In Pictures: 20 MMORPG Realms You Should Explore

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geoboy

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LoTRO went free to play today, by the way. While you CAN play the whole game for free (PvP excluded), It'd be a long grind to do so. You can earn store points by completing deeds in game.
 
Sees $15 a month subscription fee, go plays private server.

$15 a month fee over one year before Tax and banking fess that is $180 now take that over several years. One year a long can purchase a GTX 460 768mb version.
 

gxpbecker

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ahh the old days of EQ back before Luclin. Hours of running around trying to upgrade my bronze armor, take out vox... miss class lol back in the 8.99/month and Athalon 2400+ days

That does bring back memories. Also i do agree, kinda wondered where UO, Aion and FFXI where
 

tsnorquist

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Guild Wars stands out from the pack due to its Free to Play ability. It's simply a gorgeous environment, there isn't any "grind" per say, and the replayability is fantastic.

I can not wait for GW2 to arrive - it looks amazing.
 

ruban71

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Eve online with its single shard universe. A massive game which is also technically very inovative behind the scenes.
 

False_Dmitry_II

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Sorry MUMORPEGA's of the world, you will never have me playing you. No matter how free.

I had some friends who play WoW that wanted me to play with them. They eventually got so insistent that they literally paid my membership for the game and bought me a copy of the game. In return they just wanted me to play it with them for the 3 months of the starting membership. I just plain hated the game, and all MMO's are pretty much the same. I guess they thought I wasn't paying attention to them and my brother playing the various MMO games for the last 5+ years and thought that I couldn't really tell how they play from just watching.
 

heroictofu

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I personally believe that Final Fantasy XI should have been part of this list. Spanning a massive world with some incredibly creative locales, it's a game where you can truly explore and discover lands of mystery.
 

hardwarekid9756

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You have some really crappy ones, and completely ignored some of the more awesome ones. EQ2 > EQ. FFXI and FFXIV. Eve. Shaiya. To name a few. There are more. Lots more, and the majority KICK ASS compared to some of the ones listed. GG, bro...GG.
 
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You'll list a bunch of obscure Korean grinders like Rappelz and Runes of Magic but won't even mention FFXI?

That, my friend, is a sin.
 

bildo123

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[citation][nom]nforce4max[/nom]Sees $15 a month subscription fee, go plays private server.$15 a month fee over one year before Tax and banking fess that is $180 now take that over several years. One year a long can purchase a GTX 460 768mb version.[/citation]

...This is almost too easy...but anyways. If $15 is too "steep" for you I'd be very curious to know how you spend your spare time and money (assuming you have any of the latter). Most MMO's come with a prorated plan that becomes cheaper the more you put down up front. E.G. Eve online, if you pay for a year up front you only pay $10.99/month, instead of $14.99, which does result in a nice $48 in savings. So, near limitless entertainment for a year, for a couple days work. Not many other entertainment venues that provide that amount of bang for your buck.
 
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Where's Entropia Universe? People there frequently pay more than 100$ per month.
 

azcoyote

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Runes of Magic is great. Free to play. Spend only when you WANT to spend and I have never seen the need. You can level, advance, enjoy the play without issue.
 
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regarding Aion and FFXI: the title of the article is "realms you SHOULD explore"
 

zak_mckraken

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[citation][nom]reclinemusic[/nom]regarding Aion and FFXI: the title of the article is "realms you SHOULD explore"[/citation]
I see what you did there.

You forgot the sh**load of Korean MMO's out there, like Maple Story... although I don't really care.
 

sidran32

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[citation][nom]Firehead2k[/nom]Concerning GuildWars:"quests and encounters were endured locally on the gamer's PC"Wat?All non-town areas are instanced, meaning you won't run into other players that are not in your party. The player still plays online, nothing is done "locally"."Servers also played matchmaker for players wanting to quest in co-op mode"Not true. Only Random Arena (pvp) and the factions battles (also pvp) (from Factions) is where people are randomly paired. Other than that, people can take NPC heros or group with people (or solo) to go kill stuff.Additionaly worth mentioning is that GW has no grind. Level cap is low (20) and usually reached within a week. There is no 'uber-leet-gear', all gear performs essentially the same, depending on what one needs. Once items have the maximum stats, they only differ by their looks.[/citation]
All of this.

This is part of the reason I liked Guild Wars (played all three campaigns + expansion pack for a few years, though left after my guild started dissipating, now looking forward to GW2). You hit the level cap easily and so for most of the game, it wasn't about the awesome armor you have or weapons you have, or that you've spent 6 months getting to level 60, but strategy and skill, and most especially, teamwork within your party. You can only carry 8 skills at a time, and can only change your skills when in a town (which means you can't change your build during a quest or mission). Much time is spent in towns analyzing builds, comparing them within your party and planning out what you will do and what builds go together. You often will be fighting NPC enemies that are level 30 and up, when your party is all level 20, but it doesn't matter if you have the right build and good teamwork.

It was a thinking man's game, and it is excellent. You couldn't just power your way through it.

That, and I hate subscription models for online play (for individual games). I don't want that kind of pressure to "get my money's worth". :)
 

buckcm

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I played Rappelz for a bit, and the game has no depth. It was interesting at first, but I grew annoyed after a month. It's not bad for being free, but it's irritating how people gain an advantage by paying. I rather pay monthly so everyone has an equal playing field.

"Jagex's browser-based MMORPG RuneScape originally launched back in 2001. The game isn't exactly hardcore. Like Sony's Free Realms, RuneScape
is geared toward a general audience, young and old."

AND... I quit RS for a bit and finally came back to it. The PvP is addicting. You can look at it and call it crap (because there is way too much grinding), but the boss fights and PvP is great. Basically Runescape let's you do skills (fletching, woodcutting, herblore, firemaking, hunter, runecrafting, agility, thieving, etc); so you can do the non-combat stuff and be a "skiller." If you want something a little more "hardcore" then you get your combat skills (strength, attack, defense, magic, range, prayer) up for some fun; PvP is pretty intense IMO. Runescape certainly doesn't have the graphics of other games (though there have been MAJOR updates), but Jagex has done an excellent job for having its game run in a browser.
 

porksmuggler

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I play every gaming genre, except monthly fee MMORPGs (yeah I've tried WOW on a client's PC a few times, and played Guild Wars) It's not the genre, it's the grind. Reminds me of people who sit all day at internet gambling sites.
 
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