Answerer

I'm trying the Chinese jinyong online now. Quite good except that sometimes you see hackers around.

scarmig

I definately recommend getting at least a couple of Pen and Paper role-playing under your belt.

It's a social experience you want, instead of hack-and-slash, then your chances of success are much much greater for real-life gaming.

And if you have a good game-master, the "graphics" are much better than any computer will ever produce.

Deadbeat

Well, I played Asheron's Call 1 and 2, Dark Age of Camelot (beta), Anarchy Online, Earth and Beyond and Shadowbane. I also play good old fashioned pen-and-paper D&D once a week.

Everything people have said in this thread about griefers and asshats is 100% true. MMORPG's probably aren't the best game in which to try and find a true RPG experience. If you can't find a good pen-and-paper group willing to teach you the basics and stick with you while you learn, I'd recommend trying a few single-player RPGs to get the hang of the genre first. Morrowind, Neverwinter Nights, heck, even Wizardry 8 or Might and Magic IX are all decent games that will get you used to different systems and the whole RPG element.

If you decide you do want to try a MMORPG, there are a lot of people just starting out in Asheron's Call 2 so you wouldn't be the only newbie, it has a relatively simplistic interface and skill system, and might be just the ticket for someone who's not familiar with the genre. Just stay away from the PvP (player-versus-player) or KvK (kingdom-versus-kingdom) servers - they have by far the highest asshat to roleplayer ratio.

(As an open invitation if you DO decide to get AC2, and you want someone to guide you around for the first little while, log onto Leafcull and give Thoth a /tell. Not that any of that makes any sense to you right now, but if you buy the game, you'll understand...)

Carlos

I've played more of these than I'd care to admit. Your best bet, IMO, would be to find someone you know who plays one of these and join them in that game. The newbie experience can be fun or boring, straightforward or confusing. Having a friend help you along (even constrained to only explaining things) could have a great effect on your experience. Most of these games have been out for years and it is rare that a true newbie shows up. Jumping into this is daunting; not so much because the game is complex, but because the expectations that players have of each other may not be obvious (e.g. in some games people will get mad at you for helping them with their battles).

If you're looking for something a bit smaller (not quite massively multiplayer) and with a more "mature" audience you might check out The Realm. Never played it, but it's been around for quite some time and I get the impression they are more newbie friendly than the average fare.

Here are some subscription statistics for the biggest games.

Hubrys Polymetis

If you are just wanting a chat room meshed with a computer game, then just play The Sims Online. You don't have to camp creatures and you don't have to sink huge amounts of time into it.

azidhak

Well Lady Shea, I think the difference beween CRPG's, MMORPGS and tabletop RPG'ing is like the difference between cybersex and real sex(TM). Well you can have bad real sex, but when it's good it makes cybersex look pathethic. Same thing with roleplaying. As with real sex it helps with partners you know and like. Don't want to seem fixated but I think it's a valid analogy (OH NO NOT AGAIN! )
Haakon

VonEvilstein

NWN has some cool servers, with excellent game worlds running on them.

Hwever, they're still full of jerks and assholes. Plus, TolkienNights (HUGE map of Middle Earth) had just too many bugs... I quit when I suddenly lost my armour, which I'd spent over 48 game hours saving up for.

Oh, plus I discovered Morrowind... now, if only there were a multi-player version of that!