Amazing, and yes, you do have to pay. Duh

In a world where nothing is free and MMORPGS (Massively-Multiplayer On-Line Role Playing Games) are years old by now, the fact that people are still shocked at companies charging prices for server upkeep and expansion, salaries and wages for employees, promotional costs, development costs, etc. is still beyond me. Simple laws of supply and demand also show that people will play this game despite the cost, and that is one of the biggest advantages to the game. At any given time, there are at least 1500 people playing in any of the 30 servers that run the game world.

Finding friends, going on adventures and partying are often very enjoyable and very easy to find people willing to play. There are tons of things to do, level your character, explore, fish, farm, make items, bid on items, find friends, change your character class (at any time! you aren't stuck in any class), raise your rank for your particular nation, run errands for NPCs, go on quests for your nation, etc. With 5 races to choose from and over 10 classes to pick from (Red Mage, White Mage, Black Mage, Thief, Warrior, Monk are the initial classes, later on you can become a Dark Knight, Samurai, Ninja, Bard, Beastmaster Summoner or Paladin) the game can get very involved and become very addicting. If you want a game you can play for hours on end that can get very involved, pick this up. It is now very cheap for the PC, but remember, YOU HAVE TO PAY 13 DOLLARS A MONTH. If this turns you off, don't buy it.