This is a bit of a review/rant by me about MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) games.
I've been around the MMO Block for a while now, I still remember my first P2P (Pay to play) MMO, a little 2.5D Game called "Dark Ages". Ever since I've played many MMO games and noticed many trends and flaws that build in them, so this is my view on comparing the Free to play MMOs vs the Pay to play.
In many F2P games I've noticed that they're lacking in strong introduction in the game, I'm sure most companies that make these games can't afford to make a big entrance like World of Warcraft to start your adventure off but it is no excuse to make the game lack in a Introductive Story. As an example, i recently tried out Perfect World. A game i heard was one of the better Free to play MMOs and immediately i was unimpressed. The game started off by spawning me in a area and giving me a few pop up boxes that told me what a person with a quest looked like. To give this game a bit of a fair chance i continued to play and see what the rest of the beginning was like and sadly it disappointed me even more.
Throughout levels 1~12 the game failed to explain some things to me like how to repair my gear and how to identify random drops so i can see what stats they hold, also it unlike pay MMOs did not take my hand and lead me from quest to quest until i got the hang of it myself. Rather then guide me like a loving game that wanted me to play it further it just patted me on the head and said go do stuff, but in the pay to play games like (once again) World of Warcraft the game told me in a introduction what my race was and what our goals were then proceeded to hold my hand guiding me from quest to quest until i left the starter area with enough experience to know how to do all the thing required to play and level up without confusion or discontent.
Questing in many games is the main source of experience points in MMOs. In order to level you need experience and money an it seems that almost every NPC in the game has some spare change and a few things that need to be done in game. First lets start with Free games again, I've noticed in many free games Questing is either really bland or non-existent. Some free games do not supply enough quest to level up and others quest are just so ridiculously boring or dumb. Free to play games with no real quest would be games like Maple Story. Maple Story does have quest in them but they either supply no really good reward or just don't give enough experience to really give a damn about them. Other games like once again Perfect World have quest where you are given the task of doing something that makes your character seem like the village errand boy, like quest where you have to go fetch a little girls kite because it blew away into a area that is to scary for the girl to get it herself. Free to play quest are also poorly written, i don't expect much for free but if i was developing a game like this i would take the extra time to at least write some story into the game.
Pay to play MMO quest do not get much better. Games like Star Wars Galaxies don't even have actual quest with story. They just supply you with missions to earn money so you can play the game. There is also Ragnarok Online, a game that is nothing but a big grind fest and no actual quest at all. The bigger more popular games like (again) World of Warcraft have quest that just a step up from Free games. The quest in WoW have one big advantage over other games though and that is that there is actually a bit of story tucked into each one, but the quest themselves are all the same. Repeating the same fetch quest or just quest where they send you to a place to kill 20 somewhat monsters because they have to die for some reason. All in all quest don't change much between games but at least the advantage to Pay games is that they have more Story lodged in them to make you feel like your doing something worth while.
Leveling is a essential part of any MMO, because if you don't level up then whats the point of playing? Free to play games are fine with leveling, quest, mobs, and all sorts of things to get you that 100% Xp mark, but what i find most of these games lacking is a sense of achievement upon reaching the next level. Some games like Maple story or Silkroad take forever to level but with every level you get a new skill point to advance your attacks, thus you feel some sense of achievement. Other games like Perfect World or Trickster you can level up at a somewhat decent rate but you have to level 3-4 times to get a new skill. This leaves me feeling that i am not achieving much with each level other then a few stat points that don't really make enough of a impact on my skills to make me feel any better. Leveling in Free games can feel more tedious then others so I'd suggest you find a friend to level with because you can find yourself bored with no sense of achievement real quick.
Paying games are somewhat the same in this category as free games although some of them tend to take different paths. Games like Star Wars Galaxies (Before the combat revamp that ruined the game) didn't actually have levels, you had a profession and you level up a different tree of skill depends on what you want to level, you could also Multi-class and take more then one profession so you could customize your character and make it different from everyone else. Other games like Warhammer and WoW took the leveling up path but branched off from each other at Skill training road. Warhammer took a similar path to Free games and you only gain some skills every 2~3 levels but what they did diffrent was every level your current skills automatically get stronger without having to train for it. WoW however gives you new skills every 2 levels (from levels 1~60) which made you strive and work for those new skills or a new rank of your fireball, in the beginning of WoW it could be somewhat tiresome but with how easy it is to level now you feel somewhat more achieved with every ding.
General channels in games have always been a good way for players to communicate with each other over long distances but it seem most Free games like to take that away from players that play their games cause they are "free". In most free MMO games you have a choice of wither or not you want to spend money. Free games often supply a "Cash shop" where you can use a credit card or game card and purchase points to spend on certain in game items. Most games the items are novelty and just make your character look different, but in some games the items will have better stats then the items you can get in game. Some games though go as far as charging you money for a item that allows you to use a general talk channel, i can understand that these companies need money to keep their games going but i think a better idea would be to have a separate broadcast channel for the whole server that cost money and a general talk channel that only reaches a specific area.
As a ending statement I'd just like to say these games have their ups and downs. You can try any free game for free but make sure you research a Pay to play MMO before you actually buy it, or else you might end up buying a game that you really don't like and waste your money *Stares at his Age of Conan Box*. It is also handy to keep in mind while looking at free games that the game is FREE, sure you might lose some luxury but what else do you want for free?
I've been around the MMO Block for a while now, I still remember my first P2P (Pay to play) MMO, a little 2.5D Game called "Dark Ages". Ever since I've played many MMO games and noticed many trends and flaws that build in them, so this is my view on comparing the Free to play MMOs vs the Pay to play.
Game Introduction & Start off
Throughout levels 1~12 the game failed to explain some things to me like how to repair my gear and how to identify random drops so i can see what stats they hold, also it unlike pay MMOs did not take my hand and lead me from quest to quest until i got the hang of it myself. Rather then guide me like a loving game that wanted me to play it further it just patted me on the head and said go do stuff, but in the pay to play games like (once again) World of Warcraft the game told me in a introduction what my race was and what our goals were then proceeded to hold my hand guiding me from quest to quest until i left the starter area with enough experience to know how to do all the thing required to play and level up without confusion or discontent.
Questing
Questing in many games is the main source of experience points in MMOs. In order to level you need experience and money an it seems that almost every NPC in the game has some spare change and a few things that need to be done in game. First lets start with Free games again, I've noticed in many free games Questing is either really bland or non-existent. Some free games do not supply enough quest to level up and others quest are just so ridiculously boring or dumb. Free to play games with no real quest would be games like Maple Story. Maple Story does have quest in them but they either supply no really good reward or just don't give enough experience to really give a damn about them. Other games like once again Perfect World have quest where you are given the task of doing something that makes your character seem like the village errand boy, like quest where you have to go fetch a little girls kite because it blew away into a area that is to scary for the girl to get it herself. Free to play quest are also poorly written, i don't expect much for free but if i was developing a game like this i would take the extra time to at least write some story into the game.
Pay to play MMO quest do not get much better. Games like Star Wars Galaxies don't even have actual quest with story. They just supply you with missions to earn money so you can play the game. There is also Ragnarok Online, a game that is nothing but a big grind fest and no actual quest at all. The bigger more popular games like (again) World of Warcraft have quest that just a step up from Free games. The quest in WoW have one big advantage over other games though and that is that there is actually a bit of story tucked into each one, but the quest themselves are all the same. Repeating the same fetch quest or just quest where they send you to a place to kill 20 somewhat monsters because they have to die for some reason. All in all quest don't change much between games but at least the advantage to Pay games is that they have more Story lodged in them to make you feel like your doing something worth while.
Leveling
Leveling is a essential part of any MMO, because if you don't level up then whats the point of playing? Free to play games are fine with leveling, quest, mobs, and all sorts of things to get you that 100% Xp mark, but what i find most of these games lacking is a sense of achievement upon reaching the next level. Some games like Maple story or Silkroad take forever to level but with every level you get a new skill point to advance your attacks, thus you feel some sense of achievement. Other games like Perfect World or Trickster you can level up at a somewhat decent rate but you have to level 3-4 times to get a new skill. This leaves me feeling that i am not achieving much with each level other then a few stat points that don't really make enough of a impact on my skills to make me feel any better. Leveling in Free games can feel more tedious then others so I'd suggest you find a friend to level with because you can find yourself bored with no sense of achievement real quick.
Paying games are somewhat the same in this category as free games although some of them tend to take different paths. Games like Star Wars Galaxies (Before the combat revamp that ruined the game) didn't actually have levels, you had a profession and you level up a different tree of skill depends on what you want to level, you could also Multi-class and take more then one profession so you could customize your character and make it different from everyone else. Other games like Warhammer and WoW took the leveling up path but branched off from each other at Skill training road. Warhammer took a similar path to Free games and you only gain some skills every 2~3 levels but what they did diffrent was every level your current skills automatically get stronger without having to train for it. WoW however gives you new skills every 2 levels (from levels 1~60) which made you strive and work for those new skills or a new rank of your fireball, in the beginning of WoW it could be somewhat tiresome but with how easy it is to level now you feel somewhat more achieved with every ding.
General Talk & Ending statement
General channels in games have always been a good way for players to communicate with each other over long distances but it seem most Free games like to take that away from players that play their games cause they are "free". In most free MMO games you have a choice of wither or not you want to spend money. Free games often supply a "Cash shop" where you can use a credit card or game card and purchase points to spend on certain in game items. Most games the items are novelty and just make your character look different, but in some games the items will have better stats then the items you can get in game. Some games though go as far as charging you money for a item that allows you to use a general talk channel, i can understand that these companies need money to keep their games going but i think a better idea would be to have a separate broadcast channel for the whole server that cost money and a general talk channel that only reaches a specific area.
As a ending statement I'd just like to say these games have their ups and downs. You can try any free game for free but make sure you research a Pay to play MMO before you actually buy it, or else you might end up buying a game that you really don't like and waste your money *Stares at his Age of Conan Box*. It is also handy to keep in mind while looking at free games that the game is FREE, sure you might lose some luxury but what else do you want for free?
