I'm looking for an MMO, and I'm pretty specific about what I want, which makes it hard to find anything. I'm going to try very hard to narrow down my list to just a few basic things though, so its not quite so specific.

Okay, I need a very low spec free to play 3D MMORPG with a decent roleplay element. I'd prefer a fantasy setting over anything else. It doesn't have to have an actual RP community or anything like that, just something that has the potential for it. I would prefer semi decent graphics, no kiddie/anime type stuff. But it needs to be really really low on CPU and memory usage.

Some kind of character customization would be really great (especially the ability to give male characters beards), but thats probably pushing it.

Things that are a MUST - The ability to just walk around the world instead of running everywhere. The ability to jump (usually by pressing the space bar, but whatever works), and emotes of some kind.

I don't really care about much of anything else. Storyline doesn't matter to me, PvP isn't something I do, don't really care about quests or dungeons or anything like that. I just want something my boyfriend and I can roleplay together in thats not going to get too boring. We want to have lots to explore without getting bogged down just doing quests.

His computer is a lot better than mine, so he could run all sorts of stuff... but I can't. I have a very old laptop with very low specs.

This is what I have to work with;

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit

Processor: Intel Pentium M 1.50GHz

RAM: 512MB

Video: ATI Mobility Radeon 9600/9700 series (127MB)

HD SPace: I can't spare any more than 8GB.

The only game that even came close to having all the feature I'm looking for was Allods Online, but I couldn't run it. The game was way too laggy and ended up crashing my computer. Shaiya has some of the things I'd like, such as emotes and walking, etc... but its got zero customization.

Does a low spec game with those features even exist anywhere? I've been looking for such a long time and I just keep getting more and more frustrated and disappointed. I blame WoW. I played it for years and it was my very first MMO, so I think it kinda ruined every other game for me. But I'm still hoping that some day I'll come across something that suits me.

You can try lord of the rings online, possibly lowering the settings.

You can "walk" but it looks horrible. Like your spine is completely fused.

nevermind, you can only spare 8 gigs and LOTRO is double that. Still, worth a look if you ever upgrade your system.

Only one I can think of is Crowns of Power.  It's an older Indie RPG with a small client and low hardware requirements.  I have no clue on population now, as it's been years since I played.

There's not much out there that will run on low specs.  Others that I know of aren't close to what you're looking for in a game, or aren't free to play.

Have you tried allods? Its about the closest to your requirements that I can think of. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiU0uifAkJI

You can walk in game as well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb0GGASA7AY

And yes, you can even have beards :P 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMT23zuwHHg

Thats the closest match I got for now, hope it helps. 

Originally posted by GrayGhost79

Have you tried allods? Its about the closest to your requirements that I can think of. 

 [...] Thats the closest match I got for now, hope it helps. 

I didn't know Allods positioned for low end hardware.  I'll have to take a look.  Haven't played it in a long while.

Originally posted by XAPGames

Originally posted by GrayGhost79

Have you tried allods? Its about the closest to your requirements that I can think of. 

 [...] Thats the closest match I got for now, hope it helps. 

 

I didn't know Allods positioned for low end hardware.  I'll have to take a look.  Haven't played it in a long while.

 

Its one of those "Not my thing" games that I still keep an eye on because the developers did a decent job. Those running the game not so much lol, but the guys and gals that made it did a pretty good job so I check in on it every now and again. 

Originally posted by Sovrath

You can try lord of the rings online, possibly lowering the settings.

You can "walk" but it looks horrible. Like your spine is completely fused.

nevermind, you can only spare 8 gigs and LOTRO is double that. Still, worth a look if you ever upgrade your system.

lowering settings? lotro with ultra high now after graphic nerf looks like asian everyday one minute mmo f2pgrind with factory green floors nothing in it and popping out bushes and trees, customers whine 200 fps thats what customers get . no points for turbine for doing that! so op, do not waste your time with lotro , anything but that, if you like lore, read books and watch movies.

everquest 2 like someone said earlier but thats sonys free your way style.

Aren't MUDs generally text based? I used to RP on message boards (its actually my message board characters I'd like to recreate in an MMO, hence wanting decent customization), but I'd rather leave going back to text based RP as a last resort. I think I should just wait until I have the funds needed to upgrade my laptop or something. But thank you to everyone for the replies and the suggestions. I know it never hurts to ask and I appreciate people taking the time to respond.

I think the biggest issue with this thing is its got Windows 7 on it, and it can't handle it very well. 7 takes up a lot of resources and this laptop just isn't designed for Win 7. Its actually designed for XP, but I got it from a friend and it already had 7 on it. I have considered backing everything up, formatting, then installing XP instead and seeing if that boosts my performance a bit, but this thing is like 8 or 9 years old now and I'm not sure how well it would handle a format and new install. I might kill it on accident.

It might be possible to tweak 7 for less memory use.

Disable Visual Effects (site is Microsoft)

A guide to Speed Up Windows 7 (site is computing unleashed)

However, the 512 is very low even for XP SP3, especially if the 128 megs of video ram is shared from the 512 system memory (leaving 384 left for everything else).  After the OS, drivers and video chip get their memory, there's not much left for the game to load up.

I'd really like to upgrade my RAM at least and just go for a full gig, once I have the money for it. I'm completely broke right now. I'm also considering an external HD for extra space, but right now I'd just settle for a RAM upgrade cause that would at least boost performance a bit. I guess thats something to think about whenever I have the money to spare for computer upgrades.

As far as games go, its starting to look like I may have to go with one of the more cartoony looking games, since I can't seem to run anything else. Its not that I have anything against the cutesy anime style games, but I feel like there would probably be a lot of relatively young people playing them, because they're cutesy, and I'm looking for a more mature setting. I want blood, violence, and drunken debauchery. 

To be completely honest with you, the entire point of trying to find a game was so my boyfriend and I could feel like we were doing things together, because at the moment we're over 4000 miles apart. I liked the idea of going on "dates" in a game together, but my idea of dates in an MMO consists of stabbing things in the face and slaughtering dragons and stuff. None of that cutesy stuff.

Thats what I miss the most about WoW. People can say what they want about how bad its gotten, but it had a lot of potential for RP. It had great lore, great features, a huge world to explore and plenty of things to kill. It wasn't perfect by any means, but there was always something to do. Achivements to get, mounts and pets to collect, places to explore, quest chains to be done, reputation to raise, etc.

Hopefully I'll get this laptop upgraded with some more RAM at the very least and then see what I can run after that.

Originally posted by Ozivois
Everquest 2

Everquest 2

+1

Its not really 3d gfx, but you can run it ;)

Ultima Online, its has most of what  you mentioned, and is great for Rp and exploring a world with your gf.

But id have to say, clear some space and try out Lord of the rings on an rp server.

Both games have great and mature communities.

Originally posted by adenostar
I can't run Allods. I tried. Was really hyped up and excited about it too, cause it had everything I was looking for. But it was super laggy (I could barely even move) and it ended up crashing my computer. So I had to uninstall it. Its a shame too, cause that game would have been perfect. I loved the idea of the marriage system too.

Dang, that one you fit the minimum specs to a T 

If nothing else you can always look into Browser based MMO's like Runescape. 

Originally posted by etlar

Its not really 3d gfx, but you can run it ;)

Ultima Online, its has most of what  you mentioned, and is great for Rp and exploring a world with your gf.

But id have to say, clear some space and try out Lord of the rings on an rp server.

Both games have great and mature communities.

I'd second the UO as a choice. The graphics are really dated but the gameplay and RP potential makes up for it in spades. But it isn't free to play.