Every time someone asks me if I know a good MMORPG, I always tell them that in my opinion there are only 2 that are worth playing, WoW if you like pvp, FFXIV if you like PVE, all other options are mostly just money grabbers or lack content entirely.
Aside of this very basic description, I can't stop suggesting FFXIV as the amount of content this game has is insane, after 2000 hours I feel like I've still so much to do, a sensation I've never felt with any other game. The story is great if you follow it through without skipping, even the boring parts that seem meaningless have a come back later on and will make you feel rewarded for the time you invested in them. The music is top tier and it is very hard to find a bad track in the entire game, after 23 years of gaming, this is actually the only game in where I've never turned off BGM, despite playing it for more than 7 years.
One last point I want to talk about, is the fact many people say the steam version must be avoided at all costs: to be honest, I've only had problems logging in because of steam 3 times in 7+ years, so if you open steam everyday anyway, I see no reason why you should avoid the steam version.

Every time someone asks me if I know a good MMORPG, I always tell them that in my opinion there are only 2 that are worth playing, WoW if you like pvp, FFXIV if you like PVE, all other options are mostly just money grabbers or lack content entirely. Aside of this very basic description, I can't stop suggesting FFXIV as the amount of content this game has is insane, after 2000 hours I feel like I've still so much to do, a sensation I've never felt with any other game. The story is great if you follow it through without skipping, even the boring parts that seem meaningless have a come back later on and will make you feel rewarded for the time you invested in them. The music is top tier and it is very hard to find a bad track in the entire game, after 23 years of gaming, this is actually the only game in where I've never turned off BGM, despite playing it for more than 7 years. One last point I want to talk about, is the fact many people say the steam version must be avoided at all costs: to be honest, I've only had problems logging in because of steam 3 times in 7+ years, so if you open steam everyday anyway, I see no reason why you should avoid the steam version.