Free MMO-RPGs For Mac

The concept of the free MMORPG has been around a long time, and there are hundreds of various titles that the average computer user can instal and play on his or her computer. The sheer number of these free to play MMO-RPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) is astounding.

You can search the internet and find the exact game play style (ex, mouse movement or keyboard) and graphics (3D, 2D, Anime, Realistic) that you desire. Numerous people download and play these games everyday, but sadly not everyone can enjoy the diverse amount of these game available for free for people to play.

The Mac user is left out...but this is nothing new. It seems that every single free MMO-RPG released is designed only to be played by the PC user. The system requirements always state that Microsoft Windows Xp is needed to play. Clicking the download link always displays a .EXE extension to the file. That signals that I can't play it. I have tried to open numerous free MMOs but they always disappoint me...

Here is the list of MMO-RPGs that Mac users are barred from playing:

3D Wow Clones:
Talisman Online
Runes of Magic
4Story

Anime Styled:
Mabinogi: Fantasy Life (From Nexon, creators of Maplestory)
LUNA Online
Scions of Fate
Fly For Fun-a.k.a Flyff
Monato Esprit
Dream of Mirror Online
Trickster
Tales of Pirates
Fiesta Online
NosTale
Seal Online
Secret of the Solstice
Tales Runner
ZU Online
Grand Chase
Albatross 18
Vanilla Gate
Splash Fighters
Rumble Fighter
Manga Fighter
Shin Megami Tensei

There are also numerous others that I cannot play, to see the FULL LIST of MMO's visit this website:
http://www.freemmogamer.com/

It is a huge disappointment that out of the 25 total MMO-RPGs listed here, not one of them is available for a Mac user to install and play. Despite this lack of Mac support, I don't believe that the creators of these MMOs are trying to exclude Mac users on purpose. I think that when these games are developed, they create them to reach the widest possible target audience. The majority of computer users own a Windows based OS, unfortunately. But what many of these developers don't realize is that the number of people using Macs instead is steadily increasing, not every computer owner uses a Windows based operating system. Mac users make up a substantial market as well, and should not be ignored just because game developers neglect to realize that there is more than one computer operating system.

"Opponents state that a Mac versions of these MMOs are not needed, referring to the fact that Mac users can run Boot camp or programs like Parallels to run windows and still play the game. But the problem with this argument is the cost for Mac users, Windows emulation programs like VM Ware and Parallels are very expensive (cost $80.00) plus the cost of a Windows XP disk (around $120.00). Even with Boot Camp (which is free, runs only on Intel Macs) you are still required to buy a Windows XP disk for Boot Camp to work. This is not fair to the Mac user because these games are all free to install, sign up for, and play. It is unfair for Mac users to have to pay around 120.00 to 200.00 for games that are free for everyone else."
-Adapted from Maplestory petition

In conclusion, I want companies to realize that there are computer users out there that own Macs. I want it to be known that including these Mac users would provide freeware MMO-RPG companies valuable customers that would be willing to pay for in-game services just like their PC user counterparts. The goal of many of these companies is to reach the widest possible target audience, this is the reason that many (or all) of them neglect to develop their games for the Apple OS. But there is a downside to this strategy, in trying to reach the widest possible audience they do just the opposite. Reaching the widest possible audience, in reality, would mean developing (from the start, or adding support later on) to the computer users who own Apple computers running Mac OS 10.5.

Finally, Macs are not like they were in the past. Most Mac computers are now Intel-processor based, the same intel processor that most PCs use. Today's Macs are even able to run a Windows based operating system on them due to this new processor. I can't stress how important this fact is, this makes creating a Mac version much easier for game developers than it would have been in the past. Due to this fact, there should be no excuse to why companies can't take full advantage of this new technology and port their Windows only games to the Mac as well.