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The best free Internet RPG games

by Matt Maerowitz

With the massive capabilities of the internet, people all around the world can communicate through playing online games for free. Role playing games (RPGs) are probably the most common form of online multiplayer games where players gather items, complete quests, and battle against other fellow online players through designated player-versus-player (PvP) arenas. While many free online games contain these features, only a few truly rise to the top.

RuneScape:
RuneScape has one of the largest online communities of players. It's no wonder too! RuneScape has several features that encourage people to play and more importantly continue playing. Unlike some RPGs which consist of merely fighting creatures and player-controlled units, in RuneScape, players can utilize a variety of skills including mining, smithing, crafting, and fishing. The more a player trains in these skills, the higher his or her skill level becomes. Having a high skill level translates into being able to acquire better items and more gold. This game is very easy to get hooked on because of the several rare items that can only be acquired through completing difficult quests, attaining a very high skill level or fighting very tough monsters, all of which may take hours, days, or even weeks to do. A player can never be fully satisfied with their RuneScape character because there are always more levels to gain as well as more and better items to acquire. Unfortunately, for someone to access additional RuneScape features, he or she must pay a membership fee. Nonetheless, many people start out playing Runescape for free and enjoy it so much that they decide to pay to become a member.

Wyvern:
While RuneScape is a very fun and popular online RPG game, my favorite free RPG game is Wyvern, a lesser-known RPG. Wyvern has a massive world map of playable areas and a wide array of different items that can enhance your character. Wyvern is particularly unique because it allows its players to choose from several classes of characters that have very different abilities and attributes. Although Wyvern has what some would refer to as "old school" 2D-graphics, the retro graphics make it easy to navigate through various areas. The simpler graphics have allowed several Wyvern players to design levels that have been approved and used in the Wyvern world. That's right, many regions in Wyvern have been designed not by the original Wyvern designers, but by other online Wyvern players. This allows the world of Wyvern to continually expand without any cost to the initial game creators.

Illutia:
Another great free RPG is Illutia. Illutia has cartoonish graphics that make it seem like the images came from a Japanese Anime. If the loony graphics are not appealing, the game play certainly is. There are several battles to fight, quests to complete, and items to pick up that are displayed on your character for the rest of the Illutia community to see. One of the biggest drawbacks to Illutia is that the game is still relatively new and has a small tendency to bug. Fortunately, Illutia has a very supportive technical staff that works tirelessly to continue developing the game. I recall having a problem that was almost instantly fixed after sending an email to the tech crew.

Aranock:
One last free RPG worth mentioning is Aranock. Aranock does not have an incredibly large user-base, but is still a very entertaining game. Aranock has several different trainable abilities and various quests that make what may appear as a very simple game, incredibly complex. Unlike other online RPGs where the longer you play, the better your character becomes, Aranock takes a bit more skill. Simply fighting a lot of monsters may not necessarily help train your character because dying not only risks losing gold and items but also experience. Thus, in Aranock it is important to pick your fights wisely and train your skills effectively.

If none of these games do it for you and you are looking to find other free online RPG games, you should check out the following website which provides a comprehensive list of these games:
http://play-free-online-games.com/games/games_ rpg.html

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