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MMORPGs: Are there any good ones that are free or cheap?

 
 
Jake, Colossus of Clout
02:50 / 13.05.06
Are there any good, free MMORPGs out there? I really don't need another monthly fee, and I'm not sure if my PC is up to running WoW or it's ilk, anyway.

I love browser games like Kingdom of Loathing and Urban Dead, but I want something a little flashier, that I can veg out on for hours at a time. Basically, I want the poor man's WoW. Does it exist? Or will I cry myself to sleep tonight, pining away for something beautiful that I can't possess?
 
 
Spatula Clarke
10:17 / 13.05.06
Anarchy Online is still free. Takes forever to download all the uprgades and patches before you can actually start playing the bloody thing, though, and shows up the genre's familiar structural problems quite badly. Can still be an effective time-waster, despite the problems.
 
 
Lama glama
13:49 / 13.05.06
Illarion is a free roleplaying game with the emphasis on crafting a background story for your character and taking part in the player run political systems. Also, this is a shameless plug on my part, because I'm administrative staff over there.

Seriously though, it is fun and it's constantly being upgraded. We currently have a nice java client with improved character animation and the like.
 
 
Quantum
14:14 / 13.05.06
Cities.
 
 
■
14:56 / 13.05.06
Yes, Cities, as serious as you want it to be. As long as you're quite silly.
 
 
the credible hulk
16:09 / 13.05.06
Guild Wars.

You go to the store and buy it, and play without a monthly fee. It's pretty great.
 
 
enrieb
16:30 / 13.05.06
You could try Runescape by Jagex. It's free and simple to start with, but be warned mmorpgs can become very addictive.
 
 
Isadore
19:14 / 13.05.06
Guild Wars is an MMORPG which doesn't charge subscription fees.
 
 
Happy Dave Has Left
19:24 / 13.05.06
You can play Second Life for free, though you can't own property or make stuff til you shell out. The game doesn't really have a point, per se. Kinda cool to wander around for a while though.
 
 
Jake, Colossus of Clout
00:17 / 14.05.06
I tried Runescape, but it was impossible to find anything, so I gave it up. I already have a Cities account, but the limited moves
don't make for the hours of soul-sucking obsession I'm looking for.


I downloaded Anarchy Online, however, and it's the shit so far. Exactly what I wanted. Building up my character's skills incrementally over hours and hours. And it runs pretty darn well on my creaky old laptop. It's incredibly unintuitive (is that even a word?), but there are scads of very helpful, polite people to walk you through the early parts of the game. There's backdrop of political intrigue and civil unrest, which has, apparently, been interrupted fairly recently by an alien invasion. Seems to be good people online so far, and, not having any background in MMORPGs, the shortcomings Randy pointed to are harder for me to spot, having nothing to compare AO with.

So, if there are any other cheap bastards out there who want the MMORPG experience without paying for it, I recommend this. I just had to install the latest drivers for my video card and it ran like buttah.

I'm Jakegnosis, Solitar soldier of the Clans. PM me. I'm on the MMORPG train, now, for better or worse. Excuse me, but I must log back in. You see, I need to find this cloak for this guy, and I want to upgrade my assault rifle, and, well, jeez, I'm this close to level 11...
 
 
Tim Tempest
02:28 / 14.05.06
I gotta' try this out. It sounds wiiicked. Plus...Free!
 
 
one point, oh
21:13 / 24.05.06
Planeshift is an opensource MMORPG which appears to be picking up some production pace now. It's completely free, no threat of any charges ever, and endless content updates due to its opensource nature. It also supports Linux and Mac OS.



Truth is though that its not quite complete yet. It is playable certainly, but the features they intend to implement aren't even close. The community is nice and very RP orientated, partly because it used to be a MUD. They have some nice ideas too; definitely worth checking out.
 
 
semioticrobotic
22:13 / 24.05.06
While it seems to be down at the moment, this Ghostbusters MMORPG is free to download and play.
 
  
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