A decent MMORPG?

[evilneko]

DDO's combat system makes it feel like you're playing something more akin to Oblivion than a typical MMO. Unlike in other MMOs where you target a mob, and then click an icon or hit a hotkey to cast your spell or start your auto attack and then sit back and watch your character move into range and attack, in DDO you point yourself at the mob, and click to attack (or hit your hotkey for your spell). Kinda like Oblivion. Sure you can face the other way and sling your spells -- but it ain't gonna do you any good!

 

There's just something more visceral about it that makes it more fun.

 

Also in DDO, unlike say, WoW, you do NOT stand toe to toe and swing at each other. Melee attackers will try to surround and corner you, ranged attackers will move away, and both you and the mob have collision -- no more running *through* the mob to get away. You gotta jump, and there's a skill check for that. ;)

[Aria C]

As far as F2P mmos go, right now, most of them are either showing their age, have cash shop features which are required to play the game, or have significant balance issues, so might be worth giving a pass on. Although these games are free to play, you usually have to pay 5-6 times a normal monthly fee to get anywhere in them. There are still some I haven't tried, but most seem to eventually fall into this kind of model as company greed prevails.

 

You are right about most F2P games but I have come across some that do not require huge cash investments.

One that I am playing now and have been for a year is called Ace Online. Ace a.k.a AO is the North American version of Space Cowboys Online.

 

Unlike most F2P games Ace Online relies more on the pilots actuall skill then on levels and Items. Dont get me wrong levels and Items are nice to have but player skill is the most valuable asset a player can have.

 

The bad parts of Ace

 

1 it's aging coding the devs are working on upgrades to everything. There has been tons of new content added to the game since its north american launch but the updates to the network and the engine that the players want done the most have only now just begun.

 

2 Its purely a PvP game, I have tried and failed to make a case for Ace and roleplaying in the past and have accepted that I am a pvp addict who pretends to support the Bygeniou Government. Anyway if any of you decide that dogfighting other pilots or blowing up tanks or shooting down nasty flying things online sounds like fun, join us over on Prelude server and if you side with the Bygeniou Government apply to join Crescendo brigade. We will set you up with items, teach you the tricks of your chosen gears trade and help you out in becoming a wing commader.

 

http://www.subagames.com/

 

Sorry for the shameless plug but it really is imo a fun game with a great community.

[Bejasc3D]

Theres good ol' Runescape :P?

 

Free for as long as you want and a Members option.

also, if you prefer a more modern/scifi approach, mechscape(subject/or is changed) is one that the company (JagEx) is releasing soon.

 

I thurougly enjoy runescape to be honest. But the good old days (2-3 years ago) where when it was best.

[greyfang]

if you want something very different, consider The Chronicles of Spellborn. While it's technically an Acclaim game (which aren't my fav), it's actually developed by a small European company who only uses Acclaim for NA publishing. it's been free to dl all along, and recently became fully ftp (no microtrans, no premium membership, no monthly). the skill deck is prob one of the most ingenious aspects of this game, as you don't have access to use any skill at any time. the skill deck is basically a rotating wheel with rows of slots (which grows larger as you level). to explain, you start with a deck of 3 rows and 3 columns, and can put any skills in those 9 slots. however, in combat, once you use a skill in row 1, the wheel rotates and you only have access to row 2 skills, and so on. this means you really have to pay attention to cooldowns, buff and debuffs, and skill ranges. there's also something called Personal Experience Points (PEP) which levels with your mob kills (from 0 - 5) that increases your movement speed, combat speed, and damage. there's no XP debt when you die, but you'll lose a PEP level, and that alone will motivate you to stay alive. also, TCoS is similar to DDO in that there is no autotarget function, you have to pay attention to where you're aimed if you want your skill to hit. the endgame is basically house vs. house (factional) PvPvE, so if you're not into PvP, it's prob not the best game for you. also, the player archetypes (ATs) are not your tired tank/hunter/rogue/healer set. i played a caster/healer type called a Void Seer, yet was able to do unbelievable damage (pretty good for soloing) and a tank type called a Blood Warrior which could link to both enemy mobs and other players to alter his damage input and output. the downside of TCoS is that leveling is old-school slow and can prove to be difficult until you get used to the ATs and environments. some of the zones are downright unforgiving in their difficulty, and the lore can be a bit convoluted, although it is pretty original material. also, the populations were relatively low on the two NA servers, but i've heard since that they've combined the EUR and NA servers to alleviate that issue (i haven't played in a while, so no idea how that worked out). anyway, it's enjoyable if you're tired of the same-old MMO run, but it's not a game for everyone, esp if you're used to being handed XP like candy on Halloween ::cough:: WoW ::cough::