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General: Bill's Top Five F2P MMOs
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy goes out on a limb this week and writes a list of his three favorite F2P MMORPGs currently on the market.
Let me preface this from the very beginning by stating that this particular list is extremely opinion-driven. There are oodles of F2P games on the market these days, and what you’re about to read is one man’s (mine) take on the top five games currently available. I’m also only including games that are free to obtain and play (even if there is an optional subscription involved) without the actual necessity of paying a subscription or any money for the client itself. That leaves out Guild Wars, Warhammer Online, Global Agenda, and any other similar example that meet part of the “Free” equation but not the whole enchilada. We could write a whole other list for games of that sort. Additionally, we all know the F2P market is driven by micro-transactions and some of the items in these shops are more necessary than others when it comes to things like end-game activities (I’m looking at you, Allods).
That said, just a few years back F2P was synonymous with “poor quality import”. Now the F2P model has the power of some very high quality AAA production behind it, and more and more players are checking in and buying in to the notion of the F2P model. I feel that developers and publishers alike are still struggling a little bit to find that sweet spot between what players are willing to pay for and what they aren’t, but by and large the revenue model is gaining traction, and the following games are largely responsible for one reason or another.
Read Bill's Top Five F2P MMOs.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
I used to play Requiem: bloodymare some time ago and imo it was a really good game, anyway going back to WaR now,
greetings
While you are entitled to you opinions, I beg to differ. While Runes of Magic and Allods might be fun to play at the lower levels, get to the higher levels and they both will demand far deeper investment than a p2p. I think that is a very important fact that you missed. Also the fact that Gpotato rarely has GM's policing the bots and gold sellers. I think there are better f2p games out there than these two that don't require you to invest an arm and an leg and don't have to compete with bots and gold sellers.
I personally think Perfect World is better than either of those titles, but that is simply personal preference.
For kids Wizard 101 is better imo than Sony's offering.
Free Realms and Wizard 101 both are not free to play (anymore). Trial they have.
I hate to suggest it (because of gamble boxes in item shop), but I would place Atlantica into your hiscore.
If turbine can do that with DDO why can't they make 1 or 2 severs for AC2 under the same type of model. The game is huge and has Xpac already that they are just letting collect dust.
How many delicate flowers have you met in Counterstrike?
I got a case of beer and a chainsaw waiting for me at home after work.
The only really good game here is Anarchy Online.
You pretty much lost me as soon as I saw FreeRealms ranked above it. If there's ever been a more cynical, phony, patronizing game, I never heard of it. On top of that it is restrictive as hell, it's lonely, and every single game in it is mind-numbing fluff. Top this off with sales pitch after sales pitch - right down to taking your pet away after teaching you how to feed and care for it.
DDO is alright, but calling it an MMO is a stretch even if we're using that term here for games like Guild Wars and Global Agenda, because nothing really happens in the lobby areas. They aren't for trading or crafting, and groups are organized outside the game. I sense I'm not being quite fair, and it probably does deserve to be in the top 5 anyway, but that's pretty depressing. What's maddening is the game now has big open MMO-style areas, but people who haven't met can't share that space even if this is what everyone wants.
Runes of Magic and Allods may not look like throwaway Lineage clones, but that's more or less what they are. If you wanted pretty and shallow fluff, you could do worse than Florensia. Shaiya is the best of these games simply because its player base is ridiculously friendly and so many people group for the hell of it, not just when they have to.
I'd have liked to see Shadowbane on here, but I guess Ubisoft managed not only to shut it down but to retcon it out of gaming history. I know this was a sort of recommendation list, but just because a pack of terrified lawyers have forbidden us to play it doesn't mean it's not a game anymore.
The one biggie you missed is Wizard 101, which has a reasonable enough F2P area considering its target audience, and is an honestly wonderful and original full-blown MMO.
IMHO, YMMV, and so on and so forth.
einexile the meek
Vacuos, Winterlong, Vaciante, Eicosapenta
Atlantean, Tyranny, Malton
*facepalm* no .... just, just .....NO! this list is fail! FEZ isn't even in full release yet, one of the games isn't even F2P anymore ... most all of them are younger than a year old. this is just .... fail!
+1, i dont play atlantica anymore but even with the crap gamble boxes it still beats out this entire list.
The MT model that DDO uses, more MT games need to look at this. L2MT!
The game itself I've not been able to keep myself interested in, but the MT model is much better than any other I've seen.
srsly!
so...
Thanks for the column. Although I feel this is useless information, at least it might be useful to others.
This brings me to my point:
Why are these columns incessantly reviewing/promoting/legitimizing the F2P market?
This is not to say that P2P games are being exluded; I am only stating that there is just more information about F2P games than P2P ones. I don't understand why all the advertisements on mmorpg.com have to do mostly with F2P games (Advertisement is crucial, no doubt, but biased advertisement influences not only a community, but an individual community member therein)
I enjoy these forums. I enjoy the debates. I enjoy the reviews. But why so much emphasis on F2P games and less emphasis on P2P games (as a whole, not specific game reviews, but articles such as this one, where the top five p2p games are being reviewed)?
Am I missing something here? If so, please correct me, because I really would like to be proven wrong about this subject.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
"Your pride, good sir, far exceeds your worth." -x3r0h
Oldest mmorpg.com member with the least amount of post counts. That counts for something, right?
I don't really think Anarchy Online belongs on this list. The free gameplay is more like an unlimited trial. Sure, you get access to a huge part of the game and the restrictions to interaction with other players isn't nearly as strict as a typical trial. However, once you pay to unlock the expansions, it turns into a regular P2P game. Once you start paying a subscription fee, you can't just cancel the subscription and keep playing for free. You'd have to start a new free account.
For AO to be considered a F2P game, I think it would need an option to stop paying and keep playing. After all, not paying while you're not playing is one of the main reasons people play F2P games, isn't it? That said, I really like the payment model they've chosen for AO. It's a brilliant way to keep an old game alive. Free players fill up parts of the game world that would otherwise be empty and makes the world feel more alive, which again helps with retention for paying players. I just don't think it's right to compare it to games funded mostly through cash shops.
You are wrong Free Realms in fact is FREE to play.
Twitter @Phantium
I have tried every one of these games and guess what? I still consider them poor quality imports". Not one of these games has enough depth or fun to grab me and make me play for more than a day. Wish they did but they don't. DDO is close, but lack of open world exploration and the odd combat skil/setup ruins that for me.
3 of these arent so bad, (1, 4 and 5) but I object to 2, 3 mostly because no matter how polished they are, F2P is such a misnomer, at least if you intend to be competitive in PVP. Pay to Play is far more accurate, the more the better it seems and I resent this model.
I know the games need to make money, but not to the point that the cash shops impart such huge advantages that keeping expenses to a reasonable reuslts in you being unable to compete.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
It's mildly embarrassing that you spelled the name of your #1 game incorrectly, you might want to fix that.
And I'll add a call for Atlantica to be there, I can't possibly rate RoM or Allods above it, given how derivative both are, and how Atlantica gives a fresh approach to the gameplay of a "questing & levelling" fantasy MMO.
Title: General: Bill's Top Five F2P MMOs
MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy goes out on a limb this week and writes a list of his three favorite F2P MMORPGs currently on the market.
@ My opinion
It's unfortunate that the higher quality the F2P title is, the more functional the cash shop items are, but I guess it's a neccessary evil - higher budget (in this case a comparable budget to P2Ps) will require more revenue, and it will be needed to provide more than "just" cosmetic stuff, Allods being the almighty example that offers ZERO cosmetic items.
What a Fail List!!! What about Atlantica Online? And I think that some of this games arent released yet!!
Wizard101 and FusionFall would definitely make a top 10 in my opinion.
My list
1. Guild Wars
2. DDO
3. Anarchy Online
4. Atlantica Online
5. Perfect World
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
I don't really think Anarchy Online belongs on this list. The free gameplay is more like an unlimited trial.
Neither does DDO. For some reason those f2p promoters keep referring to the classical p2p games that have either unlimited trial like AO (I guess next step is indicating WAR or AoC, since both have unlimited trials too) or switched to ADDITIONAL option of limited f2p.
Probably the reason is simple - there is no really good f2p you can point to (though RoM and PW could be good enough example).
It appears as though the shaft of DDO is firmly planted in the throats of columnists these days.
It was a crap game before 'f2p', it's still a crap game.
I think the chronicles of spellborn deserves to be on this list... at least at #4
http://spellborn.acclaim.com/
Uhh... what?
pretty sure DDO isn't F2P in europe... so maybe he should change the title
"Bill's Top Five F2P NA MMO's"
*cough* thank you codemasters...
[heavy sarcasm]
"nothing actually matters, we're just slightly evolved monkeys clinging to a dying piece of rock hurtling through space waiting for our eventual death." - Frankie Boyle, Mock The Week
Dungeon Fighter Online is easily much more enjoyable than most of the games on this list, ever since they drastically reduced experience needed to level. Great beatemup action with complex classes.
Atlantica, Mabinogi, Runescape and Navy Field are better and more original than those on that list. Anarchy & DDO were P2P that became F2P's. Allods, RoM & Free Realm are just copycats of some successful P2P's.
Seriously, Bill, go play more F2P's before making a list. Even HelloKitty online has more originality than those on your list.
Agree with you about wizard 101 its much much better than Free Realms. However, Perfect world isn't very good. Granted its a huge world but when it comes down too it its just another typical asian grinder. Your also really don't have to invest anything in RoM or allods later in the game. Granted you won't be as strong as someone who does but still you can experience all the raids and such without spending a dime.