Mabinogi

I don't know how many readers are Windows users, or like MMOs, but Mabinogi is an interesting little game that comes with an advantage out of the gate: it's free to play. Mind you, there are a number of such games out there (the most popular being one called Runescape), but Mabinogi's a bit different.

First off, try not to be thrown off by the "anime" look of the game... it came originally from Korea, and it's more an artistic style choice than a gameplay-indicator. The game is supposed to be (loosely) based on a Celtic storyline called the Mabinogion, but I have yet to stumble across any grand story-arch quests or anything like that. What's grabbed my interest are the mechanics of the game itself... it combines levels, skills, and aging to create a unique advancement system (note that the word "class" wasn't in that list) that makes sense and simply works. Throw on top a combat system that requires the active involvement of the player, without getting too "twitchy", and you've got something special to try out.

Oh, by the way, the game's in "open beta" just now, but that doesn't mean that any progress you make is going to be for naught... their profit model is a "cash shop" model, where you buy services and items for the game with real money, as and when you want to do so. The shop's not up yet, but it's in their best interests to let current players simply keep playing and start paying for the extras, rather than force a restart on everyone. I'd recommend giving it a go.