Playing those massively multiplayer online role playing games can be fun, thrilling, addictive…and costly. The monthly fees that are required to keep your habit going can add up over time.

Which is why an ever-increasing number of free online MMORPG sites are popping up and taking advantage of the addictive qualities of the games?

The quality of a free online MMORPG is going to vary, naturally, as the quality of any online game varies. Surprisingly, however, many of the biggest names in this genre have decided to go the free route. Of course, when it comes to online role playing games, the word free has a certain, shall we say, elasticity.

For instance, if you want to play Guild Wars for free, you’re going to have to pay for the privilege. What that particular little bit of doublespeak means is that you can play Guild Wars without putting out the monthly fee, yes, but you will still have to go to the store and buy a copy of the software. Or buy it at an online store. Or eBay.

The point is that that you will still have to spend a little something before you can take advantage of its free online MMORPG status. How much does the software cost? Well, once again, it’s going to vary, but the average seems to be somewhere in the $50.00 range.

Another thing to consider when looking around for a free online MMORPG is the power of your computer. Often games are made available for free because they simply don’t have the power to compete with the top of the line of games.

Maybe they’re a little older and slower, maybe they don’t come with as many features, maybe they are designed to run on older, slower computers.