free-2-play posts

Each week we find more and more free games that do not quite fit into the freeware mold. Games that do not require a subscription fee to play, but encourage player usage of money through microtransactions or special subscription services. This is Playing For Free, a column that showcases these games.

The week's column is a new thing for Playing for Free. Granted, the column is only a month old, so it's perfectly acceptable to introduce new things! In this case, it's not a stand-alone game, but one of those free browser MMOs that lots of bored office workers play on their idle time. It's called Ikariam, and it surprisingly good given the rather crowded and poorly-realized genre that is the browser MMO. So for those interested in a little game that keeps on chugging while you work or play, here's one of the better browser MMOs to peruse.

Each week we find more and more free games that do not quite fit into the freeware mold. Games that do not require a subscription fee to play, but encourage player usage of money through microtransactions or special subscription services. This is Playing For Free, a column that showcases these games.

There are a lot of free-to-play action games out there. Some of them are great, and some of them are terrible. Then there are those that are great games but suffer from a poor community. Combat Arms falls into this category. It's a good shooter, if relatively rote, but it suffers from stats padding and hacking accusations. If you can find a good group to play with, you'll have an absolute blast. Just don't expect public games with strangers to be all that entertaining, thanks to getting booted all the time.

Each week we find more and more free games that do not quite fit into the freeware mold. Games that do not require a subscription fee to play, but encourage player usage of money through microtransactions or special subscription services. This is Playing For Free, a column that showcases these games.

A popular model of free-to-play games is the action-shooter model. This may be because players do not feel like paying monthly for what they are already playing (see: Call of Duty 4, Unreal Tournament), or it might be because they are easier to do than the traditional MMO model. Regardless of just why developers do this, Exteel is a good entry into this sub-genre of the free-to-play game. Run by NCSoft (the company that runs Guild Wars and City of Heroes, among others), it links directly into their system, much like the rest of their games. You might not give it the attention that a serious MMO might get, but it sure is fun!

Each week we find more and more free games that do not quite fit into the freeware mold. Games that do not require a subscription fee to play, but encourage player usage of money through microtransactions or special subscription services. This is Playing For Free, a column that showcases these games.

World of Warcraft is the most popular MMO on the market for a reason. It combines a healthy dose of action with the standard grind of RPGs to make for a truly addictive experience that almost all other MMOs are judged by. Is this judgement fair? Certainly not. However, it's hard not to judge a game like Runes of Magic by World of Warcraft's standards, given that Runes of Magic is basically the same game, just with a fresh coat of paint and some new features. It's a blast to play, and if you don't want to shill out the money for a World of Warcraft subscription, it might be your bag of tea.