Perfect World International vs Salem
Perfect World International
Perfect World International is an oriental/Asian-themed MMORPG which features a massive world for you to explore as you contribute to the global effort to defeat the evil that is gradually tainting the land. Developed by one of China's biggest games publisher/developer, Perfect World, this game isn't exactly "new" by any definition but by being an "old-dog", the game can offer an incredible amount of content that new players won't be able to simply burn through within even a month of hardcore gaming.The game also has a ton of unique character classes that you can play as and there are a variety of cool weapons, armor and wings for you to collect. What's most amazing about this game is its massive PvP territory wars where each race battle one another to claim territories for their people.
Perfect World International is among the handful of old-school MMORPGs that have managed to not only stick around until this day and age (and for good reasons too!) but also managed to be relevant enough to its players so as to not lose its playerbase. So, if you're eager to try a classic Asian MMORPG, this is a great game to download.
Salem
Salem is an old-school and somewhat obscure (but fun) sandbox MMORPG that unlike Wurm Online has a stronger emphasis on its in-depth crafting system and survival aspect rather than building.Similar to Wurm Online though, Salem is not a voxel-based game, but you are still able to mold the game environment through resource gathering, mining and digging in a way that reminds me of the currently-shelved MMORPG, EverQuest Next: Landmark. Of course, although not exactly the focus of the game, you can still build your homestead and the process is quite similar to Wurm Online except that it occurs at a much higher speed.
Not to mention, the game world in Salem is simply humongous to the point where it feels like an actual world. Salem also borrowed some features from ArcheAge where open-world PvP is the norm, so you'll need to be vigilant at all times, but players who kill and steal for no reason will be labelled as criminals and can be punished.
However, as good as it is despite being an indie MMO and all, Salem does have its fair share of flaws due to its low development budget. So, we'd recommend you to take a look at Salem without carrying along any high expectations. It's a pretty good MMORPG like Minecraft, but if you're expecting a Minecraft clone, you may end up disappointing yourself.