by Chris Ware on Mar 30, 2010
style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 51);">Top
Ten
Free-to-Play Games
Week
of Mar 21 - Mar 27, 2010
1. Dungeons
and Dragons
Online: Eberron Unlimited
2.Runes
of Magic
target="_blank">
href="http://everquest2.station.sony.com/">
style="text-decoration: underline;">
style="text-decoration: underline;">
href="http://allods.gpotato.com/" target="_blank">
style="text-decoration: underline;">3.
href="http://www.freerealms.com/" target="_blank">
style="text-decoration: underline;">
href="http://www.freerealms.com/" target="_blank">
style="text-decoration: underline;">FreeRealms
href="http://atlantica.ndoorsgames.com/center/default.asp"
target="_blank">
href="http://allods.gpotato.com/" target="_blank">
style="text-decoration: underline;">
href="http://us.runesofmagic.com/us/index.html">
style="text-decoration: underline;">
style="text-decoration: underline;">
4.
href="http://atlantica.ndoorsgames.com/center/default.asp"
target="_blank">
href="http://www.freerealms.com/" target="_blank">
style="text-decoration: underline;">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1303"
target="_blank">Atlantica Online
5.
href="../../../../DOCUME%7E1/ADMINI%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/www.global.4story.com"
target="_blank">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/581"
target="_top">Silkroad
Online
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2433"
target="_blank">
href="http://heroesofgaia.gpotato.com/" target="_blank">
style="text-decoration: underline;">
6.
target="_blank">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/856"
target="_top">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/771"
target="_top">
href="http://allods.gpotato.com/" target="_blank">
style="text-decoration: underline;">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/769"
target="_blank">Requiem: Bloodmayne
7.
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/581"
target="_top">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/856"
target="_top">The
Chronicles of Spellborn
8.
target="_top">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2433"
target="_blank">Aika
9.
target="_top">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/771"
target="_top">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1841"
target="_blank">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2039"
target="_blank">Jade Dynasty
10.
target="_blank">Sword of the New World
href="http://www.gamersfirst.com/swordofthenewworld/"
target="_blank">
href="http://www.gamersfirst.com/swordofthenewworld/"
target="_blank">
style="text-decoration: underline;">
href="http://www.gamersfirst.com/swordofthenewworld/"
target="_blank">
href="http://atlantica.ndoorsgames.com/center/default.asp"
target="_blank">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1841"
target="_blank">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/581"
target="_top">
It has been a fairly quiet week in the world of free-to-play gaming,
but there is always something going on out there. Our away team
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/paxeast2010"
target="_blank">beamed off to PAX East to report
on the entire goings on of the first East Coast iteration of the
popular conference hosted by Penny Arcades Gabe and Tyco. It doesnt
look like PAX East will be the treasure trove of free-to-play goodness
that GDC 2010 was, but rest assured if there is something newsworthy
our team will sniff it out.
An email from a long time Ten Ton Hammer reader prompted this weeks
feature, as it seems that my soap boxing about the new breed of
subscriptionless gaming may have spawned some unintended misconceptions
about the current state of the genre.
target="_blank">Blizzard also announced their annual foray
into conventions this week--perhaps the big reveal this year
will be that the gaming juggernaut is throwing its hat into the
free-to-play ring as well? Stranger things have happened.
In Top Ten news, Algalon
took a tumble from a pretty high rank in last weeks poll and fell
completely off the list. Black
Prophecy and Perfect
World Online also suffered similar fates while
style="font-style: italic;">Requiem: Bloodmayne and
The Chronicles of
Spellborn benefited from the aforementioned departures.
Maybe version 2.0 of Spellborn will pack some punch, we will have to
wait and see.
Join us this week as we look at some of the best titles currently
available in free-to-play gaming in Microcosms The Future is
Now.
So with that in mind, lets take a look at three current MMOGs that
meet the criteria of being both innovative and accessible. All three of
these titles have been live since at least 2008, and feature fairly
robust communities.
One of the first free-to-play games to give the AAA titles a run for
their money, Atlantica
Online is going on its third year. Featuring turned-based
combat, this fantasy-based game is flecked with a steampunk feel and
offers a huge world to explore.
Atlantica Online
has one of the more robust communities among free-to-plays and the
developer, NDOORS Interactive, is also the publisher of the game, which
makes for quick response to player concerns and rapid deployment of new
features. Earlier this week the game added integrated voice chat
support to its already considerable list of features
Players will never have to solo in
style="font-style: italic;">Atlantica Online as
the game uses a mercenary system that allows you to hire powerful
companions to assist you in your journey across the alternate Earth
game realm. While there may not be a plethora of races-- there is only
one playable race in fact--and the classes may not follow the
traditional pattern of fantasy MMOGs (they are mostly defined by the
main weapon they use such as the Axe class or the Sword class)
style="font-style: italic;">Atlantica Online
has created a deep and enjoyable world that will keep you coming back
for more.
Some MMOGs are all about killing, questing and competing, and while
thats all well and good, that formula sometimes forgets the basic
purpose of gaminghaving fun. One game that remembers this prime
directive, and sticks to it in all aspects, is
style="font-style: italic;">Mabiongi Online.
This Korean import from Nexon is heavily anime influenced in its
graphical styling and was originally aimed at the teen market, however
it has been accepted by players of all ages due in no small part to its
wide range of in-game activities.
There are no classes in Mabinogi
(which is a word of Welsh origins, and refers to the prose
tales of the Mabinogion, which is where the games lore is derived) so
players are free to learn any skills available to their race through
the use of ability points, which are both earned through traditional
MMOG means such as quest completion or leveling up or received when the
player advances in age in the game. Aging is integrated into the game
as a means of character advancement and ties into the games complex
system of time and seasons, which are all derivatives of Celtic lore.
Skill-based combat, player composed music and a ton of in-game
activities keep Mabiongi
fun and engrossing for fans of all ages.
North America, circa 1400 a.d., isnt your typical fantasy game
setting, but then again Sword
of the New World isnt your typical MMOG. Another in a
long list of South Korean imports, this one, brought to the North
American Market by publisher GamersFirst, is known for its multiple
character controls, beautiful graphics and massive weekly PvP battles
for control of the games colonies. While
style="font-style: italic;">Sword has some
grindy elements to it, the wide variety of gameplay modes and the
multiple character controls are enough of a diversion to keep you
happily distracted.
Another huge plus for Sword
is the staggering amount of GM interaction, it is not at all uncommon
to find multiple GMs in game at the same time leading events in
different areas that are seemingly unrelated but that ultimately lead
players into frenzied PvP combat.
Hopefully my free-to-play neophyte friend, and many of you, will find
this information useful as you wade the murky waters of
microtransaction games. There are plenty of quality games in the
segment and helping you find them will always be a priority of this
column and part of the core mission here at Ten Ton Hammer.
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src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/62335">
style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 51);">Hot
off the Press!