In the earliest days of Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOs), the biggest game I remember of the time was EverQuest. This game was one of the first few of a kind of game that would come to define it’s own genre. It was totally 3D, had options and depth not really seen before.
As the MMO advanced, it would come to be dominated by games that had awesome graphic effects, millions of other players, and one major thing in common: Subscriptions. Everyone was used to games costing an initial investment but a game that charged you every month to play it? It seemed ludicrous to some, at the time, but it has come to be the norm in the MMO genre.
Lately that has begun to change. These days, there are MMOs and games like MMOs all over the internet that require nothing beyond an internet connection and browser to play them.
Three of the most notable in my experience are Godville, Dead Frontier, and Battlestar Galactica. Each of them has it’s own claim to fame in the realm of MMOs and each of them is entirely free to download and free to play.
[Note: this post was written by Freewaregenius contributor B.C. Tietjens.]
Godville is one of the most unique free games out there. It’s also referred to as a ZPG, or “Zero-Player-Game”. It’s also one of the most fun games I never really played. The game requires an email address to register, and then one can create a character and begin not playing. Yes, that’s what I said. Not playing. See, there’s not much to do in the game, after you create the “Hero”. That’s really most of the game right there, naming the character and then sitting back and watching it get into adventures, fights, even dying sometimes. The player acts as this character’s Deity and has little to no control over the character directly. It lets the player speak to the character via a “Godvoice” feature, but the character may or may not listen to this voice at any one time. Overall, it’s almost like a simulation program that has gaming overtones. It’s quite amusing and is constantly being expanded by both the creators and even the players’ suggestions. Personally, I have had my Godville character, “Morganna Kickyertail” for about 5 months now and I still go and check on her now and again. Sometimes she needs some help with a fight or needs me to resurrect her, and sometimes I find she has adopted a pet or defeated some great monster or other player’s Hero or Heroine. It hasn’t cost me a dime yet, and has been one of the most fun games I have found. They even offer a “3D window”! It’s a great addition to your casual gaming collection and an excellent example of what great freeware games can be. Additionally, even the “3D window” has such low requirements that it can be played on nearly any machine and there is even a player created Android app to keep an eye on your hero when you’re on the move. The game’s website is found at HTTP://www.Godvillegame.com as well as the app.
So those are three of my favorite freeware MMO games lately. Where can you find these types of games? Well the good news is that there are a number of websites out there that specialize in carrying info on what free MMOs are available. http://www.whatmmorpg.com/ carries a healthy list of free MMOs beside their list of paid subscription ones, and http://www.freemmorpglist.com/ also has a robust amount of content on completely free MMOs. There are many other sites that do the same thing. All these games were tested on Windows 7 32-Bit Home Edition.
The world of Massive Multiplayer Online games is changing, evolving, becoming more accessible and much easier to dive into, now that there are so many free options out there. I, for one, look forward to see what’s on the horizon for MMOs. I hear there’s a pretty awesome Star Trek MMO coming out that is going to be free, running on the Unity Player. I think I will go see if they are taking applications for Beta testers. Until next time, my friends, keep seeking free software! Someday, all of it will be free.