[Browser MMORPG] EpicDuel

This is another wonderful game by Artix Entertainment. But they they didn't create it from start.
There was two dudes who made this game, heavily inspired by AE's AdventureQuest. One of them did all the coding, while the other one did the graphics. However, they soon realized that they couldn't continue like this. Two people just aren't enough. They already had many players, and earned some money too, but they couldn't satisfy the fans enough. Guess who they called? Artix Entertainment. When the AE team played their game, they saw that it was very close to their own games, one could even have thought they had made it! So they adopted these two guys to the AE team. It's AE's game now, but they still let the two guys decide many things, and let them be responsible (Game Masters) for it.

One thing that they changed: They made it free. Maybe not 100%, but free enough to qualify in this subforum.
You could buy "Elite" status before, and only Elite players could buy certain items and such. I should also mention that the game was still in Beta when they took over. Anyway, they only let upgraded members in their other games play the beta. And possibly already existing Elite players, I don't really know, but it doesn't matter. Because beta is over. The system they have now is that some things cost "Varium". You can buy Varium with real money, but you get a few hundred (don't know exactly) when you start, and that should be enough if you don't waste it.
Now there are different things that cost varium, and they cost different amounts. Houses, for example, costs alot. The cheapest is 1k. Which means that free players can't get any houses, but they don't have any other function that looks anyway. You can also start a "faction" (guild/clan) for some amount. I'm not sure what it is now, they recently raised it, but it is possible that no free player can afford it. But it's a waste anyway, like houses, so join an existing faction instead. It's not hard to find some random guy recruiting to his new faction, just run around the starting area. You can also change your look, and there are a few haircuts that cost 25 Varium to change to. But beware, it will then cost 25 Varium every time you change your look (the game don't register the haircut as bought) unless you change haircut to a free one (which are truly ok, no need for Varium haircuts IMO, even though I bought Varium for 50 bucks). So, stick to the free haircuts. And you can also buy more bag space, but the 20 you start with will do just fine. I mean, there is no need for 20 different weapons... but some Health/Energy Packs/Boosters always come in handy. But let's say you have an alt main weapon, gun, aux and armor. Still room for 16 Boosters, so no problem here.
And the last thing that costs Varium is weapons. But not many, and they don't cost much. To save Varium I recommend to not buy Varium weapons in the beginning, and to stick to them for as long as possible. There is no need to switch equipment often, Varium or free. I think there are some weps that cost loads of Varium, but you can skip those. Varium weps aren't that much better than free ones, only slightly.

Summary: The game can be played 100% free, but a few selective things cost Varium which can be bought for real money, though you get an amount in the beginning that should be enough through the whole game. This game should absolutely qualify as free, because I can point out some other games that have been here for a while now that are way worse.

What's that? I only wrote about the history and about how it's free? I didn't add screenshots or even the slightest description about the game? Well, I will, I promise, in an hour or so. Now I must rest my fingers. Oh, and I will quickly add a link before I rush:
http://www.epicduel.com

So, this is a turn based strategy PVP RPG with levels, skill trees, weapons and stuff.

Screenshots:

Screenshots?

And I kind of have doubts if this really classifies as free. Our description of free is this one:

The game must be free. Since the title states "FREE Games", it's obvious that the game must be free. This means you cannot post a shareware version of a game. The game must be completely playable without paying for it. You download it, possibly install it, and then you have the full game. If a game went payware, link to the last free version.

This is not the case here.

It is completely playable without paying for it. You don't need a house since it don't have any function, and you don't really need those Varium weapons anyway, even though you can buy some of them, since you get enough free Varium. You can still level all the way up to 30, access all areas, use all skills and so on. Also note that in many games there is a huge gap between paying and free players, but you barely notice it in this game, and there will be no gap at all if you use your free Varium wisely. The equipment don't even make that big differences, it's all about strategy. And some luck... because different strategies and tactics works best against people with ceirtan strategies and stats, so sometimes you meet someone weak to you, and sometimes you meet someone you are weak to. Now, with this said, feel free to tell me what makes the game not completely playable without paying for it.

And as I've said, worse things than this have passed (E.G. Steel Sentinels).

Oh and screenshots are on their way, please read the entire post before replying.

I did read the entire post before I replied, mind you.

The thing that got me questioned was: you can't get a house nor start a guild as free player. Though you mention that its not really worth having it, it looks to me as: you can't get everything without paying for it.

That's basically what triggered my response. But after a short discussion with the staff, we don't see a problem with this now that the screenshots are also there.