I've played both groups, and I'll have to say that the MMOs you pay for are a lot better than the ones that're free. You run into a LOT of stupid people, beggars and whatever in the free ones, and not really any in the pay-to-play ones.
I could never get into WoW, though. The player base weren't very smart, the gameplay wasn't too challenging... but hey, what do I know? I only played that 10 day free trial. I played FFXI for a few years, and that game was really good. You always had to work with a team, and yeah some of them were retards, but the majority were really interesting... it just took way too long to get anywhere.
...Right now, though, I wouldn't be caught dead playing those games. They take way too long to do anything! I'll stick with my DS now, thanks.
![smile.gif](http://www.chefelf.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
And online friends? They aren't really friends until you've met them in person, or at least spoke with them on the phone.