Free MMOS: Vindictus (Mabinogi Heroes)

    Ok guys, todays post will be about Free MMORPGs vs Pay-to play MMORPGs. To those who dont know what the hell I'm talking about, MMORPG stands for massive multiplayer online roleplaying game. Games such as World of Warcraft, Silkroad and Guild Wars are classified as MMORPGs. The wikipedia definition for MMORPG is: "is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world. As in all RPGs, players assume the role of a character (often in a fantasy world) and take control over many of that character's actions.^[1] MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player RPGs by the number of players, and by the game's persistent world, usually hosted by the game's publisher, which continues to exist and evolve while the player is away from the game."
They can then be classified as FTP(free to play) or PTP (pay to play) on the basis of whether or not the game has a monthly fee.

While, both free and pay-to-play games are popular, the crowds that play them are worlds apart. In general, the Asian community prefers FTP, while the American commuity prefers PTP. It has come to such an extent that FTP games in Asia are PTP in America. Why would a company spend millions of dollars developing a game and then make it free to play? Well, they can count on more players trying them out, since they are risk-free, and have a wide range of options unlocked just because of this. Many rely on advertising, others make it so the game is free, but certain special items can only acquired by purchasing online. 

I have found that in America, free to play games are usually not even considered on the basis that since they are free, they are of poor quality. Asian FTP games have fought against this stereotype for years, and I believe FTP games are becoming more popular and in some instances are even better than their PTP counterparts, the example I wanted to give was Vindictus, a prequel to the popular FTP MMO Mabinogi. The game was released about 2 weeks ago, and I must say, they outdid themselves. The graphics are exceptional, the game play intense and the story deep, nay, epic. Now, I'm almost ashamed to admit I believed FTP games were inferior.