If all MMOs were subscription-free ....

OK. I admit it. I am really spoiled by the GW "just buy it and play it and no subscription fees, ever" business model.

However, I'm getting a tad bored with GW and am wondering what to do in 2008 since GW2 still seems a long LONG way off (2009! ). I mean, how many times can you go through some of these EotN dungeons?

I was just wondering what GW players past and present (that would be you ) looking for something to do till GW2 comes out (but bored with GW1) would be playing this year if all MMOs were, like GW, subscription-free, meaning you buy the game and any expansions, but paid no monthly subscription.

For me, it would probably be WoW (which I already own) or Tabula Rasa or perhaps LOTRO.

Among upcoming (i.e., releasing this year) games, Age of Conan or Warhammer Online look fairly promising.

So, assuming no monthly fees, what would you be playing or want to play?

Like I do now,Gw and Wow.But with less pressure when I play WOW.

Lets see -

Play now - GW
Played - WoW, EVE, DnD Online

Fee isn't an issue, the amount of grind required to get anywhere is. GW wins on that. So I'll stick with GW until I get bored, then maybe I'll go back to pirating in EVE.

Well, none of the current MMOs really interest me (although, admittedly, I have had next to no experience with some of them, so I can't really judge). If there were no subscription fees, I would definitely try out the Firefly MMO. It was my favourite TV show after all, and I think it could get me hooked if there wasn't too much grinding.

Another one I heard of recently (that is still in production) is the Stargate MMO. Although the show wasn't great (I stopped watching around season 5. I just got bored with it. I have been watching it recently though), I think an MMO based on the concept would be great fun. Again, that is providing there isn't a terrible amount of grind.

But, to be honest, the only reason I play GW is because it has a storyline that I can go back to whenever I get bored doing side stuff. I generally only play games for the storyline. The problem with the MMOs I mentioned is that I can't really see them having a storyline. And especially in terms of the Firefly one, if it did have a storyline but it wasn't written, or at the very, very least looked over and approved by Joss Whedon or one of the other main writers of the show, I just can't see it being all that great.

So, in other words, most MMOs out there don't interest me. Although they can have some really fun side stuff to do, they just don't have enough to hold me to the game very long. But I would definitely try the Firefly MMO out, given the chance, even if just to muck around. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and they'll offer the same deal as some other online games, and have the subscription as an optional-to-get-more-stuff type of deal.

I'd go back to playing Star Wars Galaxies if it were free. It has the most fun crafting system I ever played and you get to ride all kinds of things in it. I also like the run and gun combat engine of it, that is quite fun also.

Without fees...? I would still play GW.
I don't like re-rolling, I don't like king of the hill behaviour in market and item drops, I do like to get all skills with a dingle character, I like the maximums in weapons...

I didn't bought GW because it had no fees. There are other games with no fees. I bought it because I liked it when I tested it in the Battle Isles and Factions previews.

it would be nice, I would play wow, but they are not so stuck with GW. I what I really hate is that GW started out as PvP and then PvE, but there bad attemps at balance and diversity ruined the game, kinda makes you wish they were all free so choosing a game would be easier

It actually started out as PvE, as said in an interview.

Never cared about fee, gameplay is my only concern. I doubt I'd play any other MMOs, can't be bothered to put in the time.

Wouldn't play Guild Wars either if not for the fact I already do.

I did not know they were planning a Firefly MMO, so I googled around and found this on Wired's site: Firefly MMO planned

Like you, I really loved that show. The MMO sounds a long way off though, like GW2. Thanks for the heads-up about it, though.

The series was bad, the MMO won't be any better.

Actually if they were all free I'd probably jump around in them like a jack rabbit. I get easily bored with repitition and GW's becomes that quite quickly. Once you finish the storyline and the quests then there's not much if any "rolepaying" experiences left. Farming for items is not roleplaying and running through the content is not roleplaying either. Vanity is not roleplaying the storyline either. Thing is not really any of these mmo's/mmorpgs give much to roleplaying them. You create a character and then basically just go out and play carrot in front of the horse. Even GWs is like that after the storyline. It's not that much different from a WOW afterall since vanity takes over after the storyline ends. As far as skill, skill is a requirement in all of them GWs didn't set the precedence on skill in these games. No matter which one you play without skills of how the combat engine works you will lose and die. Most of the others just allow you to advance those skills where GWs restricts you to a certain level (being changed in GW2) and max item stats. It just went down a different approach to the same carrot in front of the horse....

Guild wars i would play mostly and when got boored maybe week or two Warhammer online.. but yeah im not gonna get warhammer

Talking about Firefly?

I would look into any MMO, that doesn´t have OpenPvP.

I can recommend Silkroad Online. Although it has many login problems because of the large amount of players and the lack of servers, it is fun and of course, completely free.

Yes.

The film was even worse then the series. I have little hope of a decent MMO coming out of it.

I'm not playing any mmorpgs anymore. I played em for years and eventually I got bored of the progression system they almost all use.
So if all mmorpgs were free I'd probably try Eve Online. And that's about it.
When Guild Wars 2 comes out I'll play that, as it'll probably be considered an mmo.

If they were free, I'd go back to FFXI and maybe try EVE.

Those that can't afford the monthly fee don't have a choice in the first place.

For everyone else, gameplay and community will decide which is good enough.

IMHO, I prefer a subscription based game, simply because it solves certain problems with community side.

Try EVE. EVE has a very steep learning curve though. You need time and patience to get anywhere.

Very few immature idiots. Very helpful people. The corporations really do work together etc