and better music, and I actually enjoy the combat system. Nice community you folks have here, too.

[ruskie]

Always avoided MMOs due to the time sink issue. Then got the beta for this... and got hooked...