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

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.


cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
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

1

style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">

1

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/38580"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/38580/preview"> style="font-weight: bold;">Atlantica Online - ( href="http://www.playatlantica.com">www.playatlantica.com)

NDOORS
  • href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1303">Atlantica
    Portal

Atlantica
does the best
job of any game on this list of delivering a solid story and allowing
gamers to play in short bursts and still feel accomplished. It fits
perfectly into my busy lifestyle.

2

style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">

2

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/41097"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/41097/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;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Wizard101 - ( href="https://www.wizard101.com/" target="_blank">www.wizard101.com)

KingsIsle Entertainment, Inc.
  • href="http://tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1186">Magic101
    Portal

style="font-style: italic;">Wizard101 is fun
for the whole family, but only the trial is free. Try it out and let me
know what you think.

3

style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">

3

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;"> 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;">Mabinogi - ( href="http://mabinogi.nexon.net/">http://mabinogi.nexon.net)

NEXON
  • href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/856">Mabonogi
    Portal

style="font-style: italic;">Mabinogi offers
light-hearted fantasy, but NEXON is capable of grittier games, too. I'd
like to see a new game like Mabinogi
only darker.

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;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> 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

Rohan
seems to be losing
players are they get bored with the grind. Again I find myself wishing
this game were subscription-based so that more people would check it
out.

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;"> 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
does a
lot to encourage grouping. It even has quests that involve having a
certain number of people in your group. That can be a good thing and a
bad thing.

6

style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">

6

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;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> 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
has a beta. I am in it. I cannot use what I see in the beta to adjust
the game's ranking on this list. style="font-weight: bold;">

7

style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">

7

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;"> 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
impressed me with a good story and Diablo-like
gameplay that overcome its graphical shortcomings.

8

style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">

N/A

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/44038"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/44038/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;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Pefect World International
- ( target="_blank">www.perfectworld.com style="font-weight: bold;">)

Beijing Perfect World
  • href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/771">Perfect
    World International Portal

Perfect World
International

is a little heavy-handed in trying to establish the relationships
between the three races during the early quests, but it pays off in
making the gamer feel like part of a world with real political workings. style="font-weight: bold;">

9

style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">

8

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/41572"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/41572/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;"> 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;">Cabal Online -
(www.cabalonline.com style="font-weight: bold;">)

ESTsoft
  • href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/853">Cabal
    Online Portal

Cabal Online
has a feel of a
world on the brink of destruction. It's very different from the typical
game, which presents the world as some organized and tamed that any
impending doom seems like a minor inconvenience.

10

style="text-align: center; width: 75px; color: rgb(188, 188, 188);">

10

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;"> 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;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> 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
is better than #10, but it's going to sit here
until someone from NCsoft sends me a note to let me know the game is
not doomed.



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    Free-to-Play Games Portal

To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Dungeon Runners Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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