It
has
been a long time since we here at Ten Ton Hammer
brought you a weekly look into the world of free-to-play games, and
while we do
cover many of them on a regular basis, we thought it was high time that
we
caught back up with this large and dynamic subset of the MMOG genre. In
the
past several months many new games have launched and a couple of major
titles
have dropped their subscription plans in favor of the free-to-play with
RMT enhancement
model. Without
further ado, let’s take a
look at what is new and improved in the land of the free (to-play).
Free
at Last
During
these fickle times of penny pinching and unrealistic
expectations, many games that look like sure fire hits or at least
solid
contenders can get easily brushed under the rug. While many developers
and
publishers simply pull the plug on under performers, there is a new
trend
developing recently, dropping the subscription plans and switching to a
free-to-play or pay to upgrade free access model. style=""> The
first two free-to-plays we look at this
week come from this category in the forms of style="">Dungeon and Dragons Online
and CrimeCraft.
style="">
style="">Dungeons
and Dragons Online
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/69950">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 119px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/69950" />
style="font-style: italic;">
style="font-style: italic;">Trading Subscriptions for
Micro Transactions is Breathing New Life Into DDO
Many
gamers assumed that the virtual embodiment of the
granddaddy of the RPG would be an obvious success story, unfortunately
that
never quite came to fruition.
Various factors
played in to the games ultimately lukewarm reception but despite it all
neither
the developers, publisher, or the games community was ready to see it
go.
Rather than pull the plug, Turbine got creative and opened the game up
for
anyone who wishes to play it by simply downloading the client and
setting up a
free account. The game has a tiered approach to access with a micro
transaction
store for those that wish to purchase in game enhancements and a
subscription
service for those that desire to take it a step further. The game is
high
fantasy and is modeled after the 3.5 rule set with a level cap of 20.
Click here
for the official site, and check out our
own section devoted to DDO
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ddo">here.
style="">CrimeCraft
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/66585">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 119px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/66585" />
style="font-style: italic;">
style="font-style: italic;">Live the Thug Life in
CrimeCraft
This
action shooter MMOG from Vogster is only a few months
old but is already feeling the pressure of a hostile market. In an
effort to
stem attrition and rope in some new blood
style="">
CrimeCraft recently announced a
free trial system that in effect allows
players to keep playing for free even once the
“trial” ends.
style=""> The
game does still offer subscription plans
and you can purchase “gold bars” as an in game
currency through the RMT store,
you can also purchase the retail box for a quicker install and three
months of
premium membership. What
sets CrimeCraft
apart is really the play style and game world, players looking for a
way out of
the sword and sorcery world should give this a shot for something
rarely seen
in a free-to-play. For an in depth review of this game check out
“
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/75413">Going
Gangster” by our own
editor extraordinaire Benjamin de la Durantaye as well as the
href="http://www.crimecraft.com/">official
site and our own CC section
style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1012">
style="">here.
style="">
Fantasy
Free-To-Plays
As with the rest of the online gaming community, the largest
number of games in the f2P category resides here in the high fantasy
realm.
While many of the titles feel like stripped down carbon copies of each
other, a
few stand out from the crowd, with one in particular that is raising
the bar
for the no subscription crowd.
style="">Runes
of Magic
This
European import from Frogster continues to grow in
popularity by the hour. Featuring a robust world with all the elements
you
would expect to see in a retail game with a monthly fee,
style="">Runes of Magic
delivers a very stable product for the investment of
little more than a 45 minute download (I apologize in advance to dial
up,
satellite and 3G internet users) and a few minutes of account creation.
I
moonlight as an EMT and I have found that the majority of folks in that
line of
work value escapism which leads to a high percentage of gamers in the
field. Many
shifts are spent discussing this game and that and recommendations to
try new
games are always a hot topic ,we are also a notoriously cheap bunch as
we are
grossly underpaid, but that’s a whole other discussion, so
free-to-plays get
quite a bit of action among us. Rare is it that I can recommend a F2P
to a
colleague without a standard disclaimer of “It’s a
good game and all but…..”
style="">Runes of Magic
is the first one that no
forewarning is tossed out during the discussion, no caveat is needed
here, if
you like the classes then you will love the game.
style=""> The
official site can found
href="http://www.runesofmagic.com/">here
and RoM is the newest game at Ten
Ton Hammer to have its own
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rom">dedicated
community site, be on the
lookout for more on the game in the near future.
style="">Atlantica
Online
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/62338">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 119px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/62338" />
style="font-style: italic;">
style="font-style: italic;">Stylized Graphics Give
Atlantica Online A Unique Feel
This
is one of the more established free-to-play titles on
the market today and it is brought to us by Asian F2P powerhouse NDoors
Interactive. Featuring a turn based combat system reminiscent of older
console
RPGs,Atlantica
Online engages the
player from the earliest level and it’s quick and easy to
learn style puts fun
front and center.
The UI is basic and functional, nothing really special but
also nothing completely game breaking either. The
game features in game coins along with an
item mall for RMT fans to use to spice up their game play.
style=""> In
addition to unique combat, which can be
done with the help of NPC “mercenaries”,
style="">Atlantica
Online showcases the world in a
globe trekking adventure that offers an amazing
amount of depth for a game with no monthly fee. This game has undergone
a host
of major changes recently, with most centered on class balancing
issues. Check
out the official site
href="http://www.playatlantica.com/">here.
style="">Rappelz
Online
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31557">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 119px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/31557" />
style="font-style: italic;">
style="font-style: italic;">Pets Are Intergral to
Gameplay in Rappelz
This
anime style game from gPotato is one of the more unique
free-to-play fantasy games available today. Featuring three races and
fifteen
character classes,
Rappelz is a
visually appealing game with a couple of interesting twists with the
most
important being the pet system. Pets play a huge role in this game and
can be
used for virtually any purpose in the game, you can have multiple pets
and they
can be used in combat to fight alongside you. Your pets gain levels and
also
will evolve during their lifetimes, morphing each time into something
more
powerful.
Keep in mind that
style="">Rappelz
is a PvP game and even though
there are switches to disable PK mode, you can still be attacked by
other
players.
The game has a RMT shop which
offers in game aides as well as some pretty
href="http://rappelz.gpotato.com/?m=community&a=commcenter&id=716">interesting
visual enhancements. Learn more
about this game
href="http://rappelz.gpotato.com/">here.
You
Mean it’s Not All Swords and Sorcery?
While
fantasy may rule the day, there are several games that
break away from this trend. Most free-to-play games tend to have a
paying
counterpart they were modeled after, giving fans a sense of familiarity
to make
for an easier transition.
style="">
style="">Requiem:Bloodmayre
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/39020">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 119px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/39020" />
style="font-style: italic;">
style="font-style: italic;">Creatures are the Stuff
of Nightmares in Requiem
Billed
as a horror MMOG, Requiem
was originally launched in June
of 2008 with Bloodmayre
suffix that has now been replaced with the new title
style="">Memento Mori. This
gory free-to-play
features rag doll physics that allow for severed limbs and decapitated
heads to
fall away with maximum shock value. Not a game for the faint of heart,
it even
has special mobs that only spawn during the wee hours of the night and
are significantly
more powerful, think Kithicor Forest if you’re an old school
EQ player. This
offering from Gravity Interactive has all the standard fare in terms of
questing, adventuring and even PvP matches.
style="">
The standard game is
free-to-play with optional subscription packages
and an RMT store.
If you are interested
you can click
href="http://www.playrequiem.com/">here
to learn more. Definitely
a great game for the current holiday season.
style="">
style="">Free
Realms
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/71806">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 119px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/71806" />
style="font-style: italic;">
style="font-style: italic;">Diversity is the Key to
Free Realms Success
While
many fantasy elements exist in this browser based
free-to-play they only do so because nearly every gaming element exists
here. Free
Realms is centered on the idea
of a
virtual gaming community where practically anything you can think to do
for fun
can be done here. This
offering from SOE
is heralded as an innovative step for MMOGs and may be looked back on
as the
originator of a whole new subset for the genre. Marketed for primarily
for
youth and early teen players, this game has become a quiet addiction
for many
gamers with its easy flow and fun mini games.
style="">Free Realms
is free to play and the downloading is done behind the
scenes on your browser as you play so it truly is a load and go game.
style=""> Players
can use Sony Online’s Station Cash
here as in many of the company’s other offerings to enhance
gameplay. The
official site can found by clicking
href="http://www.freerealms.com/">here.
The future of F2P gaming gets brighter with every release as
developers continue to find new ways to make the lucrative RMT system a
bigger
part of our gaming worlds. Love it or hate it, the world of
microtransactions continues
to expand and evolve. So far I have personally never felt at a loss for
anything to do in these games due to not shelling out cash and as long
as THAT
trend continues I think F2P games will be a viable and interesting
alternative
to traditional subscription games. style=""> What
do you think about free-to-plays? Have a favorite that wasn’t
listed here then
tell us about it, but please
don’t flame
because your game of choice wasn’t mentioned, with a couple
hundred to chose
from there had to be some sacrifices made.
