I liked it. But it's gone now.

[Kenrick]

After a year+ of refusing to buy/try WoW, I just did the free 10-day trial.  And I got hooked.  Was enjoying it more and more every day.  And then time ran out.  I resigned myself to the fact that I was gonig continue on with my trial and start paying the monthly fee.

But wait!

Blizzard is smarter than all the other previous mmorpg companies who have offered free trials... They make it so the only way you can contiinue playing is to go buy the BOX and then enter a retail validation key.



I'm ashamed to say that I cannot afford such a purchase right now.  And so I am left with nothing.

Emptyness.

Fuck you Blizzard for hooking people on free crack.

[Morfiend]

Blizzard is smarter than all the other previous mmorpg companies who have offered free trials... They make it so the only way you can contiinue playing is to go buy the BOX and then enter a retail validation key.

As far as I know, this is pretty much standard policy for MMOG free trials. Well, I guess some let you download the full client, but it costs the same as buying a box. What where you expecting?

[Kenrick]

As far as I know, this is pretty much standard policy for MMOG free trials.

Apologies, in my limited experience, that has not been the case.

You're probably right.

I just fucking hate being this poor.

[Merusk]

For older MMOs where it's not a trial, but a "Please come and play us.. here's the client!!!" kenrick had the right of it. Games currently like this are Planetside, & EQ1 there's others but I can't be certain of which ones.  WoW isn't hurting for subs and the box is moving well, so.. you get to buy the box.

[Rasix]

How were you planning to pay the 15 dollars a month? I might be able to convince a couple friends of mine to give me their old accounts.  But, it might be tough: these are the kind of people that won't Ebay a potentially $1000+ character due to feelings of nostalgia.

[Kenrick]

It's probaby best for my pocketbook and my marriage that I don't play this game at all.   :mrgreen:  Guess I just felt like making a pointless whine/pity/complain thread.

Carry on.

edit: I didn't mean to put an afro dude in this post, but now that he is there... I don't have the heart to delete him.

[Morfiend]

Yeah, for older games, you can usually bypass the "box fee" but those are all on games where they are in need of subs. Like SB, UO, EQ1 etc. None of the current gen MMOGs will let you get away with not paying the "box fee". CoH will let you purchase a CD-Key from them, but it is the same price as the retail box. Sorry you got your hopes up, but honestly, if you cant afford $40 on a game, you should probably spend your gaming time working.

[Kenrick]

I do work, I've just have a lot of unfortunate and unexpected expenses recently.

Honestly, I'm not that broke... I could easily afford it after this Friday's paycheck, but it just wouldn't be a smart purchase for me right now.

I would have been better off just avoiding getting hooked on the game.   

Anywho, my brief 10-day review:

Solo gameplay:  A step above DAoC.
Group gameplay: A step below DAoC.
Tradeskills: n/a - I was too focused on combat elements.
PvP:  n/a - I only got to level 20.
Graphics:  A step above EQ2.
Sound: Heads and shoulders above everything.

[Furiously]

Graphics:  A step above EQ2.

I think you mean style of art. Graphicswise... EQ2 kicks its ass.

[schild]

Graphics:  A step above EQ2.

I think you mean style of art. Graphicswise... EQ2 kicks its ass.

I'm on the speed tree side of the fence. Some of the stuff in EQ2 is just awesome but the goddamn foliage is a wreck. I <3 the elementals though. They're just awesome. I got wasted by a level 39 Epic Encounter the other night while I was invis. I walked right up to him because he looked like floating liquid metal. It was totally worth the 2% debt and walking 1,000 meters to get to where I needed to go after 914 damage from that beauty.

[Trippy]

Blizzard is smarter than all the other previous mmorpg companies who have offered free trials... They make it so the only way you can contiinue playing is to go buy the BOX and then enter a retail validation key.

As far as I know, this is pretty much standard policy for MMOG free trials. Well, I guess some let you download the full client, but it costs the same as buying a box. What where you expecting?

It is the standard policy though EVE only charges you $19.95 to upgrade from a free Trial to a regular account and that includes a free month as well.

[Phred]

Yeah, for older games, you can usually bypass the "box fee" but those are all on games where they are in need of subs. Like SB, UO, EQ1 etc. None of the current gen MMOGs will let you get away with not paying the "box fee". CoH will let you purchase a CD-Key from them, but it is the same price as the retail box. Sorry you got your hopes up, but honestly, if you cant afford $40 on a game, you should probably spend your gaming time working.

For the first 3-4? years of it's existance EQ didnt even have a free trial.

[Lantyssa]

CoH will let you purchase a CD-Key from them, but it is the same price as the retail box. Sorry you got your hopes up, but honestly, if you cant afford $40 on a game, you should probably spend your gaming time working.

If you use a buddy key then once the trial ends you start paying the standard monthly fee, so there is no "box cost", although your only free time is the trial period.  You still come out ahead though.

[Glazius]

CoH will let you purchase a CD-Key from them, but it is the same price as the retail box. Sorry you got your hopes up, but honestly, if you cant afford $40 on a game, you should probably spend your gaming time working.

If you use a buddy key then once the trial ends you start paying the standard monthly fee, so there is no "box cost", although your only free time is the trial period.  You still come out ahead though.

In related news I'm pretty sure I've still got some buddy keys sitting around in various CoV boxes.

--GF

[Flood]

You can try Anarchy Online.  http://www.anarchyonline.com/

You can download the full (well most of) client for free and even play for free I think.  It has 2-3 expansions now and I believe to access those you have to pay.  And the expansions are mostly for the higher level folks so no big deal there.  And I think it's pretty cheap to get the whole she-bang.  Like on the order of <20$ - and you can download the whole thing online.  If you wanted an MMO fix it might be better than nothing if you're flat broke.  God knows I've been there.


Otherwise you could try to see if your local EB/Gamestop/whatever will let you trade in games or movies for store credit, and try to get the initial box fee that way.  Or you can get old school and turn in aluminium cans at a recycler to try and get into the 20-30$ profit range.  Unlike the most of the people who post here I don't make that much money so I feel your pain.  Just some ideas. 

[Kenrick]

You can try Anarchy Online.

Eh... I just can't get into sci-fi.  Thanks for the heads-up, though.

Side note:  Tried the trial of SWG a couple months ago.  It lasted all of about 67 minutes on my hard drive before being uninstalled.  I have no words... no words...

[Ironwood]

Marrow.

[Der Helm]

policy though EVE only charges you $19.95 to upgrade from a free Trial to a regular account and that includes a free month as well.

Wait a minute. The account management screen says, that you can update your (EVE!)trial account with a game time card. (Have not tried it yet, though)

edit:  spellcheck