Source: Youtube Channel CurseNetwork
The word "free" in games has actually become a really bad word for some/a lot of gamers. With a huge over saturation of cookie cutter RPGs and laggy FPSs, avid online gamers have become sick of the word "free" online games and would much prefer to pay for a quality game. Well, that's certainly not 100% true since a lot of pay-to-play online game companies have converted to free-to-play style because of the competition held by free online games. I am still very much in love with the concept of free online games just because I can try out so many different games and explore so much without having the obligation of paying for them. This concept started happening with Korean online game developers working with a free-to-play structure where players can play for free and have the option to use real money to enhance their game characters with items, equipment, and bonuses. This was quickly adapted in the western market and has done well for some companies (Zynga with their billion dollar business). Because of the huge success of the initial companies in the Western market, hundreds of Asian, European, and some American developed games launched all over the internet with similar structures to those that have been successful but ultimately lacks diversity and depth.
Advantages:
-Incredible/Quality games are free to download and play
-Graphics, music, and gameplay can be as good as commercially sold games
-All sorts of genres are available to find and play
-Most of the games are easy for all to learn and still have enough challenge for hardcore gamers
-Games have an immersive environment to them and can (sometimes) have a involving community
-Raises cultural awareness with some games retaining their original native language voice-overs
Disadvantages:
-RPGs all follow the same structure and require players to play for hours, weeks, or months before getting into the real parts of the games "instances, group quests, boss fights, PvP, GvG."
-Hackers, whiners, and foul-mouthed players frequently ruin competitive online games
-Lots of games lack depth with repetitive gameplay and monotonous activities
-Players who pay for items, equipment and level boosts have a significant advantage over those who don’t, causing imbalance in competitive games
-Lack of players, bugs, lag, and glitches interfere with the experience of the game which eventually kills off the community that played it
-Games that don’t have enough paying players on them will inevitably shut down no matter how great or entertaining it was
I’ve been avoiding MMOs for the past two years because of college and because I went back to playing a lot of console games after I graduated (until Steam pulled me back into PC gaming. Those sales are diabolical, and I love it, haha). Having played over 50+ online games, I started to grow tired of the same type of games that kept releasing one after another with no real difference or hook to them. But at the same time, it is because I have had such a wide range of experience in MMOs that I have a better idea of what games I would recommend.
Source: Youtube Channel orihime09
Ragnarok Online – This game has been around for a long time. It started out as a pay-to-play online game but has recently switched to a free-to-play model in response to the competition from free online games. Ragnarok Online is a top-down 2.5 dimensional MMORPG that emulates 3D using 2D graphics. Though this game came out a long time ago, it has many aspects that are great even by today’s standards. The music is magnificent and really draws the player in. One of the most interesting characteristics of the game mechanics was the amount of classes there were to choose from and the different types of stats build that could be made with each character to fit one’s playing style. The most mind boggling game mechanic was the freedom that the game gave. There isn’t a set story, a linear path one should take, or quests that takes players from one area to the next. This sandbox method of playing is rather intimidating at first since the game’s world is rather large with no direction of where beginners should go. I loved the freedom in the game. I got to set my own goals, played my own story, and let things happen naturally. I would get together with friends and run through a difficult dungeon to see if we can fight off the boss monster. Other times, I get caught up in conversations within a town with other players I’ve never met and we’d talk for long durations (I ended up talking to a group of players in Prontera for 2 hours about politics and global economy and it was pretty entertaining. It’s strange, but true). The game is still very successful and have plenty of players logged on each day.
Source: Youtube Channel wongliheng
Maple Story – I’m almost hesitant to even mention Maple Story as a recommendation. Maple Story is possibly my first real MMO that I started playing back in 2005. It was such an innovation for me at the time. It plays like a cross between a plat-former and an RPG a la “Metroidvania” with tons of weapons and classes to choose from. The graphics and music were charming and had a whimsical atmosphere to it. The problem was when it first started, its game mechanics were more geared towards the audience in Asia . Maple Story is one of the first Korean Online games that was brought over to the Western market with the free-to-play, micro-transaction structure and remains today as one of the most successful games of gaining a profit from it. I had created 10 characters when I first started since I was so excited to try out all the possibilities and eventually stuck with my Warrior to level as far as I could with it. After a while, I realized that all I was doing in the game was standing in one area for hours killing the same monsters that spawned until I reached a high enough level to take on enemies in another area to repeat the same monotonous tasks. I eventually decided to quit the game and not go back to it; however, the game has gone through a lot of changes that fit more towards the western audience for those who didn’t want to “grind” as much. Experience points are gained faster, quests are abundant, a combo system has been integrated, and lots of new events happen every now and then. I’m almost tempted to go back to it…
Source: Youtube Channel viennakim
Gunz: The Duel – Gunz has been one of the many MMOs that I played that had such an amazing experience. It’s a third-person action shooter where players try to eliminate each other in a competitive match utilizing various firearms and blades. Within the game, the player can dash in mid-air, scale walls, and deflect in-coming bullets with a sword. The game has a level up system that unlocks weapons and equipment for players to buy, but the game has more of a reliance on skill rather than levels, equipment, and items. The most thrilling part of the game for me was learning K-Style (Korean Style) which utilized all the weapons and techniques so that it’s possible to wall climb indefinitely, block in-coming bullets, shoot, slash, and dodge or recover while repeating when there’s an opening. It was something that really challenged my skill rather than demanding my time to gain experience points and farm for currency to get the next item. Unfortunately, hackers and pros either made people give up on the game or scared them away; therefore, not many people play the game anymore. Fortunately, the game is still being hosted by ijji and still has some players still on as well as having the quest mode where the player goes up against room after room of computer enemies. It’s worth checking out.
Source: Youtube Channel RiotGamesInc
League of Legends – Defense of the Ancients (DotA) was such an amazing game to me. There were so many characters and replay value to it. So it was no surprise that when I heard two of the contributing makers of DotA went on to create a standalone online game based off of DotA, I was ecstatic (meaning I was freaking excited!). League of Legends (LoL) is a Massive Online Battle Arena (MOBA) where two teams push their respective army into the enemy’s base and destroy their main building. The game is played as a top-down action RPG tower-defense hybrid and was first started as a custom campaign on Starcraft before being recreated as DotA on Warcraft 3’s map editor. Players fight and eliminate neutral enemies and player enemies to gain levels and gold in order to gain new skills and buy stat enhancing items to be strong enough to push into enemy territory. LoL addresses many problems that DotA had due to the limitations of the Warcraft 3 editor such as not being able reconnect after being disconnected, having all the skill’s hot keys spread all over the keyboard rather than being aligned, and making it easier to camera focus on the player’s character. The game also features player progression such as the rune system where players can buy stat enhancing items, a summoner level which grants a player more rune space to place runes in, and gaining points to buy characters rather than relying on the week’s random draft list to choose a character. The game runs on a micro-transaction model which allows players to buy characters, skin packs, and experience boosting items. LoL currently holds the most hours played from the games I’ve been playing in the past few years (150+ hours, which is a lot for me). League of Legends is much easier to learn compared to DotA, so this is one game I would recommend all to try.
Source: Youtube Channel hagbardc3line
Battlefield Heroes – Don’t be fooled by the childish demeanor of this game. Battlefield Heroes is a stupidly fun third-person shooter that follows a lot of the mechanics from the other Battlefield games in a cartoon style, mischief making war between the two teams. I had the trailer’s theme song stuck in my head for the longest time and have always heard about the game but never tried it. I downloaded and played it one day when I was still in college and enjoyed it a lot. It’s so satisfying whenever I got backstab kills, headshot snipes, and explosive kills (Commando all the way!) but it was a difficult class to play for sure. After about 1-2 weeks, I had to ban myself from the game since it was affecting my studies. The game can be addicting, but I never allow myself to get addicted to games even if I love them so much. This game also runs on a micro-transaction model where players can buy special weapons, perks, and experience boosting items. I haven’t played the game in a while, but I always feel the need to whenever I heard the main theme song:
I generally don’t play as much free MMOs anymore just because of how busy I get now. If I do find the time to play, these are the ones I log onto:
-Dynasty Warriors Online – Hack ‘n Slash MMORPG
-Vindictus – Mature Action RPG based off the Mabinogi world
-Quake Live – Fast Action First-Person Shooter
-Dungeon Fighters Online – Arcade -like Fighter RPG
-S4 League – Third-Person Action Shooter that’s similar to Gunz
-Mabinogi – Casual Fantasy Life MMORPG, a very relaxing game to play
-Granado Espada: Sword of the New World – MMORPG with the best music I’ve ever heard
-Ragnarok Online – Sandbox MMORPG
-League of Legends – MOBA based off of DotA
-Cabal Online – MMORPG with a twitch based combat system
There are a lot more games to be found and played and most can be found through game portals and publishers. Here are some of the ones I play/played on:
Thanks for dropping by! This has been a very eventful week. Have fun with those free games~
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