I know we were discussing the possibility of playing a game thats a free trial and I don't know how many of you have actually tried D&D Online: Stormreach, but there is a 7 day free trial at this link:

D&D Online: Stormreach

I'll keep a lookout for anything else that pops up that may interest us all!
*hugs*

:my:Lunaire

Other possiblilities:

RF Online
EVE
Anarchy Online
Dark Age of Camelot
SWG

Or even There... not a game exactly, but somewhere we could hang out for this short bit of time, do a bit of dumb stuff, and not worry too much about getting all wrapped up in a 2nd game.

Or feel free to weed through this list yourselves.


RF Online looks like something I might not mind trying... I just don't want to get *too* into something new.
Edit: Strike that, it looks like they aren't giving out any more of the free trials to RF online right now.

I bought D&D Online the week after its release, and still haven't played it Probably wasn't my thing anyway; All instanced missions with cities as the only public zones.

Couldn't get the login to work, it would always stop when looking for the authentication server. I'm guessing it was the firewall at my uni appartment. I sent some emails to the admins asking them to forward a few ports - to no luck, but it could just as well be related to a bunch of windows patches it demanded so I really couldn't be assed to find out or resub now that I'm at home to try again

I don't mean to diss the game or the idea, mind. If the team sizes are large enough to support a fair amount of Reapers for the missions I'm sure you'd have a good time.

Out of the lot Tshael lists I'd vote Anarchy Online, but I'm biased from it being my first MMO I have to admit it is very slow in the start so you probably wouldn't get past rat and beetle killing.

Here's an Eve trial players guide to piracy (the 'bad guy' side of PvP, player conflicts being the games main focus). It might take a couple of days to get started with the skills you need to snare/root other players, but I would think with some Reapers on your side you could probably get to the fun bits faster and with less costs from deaths.

Seeing how we're listing games I'd like to add PlanetSide. It's a MMOFPS. Futuristic shooter with lots of vehicles and support roles. You have the same stats at the start as everyone else, but you have fewer certificates to use equipment and vehicles. The trial is a one year pass, with access to only 6 out of the 25ish ranks. Get a man to cert medium tanks and someone for a bomber or troop transport and it's pretty much pick up and play action. Think Battlefield, but with a persistant world and 100 x 3 players max on each of the continents, the goal being to conquer bases.

There are also the no strings attached online games that I know a few of us have - Battlefield 1942 and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch.

Since Ryzom is the only game I've played, I guess I'm interested in what the "popular" games are like. My list would be:

SWG
City of Heroes/Villains
WoW

Someplace where we don't have to try to really play and advance but just run around for a couple days together and look at shinies, play with the character creator, etc.

"There" looks interesting too, not much to look at but someplace we can continue to hang out with each other just for fun

If you're interested in "There" I really recommend "Second Life".

Second Life is the original free-form create-whatever-you-want thing, and I don't think it qualifies as competition for an MMO.??Also, if you like it, it's $10 to join for life, you just can't own land without a monthly fee (though you can rent from other players - Sapling the Evil Landlord begins building 'Reaperslums' )

Er, nevermind that.??But it is fun, 14 day free trial, and I think anyone should try it (downtime or not) just to see what amazing things people come up with.??You have to remember - everything in the world the users built using the creation tools, except the very basic starter newbie clothing/character customization.

Also, making money ingame is pretty much only limited by your ingenuity and technical savvy with the creation controls (Sapling, the Very Poor weeps quietly).??The physical object creation device is similar to Maya, but doesn't allow some of the more intricate modelling (to keep down on polygons and make things loadable).??Also, objects can be made to perform in certain ways using scripts in LSL (Linden Scripting Language), which is very similar to C and Java.??You can also create your own textures/images in Photoshop or any other picture editor and upload them for a tiny in-game fee to keep people from spamming the server.

Most recently I spent an entire weekend making a tiny pet panda that sits on my right shoulder, and a little glowing ball of light that sits on my left (I call it Tinkerbell).??Tinkerbell flashes, giggles, and flies around randomly if you click on her before settling back to my shoulder.??My next goal is to teach the panda to dance along my arm when I hold it out, then go back to sitting on my shoulder, but I'm still working on learning about joints!

Anyhow, it's good fun, and a nice place to randomly hang out since you can find just about anything.??Also, every character is able to fly and teleport, with a searchable database of different places and activities.??There are some truly amazing architects in the game, as well as people who create vehicles, clothing, and custom avatars.??You can try your hand at making something just about anywhere, and you can store it all in your personal inventory, or carry it around for people to see.

Also, people constantly host free trivial pursuit games, dances, casino games, etc.

Ok, so I sound like I work for the company, but I have never ceased to be impressed by it since I first joined 2-3 years ago.??If anyone reads futuristic sci-fi about the possibilities of virtual reality (a la Neuromancer, the Otherland Series), it reminds me strongly of that within the limitations of present technology (not VR).

*draws in breath*

Anyway, this isn't really a pitch for it during the 4 day downtime, but it is a pitch for it in general.??I sometimes don't play for months, other times I get sucked in.??My name there is Aly Riva.

Edited to note - and yes, with people making anything, there can be some *ahem* inappropriate items, but the areas of Second Life are carefully divided into "PG" and "Mature". I've never seen anything inappropriate cross into the PG areas, since the rules are enforced pretty strictly.

They do friend-key trials, but unless there's something I missed I'm afraid neither WoW nor CoX offer trial keys available to everyone and if they did and wanted CC details in advance we might be restricted to regional servers too, but I've never tried subscribing for outside my region in games where you're split so there's probably a workaround.

I would absolutely love to play Heroes or Villains for these 4 days. Spending some hours make up a silly theme and name =) Maybe coordinate it with everyone else and have a Superpals kind of crew.

I had a chance to beta the last week in CoH. Poor old Precious. I wanted to name him "Gimp" and roleplay that gimpsuit guy in Pulp Fiction having gone through a strange portal and landed in the game. For some odd reason the name got caught by their filter (or maybe it was already taken)

Edit:
Sapling you got me confused there with saying Second Life without land ownership is free, and there being a trial. Of course it could be as straight forward as it being both, or is there a one time purchase after the 14 days? I tend to mess around with most sandboxes I'm offered and it does sound like a nice way to get some creative energy put to use every now and then ^^

Hehe, I was not very clear but you are correct - there is a 14-day free trial, then a one-time fee of $9.95.??After that, it's free, unless you want to own land.??Small amounts of land are $15/mo, with people owning whole islands paying upwards of $200/mo.

Also, WoW just started a free 10-day trial.. not sure about CoH.

I have played CoH for a few months - it's fun, gets old/repetitive fast.??Char creation is the BEST PART of the game (and it really is a lot of fun).??I would be willing to play a trial of that if there is one.

Edited to note:
Also quite fun in CoH - learning the skills to summon a group member and to fly.
Picture this:
Sapling hovers at a glorious 10,000 feet over Metropolis (or wherever).??Sapling summons her groupmate who has the misfortune not to be able to fly.
Sapling cackles as her groupmate plummets to the earth.

It sounds supercruel, but since falling can't actually kill you (just knock you down to *ahem* 1hp), it's not that bad.??Just have to be careful not to drop them on anything vicious.??

I'm thinking CoH/CoV sounds like a nice idea?

I'd love to play with the character creation and come up with some silly (maybe Ryzom inspired?) superpowers, hehehehe.

Anyone have a link to a free trial?

Lucked out while reading at ign.com as I found a WoW trial offer. I know it looks like I'm sabotaging you right now Sehr hehe, but there's no bad will intended, just for the sake of correcting myself.