I'm hopeing someone can help me out with this. I've been playing many games to try and find one that can keep my interest like the first game I play and still do, Asheron's Call. I started that game over 6 years ago and still always go back to it after a few months. Basically i'm looking for a game that is similar but free or very small payments since I want to play it during the times I have to take a haitus from AC be it financial or just to take a break.

Here are some things I like from AC that I'm looking for in another game.

Large world with many different areas to explore and discover new things but WITHOUT boundries, WOW annoyed me with surrounding every area with mountains other than a pathway out.

An assortment of items to choose from, not having one kind of weapon for each level range and likewise for armor and other items.

I don't want the system to hold my hand through everything, a nice starting tutorial then figuring everything out myself is more fun than being told what to do next and how.

Nice loot drops, not having to kill over 100 creatures just to get a damn peice of armor to drop. Also randomness to the loot system so the same exact armor or item may have different stats each time you find another one.

Lots of dungeons, even pointless ones in the middle of nowhere, exploration is a big thing for me.

Quests are nice but shouldn't be required to level up, a good hunt out in the wilderness should be just as rewarding.

A good storyline and updates, as AC has always had interesting stories with each month I would like something similar, though not required to be monthly and such.

Hope that's enough and not sure if there are any others similar but worth a try. I've tried out, Rappelz, Ryzom (Loved), EQ (HATE), WOW (no way), Mabinogi, Hero Online, Conquer, DDO, Silk Road, and Rubies of Evantide