It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Hello,
Although have periods where i spend 80 hours a week playing 1 game for a few months, i am not the kind of gamer that keeps up to date with all the news in the gaming world (maybe that will change after signing up to this site) Before spending the last 6 months on PWI, and the 6 before that on tiberium alliances, i have pretty much spend my years playing every game blizzard released (D3 made an end to that) and i know nothing about what else is out there.
What puts me off in PWI however is the pay to win factor. There are idiots who spend 1000s or even 10.000s of dollars and they are massively overpowered compared to the non paying player. As i was PvEing all the time, i was able to mostly ignore it, but when the game runs out of PvE content, endgame is gonna go towards PvP and then it becomes a bit anoying. Is it this bad in all the free to play games, or are there others where money is less of an influence ti? I have absolutely no problem with games that are free but almost require you to pay a little bit per month to have for example a proper user interface like for example is the case with tiberium alliances.
Also, currently in PWI i have become a trader, if i keep doing that for a year or so, it will enable me to obtain the equipment that others spend 3000$ on. It is addicting, i am good at it and i can reach overpowered status myself that way, its just that i feel like this is not what i want out of a game. It keeps reminding me so strongly that i better spend my time merchanting in real life. So not only do i seek a game where money is not too big a factor, i also seek one where you are not easilly compelled to spend most of your time as a trader instead of playing.
The reason i have not yet abandoned the free to play concept is that i have friends whom i really like to play with but they refuse to pay any monthly fees. So i hope there is something better in the free to play world... help me please
Comments
Aion is about as free as it gets. The pc requirements are a bit higher than PWI though.
Lineage 2 is another one with a great f2p experience. System requirements aren't nearly as high as Aion
Edit; I also recommend the Warhammer Online unlimited trial. You only have access to Tier 1, but thats where the meat of the PvP is anyways. The rest of the game is pretty much a wasteland, so i wouldn't subscribe
I second Lineage 2 and Aion not being pay to win. Definitely worth a try if you haven't tried them before. If you try Lineage 2, make sure to check out their Truly Free website, you'll be provided with free armor and weapons throughout your journey.
If you and your friends are willing to pay a box price for a game (no sub fee though), Guild Wars 2 might be worth checking out. If you play 80 hours per week, I wouldn't count on getting too many months worth of entertainment out of it though (I don't think I'd personally last for long in ANY game with that sort of hours), but I would imagine you'd get your money's worth out of it. No sub fees either, so you can easily shelve it for a while and check what's new whenever you want to. Cash shop is mostly fluff, some convenience, nothing you'd feel like you need to buy to play the game, nothing that gives an advantage over a person who doesn't use the cash shop.
The Secret World switched to a box price + cash shop as well recently, can't comment more on the game though as I've not played it past a 20 minute session during one beta weekend. I've seen posts where people love it, and I've seen posts where people are less than enthusiastic about it. I uninstalled the game after 20 minutes after getting motion sickness, but then again, that's what happens to me with most fps games as well.