So, I need a new game.
The game I'm looking for definitly needs to have an open world, preferably open ended too. That means that I want to set my own goals, do whatever I want to do, etc. And I don't mean an "Elder Scrolls" type of open world, where I still have some quest to save the world or whatever that I can decide to ignore. I'm searching for a open world alá X-series where I'm completely free to do what I want and keep playing for as long as I want.
However, it should offer some sort of sense of progression. I definitly want something where I can level up or grow bigger or stronger or whatever. The more complex the game system is, the better. If I can spend hours planning out my character/avatar/whatever, that would be glorious. However, it shouldn'd require me to constantly play the game just keep up.
Ideally, I would be able to play a "peaceful" game, building up things like in a economic sim. However, combat should exist, even if optionally. Setting doesn't really matter. I do like fantasy/medieval a bit more than sci-fi, though.
Also, the game should be free (I'm piss poor and need the money for food) and have low system requirements.
It's hard to describe exactly what I meant, so I'm going to list a few games I enjoyed:
DwarfFortress: 'nuff said.
X-series: probably exactly what I'm looking for right now, unfortunatly I can't play the game on my laptop due to system requirements
CataDDA: Open ended, open world with a lot of complex stuff I can get into
Haven&Hearth: really cool to play, but it requires me to constantly play the game...
The Guild series: can do what I want, build up my empire at a leisurely pace, but the game is pretty much flawed
UnrealWorld: good game, but lacks character interaction and basic stuff to do, once you're set