Gruh, I'd like to add your reviews to the OP because I did the same with some others, but they're just taking up too much room. I'm going to delete the rest of the reviews just to clear the whole thing up a little. If I ever make a proper website out of this I'll make sure I have more than enough space for user reviews, but this current format of a thread just isn't useful. *e: And so I have all the reviews on the same page for future use: --- JamesDM review of 9Dragons: 3/5 Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Race/Class/Level: Segita/Hunter(Ranger)/10, Bagi Warrior(Melee)/22 Player Base: Moderate, the servers seem to be populated enough to find a group but the lag and crowding seems minimal. Also seems that the 17+ requirement for this game draws a lot of the younger crowd Grind: Moderate to Heavy, this game is pretty grind-tastic that's not to say that it's not enjoyable. I had fun with my Segita Hunter, soloing in 2Moons is completely possible even with a ranger. Each ranged hit actually pushes the mob back away from you making it really easy to kill single mobs, with some practice you can actually keep several mobs at bay at once. The warrior isn't my character but is actually a friend of mine who plays a lot of MMOs he stated that the warrior grind got a lot easier when he got to the higher levels as he was doing much more DPS. Storyline: I honestly don't know what the story is, I didn't really get much of an explanation but I can tell you this, you are some kind of hero/fighter/good-things-doer and you must help everyone in the world because that's just how you do. Some of the quests seem like they were written by a hyperactive dirty minded 12 year old but other are actually somewhat well written and even funny at times. Some of the characters are pretty funny as well, such as Mondrey who is a guard you will meet early on will say "I kiss the captain's ass, it's my job." when you speak to him. Graphics: The game isn't bad looking at all, there are a lot of nice little bits that you don't always notice, I was walking through a farm and saw a chicken walking around pecking at the ground with her 4 chicks following behind mimicking their mother. As for outfits they tend to run pretty skimpy for the females although not badly designed. The males are your typical hyper-masculine gigantors with spiked armor and large weapons. There are also costumes which go over your armor to give you a complete look such as a bathing suit or formal wear. Fun: The game was a surprise to me, I went in expecting something horrible and ended up enjoying quite a bit of it. Fishing is really fun and takes a bit of concentration and skill. The interface is boring but straight forward and seems to work really well for the game. One thing that bothered me were that there are quest indicators over NPC's heads but from looking at them there is not way to tell if the quest is available at your level. However there is an available quest menu that will tell you who is giving quests and what level they are available. All in all I would say this game would be fun for at least a weekend when you are bored, who knows you might get hooked. CmdPrompt review of Exteel: 2.5/5 Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Mech/Account/Ranking: Dreadnought, Aeshma, Private First Class (Before wipe) Player Base: Medium. Plenty of games to play in. Minimal chat, occasional person that tries to organize the team and occasional whiner, but not much else. Grind: High. In order to rank up, which enables you to buy new parts, you will be playing a lot of matches. The parts themselves are also expensive considering how much money you make per game, meaning you were going to have to play a lot to buy things in the first place. Storyline: Nil. You're in a mech, and you kill some things. Then you do it again. Graphics: Quite pretty looking. All the models are well done, and the animations smooth. Customization: Low. Seems to be about buying a set of your head, body, legs, etc. every time you reach a rank that allows you to buy new parts. There are a good number of types of weapons to choose from, but you can only carry two weapons at a time, as well as a second set to switch to. No shoulder mounted weapons or anything like that. Fun: Medium. Gameplay is fun, but the grind required to get new ranks and new weapons makes games repetitive after awhile. No real customization, which is a major appeal of mech games to me. It is, however, reasonably fun for awhile. Veritas1 minireview of Rappelz: 3/5 Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Rappelz Race/Class/Level: Janus Level 20ish Asura Cleric Rating: *** out of 5 Player Base: Medium to High. Tons of people in towns selling things. Lots of people out in the noob zones, but there's plenty of creatures so it isn't much of an issue. Storyline: Story doesn't really have a large role in this game. As far as I can tell they throw you in there. There's a tiny blurb of story on the main website. Graphics: Quite good. Very anime inspired characters. Pretty sweet-looking armour and weaponry. Super slutty armour for the females. Nice effects and animations. Terrain and monsters are all passable. Example: http://rappelz.gpotato.com/images/sc...reenshot04.jpg Gameplay: Pretty much a lot of questing that involves killing many of the same monster with slightly different names. ie. Raging Hawks and Angry Hawks. It's fairly grindy. Combat has lots of flashy effects and is pretty fast. You get warped around a lot to different areas, so that can be kind of confusing at first. The classes with pets have an enormous amount of pet options available to them. Fun: Fun for a few weeks at least. There's plenty of class and race combinations to try out and fighting things is decent. They give you a mount very early on (I can't remember, but maybe even as early as level 10), which is awesome. Every game should do this. Bugs: Didn't encounter any. Lag slowdown in populated areas can be very bad. Summary: It's decent. Play with friends because most other people will be involved in their own affairs. It's easy to get into and looks pretty. Most people will get sick of the grind after a while though. JamesDM minireview of RF Online: 3/5 Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Race/Class/Level: Cora Specialist(Ranger/Crafter) 22, Cora Warrior(Melee Fighter) 10 and Accretia Warrior(Melee Fighter) 10. Player Base: Medium High. Quite a few people, usually can find someone to group with you. Also there seems to be an absence of prepubescent boys running around yelling racial slurs and begging. Grind: Mild to Moderate. All of the quests are grind based, Kill X number of Y's in the area of Z. However they are pretty well balanced for each level, you will level relatively quickly by just doing each quest as it becomes available, this is also a good way to get level appropriate rares, usually every 5th level quest will give a purple or yellow weapon and every 6th level quest will give a full yellow or purple armor set. One big issue I had is that PK'ers can kill you anywhere.(Except in bases IIRC) This means players for other factions or even yours of high level will go hunt newbies occasionally and it is pretty frustrating as you lose XP per death. Storyline: Pretty bland to be honest. The Realm vs Realm storyline is the only real story. Your faction fights the other two factions for control of the Core; a mine in the center of the Crag Mine area which yields much better ore at a faster rate than standard mining. You will be attacking the opposing factions players and trying to destroy their control center which ultimately is the main objective. Fighting in RvR is impossible at levels below 30 I would say, I was at level 22 and couldn't make even a tiny dent in anyone, then would end up getting one hitted by any of the other factions members. Graphics: Actually relatively pretty, it doesn't seem to taxing on your system and it looks good for being a relatively generic art style. Character's look good and armors are pretty well designed per class and race. The Accretia armors are really cool to play around with, mixing and matching to make a personalized look. The scenery isn't bad either although it really isn't all the notable. There is a good range of different terrains and locales to see. Fun: All in all RF Online is a pretty fun game and I would recommend it for someone looking for something to play from time to time but I would not say this is really what you are looking for if you want a primary game you play for hours on end. Also... bring friends, the game gets about 10x more boring solo. Veritas1 minireview of Rubies of Eventide: 1/5 Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Rubies of Eventide Race/Class/Level: Indis Druid Level 25 (3-4 weeks of play, I was very desperate at the time) Rating: * out of 5 Player Base: Low / very low. It's really low because there's really only 4-5 zones anyways. If you did a who you'd only see about 100 people playing tops. The player base consists of people who for some reason are FANATICAL about the game, and have been playing for ages, or people who got tricked into trying it because it's free. The latter probably leave immediately. It's very easy to find groups because there is such a limited amount of things you can actually do. Storyline: I can't even confirm the existance of a storyline. You start out in a training camp of sorts with a few guys who try to poorly teach you the mechanics of the game. Then you're pushed out the door and wander over to the nearby town where you can pick up quests and so on. Not really sure why you do these things though. Graphics: Bad. I'm trying to think of a game for comparison, but I really can't. Poorly textured, shitty blocky 3D models. They're running on an ancient Lithtech engine I believe. It's very bland-looking. The zones are basically flat terrain. This screenshot explains it better than I ever could (yea I guess that thing in front of the guy is supposed to be an Ent... hahahahaha). http://www.gameogre.com/rubiesofeventide.jpg Gameplay: Combat is probably the most atrocious system I have ever encountered in any game ever, EVER. You run around fine until you attack something / attract aggro by being to close. Then it switches over to some sort of bizarro pseudo-turn-based system within a certain radius. This will also aggro all other mobs within the radius. Mobs not aggroed who walk into the radius will then join into combat. Then you press buttons to do your crap and things die (probably you). It's actually far far worse than I can do it justice in words. It's confusing, hard to grasp and terribly unpleasant. Fun: It amazes me that this game garners the love it does from it's hardcore fans. It's not fun at all, it's difficult to get into and looks like shit. The learning curve is so steep that the fans defend it by saying that the community is so helpful that you can just ask for help. This is true. The community is very helpful. Bugs: Tons of bugs. 50% chance of crashing when zoning to a new zone which takes ages on any computer. Plenty of crashing going on. The game is never updated, with patches coming "next Tuesday". It's no surprise, since it's a fan-run game. The one coder probably barely touches the game at all. Summary: Just no. Bad graphics, bad gameplay, no story, steep learning curve. Helpful community! Yay! Zanmatto's review of Trickster Online: 4.5/5 Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I must admit, I played Trickster Online, and was hooked. It, is by far, the best free korean MMORPG out there. It took the formula that Ragnarok Online started, and simply made it better. From what I saw, there is always a quest or two to do at any time, and the rewards for doing them make it worth it! And also, there is a lot of diffrent mobs out there. I mean, a LOT. And from what I saw, at least by playing a CHARM type character, taking one on isn't a matter of level *Well it is a matter of level honestly* but the fact remains that you can. I mean god, I sure as heck spent a solid 30 minutes kiting around a level 130 Joker around with my level 30 raccoon until it died. I mean sure, the grind does get annoying after awhile, but I tuned it out. That's how you can tell a Korean MMO did it right. If you can play a whole night and not even notice you are 20 levels higher the next day. And it does encourage teamwork and variation of classes a LOT. It uses the forums from RO that you get an XP modifier from being in a group with friends. However, said bonus is multiplied further if you have one of every type in your party. Which, is definatly a good thing. I have a feeling I sound rambly, so I'll just cut to the chase. TRICKSTER ONLINE 4.5/5 GOOD Looks nice visually The grind is fun The storyline is...unique, if nigh retarded PVP exists, but is 100% optional I cant talk about the other classes, but Charm Types are downright funtimes BAD It uses the Cash Shop system from MapleStory, but said cash shop items have stats. As bad as this sounds, the game is tuned around using free items for 99% of the game, so it only becomes a problem when fighting the strongest mobs in the game, or PVPing. UGLY Only here for the reference.

Oh, they reopened RF Online? Huh, think I might go check it out.

I would've tried RF online but it seems that my IP has been banned. Whoever had it before me must've been quite the cock.

Someone explain to me how these games can exist alongside each other Adventure Quest An in-browser 'lunch break mmo'. It's just a whole lot of grinding in ugly flash environments. The game is tailored for young players and has a strong focus on the pay to play aspects. Adventure Quest Worlds An in-browser 'lunch break mmo'. It's just a whole lot of grinding in ugly flash environments. The game is tailored for young players and has a strong focus on the pay to play aspects. Dragon Fable An in-browser 'lunch break mmo'. It's just a whole lot of grinding in ugly flash environments. The game is tailored for young players and has a strong focus on the pay to play aspects. Mech Quest An in-browser 'lunch break mmo'. It's just a whole lot of grinding in ugly flash environments. The game is tailored for young players and has a strong focus on the pay to play aspects.

Because of him.

But it's 3 times the same game to be a wizard in and one time you can be a future wizard. How many wizards does he want to grind out, they're all the same. Why not start 4 wizards in one game and leave the other 3 games alone? It makes no sense! Also, someone should check out Archlord, their website looks strangely professional.

That game is actually still alive? I was Googling for it just recently and all I found was a 2006 article announcing it (that made me go "yeah, it REALLY made a splash 3 years ago"). But doing it now pops its website up front; huh.

Sites like IGN often seem to outrank the actual game's website on Google somehow. :|

Sites like IGN often seem to outrank the actual game's website on Google somehow. :| Sometimes sites like IGN do a better job of promoting a game then the game publishers do.

Sites like IGN often seem to outrank the actual game's website on Google somehow. :| Sometimes sites like IGN do a better job of promoting a game then the game publishers do. Heh, at least they don't apply Engrish. On the other hand, most MMO sites just copy/pasta the press release or only have 2 or 3 lines of text on a free MMO. I've also never found a truly critical free MMO reviewer, it's all very tame and the idea "it like, costs nothing, wow!" is very prevalent. This is half the reason why I'm sometimes overtly harsh on these games, often I'm reading raving reviews from xXxINUAYASHAxXx about how some bullshit game is totally awesome 'cuz u get 2 b a knight n shit'. Or I'm reading the game's site and they only mention some very basic facts like 'Be the hero of your dreams! Pick a class, like a knight! or a dark knight! or a holy knight!' and I end up with a blurb going 'pick between some uninteresting classes we've all seen before and grind like a little Korean arsehole in some uninspired fantasy world'

I take a fairly harsh stance in my reviews most of the time. I will admit that sometimes I get caught up in the "Good for a free MMO" mindset but for the most part I try to keep it on at least a similar scale as P2P games. Not that my reviews sway masses like some professional reviews might, I think that only by keeping them on a similar scale as P2P is the only way to really convey whether or not average joe gamer will enjoy it for long.

But it's 3 times the same game to be a wizard in and one time you can be a future wizard. How many wizards does he want to grind out, they're all the same. Why not start 4 wizards in one game and leave the other 3 games alone? It makes no sense! Also, someone should check out Archlord, their website looks strangely professional. Pretty sure Archlord is a failed P2P that went F2P, and is exceptionally grindtastic. I haven't tried it, but I believe I remember reading about it here. Edit: Found it, right here... http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showt...light=archlord

But it's 3 times the same game to be a wizard in and one time you can be a future wizard. How many wizards does he want to grind out, they're all the same. Why not start 4 wizards in one game and leave the other 3 games alone? It makes no sense! Also, someone should check out Archlord, their website looks strangely professional. Pretty sure Archlord is a failed P2P that went F2P, and is exceptionally grindtastic. I haven't tried it, but I believe I remember reading about it here. Edit: Found it, right here... http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showt...light=archlord It went the way of the f2p a long time ago, but considering it's still getting updated and their site hasn't turned into a clusterfuck makes me curious. However, I just got a beta invite Free Realms, so I will be checking that out now.

Well I just installed Atlantica Online after having the file downloaded for months now and what a refreshing change of pace the game is! The combat is actually exciting, the music is pleasing, and the graphics are not bad. After playing game after game of your standard click fest to kill mobs having this battle system is a lot of fun. I'm sure it wont be too much fun after a dozen hours of doing the exact same thing in standard free mmo fashion but for now it was the first game in a while to wow me as soon as it started. Anyone else into it?

You should ask that in the Atlantica thread.

Archlord is... not special. In any way. You start off with the grand skill selection of "autoattack" and, at least for my class, don't get anything else until levels 5 and up. And it may just have been the Moonelf (oy) area, but the very first enemy pulls in twos, and a starting player is in fact unable to kill two of them at once, so better do all those running quests and at least get to level 2 before doing kill quests. Either that or swallow the death, then run back to kill the second one. Graphics aren't bad, if a bit plain with bloom to cover it up. Controls are WSAD with right-click hold mouselook or left click to run somewhere, but motion is handled completely serverside, so WSAD has delay. I didn't really play it enough to reach a proper verdict, but I'm not sure I will. Its complete lack of doing anything to differenciate itself from the hundreds of other games just like it does not appeal. The fact that I got 1.5 levels in about 30 minutes of play doesn't bode well on the grind front either. [edit] Oh, and while the music is okay, I'm fairly sure sound\bgm\eft_008.mp3 is from one of the soundtracks on my playlist (I thought it might be Dune, but I don't think so any more), so I don't think they can really take credit for it.

Thanks for checking, dude. For those interested: Free Realms will be the next Gaia Online/Neopets and it will be very enjoyable to those who aren't being jaded about this kind of things. A thread will be made very soon, either by me or by someone more inspired than me. (hopefully the latter)

Thanks for checking, dude. For those interested: Free Realms will be the next Gaia Online/Neopets and it will be very enjoyable to those who aren't being jaded about this kind of things. A thread will be made very soon, either by me or by someone more inspired than me. (hopefully the latter) I just want to know how to get more cards! *sobs*

Thanks for checking, dude. For those interested: Free Realms will be the next Gaia Online/Neopets and it will be very enjoyable to those who aren't being jaded about this kind of things. A thread will be made very soon, either by me or by someone more inspired than me. (hopefully the latter) I was going to ask about this. I'm currently getting my mad chef on and I was wondering were the pa people were.

So I just got the latest PC Gamer in the mail and they had a preview article for Ether Saga Online. I've never heard of this game before, and I'm always leery of "free" MMOs because nothing is ever truly free, and while there might not be a monthly subscription, they still sucker you into buying stuff, thereby negating the "freeness" of it. But anyway, that's not the point of this post. The point is -- Has anyone actually played this game? is it any good? From the preview article in PCG, it sounds like this is a Pokemon type game. Since the chances of there actually being a Pokemon MMO are pretty much nil, an imitation knockoff is the next best thing. I ran the game name through the search and the only results I could find are in the OP of this thread. Are people playing this or talking about it somewhere? I'd like to get some info on it.

So I just got the latest PC Gamer in the mail and they had a preview article for Ether Saga Online. I've never heard of this game before, and I'm always leery of "free" MMOs because nothing is ever truly free, and while there might not be a monthly subscription, they still sucker you into buying stuff, thereby negating the "freeness" of it. But anyway, that's not the point of this post. The point is -- Has anyone actually played this game? is it any good? From the preview article in PCG, it sounds like this is a Pokemon type game. Since the chances of there actually being a Pokemon MMO are pretty much nil, an imitation knockoff is the next best thing. I ran the game name through the search and the only results I could find are in the OP of this thread. Are people playing this or talking about it somewhere? I'd like to get some info on it. You should search by post, we talked about it some a few pages back. Personally I would advise people to stay away from it.

There are also like 4 different pokemon MMOs, by the way. None of them are any good, but hey they do exist For as far as I am aware it plays nothing like Pokemon, what the retard at PC Gamer was trying to say was that this game has pets that you can level.

Sites like IGN often seem to outrank the actual game's website on Google somehow. :| Sometimes sites like IGN do a better job of promoting a game then the game publishers do. Heh, at least they don't apply Engrish. On the other hand, most MMO sites just copy/pasta the press release or only have 2 or 3 lines of text on a free MMO. I've also never found a truly critical free MMO reviewer, it's all very tame and the idea "it like, costs nothing, wow!" is very prevalent. This is half the reason why I'm sometimes overtly harsh on these games, often I'm reading raving reviews from xXxINUAYASHAxXx about how some bullshit game is totally awesome 'cuz u get 2 b a knight n shit'. Or I'm reading the game's site and they only mention some very basic facts like 'Be the hero of your dreams! Pick a class, like a knight! or a dark knight! or a holy knight!' and I end up with a blurb going 'pick between some uninteresting classes we've all seen before and grind like a little Korean arsehole in some uninspired fantasy world' Why don't you set up a review site that does serious reviews? I'd sign up as a tester. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler this is where we put jokes about people being under people hurhur e Set up a criteria for testing, like all games have to be played to level 35 or a minimum 25 hours before a decent review can be made. Two separate rankings, one ranking the game on its own merits and accords, a second ranking the game on its community and playerbase [ to many players, not enough players, awash with goldsellers, assholes, etc ] No teaming up with fellow reviewers for raids, to not shine the game through the rose colored goggles of easy to get parties for instances and raids, too.

Because that requires time, money, effort and knowledge and I'm lacking on three of those.

Because that requires time, money, effort and knowledge and I'm lacking on three of those. You can use that internet money everyones raving over. We just need to get more of it.