Lord of the Rings Online

Lord of the Rings Online

The Lord of the Rings Online is a fantasy MMORPG where you take on the role of a Man, Elf, Dwarf, or Hobbit and set out on your own journey through J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Now free-to-play, The Lord of the Rings Online (called LotRO in the MMO community) has gained an increase in player activity and interest, and it recognized as one of the best MMO’s in the free-to-play market.

From the start, you are thrown into the action with interactive quests and fierce battles. Players are only given the option of choosing between the “good” or “free” races, but can play as monsters in special PvP battles starting at level 10. In total there are nine distinct classes available, though not all are available to all races. PvP in LotRO is a bit different than most MMORPGs; players fight in large battles either as special level 50 monsters or as their normal characters.

The Lord of the Rings Online will keep you engaged in a rich story, filled with so much lore already, that story fans will be entertained and role-players will never want to leave their computer chair.  You should give this game a try, even if you’re new to the series.  You won’t regret it.

And be sure to check-out our gameplay video in the videos section, or our other Free MMORPGs!

Shaiya

Shaiya

Released by Aeria games, Shaiya online is a free to play MMORPG supported by a microtransaction system. The story behind the game is the good old good vs. evil fairytale, this time with two goddesses fighting each other. For a F2P MMORPG the graphics are surprisingly good, with decent poly-count, good effects and fluid animations.However, a lot of models especially for NPCs are constantly overused, visual differences between mobs being created by simple retexturing.

Questing in Shaiya may become a bit boring, with a focus on repeating simple tasks over and over again rather than on storytelling or adventure. However, the dungeon system offers simple yet attractive rewards and it’s put together in an artistically appealing way.Shaiya offers four playable races (Humans, Elves, Veil and Nordein), each coming with its own set of three classes. Races and classes can not be mixed so picking one of the four available races automatically limits your class choices to the three classes specific to the chosen race.There are open world PVP options in Shaiya, but most of the brutal PVP encounters in the game are limited by the boundaries of the instanced battlefields you can enter.

Planet Calypso

The Pitch:

Have you ever caught yourself playing an MMO and gone “You know what? This feels more like a job than actual fun.” If so, you’re likely not alone. I’m pretty sure the people behind Planet Calypso had the same thought and instead of viewing it as a downside they just decided to run with it. That’s how this scifi, F2P MMO was born. What sets it apart from most other MMOs is that all of that grinding, and mining and hunting and looting can actually result in real money. Like actual money, thanks to Planet Calypso’s real cash economy.

The Lowdown:

That’s right, because Planet Calypso’s in game currency is tied directly to the US dollar at a fixed 10 to 1 ratio. And the game allows you to deposit or withdrawal real, actual dollars at any time. Which is perfect for those times when you’re grinding away at some MMO task and you ask yourself, “Am I even having fun right now?This just feels like a second job!” Because then you can go, “Oh yeah, it kinda is.”

How it plays:

Planet Calypso Introduction Video

The Verdict:

So, are you’re going to get rich from playing Planet Calypso??? Probably not. There have always been ways for canny or skilled gamers to make some money from their hobby. And I wouldn’t be surprised if some people have made huge heaps of money from playing this game. But I’m sure they’re the exception not the rule. With a game like this it is likely best to play for the atmosphere and the richly developed scifi setting. For the feeling of being an actual space colonist and dreaming dreams that would make Elon Musk proud. So it is best to go into the experience by viewing the in-game economy as what it is: an interesting feature that adds complexity and realism to the game world.

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War of the Immortals

War of the Immortals

The evil legions of Ragnarok have returned to Atlantis and players will find themselves in the aftermath of a great battle. With impending doom still at Atlantis? doorstep, players must heed the call to action and take up arms.Only then will good have a chance to prevail over evil.

War of the Immortals has a variety of features that have made it a popular sequel to Battle of the Immortals. You’ll be able to choose from the following 8 classes: Berzerker, Champion, Heretic, Magus, Slayer, Duelist, Ranger and Enchantress.

Equip yourself with soul gear:Specifically tailored to each class, these powerful sets of animated gear will grow and change in appearance as players progress through the game.Housing: Set up housing for members, plan upcoming raids, trade crafting materials and pick up new recruits to expand your guild.Engage in territory wars: Fight against others for territories and resources as you take your guild to new heights and notoriety in War of the Immortals.

Have a pet: Further customize your pets through the new Pet Soul system, as well as capture virtually any monster in the game.

League of Legends

League of Legends

January 13, 2013 – League of Legends (LoL for short), is a 3D fantasy MOBA by Riot Games where players choose from one of many champions and fight it out in PvP battles against their enemies. Each individual ?game? or ?match? doesn?t take place in a persistent world, players earn experience points for winning matches, which can be used to permanently improve attributes in all future games. League of Legends is actually very similar to a popular Warcraft 3 mod called DotA (Defense of the Ancients).

Players take on the role of hero characters, leading an army to the enemy player?s base to destroy their fortifications and armies. It takes the RTS (Real-Time Strategy) genre and gives it more action.  During each game, players will have approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds to select a champion, two summoner spells, and some runes. League of Legends currently has well over 60 playable heroes, each of which are distinctly different. Each of the heroes has 4 unique skills, of which 1 is an ultimate, as well as a unique passive ability.

The heroes are actually incredibly balanced, and even the 8 beginner champions, which are fairly ?easy? to play, aren?t at all ?under powered? or anything like that. After playing a few matches with the recommended characters, players should try out other champions as well, because the best way to really master League of Legends is to learn every champion?s skills. Memorizing every champion?s skills may seem a bit nerve wracking at first, but you will get the hang of it, as just by playing the game regularly players will learn on their own what each hero is capable of. Of the game?s many playable heroes, most of them won?t be available to newbies, as they have to purchased in the game?s store with the ?influence points? earned from playing and winning matches.

The more matches a player wins in League of Legends ? the more experience their champion gains. Every level yields a single mastery point, which can then be spent in the ?masteries? tab. Masteries are passive enhancements which will enhance a champion?s attributes in every single game. The masteries work a lot like the ?talent? points in World of Warcraft and Runes of Magic, but they are ?account wide?, so it doesn?t matter which champion you select; you?ll always receive these bonuses. The three skill trees in the masteries tab are Offense, Defense and Utility.

League of Legends is popular in the eSports realm, becoming a major game in MLG (Major League Gaming) professional play.

Pros: Many characters to play, Good support, Flawless PvP.

Cons: None I can think of!

Winner of an MMO of the Year Award in 2013.

Wizard 101

Wizard 101

Wizard101 is a 3D MMORPG developed and published by KingsIsle Entertainment, featuring a magical setting with a polished and unique graphic style which will make playing the game an amazingly  entertaining experience.  Wizard101 is a highly polished game with plenty of lore and an original graphic style.  Play as one of seven Wizard types and thwart  the sinister plans of Malistare Drake while learning new spells and exploring the realms of Wizard101.

Wizard101 is a unique game where players take on the roll of a child wizard who has just enrolled in Wizard Academy.  Its obvious Wizard101 draws its inspiration from the widely popular Harry Potter franchise, but it manages to pull it off in style without feeling like a knockoff.  Anyone who plays this game will immediately notice how much higher the production values are compared to many other MMORPGs.  From character creation to the tutorial, the voice overs, interface, and even the game’s terrain look very polished.  New players chose which magic type to specialize in by answering a series of questions with seven possible outcomes to determine your class.

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Age Of Conan

Age of Conan

Explore the world of Hyboria in Age of Conan, Funcoms latest MMORPG title to adapt a free to play model. Based on the highly popular Conan franchise, the game lets you explore a world of magic and monsters as you battle your way through, using everything from a battle-axe to dark magic.

Age of Conan features twelve unique classes and 4 races all with in-depth skill trees and abilities that allow players to customize their character as they progress through the game.The combat in AoC is arguably one of the most interactive in the MMO universe, instead of the typical button mashing of 1-5, players choose how to swing their weapon and perform combo attacks to unleash stronger abilities. The combat system is heavily skill based which attracts many PvP fans to the game and the recent update including hardcore PvP servers has gone down really well with the community.PvP is a large part of Age of Conan, players can join free for all servers allowing for instant combat against other players almost anywhere in the game.

More reserved PvP fans get plenty of action in the form of Guilds and Siege Battles. Guilds are able to build or conquer Battle Keeps.  Siege Battles are large-scale combat scenarios where guilds fight each other in the hopes of claiming new territory or capturing better resource locations.

Age of Conan now offers a free to play model allowing players to download the client and play for free with minimal restrictions, you can progress through the game easily as a free player but you don’t gain access to some of the more unique mounts and raids. Funcom also recently introduced a micro transaction system in the form of a standard MMO item mall, a free to play player can use this item mall without needing to upgrade to a premium account.

Dragon Soul Online – Defunct

Dragon Soul Online

Explore a mystical world ripe with Chinese mythology and danger at every turn. The Great Dynasty that had united the promised lands has fallen. In its place stand eight loosely organized kingdoms ready to do anything to ensure they stand victorious and crush all who oppose their king. As these kingdoms waste away in constant conflict, a greater threat looms on the horizon?The hordes of the steppe, sensing their moment has arrived, have gathered to put an end to the remnants of the dynasty that has forced them to the live under shadow for so long. In this world, strength alone is not enough to win the day.

Do you have the fabled Dragon Soul that will unite the eight kingdoms and prevent this world from falling into the abyss of the hordes? madness? Welcome to Dragon Soul. Choose your allegiance among the eight kingdoms and rally your friends and allies to your cause. Indulge in a deep pet system complete with vast customization of skills and strengths. Fight epic large scale empire versus empire pvp battles to earn glory for your nation. Prove your worth through politics and power, and rise to the position of emperor. Each nation?s emperor can forge their nation?s legacy through appointing nobility, forging alliances, and declaring war.

Dragon Soul Online never even made it past its open beta phase and has been shut down.

Luvinia World

Luvinia World

Luvinia World (formerly Luvinia Online) is the latest free to play title from MMORPG portal Outspark, the same developers that brought you Seven Dragons and Fiesta Online. The game is set in the world of Luvinia, a colorful world in which players can explore dozens of areas, from city streets to the bottom of oceans. Luvinia offers a unique character creation system, giving players many choices that are unheard of in other free to play MMORPG titles. As well as choosing your base appearance you get the option of choosing to align with a certain nation, picking your astrological sign and of course, choosing your class.

The classes available are Warrior, Rogue, Magician, Knight, Fighter, Scout, Artist, Warlock and Priest, although not all of these classes are available to choose straight away. As your character progresses, you gain access to specialization classes within your base class, for example, a Rogue can later decide to specialize as a Scout or Artist, with each choice unlocking separate powers and abilities.There are 2 separate sides you can choose to align with, Nation and Federation, with each side offering 3 nationalities to choose from. Each faction has its own starting area and beginning quests and is also the side you will represent in PvP battles later in the game.

The skill progression system in Luvinia Online gives players the choice of how to improve their class, offering a unique sphere-grid type system that allows players to either upgrade a current skill or unlock a new ability. At the start you only have basic access to your class’s skill tree, as you gain more experience and level up, unlocking your specialty class, you gain access to more areas of the skill tree which in turn, increases the power of your character.Luvinia Online is available, without restrictions, as a free to play title but players wishing to invest money into their characters can do so using the web-based item mall and micro-transactions system.

Allods Online

Allods Online

Allods Online is a free-to-play fantasy MMORPG developed by the Russian company Astrum Nival. The game entered its open beta stage on February 16, 2010. Ever since then numerous levels of polish have been added on top of the original design and the vast majority of the game?s problems have been ironed out. The game was finally launched on May 11, 2011 together with its fourth volume called Astral Odyssey.Many of the game?s composing elements could be considered traditional for the fantasy MMORPG genre, but a few are a bit more original than expected. Among them is the players’ ability to build ships and with them sail the magical space called The Astral. To make things even more interesting, players can engage in ship-to-ship combat and explore zones otherwise unreachable.

The Allods Online player base is split into two factions: The League and The Empire, each of them with three races and a panoply of classes to choose from. While the class system might see a bit overwhelming especially to a new player or to someone unaccustomed with the fantasy MMORPG canons, it does provided a most welcomed variety and the time invested in understanding the system and what each and every class brings to the table is eventually well worth it.

Allods Online managed to impress gamers and critics alike by providing triple-A quality gameplay, graphics and sounds in a free-to-play business model. The artistic direction of the game bearing the unmistakable influence of the Russian art school is particularly impressive.

Perfect World

Perfect World

One of the most popular downloadable MMO games ever, Perfect World is a vast land filled with beautifully stunning graphics and epic classes. The incredible detail in the game makes it one of the most visually impressive games out there. The play style is easy to learn yet takes a certain degree of skill to perfect for any class. With a massive amount of quests to complete and varied dungeons to explore, you will find it hard to leave this game alone!

Pros: A large world filled with varied visual delights. Highly customisable character in regards to looks and clothes. Plenty of quests, dungeons and events.

Cons: Hard to farm enough gold for high level gear and items. Hard to gain experience level 95+.

Lucent Heart

Lucent Heart

Lucent Heart is a 3D fantasy astrology based MMORPG with an in-depth dating system. Players become knights in a magical land where nothing is as it seems. Explore dungeons slay monsters, take up a profession, tackle challenging quests, participate in PvP battles, and find the love of your life in this epic adventure.Lucent Heart is a social MMO that combines traditional fantasy RPG elements with an extensive soul mate system. Players take on the role of a human knight blessed by the Gods to save a world tainted with evil.

The corrupted Goddess Hecate cast a spell unleashing devastating storms spawning new heinous creatures to wreak havoc on local villagers.Complete difficult quests, fight off hordes of monsters, raid dungeons, dance, and fall in love. The game features anime styled graphics like Hero: 108 Online and an astrology based theme similar to Zodiac Online. Every character has a particular sunsign that affects their skills, boosts, and characteristics.

Players can choose various blood types that give heroes little quirks such as being prone to stinginess. The progressive class system lets heroes start out as a warrior or mage and level up into one of the four primary classes. Each core class has two advanced classes to choose from along with six crafting professions.

Jade Dynasty

Jade Dynasty

Jade Dynasty is a 3D Asian fantasy MMORPG with a martial arts theme. Much of the geography and mythical monsters in Jade Dynasty are based on Chinese legend which gives the game a unique feel. All players start as initiates but must chose between five factions, each with its own fighting style.Jade Dynasty is the third MMORPG to be published by Perfect World International. Like their previous titles, Jade Dynasty has an oriental setting. Much of the game?s environments and monsters are borrowed from Chinese mythology, which help it stand out from the crowd of fantasy games.

New players in Jade Dynasty do not select a class right away, but must wait until level 15 to chose between the five factions. The five factions are Jadeon a ranged damage dealer, Skysong a healing and buffing class, Vim a tanking class, Lupin which are rogues, Modo an offensive spell caster, Balo a melee class and Arden an archery class which can summon pets.

Grand Fantasia

Grand Fantasia

Grand Fantasia is a brightly themed 3D Fantasy MMORPG with anime-inspired graphics. The game is also called Dreamy Journey Online in other parts of the world. With a gorgeously designed game world and fluid gameplay, Grand Fantasia is well worth checking out.

Grand Fantasia is a 3D Fantasy MMORPG developed by EASYFUN Entertainment, the same folks who made HolyBeast Online.Perhaps the most unique aspect of the game is its detailed ?Sprite? pet system. Fans of cute anime inspired games like Luna Online and Fiesta Online should certainly be able to find something to like in Grand Fantasia ? but even though the game has fluid gameplay and attractive graphics, it does little to push the genre forward.

Even though the game doesn?t exactly revolutionize the genre, Grand Fantasia is still a high quality free MMO that?s well worth checking out. Players start off their journey in Grand Fantasia as a classless novice and can chose their first class at level 5.

Fiesta Online

Fiesta Online

Fiesta Online is developed by OnSoft and published by Outspark. It is a free-to-play MMORPG with anime style graphics.The five classes available in Fiesta are based on general archetypes and the naming convention is pretty straight forward: Fighters, Archers, Mages, Clerics and Tricksters.

Each class has three ranks which open up certain specialization paths. Choosing a specialization (they are also called promotions) is mandatory for character advancement. Player vs. Player (PVP) is limited in Fiesta to specially designed areas which can have level restrictions.

As long as the players that join the PVP areas are not grouped, the general rule of such encounters is free-for-all. Other significant features included in Fiesta Online are the in-game weddings and the estate system.

The first allows players to propose to other players and if the proposal is accepted, the wedding is held in a special chapel that can accommodate up to thirty guests. After the ceremony is over the ?newlyweds? receive special in-game bonuses. The Estate System allows players to own and decorate their own private estate. Each of these houses can hold up to fifteen guests.

Elsword Online

Elsword

My first thoughts on booting up Elsword was how similar the Korean-made MMO felt to MapleStory. Both titles are side-scrolling beat-’em-ups, and both titles feature a colorful, brightly-detailed world, an enjoyable soundtrack, and a whole lot of entertaining action. Unfortunately, it also shares MapleStory faults, which it adds to a few glaring problems of its own. Before I start going on about the game’s faults, however, I’d like to address what it does right.

Elsword’s positively brimming with flair, for one, equipped with a top-notch combat system. Battles with both monsters and other characters are fluid and fast-paced, and each pf the nine classes feels and plays with its own unique style. For example, I chose to start the game with a swordsman named Raven, a melee powerhouse who excels at positioning and close-quarters combat; Raven is furthermore equipped with a unique ability called Awakening, which grants him a Nasod core which grows larger whenever he deals damage, takes damage, or uses special abilities.  that grants him a  At level fifteen, I chose to advance to the Sword Taker class, which allows Raven to attack with lightning speed, and grants him access to a series of powerful sword-based combos, at the expense of letting his Nasod-based abilities wither somewhat. Though I didn’t get that far, I could have advanced again – into a Blade Master, at level 35.

Unfortunately, the process of leveling up isn’t exactly a simple one. See, Elsword shares a problem that’s distressingly common amongst MMORPGs of its ilk – it happens to be a completely unapologetic grindfest. While some of you may not necessarily see that as a problem, it meant that eventually, it became far too repetitive, forcing me to constantly re-run already completed segments of the game simply to advance my character. Though the game tosses in a few unique touches – a pet system that allows you to get buffs in battle, secret dungeons, and invasion – all of that ultimately falls flat when pitted against the sheer volume of repetition.

The game’s setting and character furthermore are somewhat marred by the lack of customization options and the consistently poor writing, which often reads as though the team that localized Elsword translated the in-game text, but not much else. As for customization, there are a lot of options for players to forge their own unique playstyle, and that’s great – I just would have liked to see more visual options outside of the in-game shop (which we’ll talk about in a moment. It was quite common to see carbon copies of my character running around, with only some gear to differentiate us from one another; it would have been nice if I could have changed my base appearance a touch.

Monotony, customization, and localization are the least of Elsword’s problems, however. The MMO is pay-to-win in the worst way possible, allowing players to purchase game-changing gear and equipment from the in-game store at a premium. This causes a severe imbalance in PVP, which is already saddled with a less-than-stellar matchmaking system. Given the strong offerings elsewhere, it’s unfortunate that Elsword falls into this all-too-common trap of the genre.

Ultimately, while Elsword has a great deal of style, that style lacks substance. What we’ve got here is another grind-heavy action MMO marred by too much repetition and a thorough abuse of the F2P business model. If you want a side-scrolling Action RPG, there are better choices on the market.

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