One of the oldest MMO's out there, been alive for just over 7 years now and has many systems most modern MMO's struggle with. Funcom is the company that makes it, same company as AoC. The standard game is completely free to download and has no subscription fees. It's only when you start adding expansions that you incure a monthly subscription. So realy it's a half and hal;f. Partly free to play, partly pay to play depanding on if you want all the bells and whistles or not. I've been playing it for about a month now on a free account, and love it despite the majorly out-dated graphics. Thankfuly there will be a graphics overhaul next year.