For those of us who have kids or other financial burdens, it can become difficult to find time and money to pay for subscriptions to World of Warcraft (or other premium online games). Indeed, we watch enviously from the sidelines as everyone has a grand time while we are left playing our dusty copies of Baldur's Gate or other RPG (Diablo II?).
My problem with these monthly subscription games is that the gaming model requires you to pay a sum and you feel obligated to play x amount of hours per month in order to get your dollar's worth for that month. Sometimes things happen, and you just can't get the time needed to play...then your $14.99 per month (or whatever the cost) goes down the drain.
But, it doesn't have to be that way. As it turns out, there are some very HIGH quality games out there that require no financial obligation if you just want to hop in and play...making you feel guilt-free about abandoning your character for 35 days while you handle your personal life.
Recently, a few friends of mine and I started getting interested in some of these free-to-play MMORPG games. I personally started playing Lord of the Rings Online, but there are a number of others that even could be considered "WoW replacements".
I discovered MMOHut.com as I was surfing for some WoW gameplay videos (yeah, I'm a geek, so what?). The site is a FANTASTIC resource for all MMO's out there, and offers a comprehensive listing of the best free-to-play games out there. Not only that, but they provide in-depth reviews and analysis of all the games listed. Want to know the strengths and weaknesses of LotRO? Check the site.
I like the gaming model that Turbine (LotRO's publisher) runs...free to play indefinitely, but you can purchase a card containing in-game credit so you can buy premium items to augment your free character's loadout. Nice.
One thing to remember, most of these games have a side to them that caters to paid subscribers, and as such, free-to-play subscribers may find that the game limits them to some degree. MMOHut takes this into consideration and lets you know just how limited you might be.
They break out their games into the following categories:
- Sci-Fi
- Fantasy
- 3D
- 2D
- Shooter
- Sports
- Racing
- Browser
- MMO
- MMORPG
A valuable resource for those who can't afford paying the monthly WoW fees.
Check out MMOHut's top 10 free-to-play breakdown:
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