9Dragons ~ Another free modern MMORPG

[Mozgus]

Another free MMORPG has been getting passed around. It just recently hit open beta. It's 100% free and supported by advertisements during load screens and sometimes little pulldown boxes during key events, but they dont bother you much.

http://9dragons.acclaim.com/

Just register and download. Unlike Rappelz, this game has doesn't feel like a cheap English port. It has a strong presentation and polish. Its gameplay systems seems VERY untraditional compared to others in the genre, and that's a good thing. It also has a much better graphics engine than Rappelz. No more ridiculous slowdown while using the water or bloom effects. It feels smoother than WoW did on my system. Unfortunately, I can't seem to force anti-aliasing on my nVidia, but anisotropic filtering can be forced. *Nevermind. AA can be forced if you turn off the bloom.*

I haven't tested it yet, but it appears that the game's self-contained buddy list, messenger client, and "pegionmail" client also work. So if you download the game, post your alias here. Mine is Mozgus as usual. Just add me.

[Mozgus]

Alright, played it all night. I'm starting to understand. You begin as a generic class (Vagabond) and eventually you will choose one of 6 distinct martial arts clans. That's when your guy changes his appearance drastically and you begin learning the heavy duty moves. Right now, my guy is a Shaolin, follower of Buddha. He shaved his head and now I can only wear certain robes.

The missions are much more interesting than those in Rappelz, which were nothing but "hunt 500 jibbity jabbas and come back".

The game uses quick mini-games during the acquisition of new moves and other events.

For other 12 minor levels you gain, you go up in 1 major level, of which there are 18. So I guess the technical level cap is 216.

[Mozgus]

Screw it. It turned into another ridiculous grind. I've tried out over a dozen free MMOs in the last two weeks and they all become this after a few hours. I also gave Warcraft a chance. I've given up on this genre. I'm convinced that anyone who actually keeps playing an MMO longer than a few weeks must have some kind of disease or disorder, and needs to seek help. Either that, or they need to stop being a wanna-be masochist, and become a full fledged one.

I mean, damn...

[wyatt]

Yeah if you don't have friends to do it with, then there is no point. If you play for the sake of gaming you will hate it, if you do it to bullshit with folks it's a good time.

[Zork]

Yeah if you don't have friends to do it with, then there is no point. If you play for the sake of gaming you will hate it, if you do it to bullshit with folks it's a good time.

I agree with this, I'm currently playing WoW, and at first (Tail end of Beta and after Launch) I was playing it because I thought it would be cool to see Warcraft from this perspective making it a more personal experience. After a while this got very boring and I quit for like four or five months, and then got my friends into it. It's really the only thing that keeps me playing the game. When they quit, or the majority of them do...or ones that really matter, I too will quit.

If you're a true blue gamer this genre is very hard to get into, trust me. I still have doubts about this genre.