I've dabbled in a lot of MMOs over the last 10 years (scroll down for a definition), but the one I've spent most time with is Istaria, formerly known as Horizons. It has an extremely chequered past, and now a relatively small user base, but it's still the game I find most endearing. I'm sure I will lambaste it for its faults another day.
Istaria looks like a typical fantasy MMO. It was launched in 2003 and, despite several changes in ownership and a string of seemingly terminal issues, it has outlived many of its rivals. A key reason for its longevity is a dogged insistence from those passionate about the game that it will survive. But why? Quite simply, it has a couple of pretty special qualities which, when interwoven, make it unique.
Crafting
In the majority of MMOs, crafting is reduced to a pretty dull and ultimately pointless exercise. Systems are rarely well thought out, items rarely of any use to anyone, and the whole thing is an exercise in futility – only the top end items are ever worth anything, and these levels take ridiculous amounts of dedication to achieve.
Horizons is one of the rare games that makes crafting worth bothering with, especially due to the ability to buy a plot of land and actually build on it to your own specifications. As in other games, you can make better quality items as you gain levels – however, unlike other games, many items cannot be bought and have to be made (including all building materials), meaning crafters will always be gainfully employed - even high level crafters needs some low level materials, leaving room for young crafters to chip in and be genuinely useful. Star Wars Galaxies and Eve also make a good stab at this.
The sandbox
Many gamers are waiting for a 'proper' sandbox game, defined as a non-linear open ended gaming experience where the world alters due to player action and interaction. Eve is probably the closest right now, with the likes of Horizons, Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies a little further from the mark. For example, you can head off to anywhere in the world pretty much straight away, so exploring can be immediate. You might not last long, mind...
I really don't think I can stomach another completely non-sandbox title, unless it's like Lord of the Rings Online, which has fantastic quest and story implementation. Games such as World of Warcraft funnel you from a to z via every letter in between, rarely offering much of a challenge or need for interaction. While this continues to be the case, my monthly fee will go to Istaria: my plot of land is used by others crafters, I help others build their plots, I go on joint hunts to gather items that we actually need to use, not just to sell for coin or to 'level up'. I've had enough of that, thanks.
The setting
While some of your typical fantasy genre trappings are in evidence (dwarves, elves, undead etc), there is enough theme and originality to give Istaria its own flavour. Some of the creature animations are fantastic and there are some great original races. Its very thin on deep quests, but those it does have include a good dose of humour and challenge.
Yes, there are plenty of the kill 10 badger type quests so derided in MMOs, but this is often tempered by the fact that killing creatures offers actual rewards more tangible than the experience - for example, it may have body parts you need to make a certain spell, or be harvested for resources.
Dragons
Yes, you can play a dragon. But a nice touch is that you can't just dive in and fly – you start out as a small dragon and, through questing, follow a story arc to become a fully fledged ancient. Few other MMOs offer a reward of this magnitude, especially as all the other races (human, elf etc) have no way to fly at all and cannot visit certain areas of the world.
Dragons tend to attract role players too, which adds a nice flavour to the game often lacking in others. A lot of people are drawn to Horizons simply because they want to play a dragon. As no other game out there really does this right, these people tend to stay, despite the game's problems.
Multi-classing
I'm not sure anyone has actually done it, but in theory a single Istaria character could attain level 100 in every class in the game (excluding dragon classes, which are separate). For a humanoid class, this is 28 different adventuring schools and 19 crafting schools. Enough to keep anyone occupied...
To put this in context, most games give you perhaps two classes, one adventurer and one crafting; if you want to try out other classes, you need to make another character. Even then you are often limited to a small amount of characters per account (or per server). Istaria's wealth of options certainly appeals to me, and many others.
What's an MMO?
MMORPG (often shortened to MMO) is hardly the catchiest abbreviation in the world, but standing for 'massively multiplayer online role playing game' it could well be the geekiest.
Essentially, they do what they say on the tin: they are role playing games (RPGs) you play online along with thousands of other players. Some of the biggest computer RPG franchises now have online versions, including Final Fantasy and Warcraft. Game genres range from fantasy, sci-fi and super hero through to real life historical settings. They can be free, browser based games or huge multi million selling behemoths (recent figures suggest World of Warcraft, the biggest game on the market, has 11.5 million monthly subscribers). It's a massive industry.
The games tend to follow a basic format: you create a character (sex, race, look, profession, perhaps skills) and set out as a weakling with the aim of gaining experience to progress levels and become stronger, just like in a solo RPG. however, this is normally made easier by grouping with other players and joining a guild (the MMO version of a social group). You can do quests, fight creatures, make items, anything the game decides will help you progress – even kill other players' characters (although this isn't a part of Istaria).
To find out more about Istaria, visit www.istaria.com
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