Redefining MMOs: The rise of F2P

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They really aren't that good though. I play Mabinogi, which was number 3 on your 5 best F2P list back then, and for every innovation, there's a stumble if not outright gaffe. Things like mispelling basic words like Region, or having bugged abilities that have never been addressed, or horrendous gameplay imbalances.

They can be fun, but I don't think for all the player's I've ever heard anyone describe Maple Story as a classic, or even free realms. (Which has died down from launch here at Massively to near-invisibility.)

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I sincerely hope you consider trying Dungeons & Dragons Online, The Chronicles of Spellborn, Wizard 101, etc. There are several really good F2P/Freemium games in, or coming to, the market. That's why I feel we're seeing a shift. The games we have now as F2Ps and Freemiums are worlds ahead of where they were just a few years ago. They continue to iterate and evolve, much like any other part of the video games industry.

That said, there are many games that exhibit localization problems, which I'll agree with you is a real black eye when it comes to recommending them. Of course, many Western-based games have glaring typos in them too (City of Heroes, I'm looking at you here) so to be fair, it's a pretty universal problem. :D

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Actually I've enjoyed lighter F2P/Freemium RPGs. The set of 3 (soon 4) RPGs offered by Artix Entertainment are pretty good for a free player, and their one-time low-cost option for lifetime member status was pretty good. Recently though they have implemented subscription-based membership for one of their games and they seem to really want to move toward a micro-pay system, so I'm not too sure what the future holds for them, but their model was fun for while.

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