Youngest Brother Needs A Free MMO, Suggestions?

I am looking for a free MMO for my youngest brother to play. He's developmentally disabled, (severe ADHD, among some other issues), and while he's played Star Wars Galaxies, and WoW, they're just too deep for him. Too complicated, so he gets frustrated at a certain point, and I feel bad that he's spending his money on online games that he get's little enjoyment out of.

So my question is this...what is a good, free MMO he could play? He likes Sci-Fi, and fantasy type settings. It would need to be something casually enjoyed, that doesn't require a lot of time investment, and most of all, a good community. He's run into problems with people on WoW and SWG, because he just doesn't understand some things...and we all know how people can be, especially from behind a computer screen, in an MMO.

Any advice would be hot. I just hate seeing him spending money per month on games so kids can sit there and treat him like ***and call him nasty *** names. If it's a game that can be predominately solo'd, so much the better. A community to talk to would be nice (hence the MMO part, he's a good kid that loves helping and talkign to people, but unfortunately he gets ***on a lot, too), but not one that requires their help to accomplish things.

Thanks everyone. If there's links please include them so I can check them out and pass the info along to my dad.

http://www.rebirthro.com

an example of a free Classic Ragnarok Online Private Server. If you choose this, you'll need to set it up for him. Straight forward, and easy-leveling. A generally nice social atmosphere, with not too many elitists, however the graphics are 3D/2D- "sprite", not sure if thats his thing or not. While it lacks luster in visual appearance, it has a decent game-play, with a (mostly) balanced PVP. Its PVE system is also interesting.

The majority of ragnarok's player-base is the between the ages of 13-17.

Theres other games like ragnarok too. A few come to mind: "Dream of Mirror Online", "Maplestory", Florensia, Flyff, are all examples of what I would consider "Early-Teen MMORPGs".

Hope that helps.

I'm good friends with much of the Free Realms development team over at Sony Online. It aims slightly younger in its demographic, and provides a large breadth of play experiences for free without getting as fractally complex as most MMO's.

What a great older brother, though. =) Props for looking out for him.

After playing a large number of free MMOs. I gotta say, the communities on most of them suck.

The best ones I've been able to find have been on ultima online actually. In order to get to the "private" servers that people run just cause they feel like it instead of connecting to the official you'll need to use a program such as UO gateway (that's the one I always used). The game isn't exactly simple, but I have known it to be played by 5 year olds.

Outside of that, FLYFF wasn't too horrible the last time I played it. That's been a couple of years though and I'm not sure if it's still even around.

The thing is, just installing the games and letting him go it alone, won't work as well as you want. If someone else that he knows plays with him at first, to kind of ease him into everything and let him get to know the game and become comfortable communicating with other players, then there's a much higher chance that he will stick with it and enjoy it alot more.

On a side note, why not just try having him play FFXI?

I glanced here http://play-free-online-games.com/games/games_rpg.html to pick a few out, and while I haven't played all or am sure they are a good fit for him, I'll throw out names and links just in case:

Perfect World
- I've only heard good things about this, but know nothing of it. D:

Sword of the New World
- Same with Perfect World, though I installed it and messed around for a short while. Not a lot to say, sorry. lol

Gunbound
- This was a lot of fun, but it's not a traditional MMO and doesn't really include the elements he may be looking for.

Cabal
- Take a guess;; (/clueless)

As far as references go, I've heard the most positive stuff about Perfect World from friends. I think Jenny's idea might be best so far, though, as a lot of friends have liked Ragnarok and Maple Story and they seem more aimed at kids/teens. Just wanted to name these for more options. Goodluck!

Ask Ludo. Maple Story ftw. >_> Seriously though, Rebirth R0 is suggested by me also, so long as your brother is old enough to understand inflation, supply and demand. There is no way for zeny(money) to be filtered out, and you can farm millions of it in low level areas in relatively short periods. Thus, hyper inflation has ravaged most/all Ragnarok free servers.

Other than RO and Maple Story for animation (is that even free...?), dunno what to tell ya.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, both here and in the PM's I've received so far. I just want him to have a good time. I thought about introducing him to FFXI, and "keeping an eye on him"...but it's just too much for him, TBH. FFXI is pretty complex, if you think about it...

He gets taken advantage of too easily, happened in WoW too often, where people would con him out of Gold and items, because he genuinely thinks they're his friend...and then they turn around and stab him in the back and call him names. Of course, he doesn't understand this until after the fact...so I'm just sick of the heartache.

Anywho, I'm ranting...but yeah, thanks again for the suggestions, and if anyone has any more to add or suggest, I'd appreciate it. Already got a ton to go through now, but we'll see what he likes ^^

Keep in mind that there's no such thing as a "free" MMO. All of the free-to-play MMO's out there provide a certain amount of game out the door (up to a certain level, or a certain region, or what have you), and then they want you to start paying.

If your brother has trouble differentiating between truly free content, and content that trickles in later with a price tag, you may want to make sure he understands so he won't accidentally get taken advantage of.

DIABLO II! but ya alot people on there are out to hunt down noobs and scam too. probably not along the lines of the game you wanted to see but diablo ftw i loved every second of that game

That is so freaking *** up. I really hope you find a winner, because without even knowing him, your brother seems like a genuine person that deserves to be around some people that will appreciate him. :<

Yeah, to be frank, it *** infuriates me. He's such a generous and kind hearted kid, when that con artist douchebag comes along and says "Hey, buddy, wanna be friends? You seem cool! Can I borrow 20 Gold? I'll pay you back as soon as I can!"...he lends him the money, days go by, and when he tries to talk to the kid about getting his Gold back, get's responses like "eat a *** *** retard lol" and then blacklisted.

I wish I could teleport through the computer screen, I swear to God...see them say some ***like that to ME.

But, hopefully, we can find him something free so that, at the very least, he's not paying $15 a month to be taken advantage of.

Yeah...gogo Maplestory >.>
Most HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE mmo out there...it shouldnt even be called an mmo I think.
Of course in all F2P mmo's they are all filled with a-holes and arent free.

Go download maplestory, install it, run it and look at the log in screen...
Will you hold my mushroom?:(
Maplestory sucks, and theres more temptation into buying RMT related items.
also so your character looks "Pretty" you have to pay $5 to get an Item from its cash shop.

a good game if he likes shooters would be combat arms, tho its developed by the same people that once bought maplestory.
Edit: here is another reason why NOT to let your little brother play maplestory... watch it fully.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PLOFnEUTpY

I don't want to harp on the matter too, too much since it is kind of depressing, but it almost doesn't seem like such a completely terrible thing, as long as he doesn't lose his kindness and become jaded by these interactions. He very well may live a harder life than some of us, but there's obviously people who care about him in his life and he'll eventually meet kind people, and as a result of all the jerks, I bet he'll appreciate the nice, caring friends and family in his life all the more.

Kind of a lame quote, but I've always liked it: "If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere."

Well said, and very good quote.

Yeah, he's definitely getting better then when he was really young, when he would give his games and ***away to his "friends" when they asked him for it, or "traded" for it (10 bucks for an N64 and 10 games, yeah, good try buddy, don't think so, this was back in like '99, BTW). But this ***is almost worse. When his "friends" would just take his ***, we'd at least be able find out where his stuff was, take a walk over there, and get it back.

But now it's obviously all online, so there's no "parents" to talk to, no house to walk over to and collect his ***. Not only that, but the kids didn't dare sit there and not only take his ***, but call him nasty names after the fact, when I'm standing right there. It's pretty upsetting to him, because he really just doesn't understand why these people, who said they were his friends, and acted like his friends, would be nasty and call him names like that.

The big brother thing kicks in when I hear about this...I'm sure you understand. I've been watching out for him since he was small...and not being able to just "fix it" drives me *** NUTS. He's gonna need someone to watch out for him for his whole life, pretty much, and I'll do it like I always have...but not much I can do when it comes to jerkoff's online.

I gotta stop, because I'm really pissing myself off all over again. But yeah, you get what I'm saying.

Hey there ^^ one free MMO I think he would like is: Ether Saga (Made by the same people who made perfect world).
There is PVP but it must be consented (Ie. both parties agree to a duel). Levelling up is done via questing (sayonara, grinds!!) And there's a lot of friendly people out there :). At the moment there's 2 servers (one for east coast, another for west) with it split into 16(I think) realms per server, which you can move between freely :). It's very simple in its controls, very colorful but easy to get ***done in an hour then logout and take care of other stuff, unlike FFXI where it's a game of waiting.

If you ever need a spare backup for your bro, shout me up :) I know how it goes looking after siblings and I'm about as scary to bullies as big sisters can get ;) lol
And many Kudos to you, it's rare to see such a wonderful brother :)!

-Rin

Has he tried FFXI? If you helped him out a bit it wouldn't be that hard for him to learn the ropes. A friend of mine got his mom playing the game, she's in the same LS as the rest of us and we tend to try and help her out as best as possible. And not let newer members pick on her for the way she types and the questions she asks.

But... she did also solo so far dnc/mnk from 1-70 occasionally people from the LS will party with her, but she's mainly on her own and has done fine, especially with the introduction of FoV. Just a thougt, not free but if he's on your server you could keep an eye out for him from time to time, or get him a friendly social that will help him.

Perfect world is actually good. Can customise your character to max. With this I mean size, skin color, haircolor, etc. Few job classes atm, but that will probably change.

Graphics look good to. Very easy to start up and get to know the surroundings. Quest's are also easy to understand in the begining, you even get "Arrows" that point you in the right direction so you find the NPC's easier etc.

Oh, and you can JUMP!

Free membership, but they have "Cash Shops". So if you want something special you will actually have to buy it for IRL currency. (Not something im a fan off -_-)

Edit: Funfactor is not as high as FF. Basically cause it's "too easy" gameplay when used to FF. But at the same time a great game to start off with if he is interested in MMO.

Edit 2: Also Gear slots are a little different. It reminds alot of Diablo~ Weapon Choices are high. You can actually buy "Dual Blades" if you wish to dual wield instead of classic "Main + Shield" or staves etc. It's in a early stage but have alot of potentional.

http://rappelz.gpotato.com/ is a good one. I play it I just level alone and get money is easy ofcourse its got is bads and goods but if he just wants to level and explore and not plan on doin what we called EG here thats for him. If he does play tell him to hit me up name is chibixzero to on the tanda server I'll gladly help him and we can lv together.