I've got the MMO itch...

[Jandau]

...and I'm flat broke. So what do I need? That's right, a free MMO!

Normally, when this happens to me (every year or two), I just go and buy the current WoW expansion, a two month gamecard and get it out of my system. Once I went off and bought Warhammer Online (...waste of money that was...). But in recent years, I just can't afford to, so when the MMO urge rears its ugly head I'm down to scrounging the net for the best I can get for $0.

This is where you come in, fellow Escapists! I need reccomendations. What's good? More specifically, what's good even if I'm not going to be spending a single cent? I'm not looking for a game to devote the rest of my life to, I just need an MMO for a month or two to get this out of my system. Also, solo friendly ones are definitely preffered.

DDO is out since I played that last year. Nice game, but runs out of free content extremely fast. I did a short stint of Anarchy Online a few years ago, but that game is just wrong. I've had my eye on LotRO, but the game sounds terribly limited after reading what features are available in the F2P version. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds a lot like getting to play WoW up to level 20 for free.

So, which free MMO would you suggest to a person who isn't planning on spending a single cent on those darn microtransactions?

EDIT: Went with Everquest 2, didn't go so well, details bellow. Trying LotRO next.

 

[hazabaza1]

Vindictus?
I'm trying to get it work work right now though, it's difficult.
But give it a shot, it seems pretty good.
EDIT: also, Champions Online is becoming F2P early next year, if you can hold out that long.

 

[Desaari]

I've heard good things about Vindictus, but haven't played it yet myself.

LotR:O wasn't terrible as a game, but was very limiting without buying turbine points or paying a sub. The F2P version has a low money cap, doesn't let you put items up for trade, has large amounts of locked content, etc. What you can do (so I hear) is pay a one month sub, then you get to keep all the stuff it unlocks.

Beyond that, wait for Guild Wars 2

 

[Kevonovitch]

DDO, Vindictus, Free Realms, PSU/PSO server's.

 

[DazZ.]

Vindictus isnt out in Europe yet if that's where you are. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Source engine can do with an MMO, my main problem with MMOs is combat get terribly mundane, I've played many games on the Source engine that are just killing things without getting bored so I have some high hopes.

Can't help with free MMOs though, never found one that was awesome.

 

[Swaki]

i use everquest 2 whenever i get the itch, its sorta complicated, or atleast different from wow, but it requires almost no download.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Get away from me! That crap's contagious.

 

[Kevonovitch]

oh right, everquest 2! i've been meaning to try that out ever since it went f2p....

 

[Layz92]

Requiem: Bloodymare, Cabal Online, MU Online, FlyFF maybe

This [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free_massively_multiplayer_online_games] should help. You are probably looking for something in the "microtransaction" section.

 

[Jandau]

i use everquest 2 whenever i get the itch, its sorta complicated, or atleast different from wow, but it requires almost no download.

Huh, haven't realized EQ2 went F2P...

How does it compare to WoW? (Using WoW as a refference point since it's the one I'm most familiar with) What's different? Can it be played casual/solo or does it require a serious investment of time and constant grouping? How far will $0 get me in that game?

 

[EvilMaggot]

i got it the itch aswell.. after left wow 1 month ago, im just waiting on "The Secret World" and "Star Wars: The old Republic" if they turn out poop i might return to WoW

 

[WanderingFool]

Vindictus is actually pretty good, its also not all that addictive like Wow (for me atleast). I would give it a shot.

 

[Swaki]

i use everquest 2 whenever i get the itch, its sorta complicated, or atleast different from wow, but it requires almost no download.

Huh, haven't realized EQ2 went F2P...

How does it compare to WoW? (Using WoW as a refference point since it's the one I'm most familiar with) What's different? Can it be played casual/solo or does it require a serious investment of time and constant grouping? How far will $0 get me in that game?

ill admit it has a far more interesting story, but of cause its not as polished, finding and completing quests can be difficult at times, not knowing where to go and way to many quests in each area, which sounds like a good thing but it means that you will end up deleting half of them because they go grey before you get to them.

so far i have had no problems playing solo, and i never felt that i was crippled by being a free player, the only disadvantage i ran into was the lack of global chat, which makes perfect sense since otherwise it would be spam land, they do keep a few races and classes locked, but they have like 100 of each to begin with so the standard classes are still available, being in a party is really well balanced and is fun, the players are kind if a tad silent.

and i cant stress how great the download is, it took me 15 min to download it, it downloads a few mb each time you launch it, so it has the advantages over the other F2P MMOs that its easy and fast to try.

 

[Master10K]

LotR:O wasn't terrible as a game, but was very limiting without buying turbine points or paying a sub. The F2P version has a low money cap, doesn't let you put items up for trade, has large amounts of locked content, etc. What you can do (so I hear) is pay a one month sub, then you get to keep all the stuff it unlocks.

Beyond that, wait for Guild Wars 2

My thoughts exactly. Been playing LOTRO recently and it seems alright but there's a lot of locked content, though someone told me a way to unlock higher level content by just earning turbine points (with 2 characters) in-game. Just gotta spend a lot of time grinding certain deeds in certain areas.

Still is just a way for me to kill time before the awesomeness that will be Guild Wars 2 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNoWg2rENIo].

 

[s0m3th1ng]

Runes of Magic?

 

[Jandau]

Well, I went with Everquest 2...

Day 1: Ok, let's get this bad boy started... The game refuses to install. The game refuses to connect to servers. Checking the forums, a ton of people are having that problem. Ok, I'll try again tommorow.

Day 2: The game is installing. Alright, I'm in. Making my first character, trying to get into the game, crash. Ok, let's go at it again. This time it worked, I'm in the game. This isn't so bad, kinda like an older brother of WoW. A few hours later, I Alt-Tab to do something. When I try getting back into the game, my Windows Taskbar is constantly on the screen. I quit the game and fire it up again, but my taskbar is still there. Ok, let's reboot the computer.

Day 2, part 2: Trying to start the game... It freezes up. Close it, try again. The game can't connect to the server. You know what? Fuck this shit! Moving on to the next one!

Conclusion: Unstable client, only one overcrowded server, connection issues. Also, some limited features that are very annoying, like free players getting only 2 bag slots. You fill that in 5 minutes. Not worth the effort.

Next stop, Lord of the Rings Online!