src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/31549/preview">
By Danny "Ralsu" Gourley
Week in Review
Okay, this week I finally dragged myself away from
style="font-style: italic;">Atlantica Online
long enough to check out a new game:
style="font-style: italic;">Florensia.
style="font-style: italic;">You know what? I'm
glad I did. Florensia
was a fun experience. My goal is to bring readers my first impressions
of the game next week, but I'll repeat the basics here.
Florenisa
places gamers in the age of seafaring adventure. It blends the
traditional fantasy themes (complete with casting spells) with the ship
sailing action of recent titles, such as
style="font-style: italic;">Pirates of the Burning Sea
(PotBS). I
thought PotBS was pretty fun, and I think
style="font-style: italic;">Florensia is at
least as fun after a few hours of play. Rather than going for the
realism of PotBS, Florensia
has cartoon graphics. Enemies in the early going are mushrooms and the
like, giving the feel of a game for young teens. Still, the gameplay is
as complex as many subscription games, and it's worth a try. Look for
more details next week.
Meanwhile, the trend of free-to-play (F2P) games gaining
ground in the Western markets has extended to Ten Ton Hammer, too. If
you haven't heard about it already, check out Ten Ton
Hammer's The
Pulse. Basically, The Pulse tells us which games are the
hottest according to Ten Ton Hammer readers each day. Well, F2P
gamers, our day has arrived. In the past week, as many as four
F2P games have appeared in The Pulse, sending a clear message that F2P
is here to stay. Games from this Top Ten list (including
style="font-style: italic;">Atlantia Online,
style="font-style: italic;">Dungeon Runners,
style="font-style: italic;">Mabinogi, and
style="font-style: italic;">Runes of Magic)
have ranked higher than subscription-based games like
href="http://eq2.tentonhammer.com/">
style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest 2,
style="font-style: italic;">Vanguard,
style="font-style: italic;">EVE Online,
and
style="font-style: italic;">Tabula Rasa.
Despite all signs pointing to a shift in the revenue model in
the West, some people still resist. What's your advice to the gamer who
clings to his subscription while rocking back and forth in his computer
chair? Will F2P become the big thing in the West? Tell me
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=36758">in
the forums.
The List
My one change this week is to bring
style="font-style: italic;">Florensia into the
Top Ten. It's worth a look for most gamers. As I play it more, I'll
decide if it can keep its place, move up, or drop out of the Top Ten.
My next target is Cronous.
While I am testing out games so that you don't have to, be sure to
check out at least the games ranked 1-5. Something from that group has
to be right for you.
Here are my Top Ten Free-to-Play Games for this week.
Disclaimer:
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed are those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of
the Ten Ton Hammer network or staff.
Free-to-Play Games
October 9, 2008
1
1
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/38580/preview">
href="http://atlantica.ndoorsgames.com/" target="_blank">http://atlantica.ndoorsgames.com/)
NDOORS
Atlantica
just opened a fourth server this week due to high traffic on the
original two and the third recently opened. If that wasn't enough
indication of the team's dedication to service, they added a patch to
make Auto-Move work without a license. Now players can use the feature
to automatically run to quest givers all over the world.
2
2
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/41097/preview">
target="_blank">www.wizard101.com)
KingsIsle Entertainment, Inc.
style="font-style: italic;">Wizard101 should
appeal to anyone who likes Yu-Gi-Oh!
and Harry Potter.
3
3
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/31567/preview">
NEXON
style="font-style: italic;">Mabinogi is simple
enough for your ten year old to get into yet deep enough for you to
enjoy, too.
4
4
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/33602/preview">
( target="_blank">http://www.dungeonrunners.com style="font-weight: bold;">) NCSoft
Dungeon
Runners sometimes makes me think of
style="font-style: italic;">World of Warcraft on
drugs. I can't really sell it any better than that.
style="font-weight: bold;">
5
5
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/32333/preview">
href="http://domo.aeriagames.com/">http://domo.aeriagames.com style="font-weight: bold;">)
Aeria Games &
Entertainment
Dream of Mirror
Online has one major strike against it for me: soloing is
mind-numbingly slow after level 15 or so. Get a good group, though, and
the game rocks. The dual-class system really allows players to show
their skill.
6
6
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/35119/preview">
YNK Interactive
Rohan
would be a major media hit if the game charged a subscription. It's got
all of the features of recent releases like
style="font-style: italic;">Age of Conan. It
just likes a customer base.
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
7
7
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/30838/preview">
Online
- ( href="http://mwo.enjoymmo.com/" target="_blank">http://mwo.enjoymmo.com style="font-weight: bold;">)
Goldcool Games
Magic World Online
removes the grind through the use of legal botting. I admit that I
don't get it. Why can't we just start at the level cap and PvP then?
8
8
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/36886/preview">
( href="http://www.runesofmagic.com/">www.runesofmagic.com style="font-weight: bold;">)
Frogster
Runes of Magic
has a few videos out on YouTube, and the comments all seem to compare
it to World of Warcraft.
Who knows if that is a good thing or a bad thing for the game.
9
9
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/44038/preview">
- ( target="_blank">www.perfectworld.com style="font-weight: bold;">)
Beijing Perfect World
Perfect World
International is still rough around the edges, but the
fresh translation makes it easy to enjoy the racial tensions in the
world.
10
N/A
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/45940/preview">
(http://en.florensia-online.com/)
Burda:ic GmbH
Florensia
lets players sail the high seas and adventure on land. Then there's the
harvesting and crafting. It feels like several games in one.
style="font-weight: bold;">
About
This List
Please refer to the Top
Ten
Free-to-Play Games Portal to find out how to get a game you
make or like on this list.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Dungeon Runners Game Page.