Here is a list of MMOs that are either totally free, partially free, or have significant long-standing (no 'free trial weekend!' stuff) trial periods. Basically, good ports of call for the cheapass online gamer. This list doesn't (and won't) include browser games and MUDs, as there's way too many of them.
I'm crossposting this thread on both the Penny Arcade and Something Awful forums as well, so you may see some names that aren't immediately familiar, but the more the merrier!
Note that a lot of korean MMO sites have issues with firefox. Use IE to access them.
Ashen Empires +
Wiki
Region: America
Genre: RPG PvE/PvP
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free access to newbie island and content, $9 monthly to progress further.
Notes (from Vile Toxin): Notes: Really fun PvP system(free for all), MANY items to craft, lots of tradeskills to master. Paying members also gain access to their revived game, Dransik
Anarchy Online +
Wiki
Region: Europe
Genre: RPG
Setting: Sci-fi
Price: Base game is totally free. Expansions cost monthly.
Notes: A good one, this. A formerly pay-to-play game gone free, although you have to fork out money if you want to access content beyond the base game. Still, its pretty fun, although the interface is a bit weird.
A Tale In The Desert +
Wiki
Region: America
Genre: Social/Civilization-building MMO - No combat, but some competitive minigames
Setting: Ancient Egypt
Price: 24 actual hours of play free, $13 monthly after
Notes: A unique and interesting experimental MMO. Currently nearing the end of its second story loop - in each story, players are tasked with building a civilization from nothing to achieve set goals.
ATC: Ray Crash
Region: Korea
Genre: 2D Mecha Combat (Deathmatch)
Setting: Sci-Fi Anime Giant Robot Excess
Price: 30 Free Trial, pay to play after (Seems to be nothing stopping you from getting multiple 30-day trials though)
Notes: Seems really quite neat. Kinda like a 2d version of Zone of The Enders. Pick a mecha, fly around, shoot and dodge and laser-sword people. Small playerbase.
Audition
Region: Korea
Genre: Dance Battle! DDR-esque multiplayer
Setting: The modern dancefloor
Price: In beta currently, likely going to be micropayments after that.
Notes: Not played yet, reportedly fun
Battleground Europe: World War 2 Online +
Wiki
Region: America
Genre: FPS/Tank/Flight/Naval War Sim
Setting: World War 2
Price: 14-day Free Trial standard Pay-to-Play afterwards
Notes: Not for the faint of heart. This is an MMO for realism nuts and grognards. The infantry game is absolutely brutally unforgiving, but it's a lot of fun to just be a fighter pilot, if you've got a half-decent controller. It's generally improved a helluva lot since launch.
Battle Position
Region: Korea
Genre: 2D Platform/Shooter (Deathmatch with optional co-op)
Setting: Modern Day/Sci-Fi
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: It's basically Metal Slug + Worms, in realtime, and competitive. Seems quite nice, but the playerbase is miniscule.
Biosfear aka
Laghaim in Korea.
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG, diablo-ish
Setting: Fantasy + Sci-fi
Price: Month long free trial, pay to play after that
Notes (from Zombiemambo): No idea what it's like. Found it on some MMOG site, saw it was free and linked it here. Any additional info would be peachy.
Blade Mistress
Region: America
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free
Notes: In all honesty, this one looks pretty atrocious. I think it was an SA Awful Link one time. Also, only female characters are allowed, hence the title. Still, it might play better than it looks.
Blitz 1941
Region: Korea
Genre: Isometric tank shooter
Setting: World War 2, anime style!
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: Really quite fun. A lot like Navy Field, only more arcadey
Breeze
Region: Korea
Genre: 2d platform/shooter/deathmatch
Setting: Cutesy anime fantasy
Price: Free
Notes: Like a lot of 2d action games, I don't expect this one to have too many players. If you want to play, you may need to bring friends.
Cabal Online
Region: Korea
Genre: Fantasy (Heavy metal style + Guns)
Price: English beta coming soon - currently unavaialble
Notes: Looks like a pretty generic Korean MMORPG, but with cool music and cooler combat animations. Reminiscent of Devil May Cry
City of Villains +
Wiki
Region: America
Genre: Superhero (Well, villain) MMO
Setting: Sci-Fi/Comicbook
Price: Free 14-day trial, then Pay-to-Play (Trial available until May 10th)
Notes: Excellent game. Spinoff/standalone sequel/expansion to City of Heroes. Imagine Diablo in 3D with superpowers. Fast-paced, simplistic and a great casual MMO.
Conquer Online +
Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy China
Price: Free + Micropayments for special items
Notes: Not played this one yet. Anyone want to add more info?
Daimonin +
Wiki
Region: Europe
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free (Beta, I believe)
Notes: Indie-developed free MMO. Graphics look pretty primitive, but apparently this one has some pedigree to it. Maybe worth a look.
Dark Age Of Camelot +
Wiki
Region: America
Genre: RPG
Setting: Ye Olde Medievale Europe-e
Price: 14 day free trial, then you have to buy the game/sign up
Notes: An old stalwart, this. Not played it myself, but everything I've heard about it can be summed up like so: Terrible grind leading to awesome Realm-vs-Realm PvP. (Edit: According to Meatsicle, the grind is gone, so the game is much improved now).
Dark Ages +
Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free trial, then pay-to-play (relatively cheap, I recall)
Notes: An interesting little one, this. Looks to be very roleplay/social/political based, with players not only able to fight, but rise up the ranks politically and manage towns/enforce their will on others. Apparently has a small but loyal playerbase.
Dark Eden
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Distant planet with a mix of modern(guns) and ancient(swords) weapons. Vampire vs Human combat.
Price: Perpetual English open beta.
Notes (from ThatOneGuy): Infested with the banned and the players too cheap to pay for the Korean and Chinese retail servers. And recently completely run over by hackers. Little to no GM presence. All events take place in Korean times even though it's a beta for North America.
DarkSpace +
Wiki
Region: America
Genre: Capital-Ship-Based Space Combat/Strategy/Action
Setting: Spaaaaaaace!
Price: $10 monthly - I think.. Looks like the
Asian version here is free, but an older version.
Notes: Interesting game with a checkered past (it was originally intended to be part of the Battle Isle series). Grand starship sim/strategy game. Team-based. Very small playerbase though.
DJ-MAX +
Wiki
Region: Japan
Genre: Music
Setting: None
Price: Free access to a majority of songs with what I believe is micropayments for 'Premium' songs.
Notes (from The Fold): Gameplay extremely similar to O2Jam with solo play available or DJ Battle mode to play against other players (and most likely get your arse kicked by a Japanese person)
Dofus +
Wiki
Region: Europe
Genre: RPG, PVP/PVE
Setting: Fantasy/Anime
Price: Free to play initially, more content if you pay for a 'premium account'
Notes (from Serious Sam): Flash-based 2d turn-based MMO. Suprizingly detailed, doesn't seem very hardcore however. Overall I'd say it's a worthy competitor to something like.. Runescape.
d.o. Online
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy Asia
Price: Free (?)
Notes: Another pretty generic looking MMORPG. Not played this one either.
El Kardian
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: 7 day free trial, pay to play after that.
Notes: Not played this one, but to be honest, it doesn't look that hot.
Elysarian Kingdoms
Region: EU (?)
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Looks to be free, with optional donations.
Notes: I have NO idea about this one. No shots on the page, and awful horrible rendered art too. Gut instinct says 'avoid'.
Endless Ages
Region: America
Genre: FPS/Flight (Jetpacks)
Setting: Alternate Universe (Future/Alien)
Price: Free
Notes: Not played, apparently quite fun. Site also contains a smaller racing-themed MMO and a couple of educational titles.
Endless Online +
Wiki
Region: Europe
Genre: RPG
Setting: 2D isometric fantasy land
Price: Free
Notes (from akadjet): Go around collecting items and make your character look pretty. Converse with angsty 14 year olds.
Entropia Universe (Formerly Project Entropia) +
Wiki
Region: America
Genre: RPG/FPS
Setting: Sci-fi
Price: Free to download and play, but you won't be able to equip yourself properly until you buy some in-game currency, which you ideally want to use to make more of said currency.
Notes: Not played it myself, but it seems like an interesting, unique experiment in virtual economies. More structured than Second Life, but just as capitalist and cutthroat, and less accessible for those unwilling to pay real money. Let the buyer beware.
Eternal Lands +
Wiki
Region: EU (?)
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free, with some extra content available for paying players
Notes: Looks pretty amateurish, this one. Might play better than it looks, but as a first stop I'd reccomend looking elsewhere.
Eve Online +
Wiki
Region: Europe
Genre: Space Sim, ala Elite, only a bit more realistic
Setting: Space - The Final Frontier
Price: Free for 14 days (
Trial here), then usual pay-to-play fees apply.
Notes: One of the most popular 'indie' MMOs out there. An epic, player-driven universe where wars are fought, and NPC empires and their police forces can only assure your safety in the inner sectors. Not for the faint of heart.
Everquest +
Wiki
Region: America
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free access to newbie area, usual pay-to-play fees after.
Notes: The one that really kicked off MMOs in America. Rather dated, but perhaps worth a look nowadays.
Everquest 2 +
Wiki
Region: America
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free access to newbie area, usual pay-to-play fees after.
Notes: Sequel to Everquest. Notable for its generic art style and ability to bring most powerful PCs to their knees. Still, it's a lot better now than it was at launch.
FaitH
Region: (?)
Genre: (?)
Setting: (?)
Price: (?)
Notes: (?)
FairyLand
Region: Korea
Genre: (?)
Setting: Whatever it is, it's very cute
Price: Free (?)
Notes: Site is chock full of broken links. Anyone been able to play this?
Final Golf
Region: Korea
Genre: Golf sim
Setting: Realistic golfland
Price: Free (?)
Notes: Looks to be the most realistic of the MMO Golf games. Graphics are rather reminiscent of the old Links series.
Five Masters
Region: Korea
Genre: 2D fantasy action - deathmatch/teamplay (?)
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free (?)
Notes: Art looks pretty terrible, and from what I can figure out from the site, the gameplay looks like a watered down version of Survival Project. Play that instead.
Flyff - Fly For Fun +
Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Happy cute fantasy-land with some technology
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: Apparently pretty standard Korean MMO fare. Kill stuff, level up, etc. You can get magic broomsticks and hoverboards to get around with, though, hence the title.
Fung Wan Online
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy Asia
Price: Limited free server + Micropayments, or pay to play on a server without limits.
Notes: Pretty generic-looking free MMO.
Furcadia +
Wiki
Region: America
Genre: Graphical MUCK/MUSH (Avatar chatroom with editable environments)
Setting: Assorted (all editable), but with furry avatars
Price: Free + Money for special avatars
Notes: It's free. If you don't like it, ignore it.
Gate To Heavens
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free to play, but with micropayment and premium account options.
Notes: Yet another generic-looking free MMO. They're everywhere!
Gunbound +
Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: 2d turn-based artillery game (ala Worms)
Setting: Cutesy anime shooting land
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: A massive hit. Cute, simple, fun and it's full of explosions too. Shoot your friends until they explode!
GunZ: The Duel +
Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: Third-person shooter (Deathmatch)
Setting: Modern day-ish (some fantasy elements)
Price: Free (Extended beta?)
Notes: Another good one. A bit like HL mod The Specailists only far more arcadey. Akimbo pistols and swords are order of the day.
Horizons: Empire of Istaria +
Wiki
Region: America
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: 14-day Free Trial, standard Pay-to-Play afterwards
Notes: Can't rightly say I've heard a single good thing about this one. Perhaps its improved since launch, but I'm not wasting the bandwidth to find out.
Hyper Relay
Region: Korea
Genre: Minigame-fest
Setting: Silly cartoon land
Price: Free (apparently) - possibly tied to El Kardian?
Notes: From what I can gather from the site, this is a bit like Wario Ware. Each game, you play 10 minigames from a list of 88. I should try this one sometime.
Iron War
Region: Korea
Genre: First person mecha shooter (Competitive)
Setting: Sci-fi
Price: Seemingly perpetual beta.
Notes: Last time anyone checked, this game was totally abandoned. Nobody online at all. Can't really judge it until it gets rushed by more players.
Kal Online +
Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: The Wiki entry for this game seems to suggest that it's overrun with hackers right now. Might be wise to steer clear.
Knight Online +
Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: Looks to be more PvP focused than most, but still looks fairly generic. The Wiki mentions castle sieges and town raids, for those interested.
Posts
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: 7-Day Trial, $15 monthly after that
Notes: The one that started the storm. This is the MMO that took over Korea for a time, and a lot of the US. Now superceded by its shiny 3D sequel, but possibly worth a look.
Maple Story + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: 2D Platform Action/RPG
Setting: Cartoony fantasy-land
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: An interesting and fairly fun one this. Half old-school 2d platformer, half action/RPG. Jump around with your buddies and kill stuff with pointy things, basically.
Martial Heroes + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy Asia
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: From what I can glean from Wikipedia, this is an alternate version of d.o. Online, run by a different publisher. Odd.
Minions of Mirth + Wiki
Region: America
Genre: RPG - Single or Massively Multiplayer
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free ad-supported version, more content and server access with $30 full game, one-off fee
Notes (from Philthy): Basically, an EQ clone. And a decent one, at that. It has a few twists. Instead of controlling one player, you can control up to 6. An entire party. You can then play on the multiplayer server and group up with other players parties and do raids this way. The game also can run in server mode, and you can basically run your own server. You can edit everything within the server, add your own mobs and zones, edit items and quests, stats and models. You can also submit these to the devs to be included on the actual live server as well.
Monster & Me + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: Monster-taming RPG
Setting: Cute Fantasy
Price: Free
Notes: Not played this, but I assume it's taking its cues from Pokemon. Art is pretty bad, though.
Mu Online + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free up to level 60 with access to certain regions, pay-to-play afterwards.
Notes: Looks like a pretty shameless Diablo clone. Can't help but wonder how well it's doing, what with 'We tried paying our creditors with Zen. We need a new plan.' being the first line on the main page.
Myth War Online
Region: Europe (?)
Genre: RPG (Looks like - no screenshots I can find on the site)
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free + Micropayments (?)
Notes: Can't get much info on this one from the official site. Can anyone shed further light on this game?
Navy Field + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: Isometric Real-time naval shooter/artillery/sim
Setting: World War 2
Price: Free up to level 30, $8 monthly after that + Micropayments for stuff
Notes: A really good one, this. Think of it as a bit like Gunbound all grown up and real-time. Very demanding with a steep learning curve, but surprisingly good.
Neo Baseball
Region: Korea
Genre: Baseball
Setting: Cartoony Super-Deformed Baseballworld
Price: Free, as far as I can see
Notes: Looks fairly fun. The main site sells it as fast and arcadey, so maybe worth a look.
Nexus: Kingdom of The Winds + Wiki
Region: Korea, but has a US branch
Genre: RPG
Setting: Mythical Asia
Price: $10 a month. Free to level 10. (Max level = 99)
Notes (From Lord Wexia): A social, low-stress game that is easy to pick up but keeps you coming back, it's a good thing to try. Higher-than-normal Roleplay focus.
O2Jam + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: Music
Setting: Wherever people want to rock out
Price: Free (+ Micropayments?)
Notes (from BiggNife): A multiplayer version of Beatmania. Pretty fun. You need to download song packs separately from the client, though.
Ogre Island
Region: America
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free, or so it seems to be
Notes: Indie-run MMORPG, from the looks of things.
Oz
Region: Korea
Genre: Fishing/Social/Romance MMO?
Setting: Modern world.. kinda
Price: Free, from what I can see. Maybe micropayments for stuff too.
Notes: This one just looks plain odd. Have no idea what to make of it, really.
PangYa + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: Golf
Setting: The magical island of PangYa
Price: Free, but you have to spend to buy certain items.
Notes (from Perpetual Idiot): Less of a serious sim like Shot Online, more like Mario Golf. The english version only has 2 courses right now and comparatively few features (Japanese version has like 6 courses and different play modes).
Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst + Wiki
Region: Japan
Genre: Action/RPG
Setting: Sci-fi
Price: Two weeks free trial (Credit Card req'd), $8 monthly after that
Notes: Excellent game - an improved port of the Dreamcast original. If you only want to play the trial, cancel your account immediately after signing up. If you play decently, you should be able to see all the content within that time.
Planeshift + Wiki
Region: Europe
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy, but a quite unique-looking take
Price: Free (Currently) - alpha/beta stage
Notes: Indie developed MMO. Looking pretty nice, though.
Planetside + Wiki
Region: America
Genre: Epic war FPS
Setting: Sci-fi
Price: Free up to Rank 6 (higher than you might think).
Notes: Sign up via the 'Reserves' page. Only limitations of free play are that you won't be able to pilot mechs or some specialized vehicles. $13-ish monthly if you want to go higher though.
Priston Tale + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free up to level 39, pay-to-play afterwards
Notes: Looks pretty generic, with fairly heavy Diablo influences. Yet another face in the crowd, really.
Puzzle Pirates (AKA Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates) + Wiki
Region: America
Genre: Puzzle
Setting: Pirates + Islands and Oceans
Price: Free trial, then $10 a month + quarterly and yearly plans for subscription servers; $0.20 per Doubloon for doubloon oceans (Doubloons can also be bought with in-game money)
Notes (from Teirusu): Puzzle games are played for duties or for competitions. Many of the puzzles resemble popular console puzzle games (Swordfighting = Super Puzzle Fighter, for instance). If one can rake in enough in-game money, they could have access to all the game's features for free on a doubloon ocean, otherwise you're limited in what you can do for free.
Rakion: Chaos Force + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: Third-person fighting/shooter
Setting: Odd fantasy world
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: Fantasy action deathmatch. Shoot arrows, spells and stab people, or play co-op and stab monsters. Based on the Serious Sam game-engine, and remarkably good.
Ran Online + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: MMO Diablo clone
Setting: College campus' and the surrounding city.
Price: Free
Notes (From Overbite): School-themed Diablo clone. Classes are Fighter, Brawler, Archer & (Female?) Mage. It plays almost exactly like Diablo 2 without the branching skill tree. Instead it has a list and you put points into whatever you want when you're able to use it. Also there are quests. Pretty fun game though.
ROSE Online + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG with PvE, Limited PvP
Setting: Fantasy
Price: 7 day free trial, after that it's pay-to-play
Notes (from Nudger): Decent but typical cutesy Korean MMO. Can drive buggies at level 50, but the four jobs are incredibly dull and the grind is huge.
Runescape + Wiki
Region: Europe, but mostly US-based servers
Genre: RPG
Setting: Medieval Fantasy
Price: Large area avaialble for free, $5 a month for access to members-only content
Notes (from fishm0nger): Regular updates, runs in Java, region-restricted PvP. New content for non-subscribers is sparse, though, and the graphics and gameplay are quite simplistic.
Rubies of Eventide + Wiki
Region: America
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free - Run on community donations
Notes: Not played it myself, but heard fairly good things about it. It used to be a pay-to-play MMO, but it wasn't successful enough and shut down, but was later ressurected as a free game by its own players.
Saga of Ryzom + Wiki
Region: Europe
Genre: RPG
Setting: Sci-Fi
Price: Free 7 day trial, then the usual monthly payment.
Notes (from ZombieMambo): Looks promising, decently small download, cool setting. (From Max Damage): Heard that the base game is pretty heavy on the grind, but something interesting is coming soon. The 'Ryzom Ring'. Basically, you can create your own sub-games, script them, populate them, and let other people play in them. Kinda like a full MMO Neverwinter Nights.
Seal Online
Region: Japan
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy, very cutesy
Price: (?)
Notes: Site in Japanese, so I have no idea what I'm doing. Anyone signed up/played this?
Second Life + Wiki
Region: America
Genre: Freeform sandbox/experimental metaverse
Setting: Totally 100% freeform
Price: Free to sign up (Credit card req'd), $10 for alt accounts, monthly to own server space (land)
Notes: It's the internet. In 3D. A large goon presence, but gets a bad rap around here because most of the population are retards, and some goons are assholes
Shadowbane + Wiki
Region: America
Genre: PvP-focused RPG
Setting: Gothic Fantasy World
Price: 100% Free.
Notes: The developers of this rather rough-around-the-edges game were recently shut down by Ubisoft, but they're keeping the game running for free, which is nice.
Shattered Galaxy + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: MMO Real-Time Strategy
Setting: Spaaaaace!
Price: Free + Subscription for a tougher character
Notes: Really quite neat. A bit like Starcraft, with each player on the battlefield controlling a squad of units in capture-and-hold missions, and occasional dungeon crawls against alien armies.
Shot Online + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: Golf Sim
Setting: Green and rolling.. err.. greens
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: Really quite fun. Multiplayer golf is always nice.
Silkroad Online + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG with PvP elements
Setting: Mythical Asia (The ancient silk road trade routes between China & Rome)
Price: Free + Micropayments for perks
Notes: Remarkably good. Beautiful graphics, acceptable gameplay, and an interesting PvP dynamic that revolves around merchants, bandits and bounty hunters.
Sky Raiders
Region: Korea
Genre: Aerial shooter with RPG elements. PvP or Co-op
Setting: Pseudo-WW2
Price: Free (Perpetual beta?)
Notes: Seemed quite nice from what I saw of the tutorial/singleplayer mode, but the playerbase is either tiny, or nonexistant. Needs more players.
Space Cowboy
Region: Korea
Genre: Aerial shooter/action RPG
Setting: Sci-fi
Price: Currently unavailable - beta has ended. Game officially launching on May 5th. May be free, maybe not. I'll update when it's back.
Notes: Quite fun. Imagine Phantasy Star Online + Starfox and you're about halfway there.
Station Pass Games, includes Infantry, Tanarus & Cosmic Rift
Region: America
Genre: 2d Action (Infantry/Tanarus) & 3d Action (Tanarus)
Setting: Sci-fi
Price: Limited (30 minutes per session, access to only some servers) free play, or $7 monthly for all three.
Notes: Three of Sonys lesser MMOs together as one pack. Infantry is still fairly popular, although Cosmic Rift and Tanarus have a sparse playerbase.
Star Wars Galaxies + Wiki
Region: America
Genre: RPG w/ optional Space Shooter Combat
Setting: Sci-Fi Fantasy
Price: Free access to newbie area, usual pay-to-play fees after.
Notes: Much maligned, and probably rightly so. Currently in a state of chaos and unheaval after the developers decided to totally rebuild the game without warning or playtesting. You have been warned.
Supreme Destiny
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: Another samey-looking free Korean MMO. Anyone know if this has anything that sets it apart from the masses?
Survival Project + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: Top-down 2d Action/Deathmatch/Co-op
Setting: Cartoony fantasy-land
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: An interesting and fun little one this. Top-down viewed arcadey deathmatch stuff. Block, stab, shoot. A little like Power Stone + Gunbound. Also has co-op dungeon crawling elements.
Team Revoluxion
Region: Korea
Genre: Motor Racing
Setting: Modern Day
Price: Extended Beta (Free)
Notes: Not played it myself, but looks fairly interesting.
THANG Online
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: And yet another familiar-looking fantasy MMO. Anyone played this? Is it different from the standard in any way?
Tibia + Wiki
Region: America
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free, but with more content and options for those who pay for a 'premium' account.
Notes: Graphics very reminiscent of early Ultima games. I've heard some good and bad things about this one - apparently the PvP is often plain open, and downright brutal. Like old-school UO, be prepared for ganking.
Time of Defiance aka Infinity Empire in Asia.
Region: Europe
Genre: Epic-scale RTS (A bit like browser wargames, only in 3d)
Setting: Sci-fi world of floating islands
Price: 8-day free trial, £5/$8 monthly afterwards (discounts for multiple months)
Notes: Really quite neat. It's a bit like a slower, bigger Homeworld with added empire building. Not played enough of it to get into it, but it seems solid and polished. Has been around for ages, too. The Asian version has mechas, too.
Ultimate Baseball Online
Region: America
Genre: Baseball Sim
Setting: Modern Sports
Price: Free (Seemingly perpetual beta)
Notes (from ElGroucho): Pretty buggy, but suprisingly addictive if you like baseball. Some RPG elements.
Ultima Online + Wiki
Region: America
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free access to newbie area and content. Pay-to-play after that. Currently (at time of writing) offering a 2-week trial as well.
Notes (from Tarzan): The Official game servers are pay to play, but there are enough good free servers with large populations, the client is available for free unless you want the Mondains Legacy stuff.
War Rock + Wiki
Region: Korea
Genre: FPS (Battlefield Clone)
Setting: The Modern Battlefield
Price: Free + Micropayments
Notes: It's basically a free Korean version of Battlefield 1942, and as such, good if you like killing people with guns.
Wurm Online + Wiki
Region: America
Genre: Realistic RPG/Fantasy Kingdom Sim
Setting: Gritty, rainy, medieval Europe-land.
Price: Free right now - currently in beta
Notes: A unique little game, this. Imagine A Tale In The Desert spliced with old-school Ultima Online, only more realistic. Break your legs falling off a cliff, have your body looted, mine for precious metals until it all caves in and kills you, etc. Fun, though. Java-based and heavy on the PC though.
Xiah
Region: Korea
Genre: RPG
Setting: Fantasy
Price: Free (Beta?)
Notes: Not played this one. Screenshots seem to indicate large battles - player Vs lots of enemies.
If you want to add a game, or fill out an existing (?) spot in the list, or just correct me if I've made mistakes (quite likely - I'm going off memory on a lot of these because I'm lazy), just fill in one of these and post it on this thread:
Game Name
Country of Origin:
Genre:
Setting:
Price:
Notes: (Try to keep it fairly short)
Also, if you know of a Wiki page for a game that I've missed, post the URL and I'll add it next update.
Now that it's free it will hopefully pick back up again.
My sweet, untouched Miranda
And while the seagulls are crying
We fall but our souls are flying
Excellent. That'll be in the next update. Keep those links rolling in, y'all.
My sweet, untouched Miranda
And while the seagulls are crying
We fall but our souls are flying
Nope, I was not. My brother plays Planetside, but not me.
Also: Wow, we're up to 74 MMOs here. That's a lot of free gaming.
My sweet, untouched Miranda
And while the seagulls are crying
We fall but our souls are flying
Another is Ray Crash, a flying anime mecha shooter. Also, an asian release of Time of Defiance, with a lot of the ships replaced with mechas (seems to just be a reskin, though).
These will be in the next list update.
Edit: And just updated. Tons o' stuff now.
Edit: And again - more games from the Goons. Post any you know of, even if you haven't played them.
Edit: And more! HUGE! HUGE! HUGE! SPECIAL EDITION!
Edit: And updated with a ton more games, including a few trials for big-name titles. Also included the City of Villains trial, because despite being time-limited, it's available for the next month and is something people should see.
I was the only one online, since its only a online-fps I guess we can say its dead.
Also, would Travian (http://www.travian.com) and Urban Dead (http://www.urbandead.com) count for this list? Travian is more of a traditional browser game, admittedly, but Urban Dead is billed as a browser-based MMORPG.
Switch: nin.codes/roldford
I mentioned the May 10th thing on my entry for it. It also mentions the trial as the top news item on the games site itself.
If possible, I'd like to avoid adding browser games, MUDs and the like. There's thousands of them, and I'm limiting the criteria of what I'm listing simply so I can actually complete it, possibly.
The more actiony games are usually quite good. GunZ, Gunbound, Navy Field, Blitz 1941, etc.
Of the RPGs, quality is spread pretty thin. Silkroad is one of the more popular ones. There was a big PA thread a while back.
Wurm Online is a pretty interesting experimental game, although you really do need a group to work with. Go it alone, and you'll be torn apart. You really need manpower to break away and build a fortified town of your own. Currently the SA goons have the walled valley-town of Goondor to call their own. I was there seeing it being built from nothing.
Space Cowboy is a pretty good Action/RPG hybrid. Shattered Galaxy was good when I played it ages back, so it should still be good now. Puzzle Pirates is excellent, and Maple Story is a fun timewaster.
Lot of good stuff in there. A lot of crap, too, but there's a fair few worth playing.
Then again, I haven't had much experience just yet. For all I know, there's a crew out there that makes so much money in a hurry that even its lower-ranked members will get enough PoE (Peices of Eight, the regular currency) to buy mass numbers of doubloons on a regular basis.
Of course, there's always paying real money, something I can't do right now.
oh yeah, what ocean you on?
And I may have to give that CoV trial a long, hard look. Is a similar one available for CoH?
From what I can see, the asian version is entirely free - but it has an even smaller playerbase. Perhaps it needs an en-masse PA/Goon joint invasion?
A lot of the games there seem to have very small player counts.
It's pretty much entirely PvP (very few people do stages). You can choose from Warrior (balanced melee fighter), Archer (ranged fighter), Mage (physically weak but has strong attacks), Blacksmith (slow but powerful) and Ninja (the fastest, but relatively weak). Each one has his/her own advantages and disadvantages, and you must learn how to play against them (for instance, I use single strikes to fight Ninjas so I can keep moving without being hit).
You do level up, but I haven't seen the advantages of this (I'm level 2, which took about an hour or two). You can buy new equipment but it's very expensive unless you buy it with real money. The community is alright, you'll hear alot of "wtf"s and "omg"s, but the point is to kick their asses so it really doesn't matter. I haven't seen any hacking that I'm aware of, and even if you lose badly it's still alot of fun.
And yes, it really is quite nifty. You'll find the 'really expensive items unless you pay money' thing applies to a lot of the completely free korean MMOs, but it's a system I like. It means the majority can play for free because the minority are willing to pay cold, hard cash for a helmet +1.
Oh, ACT: Ray Storm is a really rather neat game. 2d mecha deathmatch - side-on view, but free flying movement and a good range of weapons and moves. Very small number of players though. Perhaps a PA rush would be a good idea?
I haven't noticed many players with extra items, and those who have them don't seem to get a big upper hand. Besides, I enjoy playing it without buying extra items, so when I can afford them I can afford them. (Which I do plan on doing.)
It is a system that works. They give you a free game, and you can buy gold to get expensive items. It's not much different from buying gold on eBay for WoW or Ultima Online.
Except that the people who made the game are making the money in this situation.
Which is actually a huge difference.
Hope this is useful to somebody.
Edit: Heh, if this list gets much larger, I'll need to start a V3 version of this thread with three reserved posts.
Contact: 3737-4467-9408
Guy1: There's nothing bitchin about the games soundtrack. It's practically all elevator music.
Guy2: That's just hilariously stupid. I can't imagine playing a fighting game with "Girl from Ipanema" playing in the background.
I decided to prune PA/SA links and just have Game + Wiki (when applicable). Easier to manage that way, as player threads go in and out of use.
In a bit, I'll go through the games with lots of (?)s and fill in as many blanks as I can.
I'm going ahead then and posting the link
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=d6e893456338cd7284ac8e2b3adfcf14&threadid=1764678
For someone that had never played the game before, it was pretty helpful.
Contact: 3737-4467-9408
Guy1: There's nothing bitchin about the games soundtrack. It's practically all elevator music.
Guy2: That's just hilariously stupid. I can't imagine playing a fighting game with "Girl from Ipanema" playing in the background.
http://fantasy.premierleague.com/my-leagues/
The join code for the CLASSIC league: 214755-65927
The join code for the HEAD-TO-HEAD league: 5294-3346
rpg/hack
Free initial worlds, pay sections
http://www.kingdomofdrakkar.com/
Similar to islands of kesmai from how the rumor goes, its been up in one form or another since the early 90's, graphics have been updated and they are still adding content.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1073820845
Add that
I played Endless Ages about a year ago. I'm fairly certain that when I went back to try it again, you were still restricted to a newbie zone if you didn't pay. no flight upgrades beyond your basic jetpack. no transporting to another city. I do like the FPS aspect to it, and the sci-fi flying around stuff. I don't see myself ever paying for it though, being so simple.
I also played Saga of Ryzom a year ago for a few months. it's definately nice, but it's definately missing something substantial. it's very very beautiful, and I love the atmosphere. it reminds me of Phantasy Star.
hardly any quests. the story is almost all on the website or infrequent in-game story events. there's a fairly loose class system. you're not restricted to any class, so you can build up skill in anything you want, which is basically tank aggro manager, healer, mage, or affliction. tradeskills consist of foraging and crafting. PVP is restricted to half of the high level neutral zones.
it's future looks bleak. while you would expect it to evolve over time, I think this user-content idea is a move of desperation.
3DS Friend Code: 2707-1614-5576
PAX Prime 2014 Buttoneering!
You can run up to two clients at a time legally. This allows you to play one character while selling/mining/training w/ another. In case of a problem, don't look for a GM cause they seem to rarely play.
The game is PvP open/friendly with only 2 areas being off limits: the market and training ground. Community is a combo of a few very friendly/helpful types and a lot of complete jerks. Expect to be randomly pked regularly. Guild wars/spats with lots of pking and kos are fairly common. Scamming is also rampant.
There are limited monster types--basically at each level there are only one or two that you can kill for decent exp. So the grind is pretty bad. In fact, much of the game is grinding for exp, or grinding/hunting for drops on lower level mobs.
You mine ores to make a house (private area w/ holding boxes) and also mine for gems which go into sockets on weapons (common) and clothing/armor/rings/etc (rare). Different gems have different effects. Kind of a very simplified Diablo approach. Mining is terribly boring and takes a long time to get a gem.
You really can't personalize much besides color of armor/robes. You'll look very similar to lots of other people.
Most of the quests are complete jokes. The time you'll spend is NOT worth the reward. There are fairly regular holiday quests (ex, Halloween, Chinese New Year, Christmas)--the rewards vary from fluff (a stocking to hang in your house) to very good (double exp for several hours).
Graphics and gameplay are somewhat like Diablo, but not as good. Oh yeah, the fastest way to move is generally jumping around--so bunny hopping is encouraged and required.
There is open PK and you will be open PK'd alot. They even have training grounds to facilitate AFK skilling-up. So yeah, if you enjoy playing games, probably want to avoid this one. Your AFK miner will be subject to random mining raids of very very high level players, in which they sweep the place clean and loot everyone else's minerals.
In the meantime, for those of you with credit cards, here's more on the subject of free games (although not of the MMO sort) for you to play around with.
My advice to any who haven't already: Play the Hitman trilogy for free while you can. They're awesome, and the fourth game is coming out fairly soon.