Recommended F2P Games Catch-All

With this new era of free to play, I figure there should be a dedicated thread of helping people find the right F2P game. Also feel free to share any new announcements for F2P games.

If anybody is good at making a spread sheet, feel free to start good document at google docs. The one I'm coming up with is really crappy and disorganized. For now I'll list some good links:

IGN's F2P wiki: http://www.ign.com/wikis/free-to-pla...

Wikipedia's MMO F2P Game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

Steam's F2P games: http://store.steampowered.com/genre/...

SWTOR will be "F2P" this fall: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...

This is one of the few MMOs I was interested in, but never really wanted to pay retail for it. I am worried because EA fails at making a F2P model that makes sense. More discussion here: http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/1...

There is but one F2P game that anybody will ever need. If you don't know what it is, just look for the 1500+ page thread.

Yea, TF2 is really the king of F2P games. Fantastic shooter.

Beyond that, if you're after MMOs I think most folks would be better served by LoTRO than Tortanic. Hit up Star Trek if you're a fan of the shows, it delivers on that vibe very well.

iaintgotnopants wrote:

There is but one F2P game that anybody will ever need. If you don't know what it is, just look for the 1500+ page thread.

I love TF2 but as of late I need a break from it. Super Monday Night Combat is filling my shooter void right now. However the player population is so small right now and it's not showing any signs of growth. This leaves matchmaking a complete mess, especially when you match make as a team. It doesn't seem like it's sticking like Tribes and Blacklight.

I'm more interested in the F2P turnbase strategy games taking advantage of asynchronous game play (like Hero Academy, Outwitters, & Summoner Wars). I can't wait to see what Mechwarrior Tactics has in store. If anybody hears about any other F2P turnbase asynchronous games, let me know!

Wakfu is a fun turn based srpg that's F2P.

I'll also say that I like Fallen Earth. It's rough around the edges, but I dig the crafting.

Tribes Ascend is perhaps the best fps after TF2.

iaintgotnopants wrote:

There is but one F2P game that anybody will ever need. If you don't know what it is, just look for the 1500+ page thread.

TF2 is the king of all games on this forum, but League of Legends is the other big F2P game you should really be paying attention to ATM. It's huge right now and only getting bigger every day.

Outside of TF2, it's probably the most active multiplayer community on GWJ, and we're always looking for fresh blood, er... new players to love and nurture.

It'll be really interesting to see what happens when DotA 2 is released in full.

vbl wrote:

These are not good games. They're mediocre at best. I suppose that I should be thankful that sophomoric work can find at least a little revenue and a fanbase, but it feels more like a cold, industrial plan to churn out new titles, snag a few people's interest (and money), then let the games rot until your sweatshop studios finish the next round of creatively-bankrupt titles.

It's the games-industry equivalent of the straight-to-DVD merchandise-selling movie.

/bitter

Not to derail the thread, but I lean toward this sentiment with F2P games as well. That being said, my feelings toward it may be more from not being educated about the games themselves. From what I've seen, the average F2P model seems to be about spending money to get boosts and/or some advantage that sets you apart from the average player. Now, I know that not EVERY F2P game is like that (DC Universe is something that springs to mind), from what I've seen though that seems to be the case.

Which, I suppose wouldn't be a HUGE problem, but like vbl has commented, a lot of these games are just mediocre where using money doesn't really enhance the gameplay, just cuts down on the amount of things you have to click on or the cooldown time to perform more actions. I just can't hop on board with a game like that unless it has some pretty solid gameplay behind it (that way I can put in a vote for Tribes Ascend and not feel like a COMPLETE hypocrite )

Now, after all that, I'd definitely throw my hat into the following F2P titles:

1. DC Universe Onlien
2. TF2
3. Tribes Ascend
4. World of Tanks

vbl wrote:

I can't explain it, but most of these F2P games feel like poorly-masked attempts to bilk me out of my money with a sh*tty product.

Change the thread title a bit so people can recommend good F2P games. Yes, we know there is crap out there but I feel like this thread will be more useful when you talk about ones that is worth recommending to others. I rather not have this thread turn into a infinite cycle of why F2P sucks. We know there are good ones out there!

garion333 wrote:

Wakfu is a fun turn based srpg that's F2P.

I'm not a fan of the anime art, but I'm willing to get over that if the game is good. Downloading now, I'll give my impressions later.

garion333 wrote:

Tribes Ascend is perhaps the best fps after TF2.

I wish I can get into Tribes Ascend but my iMac runs it like crap and the game is just too fast. I can't hit anyone! I see the brilliance but I don't know if I can get into it, despite how much I want to. :/

Crockpot wrote:

I rather not have this thread turn into a infinite cycle of why F2P sucks. We know there are good ones out there! :)

Ahh yes...Duly noted, sir.

Also, I'd throw out Realm of a Mad God as an extremely laid back, great time wasting F2P game. Nothing like getting a whole world of heroes together to just wreak havoc on monsters

CptDomano wrote:

Ahh yes...Duly noted, sir. ;)

I didn't make my intentions that clear with the title. My bad!

MannishBoy wrote:

I tried Firefall, but it was a bit too MMO-y for my tastes on first look. I keep meaning to go back and see if it's grown into something I'll enjoy more.

I haven't played Firefall but I would wait after their game changing patch that they are coming out with. Hopefully after that I'll get a invite.

I like the idea of a game with strong PvP but also has PvE so I can just chill out when I'm not feeling very competitive. I wish more games would do that. Hopefully Firefall will do something like that.

The free-to-play market is still finding it's feet and there's a lot of crap out there to be sure. I am actually really enjoying Blacklight Retribution after putting some more time into it (and not a dime yet I might add) and Tribes: Ascend is also excellent, though Hi-Rez really needs some staff who understand balance. I tried Bullet Run last night and it's so bad, it almost felt like a fancy troll from SOE. How a game running Unreal 3 can look worse than Half-Life 2 which came out almost 10 years ago I don't get. I've also heard good things about Super Monday Night Combat but haven't tried it yet. I need to get back to Firefall. I liked what I played the first time but had no idea what I was doing anything for. I've tried World of Tanks and it's pretty cool simply because of the uniqueness of it but it's got a steep learning curve, you'll get repeatedly destroyed by experienced players early on and with things like gold ammo, it is possible to buy power in the game which is an epic no-no.

PlanetSide 2 is going to be a really interesting test case because though it's free-to-play, it's a very ambitious, massive, AAA shooter through and through and it's going to require huge investment to maintain on SOE's part. Unlike many other free-to-play titles, it's also not designed around running on low-end PCs necessarily. It will either prove that AAA quality can be done for "free" or it will fail huge but I'm hoping for the former. We don't know their business model yet though which does make me nervous.

vbl wrote:

These are not good games. They're mediocre at best.

Out of your list, I've only played one, Blacklight Retribution. And it's a pretty good game. As a competitive shooter, it's better than 95% of the big $60 games around that throw on MP to put the feature on the box.

It's not a perfect game. I don't enjoy the feel of the movement and the shooting as much as some other shooters, but in a kind of "I like Quake and not Unreal" type of way. Not in that it's done wrong in BLR.

I think its biggest fault is that it's out of game UI is horribly set up and very confusing.

Between BLR, TF2, and Tribes Ascend, there are some very good shooters that are F2P.

I'm also very interested in Planetside 2, Hawken, and Mechwarrior Online. All coming out later this year. I tried Firefall, but it was a bit too MMO-y for my tastes on first look. I keep meaning to go back and see if it's grown into something I'll enjoy more.

I'll throw out the token recommendation for Kingdom of Loathing. Lo-fi browser MMO with over 9 years of continuous operation with a great writing and a wonderful community. Oh, and unlike some F2P sites, they're not out there to gouge your wallet.

CptDomano wrote:

Also, I'd throw out Realm of a Mad God as an extremely laid back, great time wasting F2P game. Nothing like getting a whole world of heroes together to just wreak havoc on monsters :)

It also produced an amusing series on RPS

I dip my toe into Wakfu for 15 minutes and I'm very intrigue with this game. It plays like a MMORPG version of Final Fantasy Tactics, but you only control one or two characters (I played as a Summoner class).

I'm not a fan of the f2p model. The essentials of the game (like proper PVP) is cut out of the game unless you pay a subscription fee. I think this would divide the community up really badly. Just that kills it for me.

I'm hoping somebody takes the ideas from this game and makes into their own. Hopefully a non-Japense developer so I can avoid the anime art style.

I've installed and uninstalled about a dozen over the last 3-4 months. Just did the same with Bulletrun, a clunky Brink-like SOE title with Mount&Blade graphics but none of its gameplay or charm.

I can't explain it, but most of these F2P games feel like poorly-masked attempts to bilk me out of my money with a sh*tty product. The games don't even really have to be good (and they're not), but just good enough to hook me for $20 of time-savings or core content. They're certainly not games I've ever pay $20 for at retail.

Few examples:
Bulletrun
Combat Arms
Blacklight Retribution
Micro Volts
Vindictus
Moon Breakers
Fallen Earth
Crimecraft Gangwars

...and about 10 WoW knockoffs.

These are not good games. They're mediocre at best. I suppose that I should be thankful that sophomoric work can find at least a little revenue and a fanbase, but it feels more like a cold, industrial plan to churn out new titles, snag a few people's interest (and money), then let the games rot until your sweatshop studios finish the next round of creatively-bankrupt work.

It's the games-industry equivalent of the straight-to-DVD merchandise-selling movie.

/bitter

I will throw another vote at Tribes: Ascend. It's very polished. Shooting, movement and gameplay are very tight.

APB: Reloaded is another one worth some playtime.

Some f2p games get the shaft because it appears they have no value. However, there are a few games that once you discover some specific things contain a lot of fun content. And with say a minimal $20 investment, can be quite fun. EQ and to some extent EQ2 fall into this category. It may still be difficult to get to higher level content in EQ, but I spent $20 on a double point sale and got 100's of hours of content. I haven't played in quite a few weeks but it was fun/different enough to hold my attention for 60-70 hours over 2-3 weeks.

I found LOTRO boring but I know there is a big contingent who swear buy it. There is lots of stuff available to f2p accounts. It is a lot less restricted than most other premium games that have gone f2p, even those by the same developer.

DDO I am currently playing a lot of but I feel it requires a bit of $$$ to round it out. It doesn't help that they charge what I feel are very pricy rates for features. Many of these features can be earned in game but it is tremendously easier (but not easy) with a group of friends. Solo (and to be honest this game was really meant for groups) the time investment is extreme.

Oh man I completely forgot. If you liked Diablo II then you'll like Path of Exile. There's enough to like there that I think it moves the Diablo-like ARPG forward a TON more than DIII (though I think Din's Curse moves the genre farther overall).

Also Puzzle Pirates is fun for those who like puzzle games.

garion333 wrote:

Oh man I completely forgot. If you liked Diablo II then you'll like Path of Exile.

Looks good, I bet won't even try it out long after I'm done with Torchlight 2. I can get burn out easily by these games, I rather spend my energy on Torchlight 2.

Interesting topic folks. I'm all for Free2Play with optional purchases, but what I don't want is a pay-to-win environment. I like the fact that some of these games don't restrict anything to f2p players, you just have to work for it rather than sticking in some cash.

Just to add something completely different to those games shown above, I had a good many hours of enjoyment so far from a Forumla 1 racing game that is made by Codemasters, who also make the official full-blown F1 games.. It's fully browser based using the Unity plugin. Obviously the graphics aren't lifelike, but it is quite cute and addictive! It is also mouse controlled, which sounds a bit strange, but once you get used to it, it actually works quite well.

https://www.f1onlinethegame.com

There are essentially three sides to the game. One is building up your headquarters - each building you construct opens up new research topics, more buildings to build and also more staff/perk points that can speed up other parts of the development. The second part is researching/building parts for your race car - certain parts can benefit you in different race circuits. You may want less drag for those tracks with long straights, but it'll cost you some downforce or handling, so wouldn't be good for the windy, corner-heavy ones. Thirdly, you race! it's fast-paced, 3-lap races with up to 24 other players. I've rarely found a quiet time so far. The races are split into Classes depending on the kit you have in your car, so it's not like you end up racing against guys with everything unlocked and give you no hope of winning. It also has some RPG-esque levelling up/unlocking with tasks and set goals that keeps you targetted.

There are a few issues, as with any multiplayer racing game. Shunting and general unsportsmanlike behaviour can appear on occasion. Apparently they are trying to work out a good way of combatting that without taking away from the actual racing experience. It doesn't overly detract from the experience though.

The majority of purchasable items are things like new car/helmet colours and patterns, although you can purchase cash and tokens that speed up research if you so wish. I do like the fact that everything that contributes to the race/headquarters etc can be earned, and only certain colours/patterns have to actually be purchased.

Anyway, a totally different kind of game than those listed above, but maybe it'll give someone a few hours worth of free entertainment

Wow, hadn't heard of that F1 game and I really like racing games. Thanks!

Crockpot wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Oh man I completely forgot. If you liked Diablo II then you'll like Path of Exile.

Looks good, I bet won't even try it out long after I'm done with Torchlight 2. I can get burn out easily by these games, I rather spend my energy on Torchlight 2.

I think Path of Exile will have longer legs than T2. I too have it preordered and messed around in the beta, but PoE has what I think are more interesting systems that'll help it last longer.

Good catch! Is F1 more on the sim or arcade side of racing styles?

it's more arcade-y than the full blown F1 titles, for sure. For a start it's more top-down/isometric view. But it sure is hella fun and quite addictive reaching the next milestone.

I hesitated at first whether to add this to the list as it is so vastly different than the games listed prior, and it certainly isn't in the same bracket as full-3D racing games, but I've sunk enough hours into it that it would easily justify paying some money towards, even though I haven't. I am tempted to do so, purely to support the development, rather than to actually unlock anything.

I like the fact that it branches away from purely the race day experience of the full F1 games, but yet still have the racing that the F1 management series lacks. I't slike a 'lite' version of both genres.

Anyway, there are plenty of videos on youtube that showcase the gameplay, so you should be able to get a good feel as to whether it's 'for you' or not.

I'm looking into now. I'm not a fan of in browser games. I guess I want the sense of ownership that I get when I see it on my hardrive, even though games are the opposite of that. Also the slow internet I have is killing these loading times. Mechwarrior Tactics is doing the same thing with Unity... but luckily the advantage of that it's easy port to the other devices like iOS. More impressions later.

While I'm playing, I kinda forget it's a browser based game as it can be run full-screen. I guess the main downside is that you can't take it offline to play.

omnipherous wrote:

While I'm playing, I kinda forget it's a browser based game as it can be run full-screen. I guess the main downside is that you can't take it offline to play.

Ya, this game isn't for me. Mouse base driving isn't appealing to me at all.

I did get used to it, but I can totally see why it's a turn-off.

City of Heroes is still going strong, and you can play the original vanilla game all the way to 50 for free. I played for a bit last night, it's fun for team socializing.

iaintgotnopants wrote:

There is but one F2P game that anybody will ever need. If you don't know what it is, just look for the 1500+ page thread.

AnimeJ wrote:

Yea, TF2 is really the king of F2P games. Fantastic shooter.

Dyni wrote:

TF2 is the king of all games on this forum

garion333 wrote:

Tribes Ascend is perhaps the best fps after TF2.

Not much more to say, if you like laid back FPSes with teamwork and fun, come play TF2!

Runs on machines from 2008, but still looks great if you have a new monster of a PC, just turn everything up.

Download from Steam, run through the quick tutorial just so you're not completely lost, and then join up

We have a new server for GWJers btw, great connection and everything: 74.91.120.31:27015

also hats