I'm currently playing Mabinogi, a fun game designed in pre-WoW years.  It lets me compose my own music and play in game.  It allows me to keep my weapons and armors throughout the game.  It has armors of historical European Templars and Spanish Conquistados.  It allows me to dye every part of every piece of equipments.  It's got both p2p and a f2p payment models.  I've played for 11 months and $30 is all I've spent on pets and mounts.  Yes, you can fish, exploring and dig for treasure, and its combat is semi-turn based full of tactics.   I left that game once before because of greedy Nexon but chose to return after the Iria patch made the rebirth system free.

The so-called "AAA" quality subscription game is a myth.  There is no such thing.  There are only games which are fun to play and games that are not fun to play, and it's all in the eyes of beholders i.e. the players.   All those self-proclaimed "AAA" games in the past five years have tanked terribly, so in my dictionary AAA are still only referring to auto club, battery size and abdominal aortic aneurysm.

There are plenty of other great F2P games out there, from NavyField to nDoor's Atlantic Online to EA's BattleForge, people need to keep an open mind if fun is what they're after.  Get the accomplishment in real life, and fun in games.

It really depends on whom you ask.  Many teenagers and young adults are not secure enough with anime or graphics that are too cartoony.   Gory realism is always cooler.  But older married adults with children tend to be fine with those, since they have to play along with their kids as they grow, so cartoony graphic wouldn't matter much.

As a person gets even older, there is a tendency to become even more child-like.  But for most teenagers and single young adults, acceptance by their peer is everything, and that tends to suppress the kiddie side of their nature.  Pre-teens, on the other hand, can go either way, depending on gender and family influence.

I hate it when the game forces me to change my weapon/armor or any piece of equipment when I reach a certain level.  I don't want to use certain sword or armor just because developer made them powerful and suitable for that level.  Once I decide on my favorite weapon or armor/helm, they should be good throughout my gaming career no matter how high my level becomes.

Allowing players to keep their weapons/armors and to grow or become proficient with them, and allowing players to dye/paint their equipments are two key features I always consider must for a good game.

I lol at people who claim they pass F2P, both Youtube and Facebook (yeah, there are games in them too) are F2P, do you pass them as well???

Back to the topic, i still prefer mabinogi better.  Mabinogi is one of very few mmo's that actually gives us genuine medieval & renaissance-era weapons & armors, not like those "flashy toys" seen in other mmo's.  But it's a shame devCAT took mabinogi heroes in a different, "more popular" direction, just to please those action-oriented crowd.

How many here have actually read KarL Marx's books before labeling anything "marxist"??  If "spreading wealth" is marxist, then every single revolution or uprising since dawn of human civilization has been marxist.  99.9% of people shouting "marxist" have zero idea what Marxism really is.

If anything, the national media have been too soft on McCain/Palin.  They haven't investigated deep enough Palin's (and her husband's) association with separatist group Alaska Independence Party.  They haven't shown us those anti-US propaganda films McCain made for Vietcong when he was a POW.  They haven't dwelled on McCain's association with G. Liddy & Keaton.  They didn't make too big a deal on Ashley Todd's hoax and its relation with McCain's campaign. 

Real Journalism without being backed by some special interest or corporations??  Sorry there is no such thing.

Americans don't vote because they feel whoever gets elected will only serve interests of big corporations and special interests.  Ordinary citizens have little leverage in the process.  Some don't like big government.  But they also fail to realize democracy only has use in government.  There is no democracy in the private sector; for example you can't just go to your boss and demand a pay raise because everyone in the office wants more pay.  But your boss can get himself a bonus and employees can do nothing about it.

So while big government is bad, letting those corporations grow so powerful without check & balance is even worse, because economic part of society is not democratic and ordinary citizens have no say in it.   That's how this financial fiasco started when CEO's get to keep huge bonuses by capitalizing on short-term risky deals without being held accountable for long-term effect.  It's like electing someone who uses his time in office to make himself as rich as possible before leaving the post, and people can do nothing to punish him afterward.  So while we have a legal system that balances the legislative & executive branches, there is no such check/balance system exists in private sector.  So be careful for what you wish for, big government or big private sector.  If the latter overwhelms the former, democracy will be threatened as well.   

When the conservatives voted for Bush/Cheney and his war on Iraq, to me they already forfeited their right to cry about tax increase.  Did any of them honestly think waging another war is gonna be paid for by someone else?  Now don't try to distribute cost among all Americans, because everyone knows that rich people enjoy more representation in Washington through lobbyists working on their behalf, and it's poor folks' sons and daughters dying on the battlefield.

Riches also can afford to hire lawyers/accountants to search for loopholes in tax codes to avoid paying more taxes.  Even if Obama's plan fell through, I bet many wealthy are still gonna pay less than their share just because of loopholes.   If there is no loophole, then those lobbyists you hire aren't doing their jobs.

So if Obama sounds like a socialist and is gaining more support, it's the result of this increasing gap between haves and have-nots.  Don't think social unrest is possible in the U.S.?  Well think again.  If the gap continues to widen and the middle class continue to shrink, anything can happen.  So it's not the time for the wealthy to be selfish.  This country has been good to you, and to pay more back to help those left behind is the partiotic thing to do. (yes, I agree with Biden on this one, I much rather pay US government more than spend it on entertainment which ultimately find their way to China or Middle East) 

Limited storage space is a feature meant to 1) force people trade away whatever they don't need so there is no hoarding, and 2) to encourage players specialize in crafting, because different raw materials take up valuable inventory space so you can't try to craft everything by yourself.  

In Ndoor's other game Luminary (Goonzu), it has this exactly same "feature" and it serves those two purposes well.  Later they probably will release storage expansion as a cash shop item.  But anyway, it's done with those two reasons in mind, to make players rely on each other's crafting and market for stuff.

So it is in fact a very well thought-out move to stimulate market trading, by forcing players to sell and buy from each other.

Dream of Mirrors Online (DOMO) has virtually no gold seller.  Host company's aggressive ads and promos simply overwhelm any gold seller's attempt to enter its market.   Community is also working closely with GS and GM's to prevent hacking.  It's a pve-centric MMO and worth a try.

Agree with OP, and don't worry about these cynical naysayers.  They'll crawl back to any good game in secrecy and in no time like they always do.  This game looks pretty simple on the outside but has some depth to its gameplay.  It's not as deep as Atlantica, but still fairly entertaining as there are tons of quests, at least in lower levels.  My wife is having a blast good time playing it. 

You can jump into any battle with strangers or friends alike anytime, without going through LFG spam routine like in other MMO's.  No worry about ganking or ks from players.  One downside is you can't chat with others who aren't in close vicinity.  There is no general chat, and that restricts social interaction.  Other than that, it's a nice game for those fans of Harry Potter series.

Atlantica's graphics is actually a turn off for me, but its combat is fun and actually requires some thinking/planning.  The real meat of this game, though, is its political and economic system, both of which will put 95% of current mmo's to shame.  It's got a great gameplay concept but still has many rough edges.

I've played nDoors' Goonzu (Luminary) before and always consider its trade/crafting system the best among f2p's.  If Atlantica has Goonzu's trade/crafting plus a more intelligent combat engine, without doubt in my mind it will be the best f2p on this side of world.

One +100% XP scroll - $5 USD

One permanent costume - $15 USD

One loyal fighting pet - $25 USD

Free access to your character - priceless

For every p2p toonapper that denies you access unless you pay ransome every month, there is a f2p allowing unlimited free access to your toons.

Ever wonder why ppl play f2p even some end up costing more? 

FREEDOM OF CHOICE: when to play and when to pay, it's my call.  Try put a price tag on THAT.

Free games are very crucial, almost indispensable to this industry.  It keeps many small indie game makers' dreams alive.  Without viable F2P models, the industry will be dominated by big-budget studios and well-known publishers.  Can you imagine what movie industry will be like if all we have are big commercial-release movies and there is no small independent film anymore ??

From sport-type like Kicks Online and Project Torque, to indie 3-d mmorpg's like Auteria and Regnum, to browser-based strategy ones like Ikariam, f2p games fill niches where no "AAA" game dare or will.  Not to forget games like Anarchy and Shadowbane are kept alive to this day because they're free to play.

Market for f2p 3D-MMORPG with certain themes will reach saturation at some point in time.  But there will never be an end to new ideas worth making games for, so there will never be too many free games in my opinion.  Good ones and unique ones will always rise above the rest.   

Yea, like others have said, either Ultima Online or Mabinogi.

Try Dream of Mirrors, make sure it's North American or Aeria's version.  It met most of your spec.

Have you tried DOMO (Dream of Mirrors) yet?  It is casual friendly and has a nice and varied class/skill system that fits your criteria.  Try North American version (Aeria's version) though, Onyx is the more popular server. 

I'm surprised no one here mentioned Dream of Mirror Online yet.  DOMO is the best run F2P/CS game in the U.S. for several reasons:

1) Fair pricing: its most expensive item is a permanent costume costing only $13 USD.

2) Very clean: very few bots and almost no gold-seller spam. 

3) Most cash shop items are tradeable in game, benefiting both cash shop users and non-users.

4) Active GM/GS and tons of player sponsored/hosted events, a sign of very decent community.

5) Grindy game? Yeah it can be at high level....but since you can buy 6-hr to 1-week +100% XP badges from players with in-game gold, that grind factor is reduced to nothing, at least for me.  Some players have reached level cap just four months after its OB.

Personally I hate to spend RL money on any game-related stuff, but the way DOMO is run makes my purchase happy and worth every penny.  

Of three dozens of p2p's and f2p's I've tried, only 2 succeeded in prying cash out of my wallet: GuildWars (+ its first 2 expansions) and DOMO.  So yup, I agree with that article regarding to Dream of Mirror.  A game managing to get more than a penny from a stubborn cheapo like me has to have some merits. 

WoW may have mesmerized billions, but it ain't good enough to make me part with my money, sorry. 

For f2p, Indy or foreign games both mmosite.com and onrpg.com are much better; this site is usually lagging behind in news of any incoming non-western mmo, hence I always go to those two sites when I look for a new game to play.

But for in-depth discussion, trend for western game design/gamers' taste and developers' views, this site is better.  But for that same reason, you'd find some special interest "lobbyists" here as well.  The other two sites tend to have more immature teenage gamers but real gamers nevertheless.