Today, our trip through the free online MMORPG land will end. Cry now, and be happy later. Why? Well, it's quite easy to figure out that we're trying to find the answer to a question without one. I said it before, and I say it again - there's no such thing as "best free online MMORPG," because the answer changes as time goes by, and sometimes it changes for the same gamer, as his demands evolve.

As I also previously mentioned, we won't get to cover all possible games you can play for free, and that's for two reasons. First and foremost, it's because some of them are not worth being mentioned here, some being pretty bad, and others, targeted towards a small audience(like Navy Field or Aces High, for example). Second, there are too many, and since things are changing pretty fast, keeping such a list updated would require a huge amount of time spent on simply checking out if what I wrote a month ago is still true...

These being said, let's light the fires and spin the tires, shall we?


1. Runes of Magic is considered by many to be a World of Warcraft clone, but even if this would be true, the best part of it all is that you get the game client as a free download, without any monthly subscription fee to pay, because the game service is funded with the help of real money transactions (RMT) via the Runes of Magic Item Shop.

In this game, there are six character classes, and all action is taking place in the fantasy world of Taborea. Currently, there are about 500,000 active accounts in Runes of Magic, so you can't go wrong with this one, especially since it also looks pretty good, and most people who at least tried it have a good opinion about the gaming experience they had.


2. Second Life is as notorious as possible, and I won't say anything else about it. Just... give it a try, if you're in the mood to escape into an alternate reality where things aren't that different as it happens with WoW and other fantasy-style online games.


3. Shaiya is a game coming from Aeria Games, and I won't tell you anything else about it. Give it a try, it's worth it!


4. Silkroad Online is set in the 7th century AD, along the Silk Road between China and Europe, and it got a rating of 8.4 from GameSpot back in 2005.
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With a three-way player versus player system, berserker mode, and very well done character customization features, Silkroad Online has some problems when it comes to quests and storyline, but since it's completely free to play... why not give it a try? If you're really into spending some cash for the game you like, there are also premium items available, so...


5. Coming from Germany, Travian is a great browser-based game, but it's not quite a MMORPG. A city building, military RTS that can be enjoyed on every platform you can think of, as long as it can connect to the Internet, Travian is quite addictive, and pretty fun.

The only problem I see with Travian - as a former player - is that you have to be there on a daily basis to take care of sending troops, building stuff, and so on. In the beginning, it seems a few minutes per day are enough, but as you move on... you discover that the reality is quite different.


6. At last, we have Twelve Sky, another one coming from Aeria Games. This is another MMORPG that you must try, but if you're running Windows Vista, be sure to disable UAC before installing it and running the client... if you missed doing it already, of course.

This, my friends, is the end. On the other hand, I hope this little story in four parts opened your eyes and managed to show you that there's no really such a thing as "best free online MMORPG," but only a bunch of games you should try and decide for yourself which one's better!

Still dreaming about Blizzard's next MMORPG? Well, I think you should start playing World of Warcraft and forget about dreams! Why this? Well, for a lot of people, WoW is better than Heaven, and - despite the fact that I disagree with that one - they won't grow tired of it anytime soon. Fortunately, the guys from Blizzard are working on something completely different...

... and I say "fortunately" because I think MMORPGS should be more like Age of Conan when it comes to graphics. Don't jump to grab my throat, this is just my opinion. Feel free to drop a comment below, if you think otherwise, but let's leave the "WoW vs. others" fight and take a look at what we know about Blizzard's next MMORPG, shall we?

Unfortunately, this isn't such a big story, but it's almost official. Why put it this way? Well, it's coming from the WoW community manager, it's on one of the official Blizzard forums, but it's not a press release...
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OK, so here's the little big story - according to Zarhym, the new Blizzard MMORPG will be a "brand new franchise." In the same post, it is also detailed that "the lore, art, and game play are being developed entirely from scratch. It's an overwhelming process, but a process through which we excel. Our track record supports this."

Unfortunately, since the same source described Blizzard's next MMORPG as "a shell of a game," probably they only have some rough sketches and a few stories to bring together in the future. I don't know about you, but I would be happy to see at least some concept art work at this stage... just to be sure they'll come up with a completely different game than WoW.

I don't know why, but I feel this would be their best choice. What do you think - another WoW, or maybe a whole different concept(a WW2 MMORPG would really be awesome!)?

I find it really incredible that I can still get to know people below 30 who didn't manage to see the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. If they would hate this kind of movie, I would understand it, maybe... but I am talking about people who say they really are into fantasy movies, and this makes it even more interesting. On the other hand, I also missed a bunch of awesome movies, and I keep saying "I gotta see that one" without doing anything special, but...

... I must confess something: I never played a Lord Of The Rings game! The reason? Well, I saw one a few years back, and I thought it was only a Wacraft 3 clone, and since I liked the movies too much, I managed to keep the distance so far.

Currently available only for Microsoft Windows computers, LOTRO should arrive on the Xbox 360 in the not-so-distant future. The reason should be obvious - leaving aside my dusty opinion related to a completely different LOTR game, LOTRO got a whole bunch of positive reviews, grabbing 87% on GameRankings, and 86% on Metacritic.
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While there's no official info regarding the Lord Of The Rings Online for Xbox 360, a recent marketing survey centered around a Xbox 360 version of the game has shown that everything is just a matter of time now. The monthly subscription rates will probably be around $12-$16, but since the title will be the second MMO for the Xbox 360, after Final Fantasy XI, I am sure it's going to attract a lot of followers.

If you're wondering about the date... most people expect it to drop at E3, but I wouldn't bet on that. Anyway, E3 2009 will surely be the place to see some official statements about Lord Of The Rings Online for Xbox.