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If you're wondering what type of RPG might be correct for you, it's not that easy to answer. There is a lot of choice out there and differing types of games within the genre. Essentially, there are quite a few sub-genres. The best way to find the answer is to examine what the different sub-genres have to offer and decide for yourself.

Below I will do my best to outline the different types of RPGs.

Free to play MMOs:

You read that correctly. There are games out there that are online and free to play with others. The games within this sub-genre make their money via having items you can pay for, which provide temporary buffs/bonuses to your character. Yet they're not needed to play the game, so it isn't really false advertising and they are free-to-play.

What this sub-genre lacks is the polish of the pay-to-play MMOs, the ones the big companies put out. Also, the community might not be as good. So these games can be hit and miss. They also tend to be rather grind based, as it's what the Koreans tend to like. These are a good option if you're tight on money, like interacting with others (despite the community not being too great), and are looking for something to kill some time with.

To give some examples of free-to-play MMOs, there are: Maple Story, Arch Lord and I suppose you could count Guild Wars as being free-to-play. This is the exception to the polish rule and also the community one. You do however have to pay for the box/a CD key. You don't buy items in game though. There's also not much of a grind to reach the level cap for a character. To offset this, there's a sequel coming out and so once it's released, it might be harder to find people to group with. There's also not much of a grind to reach the level cap for a character.

Pay-to-play MMOs:

These are more polished products and tend to be populated by a better community. Despite the community focus, most can also be played solo like the free-to-play games. But you'd be missing out on a lot of content. These games also work on a subscription basis after you've bought the box/paid for the CD key and client to download. So you'd need to pay every month to play the game. You can also choose to pay every 3, 6 and 12 months though.

Standouts within this genre include: Lord of the Rings Online, World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, Everquest 2 and a game that deserves quite a bit of praise for innovation, EVE Online.

It isn't just the gameplay of EVE that's innovative; the game designer's way of releasing expansion packs

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