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For a long time, pay to play games like World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online were considered untouchable, but as it stands the MMORPG market is evolving. More and more free MMORPG games are being released every week while only one or two major pay to play MMORPGs are being released every year. Just because there are a lot of free to play games though doesn’t mean any of them are really ‘great’, but I can safely say that the ‘latest generation’ of free to play titles are downright amazing.
New free to play titles like Atlantica Online, Runes of Magic and Dragonica Online can actually stand toe-to-toe against pay to play MMO juggernauts like World of Warcraft and Eve Online. These game’s aren’t ‘cheap’, as they have great production values. Heck, Runes of Magic looks just as good as World of Warcraft graphic wise. Those who have played Dragonica Online will vouch for me when I say that game is downright amazing for a free to play title. Heck, it’s a lot better than some pay to play games like EverQuest and Star Wars Galaxies.
The real question is, when will pay to play games die off? The free to play market is just growing way too fast while free to play games are only getting better and better. Games like World of Warcraft and Eve online won’t be able to charge $15 a month when there are literally hundreds of free alternatives that are equally as good.
There are quite a bit of MMO shooters on the market, most of them first person, some of them third person. Everyone has their preference, but I feel that third person shooters require more skill, mainly because players have a lot more to focus on than just a cross hair. Using the camera effectively in a third person shooter is extremely important and can be the difference between a kill and a death. This is especially true in games like Battlefield Heroes and GunZ where players are given such flexible control of the camera. The ability to control and use the camera effectively adds another layer of gameplay to an otherwise simple genre.
Even though I feel that third person shooters demand more skill from players, there’s no doubt that first person MMO shooters also require some skill. This is especially true in tactical MMOFPS games like Sudden Attack and Soldier Front where players literally die in a single shot or two. Normally in these types of games, players with the fastest reaction times almost always win, making them extremely brutal for newbies. The only way for newbies to actually do well in a lot of tactical MMOFPS games is to fire rapidly towards their opponent’s general direction hoping for a headshot. Players new the MMO shooter genre should stick with games like Combat Arms and WolfTeam, because headshots are much more difficult to get, allowing newbies to stay alive longer and enjoy the game a bit more. WolfTeam is actually one of the most unique MMOFPS games out there because it allows players transform at any time into a melee oriented werewolf with superior speed and attack.
