#1. Runescape
> I played Runescape a lot when I was young. From Middle School until I was a Freshman in High School. It was also the first MMO I ever played. At the time I didn't understand what an MMO really was, so when I discovered a game (a flash game at that) that had such an enormous world and huge player count, I was immediately drawn in. I had my moments where I quit the game due to getting bored of it, but that only happened a couple times. I ended up playing till I was level 92 or 93 (don't remember which). At the time, I knew just about everything in the game. All the weapons and armor, and what they were good for. All the quests and how to beat them, all the locations of the world map..etc. But of course, like almost any game, I grew tired of it and quit for good.

#2. World of Warcraft
> Wow was the second MMO I got into. From leaving Runescape to go into WoW felt like sitting in a Ford GT after getting out of a Ford Pinto. I loved the game, not once was I completely comfortable with the game. Meaning, I was not as knowledgeable as I was with Runescape. Sure, over time I learned a lot of things about the game, but I never was as 'in-tune' with WoW as most players were. I never got into raids, or trying to get to level cap as quickly and inhumanly as possible, or having scheduled events in a guild. So my two mains were a Hunter and a Warlock - I liked to solo a lot. I tried out every single race and class (except for the pandas, I quit before that came out), and I enjoyed the Night Elf Hunter overall. But one turn off about the game to me was the amount of max level people there were everywhere. I'd see more level caps than lower levels.. Going back to Runescape, the max level was 126. It was also more difficult to level up in Runescape, making it more rare for you to see a level 126. Hell, it was rare to see anyone over level 100. But if you saw a level 126 in Runescape, it was one of those moments where you'd go, "oh wow, a level 126!" And, they would most likely have a trail of newbies following them asking for 'free stuff'. But in WoW, almost everyone was max level, leaving it not to exciting or different.

#3. Global Agenda
> This game may seem similar to Planetside to some. But I assure you, it's nothing like PS2 except for the sci-fi feel of the game. Oh and lasers. I didn't play this game for too long, but the short amount of time I did play however, I enjoyed. I don't know if it was just because it was different than other MMOs at the time, but like most MMOs, I grew tired of it. This one rather quickly though. One of the coolest things about it were the different intros for the classes. Each class had their own unique intro into the game, and it really made you feel different. By that I mean, you could be playing class A and rocking at some challenges the world threw at you, but at the same time, you'd think to yourself how class B would be better in this way. Then you find yourself playing Class B and finding Class C suddenly better. So after playing around with all the classes, you'd hopefully be able to finally sit back and enjoy the game. I on the other hand found the game rather tedious like most MMOs and decided to leave it at that.

#4. Star Wars: The Old Republic
> I played this during a trial, and once again when it went FTP. Out of all the MMOs I have played (even the ones I have not listed above), this was one of the more interesting ones. In WoW, Runescape, Gloabal Agenda and many more, I always just skipped through quest dialogue and just read the actual quest objective. I never was one for MMO lore in these games. But SWTOR had more interaction involved. It was made by Bioware, so for those who play Mass Effect, you'll see the major similarities in the Player-to-NPC discussions. This game gave the NPC a voice! It also allowed you to make choices rather than just "Accept" or "Reject". I found this easy to grasp a hold of compared to other MMOs. Another thing I liked about this game was the UI it gave. I personally found WoW unplayable after level 10 unless you had several mods/addons. I always had dozens of addons in WoW to improve a number of things in the game. But in SWTOR, everything felt right to me. Everything that felt like WoW could have used, SWTOR already had. But alas, I did not play SWTOR as much as I have played WoW or Runescape.

Yeah I'm waiting to see how TESO turns out. I hear it is suppose to be subscription based at first and then eventually go FTP. But from the sources I have gathered, it isn't confirmed.

As far as (most) MMOs always being the same, I completely agree. In fact, there are some mobile based MMOs that some company makes and they are literally the same. This company made 3 MMOs but all they did was re-skin everything and change dialogue along with some others stuff. But it is pretty much the same exact thing, just with a different look.

In response to FTP MMOs being broken, some are, but not all. I currently play Planetside 2 with an outfit of mine. It's a FTP MMO FPS and it is loads of fun! Some would say its pay to win, but you can still buy all in-game weapons and whatnot with in-game currency. The only stuff you can buy that requires real money are cosmetics that don't change the actual gameplay.