As the title says, I'm looking for a F2P MMO game that is really F2P. By that I mean all real money gets you is cosmetics (no boosts, special weapons, armor, slots,...).

edit
I specifically listed slots as a nono because I hoard everything I pick up, so please don't list games with real-money-only slots/inventory.
edit 2
If a game has a Premium type of accout or a subscription plan, it doesn't belong in this thread since those features usually don't only give cosmetic items.

So far, the following games have been listed;
Excluded;
-TERA
-Team Fortress 2
-DOTA 2 (I don't play MOBAs)
-Rift
-Flyff
-Neverwinter
-Warthunder
-Warframe
-The Secret World (one-time purchase)
-Path Of Exile
-World of Tanks
-Star Conflict
-Guild Wars 2 (one-time purchase)
-Star Trek Online
-Champions Online
-Star Wars: the Old Republic
-Pirates of The Burning Sea
-DC Universe Online
-Spiral Knights

Could be F2P (can anyone confirm/deny?);
-Eden Eternal (personally doubt AeriaGames would have a truly F2P game)

Truly F2P;
-Heaven And Hearth

11 years ago*

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Have fun looking

PS: I would have said TERA, but you can buy extra bank space and character slots. Free users only get 2 character slots and 1 bank slot. But if you actually own the game or just buy a key, you get those unlocked. Othen than that, most items in the game shop are cosmetics or mounts. You can also buy keys that let you unlock strongboxes which can give you some goodies (enchanting material, XP boost, reputation boost, etc.) but most of those can be sold for gold so you can buy those on the broker too.

11 years ago
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I will look, but it probably won't be fun.

P.S.
And I would have said no ;).

11 years ago
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2 charater slots PER server.

11 years ago
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What with all the free server farms and bandwidth out there...

At some point, they're going to put the squeeze on you.

11 years ago
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Check out MaidMarian's games. The games are meh but free (the last time I checked).

11 years ago
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11 years ago
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TF2 needs you to buy something to get premium. I think Dota 2 does also.

11 years ago
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no it's not, premium in tf2 is only to increase your backpack slot, and be able to trade your items to other people.. other than that the premium has zero effect on gameplay...

11 years ago
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Exactly.

11 years ago
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It limits your drops to non-rare items and stops you from trading. I wouldn't consider it F2P.

11 years ago
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Yes, if you get premium you can get hat drops. But still these are cosmetic items that do not influence gameplay.

11 years ago
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Yeah, the hat drops don't matter too much, but without being able to trade for cheap weapons I would say you are at a disadvantage. Crafting is always overpriced.

11 years ago
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You can't trade items. They are non-tradeable if you're not premium.

11 years ago
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Actually, 'limits your drops to non-rare items' can be a good thing >_>

11 years ago
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yes, but premium account is actually not needed to play TF2, all you get is a possibility to trade and bigger stash.

EDIT: double strike! ^_^

11 years ago
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IIRC TF2 has weapons you can get with real money, and as for DOTA 2, I hate MOBAs.

11 years ago
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11 years ago
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those weapons are also drop randomly in game while play, or yo can craft it with metals that you get from other item that dropped to you earlier.. this has nothing to do with pay to win..

11 years ago
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you can get all those weapons by simply playing the game and they're not any better than stock weapons.

11 years ago
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Biggest disadvantage in TF2 without premium is no trading, and less backpack space.

And Dota 2 is elitist territory.

11 years ago
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I'd say Rift, far as I know all you can buy is boosts, cosmetics, and mounts. It's not exactly what you are looking for but it's the closest you will probably get (The entire game is free, as in you don't have to buy any content, you can play as you would if you had a subscription before it went F2P)

11 years ago
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As f2p player however you can't sell on the AH and you have a bag limit afaik. But you can buy REX with in-game currency and actually remove many restrictions. It's gonna be tough to buy REX without the ability to sell on the AH tho. :p

Other than that, I quite like the model they use.

11 years ago
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I haven't tested but in theory, there no longer restriction on the AH (theye removed it few hours after f2p release)

11 years ago
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I used to play this. Most of the items are cosmetic, and all of them can be bought from other players. Last I checked the game was a bit dead though.

11 years ago
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Checked the Item Shop and there are plenty of non-cosmetic itemsfor sale there.

11 years ago
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But you can get them outside the shop and trade for them.

11 years ago
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You put Spiral Knights under truly F2P and they sell crystal energy.

11 years ago
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Fixed.

11 years ago
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Neverwinter. You can run through the whole game solo and get almost everything you need for the game not putting a cent into it. Also open pvp is absent in there (at least for now) thus there's no need to compete with other players. And their "Foundry" toolset makes this game endless.

11 years ago
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Yes it's an awesome game but their Zen market items are far from cosmetic.

11 years ago
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Yes, but still you can simply omit those items and the game is completely playable without those items sold on Zen market, i.e., it's not pay2win at all.

BTW, as far as I know their inner currency is quite flexible and interchangeable and you can get items from Zen Market for ingame virtual currency.

11 years ago
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Warthunder

In beta currently and you can pretty much do everything there is to do if you put enough time into it. You get some of it's premuim money just for doing tutorials and sometimes for doing challenges. I should always point out that this is a semi-simulated WW 1&2 wartime game. Right now they only have the flight combat up, but they are hoping to get the ground and naval combat up soon. Don't really think this what you had in mind when you posted, but it's worth at least a look.

11 years ago
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Warframe. Everything shy of color packs, slots, and cosmetic sentinel items can be gotten in game. And yes, that includes every single warframe, weapon, orokin catalyst, orokin reactor, forma, and void keys. You are not required to buy anything.

11 years ago
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Tried that yesterday, and the real money only slots pissed me off (I'm a hoarder in every game where I can pick up stuff, so that's a dealbreaker for me).

11 years ago
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Don't feel bad. I'm a digital hoarder as well. I just can't help but pick up everything I find in games. You wouldn't believe the piles of nonsense I had in Fallout 3. I got rid of the weight limits, so I was usually carrying around a couple hundred coffee mugs and baseballs.

11 years ago
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I picked up every single thing I ran into in F3 (though I couldn't remove the weight limit, so I ran around in God mode until I came to a fight). You wouldn't belive how much shit I had stored in the lockers in my house :).

11 years ago
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There was a 75 Titanium giveaway recently, and you start with 50 by default, (or I've got 50 somewhere else) so you can get a couple slots for that for 20 Titanium each.

11 years ago
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Got the 75 Titanium, but it still doesn't make it F2P, and I have a feeling it still wouldn't be enough to unlock all slots.

11 years ago
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Warframe is extremely grindy, and there has actually been a bit of a complaint with just how extensive the grind is. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to a lot of people because of that. It definitely falls into the 'pay not to suffer' category with Neverwinter.

11 years ago
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I quit just for this reason. I didn't get very far, but the game was just too dependant on grinding. The Rhino suit, for example. Or, whatever the hell it was called.

11 years ago
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You aren't likely going to find something that is free to play with cosmetics only. You can find games that work hard to limit what advantages you might be able to purchase with real life money. Rift, The Secret World, and Path of Exile. They all have some things you can buy with real life money that are more than cosmetics, but, with Path of Exile at the very least nothing is -required- with the extra stash tabs, given the size of inventory in game. Rift is a little harder because you buy bag slots, which is the only thing I consider a must in that game. The Secret World has a model similar to DCUO, in that the game is free, and the stuff you purchase is either classes, or content patches, but nothing is required.

11 years ago
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Isn't TSW is like Guild Wars 2, buy game - play it without subscription?

11 years ago
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yes, Secret World is like Guild Wars 2, Buy to Play but i agree about Path of Exile and Rift. in comparison to some other games their F2P system is pretty amazing

11 years ago
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Path of exile; all you can buy via cash shop are pure cosmetic (item effects / skill effects / pets) or (extra / customised) stash slot, which you don`t really need.

11 years ago
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Seeing 40 other players in town does not make it an MMO.

11 years ago
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but if you group with them you can play on the same maps so isn't that exactly the same system as in first Guild Wars and i'm pretty sure it is considered an MMO

11 years ago
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in PoE due to me being a collector of everything shiny i think getting more stash tabs is a must but that's just me, other than stash tabs everything else is just cosmetic so it's a great example of a good F2P system

11 years ago
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You do understand that the whole point of making a game Free2Play is to get people to buy stuff in-game right? Whatever company is making the game have to pay for their developers, servers and bandwith. If you're not paying upfront, they need some incentive to get you to pay in-game.

11 years ago
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I know, and that drives me fucking crazy. It's nothing short of false advertising. I have no problem with games selling you stuff for real money, they need it to keep running, but for fuck sake, they should at least call it something else.

11 years ago
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Well, the game IS free to play... but at some point it's not really enjoyable anymore. In the mobile world these games are called freemium.

11 years ago
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That's like saying TV is free to watch, even though you have to pay for the channels. It's technically correct, but morally disgusting.

11 years ago
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And those free-to-play gamers sure are sticklers about their morality

11 years ago
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Dunno about others, but I am :).

11 years ago
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11 years ago
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Tribes Ascend

WarThunder

World of Tanks

Warframe

Star Conflict

TF2

Nuff said.

11 years ago
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World of Tanks is free to play and you're only limited to I want to say about 7-8 tank slots which isn't bad. But holy shit the grind in that game is god awful. Even with premium it takes forever to get xp for your tanks.

11 years ago
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WoT is not F2P; slots cost real money, Premium gets you about a third more XP and credits, not to mention premium tanks.

11 years ago
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WOT is F2P, 7/8 tank slots is enough, why woukd yoy want more? Premium earns more XP & cash does a game make not F2P? The there are no F2P games. Just buy to play, pay to play and freeware.

11 years ago
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Did you even read the thread before posting?
Here's a tip: "...all real money gets you is cosmetics (no boosts, special weapons, armor, slots,...)."

11 years ago
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Guildwars 2, while requires initial fee of boxed copy/digital key purchase, has nothing inside that you can't buy with in-game money. Gem Store uses gems as currency - you buy it with irl cash, or exchange for gold. There is no real gear grind and most available items are cosmetics/small boosters, which aren't needed to enjoy the game.

If any of your friends have a copy, ask them to let you test it, GW2 is really fun and different MMO from what we're all used to. My initial cost of 35€ already paid itself off months ago, and I haven't spend a dime since then.

11 years ago
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This. GW2 is a really great game and while it has some boosters and stuff like that, there's absolutely no need to use them and they're kinda useless anyway (the only good one is arena booster, which you get from playing PvP anyway). GW2 is definitely my TOP1 MMO.

11 years ago
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My friend bought it (extreme MMORPG fan), but for some reason he didn't like it. I might ask him to lend me his acc to test it out.
I absolutely love the one-time purchase method too :).

11 years ago
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^Pretty much This.

11 years ago
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I like all the frequent updates too (guess the Gem store is selling), but it's cool if people want to support and throw money at them, and it doesn't hurt you because it's not pay to 'win'

11 years ago
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Haven and Hearth. Hardcore MMORPG with permadeath and totally player-run world developed by two Swedish students.

11 years ago
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There was one that did the F2P model really well, but Dungeon Fighter Online shut down due to "lack of interest" here in the West. Considering the servers were always -loaded- with people, I suspect that actually means that since the game was fully playable and enjoyable without spending a cent, they didn't make enough money on it for it to be financially viable for them to continue.
So the short answer is "Not really."
The genuinely free ones tend to lack quality.

11 years ago
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i'll have to say none lol

11 years ago
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I doubt there's any "true" F2P games. Money doesn't grow on trees, and ads alone won't cover the expenses in most cases. Either you accept it that games have F2P games have minor bonuses, (or pay2win in some cases) that gives you something and supports the developers to keep the thing running, or you can stop being cheapass and pay for your games.

11 years ago
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you arent going to find anything without non-cosmetic items in the store....
kind of a stupid thing to look for int he first place....

Lord of the Rings Online can be completely free if u want it to.....
you get a SHITLOAD of store points just by playing the game, enough that u can buy every expansion to it out the store for free...

11 years ago
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World of Warcraft

11 years ago
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GTFO

11 years ago
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But it's ultra F2P! :O

11 years ago
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I can confirm that Haven and Hearth is completely free-to-play. There -is- no game store that I'm aware of. I wouldn't recommend it, personally... but if 100% free is your only qualifier, it fits.

11 years ago
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Why was The Secret World excluded? Yeah it costs $15-$30 to pick up the game (depending upon current sales), but the cash shop is as you said, completely Cosmetic, the only things not completely cosmetic are (unnecessary) xp boosts just make you gain abilities a bit sooner, not that it takes long to begin with, and the DLC packs, which the DLCs you don't even need, they simply add a few hours of gameplay with an additional branch storyline on top of the main one from the region, and they typically connect to the main story of the game too. The DLCs you wouldn't even want to get until you're already so deep into TSW (as in beaten almost everything else), that the cost is pretty minimal in relation. Aside from that, the shop is completely cosmetic without any sort of "power ups" that make it unfair in comparison to someone who doesn't use the shop. The shop doesn't include special armors, or weapons, or "slots", there are a few weapons/talismans in the shop, but they're entry-level stuff that just makes the first hour of the game a bit easier, the only "slots" are inventory slots, and those aren't necessary, as you buy the same inventory slots through the currency you earn in the game at a cheap enough price. All the other ones listed and excluded I understand, but if you're excluding TSW, you might as well exclude GW2 as well, which isn't on your list, yet it's got a ton of "pay 2 win" included in it, in addition to being B2P. Which B2P isn't even a bad thing, as it (helps) to keep out gold farmers, spammers, and that type of bullshit. Even though the cash-shop in TSW is fully cosmetic too, you'd probably find yourself wanting to buy something from there, considering that since you don't use armor, you can dress your character however you want when you play whatever role you want, there's plenty in the in-game clothing shops to purchase, but some of the cash-shop ones are just completely awesome anyway that they're worth the buy.

11 years ago
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I've already edited to note that it's only excluded because it's a one-time purchase (like GW2), so it can't be F2P.

11 years ago
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When I started typing, that wasn't there. Even so, yeah, it's B2P, but worth the Buy to play.

11 years ago
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eve online can be if you do well enough with a 21 day trial

11 years ago
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It's no fun unless you've been playing a number of years already though.

11 years ago
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You should specify what type of play you are looking for. If it's PVP you're after, yea, EVE takes time and a corp for fun and can be VERY costly until you get the skills. If you want economy, that's easy to do with very few skills and can be very profitable and pay for subscription. If mining is your style, you can easily make the monthly payments with isk. If you're after PVE, EVE starts off easy, quests/rats can get good loot/rewards, and it can be profitable, but there is luck involved in that.

It takes a while to get the skills you really want, and it's discouraging that you'll never catch up no matter what you do, but it can't hurt to give the 21day trial a shot.

11 years ago
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I bought 3 months on top of a 14 day trial, and made around 800 mil (missions and loot only, still have 100+ mil of minerals and 150+ mil of drone parts in dock along with my Navythron). I love it though, and will probably play it regularly sometime in the future.

11 years ago
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Whoa. Ding. How could I have forgotten.
Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst, on the SCHTHACK private server.
I mean, if you really want, you can donate to the server and 'buy' rare / otherwise unobtainable gear from the admins. Getting started and registered is a little tricky right now, because someone hacked and virus'd the homepage, but I've been playing that little gem for years.

11 years ago
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A private server doesn't exactly make a game F2P, or is the game itself F2P?

11 years ago
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The game itself was abandoned by the devs. I'm told that SEGA is aware of the SCHTHACK server and has chosen to take no action against it. The only reason it's called a 'private' server is because it's owned by just a couple of guys and not SEGA Team.
Registration: http://schtserv.com/bbregister.php
Download: http://strags.com/shpsobb/
Yes, the Registration page will come up as an attack site, but it's a false positive. Just don't go to the homepage itself, I don't think that's clean yet.

11 years ago
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Closed 11 years ago by ShEsHy.