Beginners guide to Istaria, part 2: Here we go!

Once you've chosen the race, sex and look of you, and then chosen a name, and clicked that you're ready to go, a brief wait will see you arrive at your first location in Istaria - the basic training area.

You will see the blue window pictured to your right, which asks if you want to continue with the tutorial. If you've played any kind of 3D MMORPG before, you can probably skip this section, as it will largely be telling you how to suck eggs. That said, in truth it's pretty short and some of the controls in Istaria are a tiny bit different to most other games like it, so its probably worth doing just to get your bearings somewhere safe!

Istaria can be a harsh game, compared to most MMOs. On one hand, when you die you don't actually lose anything - equipment, experience points etc. However, you do get 'death points' (or DPs) once you get up a few levels. These can seriously slow down your hunting for the day, as they reduce your stats cumulatively, so it's worth trying to stay alive as much as possible!

If you've decided to stick around, and are completely new to this type of game, it's worth taking a look at a few of the graphics that have just appeared around the edge of your screen (see picture, right). These boxes make up the GUI, or 'graphical user interface' - they give you important information about your character, your surroundings and other players/non player characters (NPCs), as well as options as to what you can do in the game.

One of the great things about Istaria is that every part of the GUI can be moved around your screen to suit the way you want it to look. When you're playing in windowed mode (which means you can still see your Windows bar across the bottom of the screen), you can even make the viewable playing area shrink down to leave a border round the edge for your various menus and tool bars.

However, for now I suggest leaving things where they are, mainly because you'll probably change your mind about what you need to see, and how clearly, once you get a few game hours under your belt. It will also make this tutorial easier to follow!

First, look at the menu at the top left of your screen, pictured right. Note that this, and all the other boxes on the screen, can be 'right'clicked' to change a few attributes - namely window/border transparency, whether the particular window is locked in place on the screen, and options to show the 'title bar' and to 'auto hide' the box until you scroll over that area of the screen.

In addition, some - such as this one - have a 'simple mode' option. Generally, this reduces the size of the particular part of the GUI by removing the text and just leaving bars and icons. This is probably worth doing once you've become accustomed to how everything works, as it can greatly reduce clutter on screen.

This first part of GUI is the 'Actions' box. You'll notice four of the eight sections are currently greyed out: this is because something needs to be selected/highlighted by you (such as an NPC, resource, enemy etc) before you can do these actions. To select someone or something, simple hover the cursor over them/it and click the left button - you can try this now by clicking on one the guys in front of you (don't worry, their on your side!).

This menu is fairly straightforward, but is one that personally I only tend to use two buttons of - the top two. 'Recall' teleports you back to wherever you are 'bound'. There is one of these binding points just the other side of Ryson, the guy standing before you.

As your character moves through the world, you'll find it very useful to be able to instantly return to a certain town, or property - for example, to complete a quest or return with resources. This button takes you to that spot. 'Stop action' does what it says on the tin - it will stop you fighting or casting mid spell, or stop crafting etc.

'Attack', 'Greet', 'Trade' and 'Gather' should be self explanatory, starting the action as long as you have the correct type of person or resource selected - you'll find you can normally do these actions by right-clicking the selected object too, which I tend to find more convenient. 'Create' opens the create item menu - more on that later - while 'Sit/Stand' makes you do just that.

The top right corner, pictured here, contains some crucial information. The large box on the left ('Self Status') is particularly important, as it displays some details vital during every combat. The two square boxes on the left show the current action being performed and the next one that is queued up to happen. So, if casting spells in a battle, the top icon will be the spell being cast, and the second the one you have ready to go off immediately afterwards.

Next to this you have four horizontal bars. The full red one at the top shows your current health, as does the number next to it. You'll be keeping an eye on this in combat, if you know what'd good for you! The next two below will track your adventuring experience and crafting experience, showing how close you are to the next level in your currently chosen schools, while the bottom one represents how close to your full carrying capacity you are.

Right of the Self Status box is your compass. A right-click of this will give you the option to 'show position' - you'll find this handy to have on if people give you co-ordinates, or you want to let people know where you are. There is also a 'show map' option, although it's a lot easier to just press 'm' on the keyboard. You'll see the map also shows co-ordinates and allows you to post points of interest, which can be extremely handy! More on the map later though.

Below the compass are two boxes that are also crucial. The first shows any effects that are currently helping, or hindering, your character. Currently, there will probably be a 'Road Bonus' in effect, as you're standing on a road section - move onto the grass, and this will disappear. You need to keep a close eye hear, especially in combat, as effects cast on you by creatures often need to be dispelled before they do some serious damage.

You'll notice a square in the box too, in brown, like the ones in the self status box that show spells you're casting. Here it represents a 'Gift Slot' - these are two-hour bonuses that can be cast on you by players. As you advance in levels, the amount of gifts you can have cast on you at one time will increase.

The black 'Target' box below this contains details about whatever you've currently selected by left-clicking it. If it's a creature or person, it will show the direction they're in, their name, their health and their rating (rating is basically their level). If something doesn't have a rating close to yours, its probably best not to take it on!

Next we have the boxes in the bottom left. The large one is a chat window, the same as the one on the bottom right of the screen. These are very customisable - more on them later.

The vertical bar with the ten numbered squares is again important, as it contains 'Hotkeys'. This is where you can drag various functions such as spells and special attacks to be easily able to use them quickly. You can have lots of these open at once, and once you go up a few levels you'll find you'll probably have at least two or three open at once. If you right click on this Hotkey bar you'll see an option for 'New Hotkey bar'. Once you've clicked this, a second one will appear.

Notice the difference in colour - one has a blue line shading down the centre. This is the 'primary' bar, and can be changed by right-clicking another bar and selecting 'Set as primary'. While you're playing, you'll be able to cast any spell or use any effect in these bars by left-clicking them with the mouse when your cursor is over it. However, the primary is also connected to the numbers on your keyboard, which many people find much easier to use in dicey situations.

And finally for now, the blue button bottom left. This is a key area, as it takes you to a mass of menus that open up all kinds of goodies - including any of these boxes if you've closed them by accident! I'll leave you to mess around in here, while I go and get a well-deserved coffee...

For more information, check out the official website at www.istaria.com

Beginner's Guide To Istaria, Part 1: Race and Appearance

Whether you're new to MMORPGs, or a veteran, you should always be looking for information about races before you delve into a new game.

Race, more than anything else in an MMO, defines who you are. Sometimes its just a visual thing, and even then you can soon be so covered in equipment you'll hardly recognise yourself, but it's still you. It might be the way you walk, your height, your hair colour - a crazy blue beard or mottled green skin. Whatever it is, it's yours and it helps define you.

In many of the more recent games that restrict you within an inch of your life (such as world of Warcraft (WoW)), your choice of race has a huge outcome on how you play the game. The next area we will touch on is class (your job, essentially), and in restrictive games your class can be narrowed greatly by your choice of race.

So, for example, in WoW, if you wanted to be a shamen character, you will be restricted to four classes - or just one if you play on the side of the alliance. However, Istaria doesn't take this narrow view. With the exception of dragons (who follow a very specific path), every race can be every (and indeed all) classes, both adventuring and crafting.

Personally, I think the Istaria way is a good thing: especially if you want to role-play, your appearance is important. However, play style can often be more so. This means that a person who really likes being a healer may be forced into a race they don't rally have a feel for in another game, which can take a lot away from the RPG gaming experience.

The images you see in the post are the first thing you'll see after successfully loading up Istaria and choosing to create a new character. You're presented with a list of races (on the right hand side of this image), with the one you're looking highlighted. There will also be a short description of the race and its racial traits.

Racial differences in Istaria come in two forms: your starting stats (strength, dexterity, intelligence etc) and your racial abilities (bonuses unique to your race). Frankly, you can ignore the starting stat differences. They are quite small, and once you've levelled up a little you'll barely notice them - any shortfalls are soon pretty meaningless.

Racial abilities are a bit different. To be honest though, if you've got your heart set on a particular race, just go for it - it's not a big deal, as I said before. However, if you're a certain type of player and don't mind about which race you are, a few of the racial traits stand out. This is obviously open to debate, but here are some of the ones that generally catch the eye:

Sslik regeneration: I guess I'm biased here, but the Sslik ability to regenerate is a real peach. It scales as you level, meaning it's as useful at level 100 as it is as level 1, and I've lost count of the time it has saved my green skin. Essentially, it's a heal over time spell that is cast instantly, uses no energy, and works very well indeed.

Gnomian prowess: For 30 seconds, you're twice as fast as normal in either fighting or crafting, which can be a big help.

Saris sprint: Getting around can be a slow process and most races get one brief sprint on a slow recharge timer. Saris characters get an extra one.

Dryad dazzle/Dwarven toughness: Excellent defensive ability, both of which give a short period of super high evasion/toughness - perfect for getting out of tough scrapes or winning close battles at the death. Fiends get a powerful defence against spell damage, which can work in a similar way to the Dwarven toughness.

There are some other pretty good ones too, but nothing beats just being who you want to be - it's not a game that will punish an early decision as many other do.

A note on dragons

Choosing to be a dragon can be both limiting and liberating, depending on your point of view. For many the ability to play a dragon is simply too much to resist, and there are definite advantages. You start as a hatchling (small and cute) but can become a huge, fire breathing and flying monster with an underground lair as you progress through a series of dragon specific tasks and quests.

However, you're just a dragon - there's no multi-classing and your crafting tasks are severely limited. I found it quite monotonous, and haven't really levelled by dragon alternative character much. But that's the thing - with a paid account, you can have the best of both worlds and have bipeds as well as a dragon.

Once you've chosen your race and appearance you'll be spat out into a small area to practice the basics such as movement. I'll take a closer look at this next time, as part of an ongoing attempt at a beginners guide. However, if you can't wait that long, just go into the help channel once you log into the game - there will always be someone around to help out new players.

Don't forget, if you simply want to check out the game for free, you can get an account and play a human for absolutely zilch (of course, once you get hooked, you can upgrade and get all kinds of cool races and housing plots going on). Just head over to the Istaria website and sign up for a free account - www.istaria.com

Wurm vs Istaria: and the winner is... (part 4)

The world in which you play at MMO is a crucial part of the game for many reasons: immersion is an obvious one, as the look can be so important, but the way the worlds are set out and populated. For example, the look of World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online is very different, with the former being very cartoony and the latter a little gritty, but they follow the same pretty dull format - you stay in an area for 10 levels or so, before being spoon-fed into the next which has resources and monsters of a slightly higher quality and level. So what about Istaria and Wurm?

The world
The World of Wurm isn't much to look at, but makes up for this with some really interesting ideas. If you've read my previous entries, you won't be surprised to hear it's a much tougher ride than you'll find in most MMOs.

For starters, you don't get an in-game map or compass (although you can make the latter, but it's not easy). Also, you have the fear of PVP attacks and the fact that creatures range from harmless to lethal with no real regularity. Together, these elements make for a game that constantly feels edgy and challenging.

The style is realistic, with rolling green hills, grey mountain ranges, blue seas and blue skies. As you'd expect there are no cheaty teleporters, so getting around can be a laborious affair. However, this adds to the realism and is in keeping with the rest of the game. Overall, the world of Wurm fits perfectly with the theme and other styles of the game.

Istaria does things very differently, but is equally open-ended. Like Wurm, once out of the starting area you can go anywhere in the world from the offset (with the exception of a few places you'll need to be a dragon to get to) and could easily walk around a corner into a battle you can't handle. The danger makes exploring exciting, and you never feel like you're being led in the way you do in WoW.

The world is really well drawn, with the skies being particularly impressive. There won't be any points for accurate geography, but who cares, really? It's a fantasy game after all. Istaria is far from hardcore - compass and map are built into the GUI, as in most other MMOs - but the map is basic, meaning you have to add your own points of interest such as resource and danger areas. You get some great effects in the wintery and lava areas, while the music works really well too. Overall, it's a pleasure to wander around the world.

And the winner (finally) is...
Istaria, 4-3. In conclusion, both are great games in their own way and if you're looking for an MMO that blends quality crafting with good combat, but with far from cutting edge graphics, you should check out the free areas of both these games.

Really, two things made me stay with Istaria over Wurm. The first was a failing of the latter, in that Wurm is just too demanding to be fun at times. I love the fact you have to make everything from the ground up, but things deteriorate too quicky meaning a lot of annoying repetition just to stay at an even keel, unless you intend to sink a ridiculous amount of hours into the game. Another example is food - you can spend an age foraging for food, but nothing you can make at low level does anything to sustain you at all - for me, it just doesn't feel like you are being rewarded for your hard work enough of the time.

Secondly, I just can't ignore the graphical superiority of Istaria in terms of graphics, as well as combat. If a game could have be much like Istaria but with the extra crafting and building depth of Wurm, it would be awesome - but I will happily give up that extra complexity on this occasion for a game that feels much more finished.

Istaria - www.istaria.com

Wurm - http://www.wurmonline.com/getting-started

Wurm vs Istaria: and the winner is... (part 3)

Blogging regularly is harder than I thought it would be. It seems that whenever I get a break long enough to play a game, I have to write a blog instead! But which game would I play? Well, the answer will be on the blog after this. For today, I'll move on to...

Community

It's a huge part of the success of MMOs in general, and MMORPGs in particular, but can be a troublesome beast. Games that attract a lot of younger players can end up with a pretty annoying feel, while very popular games often have more than their fair share of griefers, cheats and gold sellers (people that try and sell in-game gold for RL money, which is normally banned by game publishers, but very hard to police).

Luckily, I don't really come across any of the standard community pitfalls with Istaria. The game has been around a long time now, and a lot of the players have been around since the start, despite the wealth of problems there have been along the way. Some people have noted that this makes it seem a bit cliquey to some new players, even impenetrable for others, but it sure beats constantly being spammed with messages either asking you for money or offering it to you from some dodgy website, as happens in some games.

The positive side of the old player base is they've seen it all, know how close the game has come to folding completely, so are always happy to see new faces. After all, the more new players that stay, the longer Istaria's stay of execution will continue! You should find that most players are happy to give advice, while others will help out with making equipment and other items.

One problem is that new players won't find an awful lot of people to group up with for combat, as there are precious few new players on at once. However, grouping certainly isn't necessary and there are plenty of hunting groups around when you get up a few levels. One of the great things about the levelling system is that you can group with people a lot higher or lower level than yourself, although this can have a big hit on experience gained. But it's not all about levelling up - fun is more important.

Wurm works a little differently. Dishonesty is almost encouraged, with the ability to steal and later kill other players being part and parcel of your existence (or death). However, this doesn't mean community is harmed - far from it. It's just different.

As I said about its crafting, Wurm looks to emulate reality in a lot of ways - its tough, things erode, nothing comes on a plate: this is hard middle ages living, fantasy game style. It can be a similar story with the community too. You'll find a lot less people ready give you something for nothing, but then again people will certainly talk and help you - for a price - but it's normally a fair one. For example, if you want a fishing line (quite tough to get your hands on when you start out, but very useful to get food) you can ask in the chat channels for it, but chances are someone will expect you to do some mining for them, or dig them some holes, before you get your precious line.

Wurm's area of local chat is restricted too, which adds a real feeling of foreboding when you exit your comfort zone. If you're in a well populated area, there will be a good list of people in your chat window and likely some banter. However, as you head further away, the number of players in the area dwindles and you can find yourself alone, of with just a few names you don't recognise. Those who play Eve will know this feeling all too well - it's a far cry from the friendly, laid back atmosphere in Istaria.

Overall, both games have very different communities but they're both great in their own way, so I'll again have to call this a score draw. Next up I'll look at the worlds themselves, and give one final score. So it's 3-2 to Istaria so far - can Wurm draw level? I'll let you know at the weekend.

Istaria - www.istaria.com

Wurm - http://www.wurmonline.com/getting-started

Wurm vs Istaria: and the winner is... (part 2)

OK, it isn't tomorrow... that's Christmas for you. Things went a bit nuts and suddenly it's January. Anyway, back to the review.

Crafting

This is a a trump suit for both games - it's a big part of what makes me return to Istaria every time and the thing that drew me to Wurm in the first place (along with the promise of a sandbox game).

These are two tricky games to compare as they take very different approaches to crafting. Wurm is about as hardcore as a game could get: crafting isn't an option, it's quite simply the only way to survive. You start out with a backpack full of tools and away you go: want a cart? Build it. Want a house? Build it. And when I say build, I mean from the ground up.

And it's really, really tough. Starving is a genuine problem, if it gets dark you simply can't see (unless you can build some sort of light source) and everything degrades - fast. Add this to pretty bad graphics and average sound, you might be thinking it's a write off. However, somehow, it's hugely compelling. You soon forget the mind-numbing dullness of the actual thing you're working on, because of the complexity and difficulty of the task. It's an odd feeling when you give out a "yes" and pump your fist at making a very poor quality weapon blade - only to then lose it when trying to fix it to the handle.

While I really enjoyed the challenge of the game (I could go into the fact that the game itself tells you next to nothing - you spend as much time asking advice and looking things up on the Wurmpedia as you do actually doing anything, which I loved) it does take it too far at times. For example, I built myself a lovely wooden shed to live in and have started surrounding it with a stone wall. This took a lot of time in itself, but the next day I had to repair everything - which again took ages. This becomes a bit annoying, to say the least, and if you're not going to invest a lot of hours in the game you're going to struggle. You can get around this to a point by grouping and joining up with a town, but as in any relationship, it's give and take - if you don't put in the work, others will lose faith in you.

Istaria is a much lighter crafting experience. Nothing degrades or breaks, and you can't fail to make an item - if you put the time in, you'll get what you wanted. The tough side can be getting hold of the materials: even at lower levels, some of the resources are in tricky areas so you may need some friends to hand or at least a few levels of adventurer training to get by.

The graphics are far better in Istaria, but that is paid for by a much less pliable world. The resources are always in the same place and you can only build in areas designated for the purpose - you buy a plot and build on it, or you work on a community project (or of course an item). In Wurm, you can go to bed with your house in a forest and wake up in a field with a road going by.

The processes are much simpler in Istaria too - instead, they are more repetitive. However, while much of the gathering process defines grinding, again it is strangely compelling. I think the reason for this is that you can often do it 'afk', which really appeals to me. Like Eve, where your character ticks over without you being there, it's the same kind of feeling: if you want crash bang wallop, you can put on your armour and fight stuff. If not, you can mine some ore while chatting.

Both games let you find a spot and build on it to your heart's content. One looks better, while the other is way more hardcore, but importantly both work really well. How games with vast budgets manage to screw crafting and house ownership up so badly compared to these much lower budget offerings amazes me.

In the end, I'm forced to call it a score draw on crafting. Both do a fantastic job of creating a crafting environment that feels worthwhile without forcing you into a crappy quest structure designed only to mask the pointlessness of what you're doing (hello World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings!). Few other games have achieved this level of quality (arguably only Eve Online and the original incarnation of Star Wars Galaxies), so bravo. For anyone keeping score, that's 2-1 to Istaria. I'll look at community and extras next - and that may actually be tomorrow!

Istaria - www.istaria.com

Wurm - http://www.wurmonline.com/getting-started

Wurm vs Istaria: and the winner is... (part 1)

Well, if you want to know, you'll have to wait - I don't have time to write it all up in one go! I've broken the games down into pretty typical key areas (combat, crafting, community etc) and looked at my experience of the games. In fairness, I've only being playing Wurm for about a month, and Istaria for years, so I'll happily admit that there will be many depths of the former that I'm not yet aware of. However, a game either grabs you or it doesn't, so I feel justified in making my decisions based on my time played to date. Just take any comments on Wurm as what they are - a beginner's perspective.

Combat

This is quite a way from perfect in both games (although my guild mates in Istaria would question what I know about it, seeing as I craft all the time!).

Battles in Istaria can be fantastic. Fighting single creatures near to your level is usually challenging and certain creatures will heal each other and generally join in the fun if you're not careful. Groups are easy to set up, team combat is fun and despite some lag issues its a rewarding and fun experience. There is a strong array of combat classes; any MMO player should find a style they like to play. There is also a strong multi-classing element to the game, so it's also possible to mix things up if you want to. Creatures too have a strong range of abilities, similar to those players can use, so you'll often find the spells you're casting being used back on you! It's certainly better than many MMOs in this respect.

On the down side, the weakness of Istaria's creaking engine means creatures don't appear in an area until you arrive there and hang around for a few seconds. This can certainly make life interesting, but doesn't do anything for immersion. Also, due to the trouble the game has had with funding and staffing over the years, there aren't a whole heap of interesting quests to do. However, the nature of the game's economy and crafting system means that you'll often have a reason to go hutnig that doesn't need some poor quality fantasy novel idea to string it along: need some cool new armour? You'll have to go hunt for the tech items which drop from creatures. Need to build your new crafting station? Well you'd better take your sword, because those woods are full of treants and spiders.

At lower levels at least, Wurm's combat is quite simply awful. There are no creature animations (at all - not even movement. Things just kind of float towards you), no interesting moves, no nothing. It is painfully slow and in no way enjoyable - you simply choose which combat 'style' you are going to use (defensive, normal or aggressive) and stand there, hoping for the best. Yes, it really is that bad. Magic, ranged combat etc do come into the game later, but why anyone would still be bothering with combat in Wurm by then is beyond me.

In fairness, Wurm's combat does stay true to the game. It's hard from the off, meaning you will struggle to kill anything, even a cow. If you die your skills take a pretty big hit and you'll also find your weapon will degenerate quickly (not that it's much good to start with). You can run away pretty easily though, which was a surprise. It also fits well into the realism element of the game, with animals being used for skins and meat (and not dropping +1 swords).

Overall, an easy win for Istaria when it comes to combat (although I'd be interested to hear if Wurm's combat gets better at higher levels). I'll look at crafting tomorrow.

Istaria - www.istaria.com

Wurm - http://www.wurmonline.com/getting-started

Defending Istaria: What's an MMO; and why I play this one

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