I'm torn on whether or not they even sound interesting to me.

On one hand it is a massive genre, and one that I have never experienced. I like regular RPGs, fighting giant bosses, and I sure do like huge worlds to explore and interesting lore to parse through. I don't even mind grinding too much, as long as the core gameplay loop and mechanics are fun enough, I can put on a podcast at the same time and enjoy myself.

On the other hand though I hate the gameplay. As I said, I haven't played one, but they remind me a lot of ARPGs in the gameplay, with the boring endless clicking, and mindless waiting for cooldowns to end, except with a giant piano's worth of ability shortcuts.

I'm not much into online games in general, I don't like having the responsibility of someone else's enjoyment on my shoulders, and it's not like I'm that good at games anyway. However, last year I've played Overwatch and loved it. I enjoyed the DPS, tank and healer dynamic. I did enjoy being part of a team, and luckily didn't find too many douchebags on the way. But at the end of the day, though it may have been reborn from the ashes of a failed MMO, Overwatch is still a team-based shooter, and while that means fast-paced action gameplay that I liked, it also means it's just the same skirmishes over and over again in the same comparatively small maps.

The last Insurgency event in Overwatch showed me how much I would enjoy a more structured quest like gameplay, which is what got me thinking about MMOs. I don't think other team based shooters would do it for me. Other games, even if they have classes, it's usually a matter of loadout: either you shoot people and blow them up, or you flashbang them first then you shoot them. It's not the same as having varied skills and dedicated healers and tanks. But MMOs have the ARPG-adjacent combat that I described so they're not a perfect match either. I have enjoyed single-player RPGs with combat somewhat similar to MMOs, like Xenoblade Chronicles X and Final Fantasy 15, but those games are very reliant on positioning and comboing skills, in the case of FF15 you can even practically pause the game to assess the situation and plan your course of attack, in them I never felt like I was just waiting for cooldowns to end.

It feels like the genre isn't nearly as big as they used to be, what even are the good MMOs nowadays? Is the combat fun in them? Or is it just the same old thing? I might finally be up to try one out. I'd prefer it if it was free, but if a paid one is really good I might take a look at it. As long as it's not subscription based, I don't like the idea of losing the game at the end of the month unless I keep paying for it.

I don't think there are any Turn Based (as in combat starts, take a shower, eat something, then continue to fight) MMOs. But since you enjoyed Overwatchs fast paced action (... at least I think it has based on clips) I think you might be probably ok with any kind of combat system :P

Its tough to point out to a specific MMO. They do share that they require i-net and you encounter a big amount of people. But contrary to popular believe they are not one singular unidentifiable mass. They share aspects because of their nature and it usually some of these that people that dislike all MMOs do not enjoy.

If you can bear to not be "the one" in the game (at least not in regard to other players)
If you can live with sharing the place with all kinds of people; including that type you use to avoid (usually there is an ignore option for them).
If you can live with next to no modding
If you can live with the new enemies in the new x-pack making all you combat assets look like back to square 1
and finally
If you can live with the thought that dev/companies hosting MMOs besides having continuous costs for server maintenance & ongoing development of the game they also have fridges to fill & roofs above their head to pay for and therefor do have some method of monetization of which some (and sometimes many ;) ) will look ludicrous

then you you are most likely good to go with the MMO world.

While I have not played this (http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/) from what you wrote it might be up your alley.

If you like endless grinding, MMOs are good for you. I personally hate them.

MMOs, grindfests with thousands of other people ruining your passtime as well as tour real life. Totally drm'd so you never know if your going to have access at anytime. Personally I would rather sell the computer and take up spoon whirling.

Overwatch is designed to be played in short rounds like Rocket League. An MMO requires a much bigger investment of time to the point where it becomes a second home. Just imagine being transported to a strange land in your pyjamas - the first order of business would be to find a way to communicate with the locals. MMOs have evolved and now all contain some sort of single-player element, but in my opinion these features are a stopgap. Pretty much any single-player RPG trumps an MMO's single-player mode. MMOs are and always have been a vehicle for social interaction, and that's where their strength lies.

I'd recommend checking Steam's free to play list to pick up a free MMO to see if it's a genre you'd like to explore further. Nobody pays for their first MMO.

Well if you liked Xenoblade in general, I think you'd be fine in any MMO. The only thing that bugs me in these game is that when I'm soloing and trying to enjoy the game on my own, my immersion is constantly broken by the presence of other people. There's a big clash between the writing, the desire of developers to create a big world and the fact that every player is doing the same thing and you can obviously see them and not feel like what you're doing matters or feel good about it, so you just get into the mindset of: "I must grind to finally get to the end game and do raids and stuff" and that's usually when I quit.

In my experience there just isn't much point to MMO games, but obviously many people must see something in them. Everything those games do single player games do better - storytelling, immersion, gameplay. Every MMO I played turned out to be a repetative grindfest. They can be fun for a while, before you get bored with the formula, but there just isn't much to them, unless you like spending hours on identical quests to grind levels. Obviously if you play with friends it can be fun, but that's more in spite of the game's flaws than because of it's strong points. You could have just as much fun, or more, playing just about any hack'n'slash with your friends.

The thing with MMOs is that they require big time investment. And by big say...2-3 hours to see if its fun and then 20 hours more to see

Once you get into the game you have to decide do you want to enjoy the leveling process or try to rush to the end game(max level) . While doing that you should also look for a guild/community to join because once you reach max level you will either :

1. Quit because the game started to be repetetive
2. Stay in the game because of the guild.

After that you gonna probably enjoy the game for a few 100s hours till you get burnt out and need to decide:

1. Will you stick to the game because you invested so much time and dont want to be left behind(MMOs always evolve and often makes your current top gear useless later on).
2. Take a break and maybe never come back.

Thats how usually I play MMOs.

Now if you want to try a MMO maybe check Guild Wars 2 or Wildstar since both are f2p but have restrictions for the free user but enough to give you what to expect from MMOs. Though if you want more quest-oriented game you may want to check The Secret World(I think you can get a free trial from an already existing player) and wait for its "Enhanced" version to be released.

Many to choose from:

Current popular MMORPGs:

World of Warcraft
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Evequest 2
Lord of the Rings Online
Dungeons and Dragons Online
RIFT
Tera
Final Fantasy 14 Online
DC Universe Online

Canceled and dated MMORPGs that might be worth a try (if you find the private servers):

Everquest 1
Final Fantasy 11 Online
Dark Age of Camelot
Ultima Online
Asheron's Call 1 and 2
City of Heroes
Star Wars Galaxies
Warhammer Online
Tibia
Runescape

There isn't. The point is in the use, they are not so much games as graphical Facebook/Twitter apps. In fact, the only thing in the game is the grinding so you have something else to twat out to the masses other than pictures of your genitalia. Much like achievements really.

If you have played Warcraft 3 and really like the Warcraft world, I think WoW is worth playing through a few times like a single-player game, just to see all the zones.

But yeah I do not see how anyone could play WoW every single day, doing dailies or running through the same dungeons/raids over and over again.

Eh all this talk of grinding and such is doing a diservice to MMORPGs.

I played WOW constantly and I had plenty of moments where the game did not felt a grind.

Also you miss out on other aspects of an MMORPG that is awesome.

The world design and the athmosphere, I mean really I have no idea why but I get way more immersed in an MMORPGs world than I do a Offline Singleplayer Open World game. Mostly because that Theme Park Design and the music of most MMOs is excellent.


And its fun when you do get to do a dungeon instance with friends, especially on Harder Difficulties.

Google search result 2:
http://wowwiki.wikia.com/wiki/Newbie_guide/Getting_better
Cut and paste text from there:
There are many ways to improve your character from merely grinding (killing monsters for what they drop and the experience they give), to questing, PvP, crafting (learning and improving professions), or just gathering.

Ultimately, you'll want to gain levels so you can improve your fighting or spellcasting, but also because you need higher levels to improve professions and access cool things such as mounts. Also, to make your character more competitive you will want to get better gear and skills. For most of that you will need money, but can also be gained through quests and PvP.
---

Also, I really don't get on with the art style at all, and so much for ideas, how about kung fu pandas. And no, I don't play with others, I have to put up with them in real life.

Always with the freaking Pandas and you know what that expansion was not that bad, it had 2 of the best Post Launch Patch Content in awhile. And comparing it to Warlords of Draenor its miles better.

Actually visit Pandaria and you'll change your mind.

You can get better gear and mounts by doing Raids and Dungeons.

And at higher levels older Raids are so easy you can one shot all the enemies, if you want to farm mounts or gear for Transmog (Transmog is you get to wear the apperence of a gear over the current gear you are wearing) right now I am planning on Farming Invincible (Arthas' Horse) in Icecrown Citadel.

You know, Elmo, I'm glad you're enjoying your game - to each his own and all that, but one thing I can tell is that you're not going to convince people who don't like MMO gameplay by advertising the advantages of farming :D It's exactly that kind of thing that makes us cringe when thinking about MMOs.