Free to play PC Games

[TheGlyphstone]

Path of Exile has gone into open beta free full release. It's basically a online free Diablo II clone with an extremely complicated barter system in place of gold, an intimidatingly complex-looking skill tree, and a neat thing where spells and skills can be swapped out at will via gems and sockets.

[Saerrael]

Oh, so tempting..... >.<

[Brandon]

Well, considering it's an MMO: oodles and oodles of free time?

If you loose free time to a game you enjoy playing then I would say that games doing something very right. If you loose free time to a game you hate then I would say you are doing something very very wrong

In other news I heard about another free to play MMO today called dungeons and dragons Neverwinter. It just went into beta (of which Im a part of) and its interesting so far. Definately visceral spatial combat similar to raiderz and dark souls

[HairyHeretic]

I'm thinking about giving the DC superheros MMO a spin. Anyone play it and can offer opinions?

[Shjade]

If you mean DCUO, I remember trying it out long enough to be somewhat let down by the character creation and somewhat awkward control scheme.

Of course, considering I just came to the same conclusion about Tera online - more specifically that it feels like a clunkier, slower and sluttier Guild Wars 2 - maybe I just have unreasonably high standards for gameplay.

[Brandon]

If you mean DCUO, I remember trying it out long enough to be somewhat let down by the character creation and somewhat awkward control scheme.

Of course, considering I just came to the same conclusion about Tera online - more specifically that it feels like a clunkier, slower and sluttier Guild Wars 2 - maybe I just have unreasonably high standards for gameplay.

If you dont find the game fun you dont find it fun. Thats not your fault, nor does it mean the game is necessarily bad. It just means you dont find it fun and theres nothing wrong with that. Its why we have such a large variety of games

I dont think I ever tried DCUO, I know I meant to but I dont think I did. Since early last year Ive had beta tests and regular access for a lot of free to play games. I think it started with blacklight retribution, then the beta for Raiderz, then planetside 2, then theres the beta for Warframe, and now Im beta testing Neverwinter

[Kazyth]

I'm thinking about giving the DC superheros MMO a spin. Anyone play it and can offer opinions?

Well, if you have played City of Heroes (RIP), DCUO has a far more limited character creation for starters.  On top of that, there is really no endgame for it, the combat is clunky but workable, and the various story/missions are pretty much what you might expect.  But hey, it's free.

[HairyHeretic]

I did indeed play CoX for quite a few years, though mostly on the Villian side. At presently I'm mostly playing Planetside 2, but I thought DCUO might be worth a look since it's free.

[Kazyth]

It might be at this point.  I tried it when it first came out, and wasn't impressed.  Rather like Champions Online.  I love superhero stuff, I really really do... but for me, maybe because of nostalgia or something, no superhero game yet has come close to touching CoX.  Admittedly, a good deal of that was my love of the Virtue server and RP goodness.

[SinXAzgard21]

I played DCUO for a while on both pc and ps3.  I was also a subscriber for the game for around six months as well played for free.  It really all comes down to how much are you into DC super heroes.   Flying, super speed or acrobatics from the start is nice but still a chore to get everywhere.  Combat has its ups and downs but what game doesn't.  The basics you get for free to play are decent, I think Ice is the best because you transform after getting stacks of a certain ability.  The lantern abilities are awesome, I loved playing as a lantern.  I did try the others and it was very under whelming.  Dungeons and what not well lets just say there is no real team work or strategy needed... HULK SMASH pretty much covers it. 

I say try it out since it is free but don't have the same expectations as with City of Heroes.  If you do, you'll loathe the game.

[Brandon]

It might be at this point.  I tried it when it first came out, and wasn't impressed.  Rather like Champions Online.  I love superhero stuff, I really really do... but for me, maybe because of nostalgia or something, no superhero game yet has come close to touching CoX.  Admittedly, a good deal of that was my love of the Virtue server and RP goodness.

To be frank, I think thats because CoX was the best of them. The issue Ive often had with the idea of DCUO is partly because its DC but more because from the outside it looked like the game was more about their characters then the players character. In CoX you were encouraged to make unique builds and actually roleplay. Its the only game Ive ever played where I could write a story and put it on display and interestingly have people read that and say "Wow thats cool!". If youre going to make a super hero game I feel like it really needs that touch

The other thing about CoX is it had a clear personality behind it. Each faction had some lore behind it whether it was devouring earth or Vahzilok and that made the game more interesting. Plus the origin of your character whether they were naturals, technology based, or magical heros really meant something huge in both roleplaying and how you would experience the game. Perhaps the part I really loved was it actually made you feel like a hero (or villain) because of the personality and thats something Champions really lacked IMO

At the end of the day CoX was a near perfect storm of game design. The other super hero games just arent

[Shjade]

I hold CoX and Champions Online about on par with one another. I vastly preferred CO's creation flexibility (before they turned F2P and completely butchered your customization options as a free player, that is) and general gameplay "feel," not to mention a much quicker level grind, but I liked the world of CoX more as a setting. CO was constantly making jokes at its own expense reminding you that it's a game with random NPCs complaining about various game mechanics and so on - I hate that anti-immersion shit in an RPG. CoX's world might have been less inviting, but it at least felt like it wasn't trying to be cleverly self-aware. It wins big points for trying to maintain context. ...until you did a group dungeon and had to clear through room after room after room packed to the ceiling with mooks with combat that consisted largely of "everyone unload all your sparkly colors until the bad things stop getting up." If I could've combined CoX's quest lines and environments with CO's character customization (both powers and aesthetics - I loved being able to mix-and-match all the powers to create whatever play style I felt like using as compared to CoX's much more strict archetypes) I think I would've enjoyed the resulting game a lot more than either of the two separately...though I didn't ultimately enjoy combat in either game all that much. CO edges to the top slightly, but only slightly.

But hey, to their credit, at least both of those games managed to keep me interested for about 2-3 months each. DCUO I put down within four hours of logging in.

Also, I revise my earlier statement re: TERA online - it gets a brownie point for letting me avoid a lot more melee attacks by just moving out of the way as opposed to requiring I use a "dodge" move to avoid the damage as most GW2 attacks do. Ranged attackers were auto-tracking even when I ran all the way behind them before they fired, which I still think is shitty, but oh well, one point is still more than none!

[RubySlippers]

I have a friend strictly f2p on Champoins Online with a Marksman character and he is a kickass Level 40 and a major figure in a team and never spent a penny on it. And he advanced pretty well and still has content to do in it. I get it some things cost money I did spend some on this game but I love it and its always coming up with new things. I do not like the loss of the old crafting system.

Star Trek Online their other offering is also quite nice and again they are adding content and making changes to that game.

I was wondering is there a GOOD WoW like game f2p you could recommend in the fantasy genre?

[Brandon]

I was wondering is there a GOOD WoW like game f2p you could recommend in the fantasy genre?

WoW is such a chimera of different aspects both positive and negative thats its hard to pin down what you mean by wow like.

That said, there are two games that I will recommend that have a fantasy feel and are worth checking out. The first one is Raiderz. Raiderz is a spatial combat system similar to dark souls and monster hunter (in fact it was marketed as a Monster hunter MMO) but its questing system is very much like WoWs. On top of that it has some interesting lore but it is a lot more difficult then your average MMO because of the spatial combat.

Now what I mean by spatial combat (which Im sure is going to come up again in this thread) is its not like WoW where you target someone and use abilities and auto attacks till something dies. Spatial combat revolves around combat systems where positioning, movement, offensive and defensive timing counts. Spatial combat systems require people to dodge out of the way, to block attacks, and/or counter attack with normal attacks and/or abilities. The great thing about spatial combat systems is the challenge it presents, unlike games like WoW a spatial combat system allows the player to overcome number advantages through sheer skill similar to Dark souls. In the case of Raiderz there are many "bosses" that are recommended full group kills but because your characters innate power is not limited by the targeted battle system in wow and is instead capped by the skill of the individual player you can in fact kill every monster in that game solo (its just really really really hard to do so).

Ill share a video of exactly that happening which also spawned me to defeat every boss in the game myself without help (it should also give you a general look at the game which IMO isnt all that pretty but still really fun). It was hard and took a lot of tries but much like Dark souls it was soooooo worth it because after it was over and my enemies laid on the ground before me I felt like a badass. Very few games, especially MMOs, do that anymore

RaiderZ - Chimera solo (Defender)

Now the second game Im going to recommend is another spatial combat system published by the same people who published raiders (note its not the same developer). That game is Dungeons and Dragons neverwinter. However neverwinter is still in beta, if you want to try and get into it you can buy a founders pack which is...$40? I think or you can sign up for the beta. The pack garantees access though.

I consider both these games good because I find them challenging and fun but those things are subjective so your experiences may vary. If you like high skill cap games where you can hone your abilities and have them really mean something then I think you'll like these

[SinXAzgard21]

WoW is such a chimera of different aspects both positive and negative thats its hard to pin down what you mean by wow like.

That said, there are two games that I will recommend that have a fantasy feel and are worth checking out. The first one is Raiderz. Raiderz is a spatial combat system similar to dark souls and monster hunter (in fact it was marketed as a Monster hunter MMO) but its questing system is very much like WoWs. On top of that it has some interesting lore but it is a lot more difficult then your average MMO because of the spatial combat.

Now what I mean by spatial combat (which Im sure is going to come up again in this thread) is its not like WoW where you target someone and use abilities and auto attacks till something dies. Spatial combat revolves around combat systems where positioning, movement, offensive and defensive timing counts. Spatial combat systems require people to dodge out of the way, to block attacks, and/or counter attack with normal attacks and/or abilities. The great thing about spatial combat systems is the challenge it presents, unlike games like WoW a spatial combat system allows the player to overcome number advantages through sheer skill similar to Dark souls. In the case of Raiderz there are many "bosses" that are recommended full group kills but because your characters innate power is not limited by the targeted battle system in wow and is instead capped by the skill of the individual player you can in fact kill every monster in that game solo (its just really really really hard to do so).

Ill share a video of exactly that happening which also spawned me to defeat every boss in the game myself without help (it should also give you a general look at the game which IMO isnt all that pretty but still really fun). It was hard and took a lot of tries but much like Dark souls it was soooooo worth it because after it was over and my enemies laid on the ground before me I felt like a badass. Very few games, especially MMOs, do that anymore

RaiderZ - Chimera solo (Defender)

Now the second game Im going to recommend is another spatial combat system published by the same people who published raiders (note its not the same developer). That game is Dungeons and Dragons neverwinter. However neverwinter is still in beta, if you want to try and get into it you can buy a founders pack which is...$40? I think or you can sign up for the beta. The pack garantees access though.

I consider both these games good because I find them challenging and fun but those things are subjective so your experiences may vary. If you like high skill cap games where you can hone your abilities and have them really mean something then I think you'll like these

Raiderz looks interesting.  When I first saw the boss my mind went that's Caruban from Legend of Legaia.

[Brandon]

Raiderz looks interesting.  When I first saw the boss my mind went that's Caruban from Legend of Legaia.

Keep in mind that is the last boss in the game, at least before I quit. The Chimera was always one of the worst bosses in the game because you had to spend a lot of time just chasing him around. My personal favorite boss was Rivuite because it was fast paced, required you to think on your feet, and it had pretty good music. Just keep in mind that no matter what boss it is if you eat a direct hit it hurts and cleric cant spam heal you

I guess theres been new content added since I left the game so I may go back for some more solo kills but I think my past statement still holds true. The game needs more monster hunting

Also, it was pointed out to me that there was a first impression video done for Neverwinter. So if you want a look here you go, just keep in mind it is beta and beta doesnt mean finished product. After watching it myself I think it covers the strengths and weaknesses of the game better then I could (plus that promise of final dungeons being unbeaetable by the developers, oh Im all over that!)

► WTF Is... - Neverwinter (Beta) (Hyper WTF Edition) ?

[SinXAzgard21]

Keep in mind that is the last boss in the game, at least before I quit. The Chimera was always one of the worst bosses in the game because you had to spend a lot of time just chasing him around. My personal favorite boss was Rivuite because it was fast paced, required you to think on your feet, and it had pretty good music. Just keep in mind that no matter what boss it is if you eat a direct hit it hurts and cleric cant spam heal you

I guess theres been new content added since I left the game so I may go back for some more solo kills but I think my past statement still holds true. The game needs more monster hunting

Also, it was pointed out to me that there was a first impression video done for Neverwinter. So if you want a look here you go, just keep in mind it is beta and beta doesnt mean finished product. After watching it myself I think it covers the strengths and weaknesses of the game better then I could (plus that promise of final dungeons being unbeaetable by the developers, oh Im all over that!)

► WTF Is... - Neverwinter (Beta) (Hyper WTF Edition) ?

This all has me loading up my copy of Demon Souls for Ps3 again.

[RubySlippers]

WoW is such a chimera of different aspects both positive and negative thats its hard to pin down what you mean by wow like.

That said, there are two games that I will recommend that have a fantasy feel and are worth checking out. The first one is Raiderz. Raiderz is a spatial combat system similar to dark souls and monster hunter (in fact it was marketed as a Monster hunter MMO) but its questing system is very much like WoWs. On top of that it has some interesting lore but it is a lot more difficult then your average MMO because of the spatial combat.

Now what I mean by spatial combat (which Im sure is going to come up again in this thread) is its not like WoW where you target someone and use abilities and auto attacks till something dies. Spatial combat revolves around combat systems where positioning, movement, offensive and defensive timing counts. Spatial combat systems require people to dodge out of the way, to block attacks, and/or counter attack with normal attacks and/or abilities. The great thing about spatial combat systems is the challenge it presents, unlike games like WoW a spatial combat system allows the player to overcome number advantages through sheer skill similar to Dark souls. In the case of Raiderz there are many "bosses" that are recommended full group kills but because your characters innate power is not limited by the targeted battle system in wow and is instead capped by the skill of the individual player you can in fact kill every monster in that game solo (its just really really really hard to do so).

Ill share a video of exactly that happening which also spawned me to defeat every boss in the game myself without help (it should also give you a general look at the game which IMO isnt all that pretty but still really fun). It was hard and took a lot of tries but much like Dark souls it was soooooo worth it because after it was over and my enemies laid on the ground before me I felt like a badass. Very few games, especially MMOs, do that anymore

RaiderZ - Chimera solo (Defender)

Now the second game Im going to recommend is another spatial combat system published by the same people who published raiders (note its not the same developer). That game is Dungeons and Dragons neverwinter. However neverwinter is still in beta, if you want to try and get into it you can buy a founders pack which is...$40? I think or you can sign up for the beta. The pack garantees access though.

I consider both these games good because I find them challenging and fun but those things are subjective so your experiences may vary. If you like high skill cap games where you can hone your abilities and have them really mean something then I think you'll like these

No point, click and die is my thing I don't want combos and all that to much keyboard work and I don't have or want to buy a mouse.

[Shjade]

LotRO is an old-style combat MMORPG with a fairly good F2P model (pretty sure it's been mentioned in more detail earlier in this thread).

I've heard good things about Rift, though I think it's only free to level 20?

[SinXAzgard21]

No point, click and die is my thing I don't want combos and all that to much keyboard work and I don't have or want to buy a mouse.

For most games that have combos and such you can set up a console controller to play them.  Not sure about Raiderz though.

[Brittany]

If you loose free time to a game you enjoy playing then I would say that games doing something very right. If you loose free time to a game you hate then I would say you are doing something very very wrong

This statement hits home so much to me.  I played a little korean game called ragnarok online and I loved it so much.  Did I spend too much time on it?  Perhaps, but I never neglected my life.  If I had free time, I was on it though.  But I enjoyed every penny and I would go back had I more time and all my friends not moved on.

I read these stories about Warcraft and everyone complaining about how they hate it so much, but they continue to pay for the pleasure of playing it.  This has always just baffled me.  I see nothing wrong with giving up time and money to play something that is fun.  No different than buying CD's or DVD's and listening/watching for hours.  But there is something wrong in spending time and money on an addiction that you don't really enjoy anymore.

[Shjade]

But there is something wrong in spending time and money on an addiction that you don't really enjoy anymore.

Yep, which is why I stopped. I never got to the point of hating WoW, but didn't need to: just not enjoying it enough to be worth a subscription fee was enough reason to unsub.

Though I always say if it ever goes truly F2P I'd probably peek back in...though the more I think about it the less I think I really would at this point.

[Skynet]

I read these stories about Warcraft and everyone complaining about how they hate it so much, but they continue to pay for the pleasure of playing it.  This has always just baffled me.  I see nothing wrong with giving up time and money to play something that is fun.  No different than buying CD's or DVD's and listening/watching for hours.  But there is something wrong in spending time and money on an addiction that you don't really enjoy anymore.

Even if people begin to have less fun with something, they can still be emotionally invested in it.  Especially if they put a lot of time and money into the hobby.  Strange as it may sound, I've encountered gamers who still follow later games zealously despite not having that 'spark' of enjoyment from earlier times.

It's more out of habit than anything else.

[TheGlyphstone]

Yep, which is why I stopped. I never got to the point of hating WoW, but didn't need to: just not enjoying it enough to be worth a subscription fee was enough reason to unsub.

Though I always say if it ever goes truly F2P I'd probably peek back in...though the more I think about it the less I think I really would at this point.

That's probably wise...when a Subscription game goes F2P, that usually indicates its death knell isn't far off, or at least the beginning of a descending slope of quality.

[HairyHeretic]

Not necessarily. Years ago, I would agree with you, but not so much now. We're seeing a lot more free to play (generally with cash shop) and hydrid models on the market. If I remember correctly LotRO saw somewhere in the region of a 300% earnings increase after they dropped their sub. DDO was even more.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32322/Turbine_Lord_of_the_Rings_Online_Revenues_Tripled_As_FreeToPlay_Game.php

The way things are going, I think the pure subscription model is probably on the way out. Hybrid models, and FtP with cash shops, are likely going to increase in number.