Hey duders. I talk to my friends fairly often and we all play PC games, however we don't really have many of the same games. I'd be willing to purchase something new but they're kind of cheap bastards and a lot of the games they'd want me to buy are a bit pricey, or at least more than I'd like to pay knowing a Steam sale is going to make the prices crazy low anyway. (I guess I'm a cheap bastard too :P) So... yoho free games!

I'd like games where we can all team up, and not really a free for all kind of game. Never really got into mobas but never really gave them much of a chance either. Genre is probably not important.

Would also prefer if it doesn't have microtransactions out the ass to progress. (I'm talking about the games where you essentially HAVE to pay, obviously they all have some form of microtransactions)

I tried Smite, but for some reason I can't play it. Looked it up and apparently I need to portforward, and I couldn't figure out which router model the site wanted me to pick.

I know both of them enjoy Warframe and TF2 so mayyyybe I'll give those a chance. I'd really also prefer the game to not be huge, since my connection will take ages to download it.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Marvel Heroes is pretty fun, but if you want to play long term you'll need inventory expansions. It's a Diablo-like ARPG that is mindless enjoyment.

Team Fortress 2 is huge fun and probably the best free to play game on the market. Pick a team, a class, and dive in. IIRC a single purchase on the store, which need only be a couple dollars, will lift all free-to-play restrictions from you.

Warframe can be fun, but it's also a really odd, confusing game. You'll need to look up a lot of stuff outside the game, last I checked, to avoid wasting some time. Aside from that, the gameplay's great and it has huge style.

As far as MMOs, I've tried a bunch but only Star Wars: The Old Republic has ever stuck with me. It has a really bad free-to-play model, even limiting your quickbars (which you will want) but the RPG-ness and Star Wars-ness of it are enough for me to overlook its flaws and recommend it in spite of everything.

For MOBAs, the only one I've honestly enjoyed has been League of Legends. DotA2 is OK as well, but I don't like the gameplay or community. Note that all MOBAs have huuuge learning curves so it'll be dozens of hours before you're even semi-competent in them and hundreds before you really understand how they work. Both League and DotA2 can be enjoyed without spending a penny and overall have good free-to-play models last I checked.

One wildcard in the free-to-play world is Guild Wars 2, which is going free-to-play soonish. It's already set up as a free-to-play game pretty much, so I imagine it'll make a smooth transition and be worth playing afterwards if you enjoy that sort of gameplay.

I dunno how helpful my suggestions are 'cause I hate partying up with people. But rest assured that all the games I list can be played and enjoyed with parties, and without spending a penny (to varying degrees).

Hope this helps!

@noblenerf: Thanks for the suggestions! I'll definitely queue up Team Fortress 2 at the very least. Last time I played it was on a Macbook, and it wasn't really the most pleasant experience. Should run like a dream on my machine now.

Might check out Guild Wars 2 as well.