I always had trouble finding a regular group in MMOs, but when I did, my favorites were City of Heroes and Dungeons and Dragons Online. Both are super fun and much more responsive in combat than any of the other MMOs that I played.
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Start with something free to play at the base level, to see if you like it, then subscribe for the extra goodies if it's a hit for you.
There's something for all sorts of fantasy / sci-fi tastes out there. There's a Star Trek MMO, a Star Wars MMO, some super-hero fare (DC Online), D&D fantasy (Neverwinter) and more generic fantasy (EQ2, WoW, DAoC, Age of Conan, Final Fantasy XIV, Elder Scrolls Online, Warhammer Online, etc., etc.). I've played most of them at various times, sometimes for years, and the ones built on franchises have that special thrill of seeing stuff familiar to you (DC Online, Star Wars, Star Trek, Neverwinter, Age of Conan), while the more original worlds have grown into their own rich and memorable 'characters' (Final Fantasy, EQ, WoW, ESO). Some may be offline, like City of Heroes, or Star Wars Galaxies, I haven't checked, for instance if Age of Conan or Warhammer Online are still going...
The mechanics vary, in some cases, with a few games being designed to appeal to both console gamers and computer gamers, and therefore having to be (from the computer gamer side of things) pretty savagely cut down in options, since console gamers don't have 50 plus keys on their keyboards and it would be 'unfair' for them to have to compete with those of us who have a screen full of dozens of options, when they've got, like six powers they can use. As a result, those games (DC Online, in particular, where you can *have* a couple dozen cool powers, but will only ever get to use six of them) can be frustrating for someone on a PC (and, I'm sure, great for those on a console).
Bear in mind that a lot of the older more established games have so much content by this point that they can be overwhelming, with dozens of sub-systems or advancement options, and it can be too much of a good thing if you're a 'compleatist' at heart and want to do everything. I usually skip some sub-systems entirely (I haven't crafted, for instance, since Dark Ages of Camelot, even though crafting has been a huge part of games like EQ2, ESO, etc. and was even creeping into City of Heroes at the end there...). I find it useful to pick a focus (exploration, leveling, clearing my darn quest journal...) and get to it, rather than get bogged down in the dozen other things I could be doing, because I'd get bummed by all the stuff lying around unfinished and give up, but that's just me.
Different games have different expectations for grouping vs. solo-ing, and in some you'll be hit up to join groups or guilds all the time, and in others you'll go through levels just fine on your own and not have to interact with anyone most of the time. Many have 'groupfinder' type options built in to the game, so you can be off doing quests or whatever, and get a notification that a group is available, rather than hang around the front of a dungeon for hours, like in the first EverQuest, many many years ago (I'm sure even they have a group-finder now, if it's even still around!).
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Lords Of The Rings Online has the player(s) follow in the footsteps of the Fellowship and helping rangers deal with various threats and preparations.
Guild Wars 2 is pleasant game that is build in the way encouraging spontaneous cooperation in game (the one game that marks dying players on map for others, so anyone can run to you to help you).
Warhammer Online is dead and gone.
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Welll........Neither City of Heroes NOR Warhammer online are gone.
For those who want to look for it.
For about two months, City of Heroes has been back out in an emulator form and going strong. The Homecoming server is the one I am on and can be found with a quick google search. And apparently NCsoft is aware and uncaring about its existence.
As of last month about 9k people were playing.
As for Warhammer Online, there is Return of Reckoning which is a server emulator for it as well.
Both seem to be enjoying a resurgence.
Not sure what is says about the game industry when people would rather play older mmo's than newer ones.
Just info if anyone wanted to go out and find that old game.
I've been having a lot of fun in FFXIV. The game looks pretty good, it's not frustratingly challenging, and there's a lot to do. The only complaint I have so far is that high level mobs spawn in low level areas and they'll just one-shot you if you get too close.
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Lords Of The Rings Online has the player(s) follow in the footsteps of the Fellowship and helping rangers deal with various threats and preparations.
Guild Wars 2 is pleasant game that is build in the way encouraging spontaneous cooperation in game (the one game that marks dying players on map for others, so anyone can run to you to help you).
I signed up for LOTRO, Guild Wars 2, and DDO. But I’ve never done anything beyond make a character for any of them. I didn’t have a computer that was really up to the task, but mostly it was fear of other players. You hear so many stories about other players being awful to newbies. I know everyone isn’t like that, but just one is too many for me.
My husband has been playing quite a lot of Elder Scrolls Online. It’s very appealing to me because the Elder Scrolls games are my favorites and it can be played entirely solo. Plus it looks gorgeous. I haven’t tried it yet but I think that’s the one I’m most likely to try.
If anyone plays Lord Of The Ring Onlines, or would like to start, until the end of August all the content is accessible for free, and you can get a code for the store that will give you a lot of the quest packs forever, and earlier expansions with a massive discount.