Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 combines so many features that I like that it’ll be a nearly impossible act to follow, but I’m going to try anyway. The most important aspects are probably flexible character classes (I don’t consider multiple DPS specializations for one class to be flexibility), active combat (no spamming skills that root me in place, everything being auto targeted, etc), aesthetic customization.

If you have any suggestions please let me know. Telling me why you like a particular game would be much more helpful than just telling me a title but either works.

Edit: Oh, and no gear treadmill! That’s really important as well.
Edit too/two/tutu: Looking for high fantasy or sci-fi. Something (slightly) more grounded like The Secret World probably wouldn’t do it for me.

There is nothing else out there like GW2

(that’s why so many people still play it.)

MallowOni.1578:

Guild Wars 2 combines so many features that I like that it’ll be a nearly impossible act to follow, but I’m going to try anyway.

If it has what you want, then why?

Since you didn’t say what you liked it’s tough to key in what would be to your liking. To my knowledge this is the only B2P MMO that doesn’t have a VIP optional subscription (looking at you The Secret World) but that’s due to it being designed that way rather than adapting from a P2P subscription based game.

notebene.3190:

MallowOni.1578:

Guild Wars 2 combines so many features that I like that it’ll be a nearly impossible act to follow, but I’m going to try anyway.

If it has what you want, then why?

In the interest of keeping the thread on topic I’d rather not go into it. Let’s just say I’d rather not have to but I’m going to find another game.

MallowOni.1578:

The most important aspects are probably flexible character classes (I don’t consider multiple DPS specializations for one class to be flexibility), active combat (no spamming skills that root me in place, everything being auto targeted, etc), aesthetic customization.

Behellagh.1468:

Since you didn’t say what you liked it’s tough to key in what would be to your liking.

Did you just mean you needed more detail?

Well, while there may be negatives to the game (lousy jump physics, super hard to stay grouped with friends if you don’t level in lockstep), TESO matches the criteria you put in your OP. While they have four base classes that have certain advantages in specific areas, like Templars will be better at healing, I can say as a deeply altoholic player I’ve been satisfied with just one main character because I can wear any armor, wield any weapon, and spec to tank/heal/dps as I please (not all at once, you do have skill trees to make you specialize in particular combos).

Combat is quite active, includes dodge rolls, and has no tab targeting. You just point your crosshairs at the target and click the mouse buttons in the appropriate manner to attack, block, wind up a big attack, etc.

Aesthetic customization isn’t as good as in GW2 imo. You can’t reskin armor, and the dyes (while vastly superior to launch state with no dyes and everything muddy brown) don’t have the range or depth of GW2’s dyes. You can, however, design a character with sliders to have a lot more difference in looks than GW2 allows, including being portly if you so desire.

Between the two my druthers lie in GW2 but, well, you asked for something that matched your factors.

You have a choice between GW2, World of Warcraft and I believe that Final Fantasy something MMO, that Elder Scrolls MMO and Wildstar.

Don’t recall other bigger MMOs worth mentioning now. There are probably some asian titles I forgot about, but it’s hard to follow or play most asian games, so I skipped them.

And there’s no MMO with GW2 combat system. Everything else you’ll probably find somewhere else.

notebene.3190:

MallowOni.1578:

Guild Wars 2 combines so many features that I like that it’ll be a nearly impossible act to follow, but I’m going to try anyway.

If it has what you want, then why?

Perhaps he just wants something new? Imagine having tacos every single day for a year. Wouldn’t you love to have something else that has meat, cheese, veggies, and a starch? Pizza comes to mind.

MallowOni.1578:

Guild Wars 2 combines so many features that I like that it’ll be a nearly impossible act to follow, but I’m going to try anyway. The most important aspects are probably flexible character classes (I don’t consider multiple DPS specializations for one class to be flexibility), active combat (no spamming skills that root me in place, everything being auto targeted, etc), aesthetic customization.

If you have any suggestions please let me know. Telling me why you like a particular game would be much more helpful than just telling me a title but either works.

GW2 is really the only MMO that does not use the holy trinity for one (tank, Healer, CC) in a group make up. That alone will set it aside from ever other MMO out there.

There is no end game content (AKA Raids, and Raid level Progression) that is found in other MMOs like WoW.

But take those away and you get MMOs like Tera, Perfect world, LOTRO to some Regard for Free 2 Play that have a VIP subscription. Out of those, currently Tera is my favorite go to for when GW2 is boring. I just LOVE the combat system in Tera, like seriously.

But you didn’t really go into great details on what your looking for here. Other the Cosmetic customizations, Build diversities, and the like.

sirsquishy.8531:

Out of those, currently Tera is my favorite go to for when GW2 is boring. I just LOVE the combat system in Tera, like seriously.

But you didn’t really go into great details on what your looking for here. Other the Cosmetic customizations, Build diversities, and the like.

Someone told me there is absolutely no auto attacking in Tera. It might seem like a small quibble, but wouldn’t that give your finger and your mouse buttons too much of a workout?

I could probably spend all day listing what I like about GW2 so I opted for brevity. The dynamic world, the way they encourage people to work together, the way that the different weapons have such distinct play styles, the minimalist approach to skill bars, the story & acting, the art style, I could pretty much keep going. In the end I am sure there’s nothing that’s going to be a really close match so just leaving general descriptions seemed like the safest idea so people wouldn’t leave something out of their suggestions just because it wasn’t basically Guild Wars 2.1.

Averath.6283:

notebene.3190:

MallowOni.1578:

Guild Wars 2 combines so many features that I like that it’ll be a nearly impossible act to follow, but I’m going to try anyway.

If it has what you want, then why?

Perhaps he just wants something new? Imagine having tacos every single day for a year. Wouldn’t you love to have something else that has meat, cheese, veggies, and a starch? Pizza comes to mind.

That would have been a fine answer, too. I play other things to supplement GW2 myself, an MMO and two that aren’t.

I just wanted to get a feel for whether it was a straight up question or whether it was a precursor to a larger, passive aggressive comment on the game. I guess I’ll watch and see how it develops.

I see some people mention TESO. I tried for about a day. I didn’t like how my characters looked and felt moving around. For better or worse, if I don’t like my characters, I won’t really feel like hanging out with them in their world.

notebene.3190:

I just wanted to get a feel for whether it was a straight up question or whether it was a precursor to a larger, passive aggressive comment on the game. I guess I’ll watch and see how it develops.

I see some people mention TESO. I tried for about a day. I didn’t like how my characters looked and felt moving around. For better or worse, if I don’t like my characters, I won’t really feel like hanging out with them in their world.

It’s a straight up question. I’m moving on & not here to whine.

I’m with you on the characters. Because of the customization I’ve gotten more attached to my GW2 toons than I have to my characters from any other game, even the ones that I played for much longer.

There is no MMO similar to GW2 that does everything it does as well AFAIK.

I am still disappointed by the ESO failure, they tried the AvA (ie WvW) on a far grander scale than GW2 and could have been really, really good… but ultimately failed. Boring PvE, boring PvP (wait, what PvP?), WvW that required a 20 man zerg just to begin to playing on the simplest level (in comparison, GW2 require 1 player).

Tera true action combat (Ftp) is a good choice, but yes you have more skills to use. (new gunner class is fun) skills look great.

Dragon Nest (Ftp) is a nice game , animations and skills are amazing but skills root you in place.

The secret World (Btp) is nice, your in hand weapon changes your classe. But you have to use your brain in a few situations.(quests …)

Vindictus (ftp) is ok.

Dawdler.8521:

There is no MMO similar to GW2 that does everything it does as well AFAIK.

An alternative wouldn’t have to do everything GW2 does. While there’s certainly a list of things I want, I’ll take a look at most things that aren’t just straight up WoW clones.

MallowOni.1578:

sirsquishy.8531:

Out of those, currently Tera is my favorite go to for when GW2 is boring. I just LOVE the combat system in Tera, like seriously.

But you didn’t really go into great details on what your looking for here. Other the Cosmetic customizations, Build diversities, and the like.

Someone told me there is absolutely no auto attacking in Tera. It might seem like a small quibble, but wouldn’t that give your finger and your mouse buttons too much of a workout?

I could probably spend all day listing what I like about GW2 so I opted for brevity. The dynamic world, the way they encourage people to work together, the way that the different weapons have such distinct play styles, the minimalist approach to skill bars, the story & acting, the art style, I could pretty much keep going. In the end I am sure there’s nothing that’s going to be a really close match so just leaving general descriptions seemed like the safest idea so people wouldn’t leave something out of their suggestions just because it wasn’t basically Guild Wars 2.1.

With respect to the minimalist approach to skill bars, TSW has that. It has an interesting build system. It was pretty complicated for me, but I always used to get a lot of help on the forum explaining how to put things together, rotations, why they worked, etc. Though I’ve never been a very good theory crafter. The story is awesome, and the acting, voice acting, etc in TSW is ‘amazing’.

Not entirely sure why I stopped playing a year or so ago, to be honest. I think I only have so much bandwidth and wanted to try some new things and it lost the ‘what to keep’ vote to this game. And then if I get too far removed from a game, it’s hard for me to go back sometimes. So yeah, I’d really give TSW a try.

Oh, and learning to move while you fight is important there too. No dodging that I recall, but they flat out tell you that moving while you fight, or little ‘circle fighting’ is important, as there is a straight up damage negation for doing it (vs just standing there). Unless that mechanic has changed.

Plus lots of wardrobe stuff if you like that sort of thing. Actually, the armor is these implant like things, or can’t remember what they call them, but it’s not your look. Your look is ‘all’ clothes, which is awesome.

Dang, I might have to copy that back over from my slow drive and start it up.

Averath.6283:

notebene.3190:

MallowOni.1578:

Guild Wars 2 combines so many features that I like that it’ll be a nearly impossible act to follow, but I’m going to try anyway.

If it has what you want, then why?

Perhaps he just wants something new? Imagine having tacos every single day for a year. Wouldn’t you love to have something else that has meat, cheese, veggies, and a starch? Pizza comes to mind.

I have eaten Pizza everyday for the last year, I am so conditioned to it that sometimes I don’t even know how much of it I’ve eaten, but when I want some variety I cut it into 8 slices instead of 4, it keeps things interesting.

I’m actually curious about ESO now that it has a non-sub option. Is it prohibitively difficult to play without the sub? Are there stupid annoying restrictions that prevent you from enjoying the game from start to finish? For example in SWTOR they actually make you purchase skill slots and the ability to equip the best armor… That crap is a deal breaker for me.

Also what about the leveling post-sub? Now that you can opt out of a sub, did they change the exp so that you level super slow? Forcing you to buy exp boosters or pay the sub? Do you have bad drop rates? Low gold find? Basically did they rebalance the base game to be unrewarding unless you “upgrade” to the sub?

Vavume.8065:

Averath.6283:

notebene.3190:

MallowOni.1578:

Guild Wars 2 combines so many features that I like that it’ll be a nearly impossible act to follow, but I’m going to try anyway.

If it has what you want, then why?

Perhaps he just wants something new? Imagine having tacos every single day for a year. Wouldn’t you love to have something else that has meat, cheese, veggies, and a starch? Pizza comes to mind.

I have eaten Pizza everyday for the last year, I am so conditioned to it that sometimes I don’t even know how much of it I’ve eaten, but when I want some variety I cut it into 8 slices instead of 4, it keeps things interesting.

8 slice pizza?! Madness I say, MADNESS!!!

I really liked WildStar… but can’t fathom paying a sub fee for it. I really need to give TESO a try given how much I do love me some ES lore.

Mechanically GW2 is based on Warhammer Online (which died years ago). The next closest I can think of is TERA Online, which has a notability different, but also very movement oriented real time combat system. Its easily one of the best combat systems for an MMO to date…… enough so that I wish GW2 took a few cues for its own combat system.

The downside for TERA is it being very much a Korean MMO in every other aspect of the game. The combat is super fun, but you can see where they stuck with the classic RPG design. After playing GW2 you can see how both of these games got things right, and the places where they both didn’t do nearly enough.

starlinvf.1358:

Mechanically GW2 is based on Warhammer Online (which died years ago). The next closest I can think of is TERA Online, which has a notability different, but also very movement oriented real time combat system. Its easily one of the best combat systems for an MMO to date…… enough so that I wish GW2 took a few cues for its own combat system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk1Is8WoRW0

The downside for TERA is it being very much a Korean MMO in every other aspect of the game. The combat is super fun, but you can see where they stuck with the classic RPG design. After playing GW2 you can see how both of these games got things right, and the places where they both didn’t do nearly enough.

I have to disagree. I played Warhammer Online in the first year and was like top 3 or 4 of Swordmasters on my EU UK server with renown rank 65 before quitting. The game was way more similar to WoW mechanics, gameplay and design wise.

The only thing slightly similar with GW2 is the Realm vs Realm, and even there GW2 shares more similarities with DAoC than WO.

EDIT: On topic, try TERA or ESOL. Both are f2p now I believe. FFIVX is also quite popular, but shares nothing with GW2 and is definately p2p.

ESOL is a Buy 2 play game. Steam has it for 59.99. My only complaint so far is its nearly exactly like Skyrim, if Skyrim was an MMO rather then a single player game. And the Jumping Mechanic is horrible.

Tera has an auto attack, you just press and hold your main attack button (Mouse Left for default), then when the Chained skill prompt pops up hit space bar for more interesting attacks. There is no passive auto attack (Like GW2 currently has, which can be disabled). Tera uses the dodge/positioning concept that GW2 uses. But there is no inherent dodge(V, or double tap WASD), its skill based. Also Tera has tanks and healers, though I have not found the need to use them except for raid content. Yes having a tank makes everything easier…but forcing players into a role when its not needed feels a bit like slavery :-)

starlinvf.1358:

Mechanically GW2 is based on Warhammer Online (which died years ago). The next closest I can think of is TERA Online, which has a notability different, but also very movement oriented real time combat system. Its easily one of the best combat systems for an MMO to date…… enough so that I wish GW2 took a few cues for its own combat system.

well warhammer is Not compeatly dead they have a private server and plenty of hardcore support, mostly in the way of devs who work for free and have restored 2 tiers and a few pvp arenas. Is so fun to play it again i suggest everyone support them if they can they are non profit and is ftp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk1Is8WoRW0

The downside for TERA is it being very much a Korean MMO in every other aspect of the game. The combat is super fun, but you can see where they stuck with the classic RPG design. After playing GW2 you can see how both of these games got things right, and the places where they both didn’t do nearly enough.

Cyninja.2954:

starlinvf.1358:

Mechanically GW2 is based on Warhammer Online (which died years ago). The next closest I can think of is TERA Online, which has a notability different, but also very movement oriented real time combat system. Its easily one of the best combat systems for an MMO to date…… enough so that I wish GW2 took a few cues for its own combat system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk1Is8WoRW0

The downside for TERA is it being very much a Korean MMO in every other aspect of the game. The combat is super fun, but you can see where they stuck with the classic RPG design. After playing GW2 you can see how both of these games got things right, and the places where they both didn’t do nearly enough.

I have to disagree. I played Warhammer Online in the first year and was like top 3 or 4 of Swordmasters on my EU UK server with renown rank 65 before quitting. The game was way more similar to WoW mechanics, gameplay and design wise.

The only thing slightly similar with GW2 is the Realm vs Realm, and even there GW2 shares more similarities with DAoC than WO.

EDIT: On topic, try TERA or ESOL. Both are f2p now I believe. FFIVX is also quite popular, but shares nothing with GW2 and is definately p2p.

Is TERA playable with a controller? I know it has support for controllers, but are you at a disadvantage for playing with one?

Also if I want to pay a subscription, FFXIV is my MMO of choice. That game was a lot of fun to play. It feels the healing niche that I enjoy, and was sad that GW2 didn’t have. I enjoy playing the healer. :<

Warhammer is ftp and is run in a private server. Devs are hardcore fans who would not let the game die. They work for free and have restored 2 tiers and some pvp content.http://www.returnofreckoning.com/index.php

Godric.3012:

Tera true action combat (Ftp) is a good choice, but yes you have more skills to use. (new gunner class is fun) skills look great.

Dragon Nest (Ftp) is a nice game , animations and skills are amazing but skills root you in place.

The secret World (Btp) is nice, your in hand weapon changes your classe. But you have to use your brain in a few situations.(quests …)

Vindictus (ftp) is ok.

I played Dragon Nest before GW2. It became pretty P2W, so I’ve never gone back. It is a very fun game though. More action slanted. Felt like a 3d fighter with some rpg elements (lots of combos you can pull off).

Star Citizen. Not out yet, but hey, maybe it’ll come out before HoT.

I’ve played most of the MMOs out there, at least for a bit. ESO and TSW are two of my favorites, but each of them have things I dislike enough to make them not an option.

camelot unchained recently came out with a new vid on some content and trait system. omg blows gw2 outa the water in customization. I can’t wait for this game!! gw2 will be a memory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdLRYy3o-Qw

eureeka.5368:

camelot unchained recently came out with a new vid on some content and trait system. omg blows gw2 outa the water in customization. I can’t wait for this game!! gw2 will be a memory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdLRYy3o-Qw

Because we haven’t heard this before about Archeage, Wildstar, ESO and even Neverwinter. lol

What Vayne said.

It’s one thing to point to something cool coming, another to claim it will eradicate the cool things already here. Besides, the OP is looking for something comparable to what we have in GW2, not something to play a couple of years from now. (I still think that if GW2 hits all the marks, nothing else will satisfy, but the tacos/pizza analogy above makes some sense. And the OP can easily come back to GW2 later, which isn’t so true of most any other MMO).

Vayne.8563:

eureeka.5368:

camelot unchained recently came out with a new vid on some content and trait system. omg blows gw2 outa the water in customization. I can’t wait for this game!! gw2 will be a memory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdLRYy3o-Qw

Because we haven’t heard this before about Archeage, Wildstar, ESO and even Neverwinter. lol

But .. but … “when you move around you actually see other players move around”
Now this is such a great feature never seen in any MMO before .. nobody else
will play all those MMOs where you don’t see other people move around while
you move around

vayne i hear you bro, these are the devs of games as early as DOAC, wow and warhammer. they are on no time crunch. i believe they are making the best game possible. i guess we will see. i feel your pain with the other games you mentioned, big hype and fail with delivery. I honestly don’t think this is the case kitten many investors are gamers, not only that. but you have the seasoned vets vs the kids in gw2. i guess we will just have to wait and see.. my money is on the vets.

Donari.5237:

I still think that if GW2 hits all the marks, nothing else will satisfy, but the tacos/pizza analogy above makes some sense.

That’s really not the case. I actually know Averath and he was a kitten for even posting that analogy.

Edit: Wow, these forums censor the word
*d Whatisthisidonteven
*e
*r
*p?

Donari.5237:

And the OP can easily come back to GW2 later, which isn’t so true of most any other MMO).

True and because of how much I love the game I’d like to be able to one day although I strongly doubt it. We’ll see.

I kind of like TESO, it’s different enough to be refreshing but has some good story telling elements and is relatively easy to follow. (No free trial though) This is coming from a 10+ year vet of GW1/GW2 which are still considered my favorite MMOs.

So I’m guessing that OP is basically wanting something like GW2 to play while waiting for HoT to launch which is what most of us are doing, I’m doing dailys and looking for any updates about Beta’s or release date on a daily bases. Its getting old and boring. I almost bought another mmo yesterday but changed my mind because I don’t want to purchase anything short term. What would honestly make me stop looking at leaving until HoT launch would be was if we actually got Beta’s or a ball park time frame for HoT because No news is kitten and makes people kittened off as well as bored.

MallowOni.1578:

Guild Wars 2 combines so many features that I like that it’ll be a nearly impossible act to follow, but I’m going to try anyway. The most important aspects are probably flexible character classes (I don’t consider multiple DPS specializations for one class to be flexibility), active combat (no spamming skills that root me in place, everything being auto targeted, etc), aesthetic customization.

If you have any suggestions please let me know. Telling me why you like a particular game would be much more helpful than just telling me a title but either works.

Edit: Oh, and no gear treadmill! That’s really important as well.
Edit too/two/tutu: Looking for high fantasy or sci-fi. Something (slightly) more grounded like The Secret World probably wouldn’t do it for me.

Nothing else out there even come close to the good and the bad of GW2.

I will endorse The Secret World tho I never got it to run smooth on my rig. I don’t have a kitten PC, but it really runs poorly whereas all other MMO’s including GW2 run fine. So have a good rig for that. Some have said it’s not optimized, but I wouldn’t know about that stuff.

Otherwise, I could recommend giving Neverwinter a try. It’ll cost you nothing and I had some fun with it. It has a nice setting and the combat is active instead of tab targeting. GW2 is better by a mile IMO to Neverwinter, but I enjoy D&D and Forgotten Realms.

Or you could try GW1. It’s not dead and a lot of fun. Many different builds and combinations to try and of course a great setting to run around in. You just can’t jump.

I forgot about Guild Wars 1. Completely different than Guild Wars 2, mind you, but far more fun for me than any of the other MMOs out there.

I’ll add my recommendations for TSW and Guild Wars. Great concepts, great game play, great settings.

Vayne.8563:

I forgot about Guild Wars 1. Completely different than Guild Wars 2, mind you, but far more fun for me than any of the other MMOs out there.

I suspect OP has a personal problem with the company, reading between the lines of his posts, which would make that not an option.

imsoenthused.1634:

Vayne.8563:

I forgot about Guild Wars 1. Completely different than Guild Wars 2, mind you, but far more fun for me than any of the other MMOs out there.

I suspect OP has a personal problem with the company, reading between the lines of his posts, which would make that not an option.

Well if he’s looking for an MMO with active combat and no gear treadmill, he’s going to be looking a long long time, no matter what he has for or against anyone.

Curious, how is advertising other games in this manner permissible in the forums? In the interest of helping, I highly advise looking for advice on reddit instead of the official forums. There’s a decent chance this will get closed because of the nature of the discussion.

Black desert online is coming to the west this year.Try it.

Beldin.5498:

Vayne.8563:

eureeka.5368:

camelot unchained recently came out with a new vid on some content and trait system. omg blows gw2 outa the water in customization. I can’t wait for this game!! gw2 will be a memory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdLRYy3o-Qw

Because we haven’t heard this before about Archeage, Wildstar, ESO and even Neverwinter. lol

But .. but … “when you move around you actually see other players move around”
Now this is such a great feature never seen in any MMO before .. nobody else
will play all those MMOs where you don’t see other people move around while
you move around

Hey it was a great feature added to GW2. Remember when they first added culling, making most of the enemy players on your screen invisible, lol?

Camelot Unchained is great in theory. There is still sooooooo much work needed to be done before they even have an up to spec modern tech demo (ie one that doesnt look like crap). I seriously question that they will be able to keep their release date. But who knows, maybe they can.

Sidenote: Regarding the Black Desert Online, the problem is that Korean MMOs are so… Korean. The gameplay style always irks me. They are absolutely beautifull, often rich in content and more advanced than western MMOs but there is always something that feel wrong. I cant even define it.

Godric.3012:

Tera true action combat (Ftp) is a good choice, but yes you have more skills to use. (new gunner class is fun) skills look great.

Dragon Nest (Ftp) is a nice game , animations and skills are amazing but skills root you in place.

The secret World (Btp) is nice, your in hand weapon changes your classe. But you have to use your brain in a few situations.(quests …)

Vindictus (ftp) is ok.

Is Dragon Nest or Vindictus actually considered a MMO? They are closer to GW1’s instancing. Also a lot of mostly hallways(not unlike GW2’s dungeons …). On the other hand I think Dragon Nest is worth a playthrough just for the quest dialogs.
The monetization for both are a bit sketchy.

MallowOni.1578:

Guild Wars 2 combines so many features that I like that it’ll be a nearly impossible act to follow, but I’m going to try anyway. The most important aspects are probably flexible character classes (I don’t consider multiple DPS specializations for one class to be flexibility), active combat (no spamming skills that root me in place, everything being auto targeted, etc), aesthetic customization.

If you have any suggestions please let me know. Telling me why you like a particular game would be much more helpful than just telling me a title but either works.

Edit: Oh, and no gear treadmill! That’s really important as well.
Edit too/two/tutu: Looking for high fantasy or sci-fi. Something (slightly) more grounded like The Secret World probably wouldn’t do it for me.

Dcu online. While it’s nothlike gw2 at all, it has a really nice combat system, toon customisation, and role specialization for your class. Combat includes blocking, comboing with your mouse buttons and launching powerful skills you charged with the combos. It has like, 10% of the content this game offers, but is really fun to try.

Vayne.8563:

imsoenthused.1634:

Vayne.8563:

I forgot about Guild Wars 1. Completely different than Guild Wars 2, mind you, but far more fun for me than any of the other MMOs out there.

I suspect OP has a personal problem with the company, reading between the lines of his posts, which would make that not an option.

Well if he’s looking for an MMO with active combat and no gear treadmill, he’s going to be looking a long long time, no matter what he has for or against anyone.

Hm .. Champions Online has no gear threadmill, and at least there are a lot of
powers you can use while moving. But its a superhero MMO, and playing without
freeform characters maybe takes a lot of fun out of it.