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By Danny "Ralsu" Gourley

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.

Week in Review

I spent most of my time this week with href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/771"> style="font-style: italic;">Perfect World International.
I first played Perfect
World back in June 2008, and href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/36727">I wasn't very
impressed.
While the game was pretty, it had a horrible translation and
grind-oriented gameplay. This new iteration has the benefit of a
dedicated translation team and play much differently. In a complete
180-turn, I like Perfect
World International quite a bit.

I
also spent some time thinking about why more people don't play
free-to-play games. I came up with three reasons I like best. First,
many free-to-play games are from Asian markets with gameplay, controls,
and graphics often seem alien to Western gamers. Secondly, Westerners
want ownership in their gaming in a way that a free account does not
allow. Subscription-based games leave players with a warm and fuzzy
feeling that they deserve to be able to make complaints and are
entitled to customer service. Many gamers fear that not paying for the
game will mean that these services are not readily available. Lastly, I
think a lot people have trouble controlling their spending and are afraid
that cash shops will cause them to overspend on their gaming.

In answer to the three concerns I have identified, I would
respond as follows. Try some of the games in this list. Some
of the games were developed in Asia. Some were developed in North
America. Some were developed in Europe. These are the best free games
that I have come across. Admittedly, I could make a longer list of bad
games. But that does not negate the existence of good games.
Don't do the work of sifting out the good ones; allow me and this Top
Ten to do that. Then if you find a problem, try actually posting in the
game's official forums or contacting customer service. I have done that
in some of these games, and I have always gotten a response. Don't
assume that customer service is not there just because you do not pay a
subscription to the game. Finally, if overspending is a real danger for
you, set a limit. Decide that your free-to-play game of choice is worth
a maximum of $14.99 a month just like a subscription-based game. If you
have trouble controlling your spending, try not to blame the game and
look at yourself first.

I'd be very interested to hear why readers and developers
think gamers are so hesitant to try the free-to-play market. Let us
know in
the forums.

The List

style="font-style: italic;">Perfect World International
impressed me enough to crack into the Top Ten this week. I
like it better than CABAL
Online. But instead of bumping style="font-style: italic;">CABAL off of the
list, I am dropping Wakfu.

Wakfu
is still under Closed Beta. Nobody can talk about it, and the result is
that no one is
talking about it. When it goes to Open Beta, I'll talk about my
impressions of the game and address whether or not it belongs on the
list. Until that far off day comes, readers won't see it on this list
anymore. There are too many good games out there that we can play to
give a slot to game not released for public consumption that has such a
low buzz factor right now.

Dungeon Runners
will remain at the bottom of the list. I like the game a lot, but I
need NCsoft to assure me that the game will be here 6 months from now.
The rumors really shake my confidence.

Next week, I will report on my experiences with style="font-style: italic;">Red Stone. I'll
also be diving into Runes
of Magic, but it's under a non-disclosure agreement, which
prevents commentary on what I see in the beta.

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.

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colspan="4" rowspan="1"> style="color: white; font-weight: bold;">Top Ten
Free-to-Play Games

September 18, 2008 style="text-align: center; width: 75px; background-color: rgb(114, 105, 62); font-weight: bold; color: white;">Rank style="text-align: center; width: 75px; background-color: rgb(114, 105, 62); font-weight: bold; color: white;">Previous style="text-align: center; width: 105px; background-color: rgb(114, 105, 62); font-weight: bold; color: white;"> style="width: 334px; background-color: rgb(114, 105, 62); font-weight: bold; color: white;">Game

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