i just recently tryed out a game called Gekkeiju Online... its a client based game, but the download only took me about an hour. It is more of a 3-D MUD than an mmo, but it is almost the exact thing. the player base is a quite small although it is over 6 years old now. For its age, the graphics aren't really that bad, and they are in the process of being enhanced furthur at the moment. (trust me, theyre way better than runescape, although not exactly your WoW or guildwars... still plenty of detail.) it takes a while to get started, and its meant to be played for years in order to max out your character, but the game seems to be quite expansive, does offer pvp, and has a pretty friendly user base. Id say if you are looking for one to try, its worth it. www.gekkeijuonline.com for more details.
Also, to those who i do see suggesting guild wars... i will say in all honesty that it is a great game, hands down... i was an addict for the better part of a year. BUT once you pay for a disk and put it on an account... that money is OUT OF YOUR CONTROL. During a routine patch of the game server... my account with all 4 packs (a $200 value) got mysteriously erased, and i fought with arenanet for a few months to no end result. i have since moved on, and am still unsure whether to even consider GW2 as a future option. Also... its too late in the game to go buy guild wars, due to the fact that when GW2 comes out... it will basically be obsulete (like that windows 95 computer you need to send to the scrapyard). Just a little background info on it. Definately worth trying if you can afford it (some discs are like 20-30 bucks now compared with the 50 i bought them at).
wow, people keep saying the same crappy games over and over. I keep seeing WoW and Runescape, then there are the generic games that people probably found in an advertisement on some website. WoW is boring and repetitive, not to mention a monthly fee, unless you play on private severs. Runescape has bad graphics, a complete rip off, have to pay to get anything interesying,
I did see a good list though. 2moons and Rappelz are free to play. but also have a shop where you can buy items, if you so choose. You do not need to buy items in those games to be the best. 2moons and Rappelz are both really great mmo games. I suggest you get those. They've great graphics, and have a storyline. Basically do what you normally do in mmorpg, you fight to get money, so you can buy armor. Also you can join guilds, parties, have boss battles, pvp system is great, weapons look cool, and Armor is very original.
