href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31549">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 250px; height: 160px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/31549/preview">
By Danny "Ralsu" Gourley
style="font-weight: bold;">About This List
Please refer to the
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/Top10F2P">Top Ten
Free-to-Play Games Portal to find out how to get a game you
make or like on this list.
Month in Review
June started with a strong debut by
style="font-style: italic;">Requiem: Blodymare
at the #5 spot. Sadly, the marriage of
style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest and
style="font-style: italic;">Resident Evil seems
weaker the longer I play. It finishes the month in the #9 hole.
style="font-style: italic;">Rohan: Blood Feud
became the highest rank game to make its first appearance on this list
when it broke in at #4. It is still going strong.
Rohan's
spot on the list forced Fiesta
Online to drop off the list. I still contend that
Outsparks game aimed at young teens is the perfect introduction to
massively-multiplayer online games (MMOGs). The other game to drop off
the list is NeoSteam,
a fun steampunk game. It has a poor translation and a mostly foreign
player base, making it a tough game for English speakers despite its
many virtues.
Taking the free space afforded by NeoSteam
is Runes of Magic.
I was impressed by early screens of Frosgter's title, but did mention
the game in this Top Ten because being pretty is not enough to make the
list. But when I had a chance to
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/36847">preview the
starting zone for Runes
of Magic, I was impressed by the extensive lore
the developers have crafted in order to ensure a captivating story. It
was enough to grab my attention and earn a spot in the Top Ten.
Games I gave a spin this month but not making the list were
style="font-style: italic;">Holic (best left
for Ten Ton Hamster
readers), Rakion
(a terribly fun PvP game that is not a MMOG to me), and
style="font-style: italic;">Perfect World (not
enough time to evaluate).
Readers might note that this is the first week since the Top Ten began
that Mythos
has not held the #1 slot. I am horribly confused right now by the
game's odd stagnation. The work on the overwolrd is massive and will
make the game great, but it looks like a regression of production to
me. The game has a beta server, but developers are pushing the
overworld to a separate test server with a limited population. When you
have a test server for your beta server, that says your game is in
alpha. I fully believe this will make
style="font-style: italic;">Mythos better, but
it also could cause a lot of fans to lose interest--and already has.
The List
Moving into July, I will finish up my exploration of
style="font-style: italic;">Perfect World. I'll
also cover Wurm Online.
I continue to play several betas, three of which have non-disclosure
agreements (NDAs) preventing me from talking about the games. If any of
the NDAs drop, I'll be sure to give the games any moments in the sun
due to them.
Here are my Top Ten Free-to-Play Games for June 2008.
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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style="color: white; font-weight: bold;">Top Ten
Free-to-Play Games
June 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
1
style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">
2
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31567">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/31567/preview">
style="font-weight: bold;">Mabinogi - (
href="http://mabinogi.nexon.net/">http://mabinogi.nexon.net)
NEXON
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/856">Mabonogi
Portal
Mabinogi
is a very solid game that can please anyone--so long as you can get
beyond the click-to-move controls.
2
style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">
1
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/30839">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/30839/preview">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">Mythos
- (
href="http://www.mythos.com/">www.mythos.com
style="font-weight: bold;">) Flagship Studios,
Inc.
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/329">Mythos
Portal
Consider the drop to #2 as a punishment to
style="font-style: italic;">Mythos for being so
nearly stagnant lately. The game is great already, but fans need to
know that production will keep moving at a steady pace.
style="font-weight: bold;">
3
style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">
3
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/30840">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/30840/preview">
style="font-weight: bold;">Wakfu - (
style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.wakfu.com/"
target="_blank">www.wakfu.com
style="font-weight: bold;">)
Ankama
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1017">Wakfu
Portal
I can't wait until the NDA is lifted and I can talk about
style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu.
style="font-weight: bold;">
4
style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">
4
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/35119">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/35119/preview">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">Rohan: Blood Feud - (
href="http://www.playrohan.com/" target="_blank">
style="font-weight: bold;">www.playrohan.com
style="font-weight: bold;">) YNK Interactive
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/906">Rohan
Portal
If you haven't tried Rohan
yet, download it soon. It looks great, uses the best of popular MMOG
mechanics, and even adds a few twists.
5
style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">
5
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/32333">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/32333/preview">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">Dream of Mirror Online - (
style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"
href="http://domo.aeriagames.com/">http://domo.aeriagames.com
style="font-weight: bold;">) Aeria Games &
Entertainment
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/997">DOMO
Portal
Dream of Mirror
Online is one of those great games that won't get a fair
shake in the West because of the cartoon graphics and its Eastern
origins. It is the best translation I have encounted from titles
published by Aeria Games.
6
style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">
6
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/33602">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/33602/preview">
style="font-weight: bold;">Dungeon Runners -
(
target="_blank">
http://www.dungeonrunners.com
style="font-weight: bold;">) NCSoft
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/110">Dungeon
Runners Portal
Dungeon
Runners continues to push more and more toward a
subscription-based game, which worries me.
style="font-weight: bold;">
7
style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">
7
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/30841">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/30841/preview">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">Warrior Epic -
(
href="http://warriorepic.com/">http://warriorepic.com
style="font-weight: bold;">)
Possibility Space
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/691">Warrior
Epic Portal
Warrior Epic
has high ambition. Will it have any success?
8
style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">
8
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/30838">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/30838/preview">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">Magic World
Online
- (
href="http://mwo.enjoymmo.com/" target="_blank">http://mwo.enjoymmo.com
style="font-weight: bold;">)
Goldcool Games
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/983">Magic
World Online Portal
Magic World Online
is second only to DOMO in terms of story among the games on this list.
It is dead last in graphics, though.
9
style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">
9
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/34626">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/34626/preview">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">Requiem: Bloodymare - (
href="http://www.playrequiem.com/">www.playrequiem.com
style="font-weight: bold;">) Gravity Interactive
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/769">Requiem
Portal
Requiem
provides a very different theme with its horror leanings and the
infusion of science. It's very fun for 20 or so levels.
10
style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">
N/A
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/36886">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/36886/preview">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">Runes of Magic -
(
href="http://www.runesofmagic.com/">www.runesofmagic.com
style="font-weight: bold;">)
Frogster
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1234">Runes
of Magic Portal
Runes of Magic
looks pretty in pictures and has deep lore. If the translation is good,
this game could climb up the list quickly.
Return to the
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/Top10F2P">Top Ten
Free-to-Play Games Portal