Oh Boy - I've been bitten by the Bug...

The MMORPG bug that is. Thanks to the great and talented folks at FunCom, Massively-Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games are now FREE. Anarchy Online is completely 100% free. No Purchase, No Credit Card, No Monthly Subscription.

The basic game is totally free (although an 830+ MB download), and I've been playing for about 3 hours now, and I must say it's pretty damn cool.

And it's free until At LEAST January of 2006. 1 Year of free playing? That's the one thing that stopped me from going out and buying a MMORPG. I could never justify the cost of the game ($35-$50), and then having a monthly subscription fee ($10-$20) on top of that. AO is taking a huge step in the right direction by offering it for free (although if you want to play with any of the 3 expansion packs, you must pay a monthly fee). And who knows? If I really get into AO, I just might subscribe.

The game was really easy to get into, and runs pretty decently on my computer. I figured out how to do a lot just by fooling around with the interface (which is pretty slick, I might add), and using the mouse. I even managed to team up with a couple of people to take down a Big-Ass slimy snake/lizard thing on the East side of the crash site. Not bad for 3 hours play time, and I plan on playing every night for at least an hour or two.

Anarchy Online - There isn't a better time to try a MMORPG.