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Don't Pay to Play - 7 Freebie Online Game Favorites

videogames.yahoo.com — Why shell out up to $15 every month to play online games like World of Warcraft or Everquest when there are plenty of free alternatives?

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  • sprkoolguy, on 10/11/2007, -5/+41Guarnteed customer support, updates and patches, companies have an obligation to the customer when they rely on income from them. Overall you are paying for games that are better.... the freebies can still be fun but as they say, you get what you pay for.
    • MatttK, on 10/11/2007, -3/+20And Blizzard owns my soul forever. :(
    • number9ine, on 10/11/2007, -1/+19Most of these games aren't actually "free" per se. It is just a different business model. Offering the core game or the lower levels as free; with the option to upgrade to premium services. These premium services are what they are really selling here. They know that once you get your little fellow up to level 10 or so and see all the big boys running around with shiny toys you are going to be more inclined to shell out some cash to experience the same. Moreso than you would initially, with no emotional investment in the game.
    • Atom, on 10/11/2007, -2/+15I pay because I appreciate quality content from proven developers.
    • WiZZLa, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6They mention Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, but don't mention America's Army (which uses the Unreal Engine) ?

      There's a better list at http://www.digg.com/playable_web_games

      Also, here's the printable version (all on one page) http://videogames.yahoo.com/printview_feature?eid=518635
    • dWhisper, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6This list of "free games" isn't even close to a pay service like World of Warcraft or even Everquest. Kind of like comparing Bookworm to Halo 2 here... each has its place, but one will not replace the other.

      This type of story smacks of someone who's never paid to play WoW or EQ (or even CoH/CoV, Vanguard, SWG, DAoC); they also tell us imitation crab meat is as good as real crab meat and Diet Dr. Pepper actually does taste like regular Dr. Pepper. Just crazy talk.
    • shellacked, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I disagree. Netrek is a free online, multiplayer game where you need to strategy, tactics, and teamwork to win.

      Check it out: http://www.netrek.org/

      Read the manuals, learn how to play. I swear it's an awesome game. Don't be fooled by the simple graphics, the real fun is playing against other players.
    • 3lijah, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0My personal favorite has been Uniball for the last 6 years. Hardly anyone has even heard of it. http://www.uniball-central.net
    • yohnstoppable, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1Buried for Urban Dead. That game is TERRIBLE
    • captmorgan555, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Seems like the Suck factor was left out of consideration.
    • Atomic1fire, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1It would be a good idea to keep an eye on Sherwood Dungeon
      although not the greatest and filled with a massive infestment of caps users
      its 3d and runs in a browser while staying dial up friendly
      and the planned sign up feature (as opposed to saving the information in the computer account)
      it could become quite popular for the reason of portability and being cross platform (except Linux is still excluded as its Shockwave )
  • gimlik, on 10/11/2007, -4/+4Please post the list.

    Blocked!
    • skored, on 10/11/2007, -8/+7Freestyle Street Basketball
      Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates
      Dungeon Runners
      Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
      Second Life
      Anarchy Online
      Urban Dead
    • abran1984, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Just go to grab.com and play your heart out!
  • tapo, on 10/11/2007, -1/+27Freestyle Street Basketball
    Puzzle Pirates
    Dungeon Runners
    Enemy Territory
    Second Life
    Anarchy Online
    Urban Dead

    Pretty lame list, actually.
  • NinjaBoy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8ok most of these free games really suck and shouldnt even be put on a list. I mean urban dead is a browser game you get to make 1 or 2 turns a day that doesnt even remotely compare to wow.

    WolfET is the only game i agree with.
  • slrranma, on 10/11/2007, -8/+3digg me down, someone posted the list before i did
  • joegibes, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1(edited) Aargh everyone beat me to it.


    ...But what about WarRock? It's free and kinda persistent... But not mass multiplayer I suppose.
  • dikaiosyne, on 10/11/2007, -3/+0I like to pay for my toture (SOE). Thank you very much.
  • 1stJonnyDee, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11They forgot Guild Wars, but I'm guessing they mean completely free, software and all.

    And Second Life is not a game.
    • Yareking, on 10/11/2007, -5/+1this list suck, yahoo should get back to search engin...
  • jim45804, on 10/11/2007, -4/+9What about Runescape? It's free and stable... a little childish, but free nevertheless.
    • Nameless1, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13And 90% of players are 8 year old children. I keep hearing them talking about runescape every time i pass a pack of kids.
    • gcube9x, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Your credibility is hereby void.
    • Duhitsmichael, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Runescape was pretty good imo a few years ago, before it was overrun with little kids.
  • Nameless1, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5We shell out $15 a month because unlike the games in this list, the ones we pay $15 a month for, don't suck.
    Thats it.

    Freestyle Street Basketball - ok, why not.
    Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates - just WTF? Some casual puzzler.
    Dungeon Runners - you get raped by the paying customers as long as you don't pay. NC soft can whip up an mmog from time to time though.
    Wolfenstein: enemy Territory - Good. Just outdated.
    Second Life - How is this joke a game? Its more of a... hm... gonna have to use the analogy of "Its like a tivo, you cant really say untill you tried"
    Anarchy Online - Severely outdated.
    Urban Dead - no idea.
    • chalkboy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1"Dungeon Runners - you get raped by the paying customers as long as you don't pay. NC soft can whip up an mmog from time to time though."

      Um there is no PVP yet. This game is really fun for some one that just wants to have a quick dungeon crawl and chat with a few friends.
    • mercano, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Puzzle Pirates (the dropped the Yohoho quite a while ago) is an MMORPG, it just uses puzzles to resolve things that would be left up to skill points and the random number generator in other games. I was into it for quite a wile way back when, but the developers started making more money off their micropayment (doubloon) servers then they were making off their subscription servers, so they started focusing on developing more things for players to buy rather then on players to do, and I got board of it after two years. Still waiting on some of the crafting puzzles. Still, I heartily recommend it. Any game that lets you sail a ship with Dr. Mario and Bejeweled, load cannons with Chu Chu Rocket, and fight with Toki Toki Boom and two fisted Snood/PuzzleBooble ain't that bad. (Plus, you know, pillaging for Kraken's Blood on the Aggressive Eel is always fun and profitable.)
  • Virtualtaco, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Here's my better list:

    GamesCampus (4 games, 2 open beta, 1 closed, 1 awaiting second beta. Shot Online is amazingly addictive.)
    http://www.gamescampus.com/index.asp

    ijji(A few really good online games, try Gunbound and Gunz first. Also numerous mini games)
    http://www.ijji.com/

    Gpotato(FlyFF, Rappelz, Space Cowboy, Corum, with an MMO racer coming out soon.)
    http://www.gpotato.com/

    Armagetron Advanced (online multiplayer light cycles... nuff said).
    http://armagetronad.net/

    If you are in Europe: Cabal Online (i believe it's going free later this month. Also no US play yet, but when it comes here give it a shot.)
    http://www.cabalonline.com/

    Have fun!
    • dbr_onix, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Voyage Century Online (Pirate/trader MMO-RPG - Don't generally like or play MMO's but it was entertaining for a few days. Free, only once the server I was playing on was "overloaded" when I tried to connect, other than that I had no problems with it)
      http://www.voyagecenturyonline.com/
    • magicmanfeyrune, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Rappelz (http://rappelz.gpotato.com) is awesome! Free to download, free to play! Excellent graphics. Cash shop for some items that make it easier, but not really needed to enjoy the game.
  • tylerc66, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I have saved alot of money playing one mmo. I use to buy new games all the time now i just pay for one month by month.
    • Nameless1, on 10/11/2007, -7/+1Hence you're saving money and helping to kill off the (presumably) PC gaming industry.

      Sad when you think about it. Curse you Blizzard.
    • bobcrotch, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Yeah and avoid skin cancer by not going outside too!
    • justice7, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1yeah because playing ONE game is certainly the best way to go... /barf
  • shellshocklxbox, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2what about Silkroad Online http://www.silkroadonline.net/? that game is kick ass, but WoW is still better.
    • xxMilesTegxx, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1sro player am i...
      its a beautiful game, far better visually than any other free mmorpg ive tried,... on par with most pay2plays (again, those ive tried)
      i like the classless system (every character chooses from the same skill tree), and the resulting concept of build theory
      updates have come fairly regularly, and the next big update FANTASY ODYSSEY SILKROAD EUROPE comes in july 07

      i love the game and highly recommend it,... however:

      servers are overcrowded for most of each day, and there is no queue at the login screen... every failure to connect means restarting the game, often many times,... only a new premium item (cost: $20(200silk)) gives you 1 month of automatic access (plus a bunch of of other bonuses) effectively making the game pay2play for serious gamers...

      the sever load is basically the result of bots (which you will have to compete with for mobs)... Joymax will intermittently do a bot user punishment that is effective for all of a week, if that

  • ghrayfahx, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Screw all of the ones on this "List" Gimme EQEmulator or EnB-Emulator anyday. EnB emu is still early in development, but at a beta tester for things to come, I can tell you that it is shaping up quite nicely. As for EQ, it's pretty good already, and EASY to install. Just get a copy of EQ titanium and change 1 text file.
  • boo19, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3$10 a month isn't free.
  • Fragnarg, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7I would much rather play "Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates" than World of Warcraft.
  • txrangersxx, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Well a Really good one is Kingdom of Loathing. http://www.kingdomofloathing.com. Free to play and a great community
    • BevansDesign, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Yea, that game is actually a lot of fun. Until you hit the level cap, and then you just try to gain more and more currency via player stores. Unless they've changed the game a lot since last I played...which was at least a year or two ago.

      Actually, maybe I should check it out again. There's probably a lot that has changed, and my character has certainly been deleted by now.
  • k1down, on 10/11/2007, -7/+2Because, World of Warcraft is the greatest game ever. There's not really much else to consider...
  • Ythan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Bloodmasters is another fun, free online game with high production values which deserved to be on the list: http://www.bloodmasters.com/
  • SupermanX, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1For those of you looking for something 'different' (and are willing to wait a bit for the beta to start), there is a MMO RACING game coming soon. The official web site is:
    http://project-torque.aeriagames.com/

    However you can see a video of it here:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdXMbkMmevI

    • bobcrotch, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1wow that game looks really awesome, well so long as it's not a arcade sort of racer.
  • BrokenBokken, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Conquer Online at http://www.conqueronline.com is a great free game.
  • lionserpent, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Why shell up to $15 bucks a month? Because $15 is next to nothing for a feature rich game. Shelling out that $15 actually lowers my entertainment expenses for the month. I could go out drinking for $20 a night or stay in for several nights a week playing a game for a monthly charge of $15.
  • KenOh, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Infantry goes free on the 26th!
  • alpine75, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1""Voyage Century Online (Pirate/trader MMO-RPG - Don't generally like or play MMO's but it was entertaining for a few days. Free, only once the server I was playing on was "overloaded" when I tried to connect, other than that I had no problems with it) http://www.voyagecenturyonline.com/"""


    The only MMO I've seriously played was Galaxies, and it's been 2 1/2 years since I've seriously played it. I've tried a few other MMO's including Wow, Guild wars, City of Heroes/Villains and Lord of the rings. None of these did anything for me being that I hate Fantasy and I was also recovering from burnout over the SWG debacle.

    A few months ago on a whim I decided to try out Voyage century online, and I've been hooked since. It isn't as flashy as Wow and it has issues with bugs and engrish, but it's hard to complain when it is free and for some odd reason I don't mind the game.
  • Oldschoolhack, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I've been hooked on SilkRoad Online... I just wish I didn't get hooked on Linux, because Wine doesn't have it all down yet.

    Albatross 18 is addictive too, yet again no Wine support yet.
  • shamasu, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Anarchy Online isn't free per se. The game itself has 4 expansions. The free account only involves the basic game without any of them, and while the graphics might be outdated the game ALOT more complexity to it then any other MMO out there.
  • widgeon, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Sony just recently eliminated the monthly fee on their StationPass game package (Infantry, Cosmic Rift and Tanarus). I'm not a big fan of Infantry or Cosmic Rift but Tanarus totally rocks. 4 teams of 5, live chat, 3D customizable tank battle similation... totally addictive and now free! http://www.tanarus.com
  • biff198, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Gosh, why am I playing World of Warcraft when "Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates" is out there!?! I must be an idiot!
  • JCdaOmnislasher, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I loved it whenever Pristontale was beta.

    I'm sure that some of you all have heard of the game or maybe the new beta that will eventaully come out called... nonetheless... Pristontale 2. As soon as I picked up the beta for this game, I was instantly hooked. It was a solid mmo that played on level that is, at the basics, similar to WoW (some extent). Being that it was beta, it was free of course but it was beta some time. I think when I got a hold of it, they didn't start charging until maybe a year or so after I got it with it being out I think for a while before. For a game that was in beta testing, it was very well done and well worth picking up to play.

    Of course, this can be easily argued as a game with simple class structure with not much detail to the world itself (as it was a small world to play on). When I did stop playing, it was nice that they added a place called Dream Castle, which was pvp haven for players that were level 80 or 90+ (I can remember offhand). But this was of course after the beta was over and I payed around130 dollars for a year of gameplay (since i was still hooked).
  • sonicjosh, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1What about Runescape? It's free and stable
    i loce runescape, and even if you do pay, it's only 5$ a month, and you dont have to buy and install a client, it runs in you browser using java
    thats another reason why i like it, it uses java and no client, that means i can play it on my pc at my dads, if im stuck at my grandma's i can play, at my aunts, even on my ubuntu compy
    and 5$ a month is less than something like wow, wow = 20$ for base game +40$ for expansion + 10$ a month, so for your first year... thats $180 plus you can only play it where youve installed the 5 gig game
    runescape, one year price at most $60
    no, im not 8, im 15
    • Jshnlsn, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Urp... wha?

      ("Runescape = Free") != ("Runescape = $5 per month")
    • spawnfree, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1its $5 per month if you want the better content, otherwise free.

      i would rather play Rappelz, at least it looks modern.
  • Sysprod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0A good, free, Indy style, online racing game http://www.trackmanianations.com/indexUk.php
  • tymme, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1They've had free-to-play MMO games for years. They're called MUDs. Sure, it's not millions of players and pretty shiny graphics, but 250+ active at any one time (Aardwolf & Achaea for examples) isn't something to sneeze at, either.
  • OropheR, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1This was indeed a very lame list...how it got digged, no idea....
    The games advised by the diggers are good, although we tend to always see the same games being quoted in digg.
  • cultist667, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Anarchy Online sucks and they are even planning on converting it to an item mall system. .
    http://hgc.forumup.info/viewtopic.php?t=27&mforum=hgc
  • BrokenBokken, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Guild Wars is much better than WoW and it's free to play after you buy the game. Premium content for a one time price. Can't beat that for a MMO.
  • DeadEnsign, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I'd like to see a list of free (or cheap) FPS's I can play with my teen kids that don't require a superpowered graphics card when I travel with my laptop (and on hotel networks that don't offer the greatest bandwidth). Right now my list consists UrbanTerror. I tried Alien Arena but the graphics are not working correctly. I have BF1942 but I'd have to buy a few more licenses.
    • justice7, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Wolfenstein Enemy Territory is good

      of course there is oldschool quake3 arena as well .. and Unreal Tournament
  • eugenie, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1you are missing the boat on urban dead. i was just about to join when the place got overrun with dippy newbs who had no clue as to how to play. they became breakfast lunch and dinner for lots of hungry zombies. frankly, if you just want to go with the crowd and do nothing other than crow about world of warcrack, go ahead. i will go and enjoy the joys of text based zombie warfare. most of the people in the game and community are fun and smart and don't tolerate idiocy.

    more brains and killing for me.
  • Paradox17, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Another good free online game is War Rock, a free MMOFPS (massively multiplayer online first person shooter), you sign up on their website warrock.net, and download the client.
  • romam1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Ive seen better lists
  • starfighter01, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1This list absolutely sucks... most of them aren't actually free and of all things they actually listed SECOND LIFE.
  • fatalerrorx2, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Tanarus
    Infantry
    Cosmic Rift
    are 3 other games by sony that are currently free for everyone (online & offline) and these games still have hundreds of players
  • hichnii, on 03/12/2008, -0/+1other games:
    http://blogs.ebay.com/dpsasser/entry/Online-Cookin ...
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