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Easier to play than AA (and much better, IMHO) is Battlefield 1942, particularly the free Desert Combat modern warfare mod you can download for it.

There are very few (useful) cheats, and the latest 1.6 patch includes PunkBuster and that's almost eliminated all traces of cheating. Even before PunkBuster, cheats were pretty rare, especially if you play on "pure" servers (which is most of them).

Not unlike the awesome old Team Fortress, BF1942 has a variety of classes you can play (assault, anti-armor, medic, engineer, scout, etc.) so there's a spot on the team for everyone, even those without the experience or trigger-happy twitch fingers.

And, very much unlike all other FPS games, there are vehicles. Planes, tanks, battleships, humvees, helicopters, motorcycles, artillery, etc. This, to me, add so much to the genre that I have trouble playing other FPSs without getting bored quickly. Vehicles can also be a good equalizer -- no matter how twitch fast that enemy is, if you're in a tank, and he's on foot, he's toast.

As an added bonus, you can find 64-man games pretty easily, which makes it even easier to get along without a lot of expertise. You can play a support role (engineer, medic) effectively with little practice, and so you'll be able to help your team win even while learning your skills.

You can pick up a copy in the stores for about $35-40, or online for $20 or less. There are two "offical" addons: Rode To Rome ($15) and Secret Weapons ($20), but neither are required to play. And, if you gravitate toward the DC mod (as most have, based on recent server stats), the add-ons are totally useless.

Oh, and the number one most important thing you need to work on to be good at FPS games is your config. That is, how you assign your player functions to your mouse and keyboard keys (please resist any temptation you may have to not use your mouse for looking around). Think about this carefully before you just slop something together. Otherwise you'll get used to a bad config and have trouble switching from it later when you realize that you need to be able to do action A and B together a lot, but you've got them both assigned to keys that use the same finger.

Once you get the hang of it, get the Desert Combat mod. Updates the weapons, vehicles, and maps to present day.

Er, assuming you mean "Hardware Texture & Lighting Transform Engine" and I believe you do, then a GeForce1 will not run it, nor will some of the earlier ATI cards (not sure where the HT&L line is drawn in the ATI series, but it's there).

BF1942 requires hardware T&L, and it will not even try to run on a GeForce1.

• All new high detail environments in World War 2 Eastern Front settings.
• Experience famous battles from 1941 to 1945.
• The Wehrmacht and the Red Armies are the two core fighting forces.
• Complete arsenal of intricatly detailed uniforms, equipment and weapons used in battle
• Branch System
• Limited Reinforcement System
• 3d Voice Communication (UT2004)
• Multiple weapon functions.
• Realistic damage system
• New multiplayer gametype that brings Area Control to the next generation.
• New scoring system, putting objectives and squadplay at highest priority.
• New Machinegun and Sniper Rifle systems.
• Vehicles used for transportation and combat purposes (UT2004)

Doesnt this add to an already overblown selection of World War 2 based FPS's?

No, not at all. In order to add, it would first have to meet, then somehow exceed the current offerings. Or at least bring something significantly different to the table.

Note that this mod include no vehicles. It says it will include vehicles for ut2k4, but that's not out yet, so with this, you get no vehicles. So what we have here is a WWII mod for an FPS, without vehicles, introduced into genre ruled by Battlefield 1942, which has planes, tanks, jeeps, ships, and every other kind of vehicle you'd expect. That you can really drive (and ride in while someone else drives).

So, this doesn't even meet the current standard (bf1942). Maybe before bf1942 this would have been interesting competition for MOHAA or RtCW, but now it's just one more of the same old. And how is this News for Nerds or Stuff That Matters?

Is /. now going to turn into planetslashdot.com? I can't wait for the ourly announcements such as "]00l dude wants you all to know that they just managed to get a new model to compile for their upcoming uber-l337 killemall mod. Here's a screenshot of the new model with a plain grey skin. Kewl, eh? Oh, and they need coders and artists, so check 'em out!!!!!!"

Then allow me to recommend Battlefield 1942. As realistic as these things come without losing gameplay. And lots of Yak's, Katyushas and whatnot from the eastern campaign.

Don't forget:

Battlefield 1942

This seems to be quite popular. I know it has drawn in people who haven't played MMORPG's before.

Another game with the potential to draw many new users, especially women, to the MMORPG world is:

The Sims Online