What are some of the best free multi player experiences you've had?

EXCellR8

Diamond Member
Sep 1, 2010
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The only one that comes to mind was this pretty generic shooter Combat Arms... haven't launched it in years though

I tried getting into Blacklight and Hawken but eh... must've not grabbed me because I don't play either

would mention the original Natural Selection but it required HL to run, therefore not free technically
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
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Hmm that bubble "germ" browser game that was going around here some time ago was a blast for awhile.
League of Legends for the first year or so that I played it.
 

ConstParam

Junior Member
Apr 26, 2017
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I've been having fun with Last Man Standing. Not quite as good as PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds IMHO, but free is free.
 

XavierMace

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2013
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The only one that comes to mind was this pretty generic shooter Combat Arms... haven't launched it in years though

CombatArms had one massive glaring flaw. Their complete inability to do anything about even blatant hacking. Which was a pity because it was actually a quite enjoyable game.
 

EXCellR8

Diamond Member
Sep 1, 2010
3,979
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CombatArms had one massive glaring flaw. Their complete inability to do anything about even blatant hacking. Which was a pity because it was actually a quite enjoyable game.

i didn't notice the hacking until i could no longer join any novice servers (actually had dozens of great matches)... and then the amount of cheap kills was ridiculous.

hacking ruins pretty much every online game though but it's of course worse when everyone has free access to servers and whatnot. just ask anyone who played BF2 the week after launch... absolute holocaust online
 

XavierMace

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2013
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hacking ruins pretty much every online game though but it's of course worse when everyone has free access to servers and whatnot

Actually, I'd say it's the opposite in games like this where they do nothing to mitigate the hacking. In a game like Battlefield, if you come across a server with blatant uncontrolled hacking, you just make a note to never play on that server again. In CombatArms it's unavoidable and there's nothing you can do to control it. There's no server admit to ban the guy and you can't vote kick them. That's the reason I don't play shooters where I can't run my own server.

And to be clear, I'm not talking about "hey, I think that guy might be aimbotting". I'm talking flying above the map with unlimited ammo.
 

[DHT]Osiris

Lifer
Dec 15, 2015
14,003
12,067
146
Team Fortress Classic (free, mod)
Action Half Life (free, mod)
The Specialist (free, mod for Half Life)
Tribes 1 (free, some 80% of the player base shared the same key)
 

Stuka87

Diamond Member
Dec 10, 2010
6,240
2,559
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My first (and one of my favorite) multiplayer games ever goes back to the early 90's game Bolo. Which allowed up to 16 players and was a blast to play. Followed by Quake World and Warcraft 2.

But in more modern times, Starcraft Broodwar, several of the Battlefield games, and currently World of Tanks.
 

Denithor

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2004
6,300
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Battlefield 1942

First map was free. Very, very fun times playing that, so many times had it completely memorized.
 

clamum

Lifer
Feb 13, 2003
26,255
403
126
Hmmm. First one that comes to mind is World of Warships. I thought War Thunder was ok too but found it way more difficult (i.e. I got raped constantly) than WoWS. IMO War Thunder ain't really for a casual gamer like myself, unless of course I'm just naturally horrible at the game. I just think it requires more practice than I am willing to put in.

I don't have much experience with it beyond maybe an hour of gameplay time and some videos of MightyJingles I watched, but Tiger Knight (available on Steam) might be worth checking out. Understand though that it's made by a Chinese company and is in beta I believe, so it is NOT polished.
 

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
70,085
5,618
126
Subspace was the one I played a lot of. World of Warships I only played a few hours, but it was very good.
 

thejunglegod

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2012
1,358
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League of legends has given me some insanely good moments. That's probably the only free game I've stuck to for such a long time. If you mute the right players, the game can actually be fun.
 

Zenoth

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2005
5,189
184
106
For FPS games I'd probably go with Natural Selection (the original, mod for Half-Life 1). That and TF Classic too, but mostly NS for me. And more recently I'd have to go with Heroes of the Storm, it's a fantastic game and the Blizzard show stealer for me (haven't touched Overwatch a single time since HOTS Nexus 2.0 update came out).
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
20,839
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What do you consider free?

Buy game free multiplayer?

Get game free, pay ingame micro transaction?


Because honestly i think the bottom one ends up costing more then the top... lol..
 

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
348
126
They vary. I've played free to play Spellweaver a lot and you don't have to spend a cent - sadly for them.
 

bfun_x1

Senior member
May 29, 2015
475
155
116
Battlefield 1942

First map was free. Very, very fun times playing that, so many times had it completely memorized.

One of the best multiplayer games ever. I had all the maps memorized. The tank battles are still some of the most fun I've had in a game.
 

renz20003

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2011
2,684
606
136
Counter strike

It was a free half life mod for a bit before valve bought it
 

Thebobo

Lifer
Jun 19, 2006
18,592
7,673
136
World of Tanks, Rift, Spellweaver.

I started out free with WOT but ending up having to spend $$ to get higher levels, but I enjoy it.

I would add World of WarPlanes, World of Warships all free to start off and you can play for a while. WoP is pretty cool but no where near a simulator.
Also along with Rift, Everquest is FTP to a point. It's kinda nice cause I still log in now and then to talk to od friends and maybe go to Karnor's castle and train the whole zone to the zone out. I fondly remember the yells of "TRAIN RIGHT!"
 

CrackRabbit

Lifer
Mar 30, 2001
16,641
58
91
WoT, WoWarships, War Thunder before they added tanks was great. Played a 'realistic' battle, Battle of Britain. Got the engine of my Spitfire shot out by one of the JU-88s I was strafing and managed to glide back to the airfield. Was a lot of fun.
Tribes: Ascend was a lot of fun before the devs wrecked everything.
DotA2 also tons of fun, but hour long battles of attrition kind of killed it for me.
HoTS is what I'm playing right now, simpler than DotA, but a bit more fun.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
Star Trek Online and Marvel Heroes Omega are both fun, but they are 90% single-player experiences.
 

pontifex

Lifer
Dec 5, 2000
43,806
46
91
War Thunder is great, at least for the planes. Tried to play tanks and didn't understand it. planes are my thing and more fun anyway