re: MMO that you have played and your opinion of them

WoW -- The next MMO infatuation post-EQ and probably the one MMO I've spent more time in than any other. WoW has to be one of the greatest video games of all time. The amount of polish, love, and care put into every aspect of the game is commendable. A timeless art style that will never look bad with some of the best animations. It changed MMORPGS forever with the bite-sized quest style of progression mixed with the fast-paced combat that minimized socializing while in a group, but I have so many memories of time spent in this game.

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes -- I wish I had a good PC when this game first launched. I had missed the boat when I finally got to play it. Beautiful game world that looked straight out of a Keith Parkinson fantasy novel book cover. You could find a random dungeon in the game world and enter/exit with no loading screen. The loading between "chunks" in an otherwise seamless world was a bit annoying though. It was plagued with some horrible design choices. Group-based quest chains are terrible and Vanguard was plagued with group-based quest chains. If you could actually hit the level cap playing by yourself, it wouldn't matter how many people were playing, but I would always flame out around level 30-35 because I would start hitting walls of content that I couldn't progress through without other players. It was a pain getting players together to complete a lot of the content because the few who were playing the game were all max level.

Vindictus -- The character models look so nice. I love the source engine. Repetitive gameplay.

Chronicles of the 9th Seal -- better than Vindictus

Dragon Nest -- not better than Vindictus.

Anarchy Online -- I played this a few years ago after it went F2P. I thought the game was amazing. I felt like I could see myself enjoying it more than EQ if I had played it back in the day. I missed the boat though. I feel like it would be impossible to catch up to the vets now.

Lord of the Rings Online -- This was the game I played because my computer wasn't powerful enough for Vanguard at the time. Beautiful game with a lot of impressive looking vistas. The art direction was awful. It was a very meh version of Middle Earth that looked decidedly generic after the amazing cinematic version. Terrible music and sound effects as well. It's still a decent game, but I find that it hasn't aged all that well from a gameplay standpoint. It's very much still rooted in the ideas of oldschool WoW which does appeal to some people, but it just feels outdated. Likely is so because Turbine lacks the resources to continually update their game. That's one thing I've always admired Daybreak/SOE for. They lack the resources they once had as well, but EQ and EQ2 are two very well maintained games. LotRO less so.

RIFT -- Walmart brand WoW. Some good art direction in places, but I have never played a more generic game. I did get to max level and ran some dungeons. I never raided.

Age of Conan -- I hated the combat system. The graphics reminded me of EQ2. Overall, I didn't get very far.

The Secret World -- I just did not care for this game.

Warhammer Online -- I love the Warhammer art style in general. The PvP was fun, but Warhammer had the worst PvE content I've ever played in an MMORPG. It popularized the public quest, but the fact that the best rewards were reserved for the highest DPS killed them.

City of Heroes -- Fun little game. I wish it was still around, so I could go back and play it. I think I like it a little bit better than Champions Online.

Champions Online -- I'm pretty sure the only reason people log into this game is to play dress up. That said, customizing character appearance and powers is a lot of fun. I can't get into the generic bubblegum superhero universe of that game though.

DCUO -- A lot of fun. My favorite superhero MMORPG. Character customization is lacking compared to Champions and CoH, but the combat is a lot of fun and the DC comic universe is much more fun to play in.

Defiance -- It was fun. Kind of reminds me of Warframe mixed with a DCUO-style overworld. The game needs to be re-released on PS4 and Xbox One.

Guild Wars 2 -- Great art direction. Poor combat and grindy character progression. The fact that the camera is focused on my character's arse 24/7 annoyed me more than it probably should have.

RAIDERSZ -- Before TERA went F2P, if I liked it but could not afford it, I would play RAIDERZ.

TERA -- I like TERA a lot. For a long time, I considered it to be the next MMORPG to which I would devote a considerable amount of time. I probably just sucked at the game, but what I eventually realized though was how annoying the combat turned out to be at later levels. Mobs took too long to kill, and it was a matter of kiting or avoiding damage. If you were hit, some mobs could kill you in 3 to 4 swings. I do like the art direction and game world though.

Jade Dynasty -- Gain XP while AFK

Perfect World -- Chinese copycat WoW. Probably had great character cutomization for it's day. If I couldn't pay for WoW, I'd probably look at playing this game. Super grindy though.

Runes of Magic -- I actually thought this game was pretty nice. I remember it being P2W though.

NeverWinter -- The best D&D MMORPG, but I don't know how much that says. It honestly doesn't look for feel much like D&D at all, but the combat is a lot of fun. I do not know why all the enemies in the later levels have so much HP. It kills the fun of the combat system.

DDO -- I really like the art style of Eberon as well as the group-based nature of progression. I think it would be hard to get very far in the game today though without going into it with some other players.

EVE -- I think I"ve played through the tutorial 4 or 5 times. I like the game a lot, but I realize I will never be able to compete with the majority of the playerbase. At some point, I always realize I'd rather just play Elite Dangerous.