Free MMO's without "cash shops" ?

[Tombaugh]

Hi all, I've been recently looking up a large number of MMO's to get me and some friends their fix, the problem however is the dozen or so I've been interested in all have cash shop like parts to their games, forcing players that want to play competitively to have to use real life currency to stay even, or even having items that far surpass anything you could possibly get that is free.
I'd rather not be forced into paying up when already investing large amounts of time will do. Any there any of these games that don't have this sort of... 'feature'? If so, how are they and what do you think about them?

Notice I am talking about the MMO genre at large, it wouldn't specifically need to be a RPG in order to suffice.

The ideal example of what I'm looking for would be the way that League of Legends sets itself up. It does have a store, but the only things you can buy are simple convenience features, and characters that you can spend time playing in order to gather points to buy these things anyways, though it takes much, much longer and also customization that doesn't do anything game-play wise. The seller to me is the only thing that would give you an unfair advantage in a game are Runes and these are ONLY bought using in-game currency, making for a very fair free-to-play game.

 

[Elamdri]

A free MMO without a cash shop that is actually worth playing is like having your cake, eating your cake, having the cake be delicious, and being paid to eat it.

EDIT: It has come to my attention that when the OP says free, he means TOTALLY free, (ie. that you don't have to buy it AND there is no monthly fee). Therefore, I must edit my cake metaphor.

A TOTALLY free MMO without a cash shop that is actually worth playing is like having your cake, eating your cake, having the cake be delicious, and being paid to eat it. Then after you eat the cake, Scarlett Johansson comes into the room and forces you to have your way with her. Then once you're done, she tips you.

 

[Tombaugh]

However it's not some sort of mystical prospect, I showed a very successful example of the formula in use in a current game. Or did you not bother to read my post?

 

[Waaghpowa]

A free MMO without a cash shop that is actually worth playing is like having your cake, eating your cake, having the cake be delicious, and being paid to eat it.

/thread, that about sums it up.

I can't really think of anything, don't think there's a single free mmo that doesn't have some sort of micro transaction system in it.

 

[Tombaugh]

A free MMO without a cash shop that is actually worth playing is like having your cake, eating your cake, having the cake be delicious, and being paid to eat it.

/thread, that about sums it up.

No, it doesn't sum anything up.

Edit for your edit: Let me be clear on this, having a transaction system in the game is perfectly fine as long as it doesn't lead to clearly upset balance between the paying users and non-paying users. A game with a well made shop allows you to have the same experience regardless of whether you pay or not. You won't have a clear, outstanding advantage if you use real life currency.

 

[Kopikatsu]

A free MMO without a cash shop that is actually worth playing is like having your cake, eating your cake, having the cake be delicious, and being paid to eat it.

/thread, that about sums it up.

No, it doesn't sum anything up.

It...does, actually.

It costs a ton of money to develop an MMO, then maintain the servers, pay the programmers, etc etc.

Basically, what you're looking for doesn't exist. Money makes the world go 'round.

 

[Tombaugh]

A free MMO without a cash shop that is actually worth playing is like having your cake, eating your cake, having the cake be delicious, and being paid to eat it.

/thread, that about sums it up.

No, it doesn't sum anything up.

Basically, what you're looking for doesn't exist.

Seems like the people that have posted so far are missing the fact that I stated a success example of a game that does exactly just that.

 

[Koshok]

I'd encourage you to check out a few F2P MMOs. I've had a lot of fun on several, and never payed a dime to any. My personal favorite was Vindictus.

There are also a number of sites specifically for searching for MMOs, both free and subscription based. If you're looking for a specifically free to play, I suggest http://mmohut.com. It has a sizable list of games and links to the respective sites.

 

[Elamdri]

Seems like the people that have posted so far are missing the fact that I stated a success example of a game that does exactly just that.

You cited League of Legends, which is NOT an MMO...

The only MMO I know of that is Free and has no Cash Shop is Guild Wars...but Guild Wars sucks, so again, why bother?

You want something GOOD, you have to pay for it.

*Waits to get flamed by Guild Wars fanboys*

 

[Blurration]

Haven and Hearth

 

[Kopikatsu]

-Snip-

Questionable. Very questionable. I'd like to see League of Legends' gross income, but I doubt they'd share that information.


Anyway, APB: Reloaded's cash shop lets you buy unique items...but those items aren't better than free weapons. Basically, it's more 'Pay to be different' than 'Pay to be better'

Edit: Also, yeah. I just looked up League of Legends and it isn't an MMO...it's a MOBA.

 

[ShakesZX]

I think you should give Maplestory or any other free co-operative MMO a try. It sounds like you're just concerned with evening the playing field because you don't want to pay extra. Any co-operative MMO won't bother you if you don't pay because you won't really have to worry about what anyone else has.

 

[Tombaugh]

Seems like the people that have posted so far are missing the fact that I stated a success example of a game that does exactly just that.

You cited League of Legends, which is NOT an MMO...

The only MMO I know of that is Free and has no Cash Shop is Guild Wars...but Guild Wars sucks, so again, why bother?

You want something GOOD, you have to pay for it.

*Waits to get flamed by Guild Wars fanboys*

Is that right? http://mmohuts.com/review/league-of-legends

It's a game that has a massive amount of players. Check.

Also, Guild Wars violates the first part of the topic, it isn't free.

 

[Tombaugh]

I'd encourage you to check out a few F2P MMOs. I've had a lot of fun on several, and never payed a dime to any. My personal favorite was Vindictus.

There are also a number of sites specifically for searching for MMOs, both free and subscription based. If you're looking for a specifically free to play, I suggest http://mmohut.com. It has a sizable list of games and links to the respective sites.

Thank you, I've tried looking on this site but it doesn't really tell you about if the game has a cash shop or not, otherwise that would solve my problem well.

 

[Outrojection]

A free MMO without a cash shop that is actually worth playing is like having your cake, eating your cake, having the cake be delicious, and being paid to eat it.

/thread, that about sums it up.

No, it doesn't sum anything up.

Basically, what you're looking for doesn't exist.

Seems like the people that have posted so far are missing the fact that I stated a success example of a game that does exactly just that.

Lets look at what you're asking and what example you're using.


LoL at it's heart is what? Why do people play it?
It's team based, competitive combat, in a non-persistent world.

Theoretically after you "have" everything in the game, what is there left to do? Play as your favorite characters, play as characters you find fun, etc etc. Over the course of playing the game, you unlock the characters you like. The game sustains itself by coming up with new characters.

You probably have a "main" character that you play more than any other, basically after you have unlocked this character you will play on it most of the time. Therefore you'll forgo the cash shop.

So why do people use the cash shop? To unlock their favorite characters and cosmetic equipment.



Now lets look at other MMOs

They are mainly co-operative, but not strictly competitive, games in a persistent world.

You play as one character for most of the game. And that character grows as you play. At the endgame if you have "everything" what do you do? You either PvP or reroll a new character.

The game sustains itself by coming up with content to distract players until they reach the endgame.N
ow why do people use the cash shop? To buy exp-enhancing or stat-enhancing or speed-enhancing items or cosmetic equipment, so they can reach the endgame FASTER.



Now ask yourself which kind of game are you wanting to play?
If you want competitive, team-based, there are a few choices. I would recommend Bloodline champions.But these kinds of games are NOT mmos.

If you want the roleplaying, persistent world kind
/thread.

 

[Elamdri]

Is that right? http://mmohuts.com/review/league-of-legends

It's a game that has a massive amount of players. Check.

Having a massive amount of players doesn't make it an MMO. Black Ops has a massive amount of players, but it's not an MMO. An MMO requires a persistent world populated by thousands of individual gamers. That is NOT LoL.

Also, Guild Wars violates the first part of the topic, it isn't free.

Oh you want it to be TOTALLY free? I thought you just meant Free to Play.

Hold on, I need to go up to my top post and edit my cake analogy.

EDIT: Cake Metaphor now altered.

 

[Tombaugh]

I think you should give Maplestory or any other free co-operative MMO a try. It sounds like you're just concerned with evening the playing field because you don't want to pay extra. Any co-operative MMO won't bother you if you don't pay because you won't really have to worry about what anyone else has.

I might have to try that, thanks. It really bothers me when I really get into a MMO and then I'm suddenly outclassed by everyone that has access to some deposable income.

 

[Koshok]

I'd encourage you to check out a few F2P MMOs. I've had a lot of fun on several, and never payed a dime to any. My personal favorite was Vindictus.

There are also a number of sites specifically for searching for MMOs, both free and subscription based. If you're looking for a specifically free to play, I suggest http://mmohut.com. It has a sizable list of games and links to the respective sites.

Thank you, I've tried looking on this site but it doesn't really tell you about if the game has a cash shop or not, otherwise that would solve my problem well.

Well, the thing is, just about all free to play games have cash shops. However, most cash shops these days are cosmetic additions only. If the cash shop creates balance issues, or you're somehow forced to buy stuff, the site I referenced mentions it in their pros/cons section of the title.

 

[Tombaugh]

A free MMO without a cash shop that is actually worth playing is like having your cake, eating your cake, having the cake be delicious, and being paid to eat it.

/thread, that about sums it up.

No, it doesn't sum anything up.

Edit for your edit: Let me be clear on this, having a transaction system in the game is perfectly fine as long as it doesn't lead to clearly upset balance between the paying users and non-paying users. A game with a well made shop allows you to have the same experience regardless of whether you pay or not. You won't have a clear, outstanding advantage if you use real life currency.

In that case, DDO. You can earn in-game currency as you play that will allow you to buy most anything from the store. Of course you earn it VERY slowly, especially as compared to the amount of time it would take to just pull out a credit card.

That said, they've made a great attempt at giving free players the majority of content up front, and having very little that you feel like you would need to get from the store at all.

There we go, a sensible answer. I'll have to give that a download then.