Epic Adventures in MMORPG's

When does an MMORPG become more than just looting gear and items?

In my last blog post, I wrote about Raph Koster's MMORPG satire and how it seems to have fallen upon deaf ears. Today, I'm going to explore some of the most memorable and exciting journeys and adventures I have had with MMORPG's. I'm a true believer in MMORPG's being about the journeys you make with friends and not the fabricated level acheivements or gear rewards they have become.

Here are my top 5

1. Star Wars Galaxies: Reaching the Krayt Graveyard on foot for the first time. In the beginning of SWG, there were no mounts, no vehicles, no buffs and no 90% armor.. oh ya.. and no Jedi. A ragtag group of noob friends walked across the Planet Tatooine for what seemed like days (probably just an hour or two) to reach the legendary Krayt Graveyard. It was a struggle of epic proportions just getting there, which only got harder once you get there. There was no summoning, no griffons and no teleports.

2. Vanguard: Saga of Heroes: As much as I hate to put Vanguard in any list of anything good, day one on the FFA PVP server alone was an epic challenge. Our guild had a stubborn lot who wanted to all start on different continents. Assembling our guild on day one was a huge collaborative undertaking as people had to take bugged boats from other continents and walk across huge high level (an bug ridden) zones. It was frustrating, yet funny. In the end, the accomplishment of getting everyone together was just a good time. Unfortunately it all went downhill from there.

3. Everquest 2: The Scarecrow King Quest: EQ2 has lots of epic quests. Most of the HQ's are very fun group outings. Early in the game, we decided to get our pumpkin heads so we can PVP like the headless horseman. The Scarecrow King Quest was the first epic battle for us in EQ2. Having to run around the farm doing stupid stuff, finding npc's that only spawn at certain times of the day, etc. It all made for an epic experience with friends.

4. Star Wars Galaxies: Defending your city and your faction base: Back when things mattered and bases cost not only a lot of in game money, bases carried some level of pride. To have a base staring in the eyes of your opponent unharmed for weeks on end was a symbol of pride. Many would come to take it. Few would succeed. It made for some of the most epic PVP moments I have ever experienced in an MMORPG.

5. World of Warcraft: 1-70 grind. As much as I really don't like anything about World of Warcraft, the level "grind" in the game is unmatched in any MMORPG. If you have a small group of friends and commit to sticking in the same level range all the way through, this can be a good time on a PVP server. Like EQ2, the grind was 100% quest driven. Even though WoW is not a great PVP game either, it had huge World PVP gankability that just added to the fun. Unfortunately, without friends, the 1-70 leveling is just miserable.

What are your favorite epic in game adventures and journeys?