What MMORPG's can I download and try out for free?

[TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW]

I'm kind of new to the world of MMORPG's - friends have played them for years, but I've just recently gotten interested. There are so many - City of Heroes and World of Warcraft look most interesting - but they all seem to expect you to pay $50 for the game on top of a montly fee of $15 or more.

The thing is, I have no idea if I'll actually enjoy the game enough to continue paying to play it, and I'm not even sure how well it will run on my system.

What can I do? What MMORPG's offer free trials? Are there free trials for WOW or COH?

[Sierra Indigo]

I got hooked on CoH after the 14-day free trial they were offering to drum up interest for their expansion, City of Villains. Presumably you get it from the CoH homepage.

I think WoW has a free 14 day trial as well, or I've heard it does, but I don't play the game so can't really comment.

CoH you can play online after you've fishished the trial, don't need to buy the whole CD boxed set, plus you get 30 days free when you sign up for reals. It's great.

[Sierra Indigo]

CoH you can play online after you've fishished the trial, don't need to buy the whole CD boxed set, plus you get 30 days free when you sign up for reals. It's great.

CoH you can buy... Buy online. Preview is my friend.

[Anastasaeon]

Well.. GuildWars, you still have to pay $50 for the game itself, however, that's all you pay. Playing online is free. I don't know much about it, though, just started playing off and on. EQII is my major addiction.

[Sierra Indigo]

Der Linken (https://secure.plaync.com/cgi-bin/coh_free_trial.pl) for CoH free 14 day trial.

[Reply]

Just Google for "free mmorpg trials".

The first page in the results has a good list (http://www.gameogre.com/demos.htm):

A Tale in the Desert II 24 Hours
Aces High 14 Days
Anarchy Online 14 Days
Asheron's Call 2 15 Days
Astonia 3 28 Days
Blade Mistress 14 Days
City of Heroes 14 Days
Dark Ages 10 Days
El Kardian 7 Days
Endless Ages 5 Days
Eve Online 14 Days
EverQuest II 7 Days
Fung Wan Online 14 Days
GameFly Game Rentals 10 Days
HelBreath 5 Days
Horizons 7 Days
Jumpgate 10 Days
Kuma/War 30 Days
Lineage 7 Days
Myth of Soma 10 Hours
Neocron 2 10 Days
Ragnarok Online 15 Days
Second Life 7 Days
Shadowbane 15 Days
The Realm Online 30 Days
RYL: Path of the Emperor 14 Days
Storm Riders Online 10 Days
The Saga of Ryzom 14 Days
There 14 Days
ToonTown Online 3 Days
Ultima Online Gold 15 Days
Underlight 30 Days
Xenimus 2 Weeks

[Reply]

Also, the September 2005 issue of PCGamer offers a 14-day free trial for World of Warcraft on its included DVD. You might want to look for that in a store (cover price for the mag is $7.99 US).