Well then, where was I? Oh, right, I haven’t actually posted anything in a month or so…
Same excuse as always, just plain old garden variety ‘busy’ and ‘worn out’.
The game of choice right now is “Horizons”, which you may recall I played some two years ago. I’ve played just about every multiplayer game available right now and I’ve found them all lacking after a while, usually due to there not being an age limit for the game.
“World of Warcraft” was fun for a while, till all the damn kids caught wind of it. It seems the games these days are being over run with trash talking munchkins with the imaginative capacity of a grapefruit. World of Warcraft, City of Villains, Everquest 2, etc, etc… All have become infested at this point.
The biggest problem with internet based games and too many kids is that, given anonymity and an audience, well over half of them will become the biggest asshat on record within a few minutes.
Enter ‘Horizons’, a game with a very odd story behind it and one which is mercifully free of ‘leet speaking freaks of nature. See, Horizons came out a little over two years ago to much fanfare, as it was truly revolutionary in concept: A fully player driven and dynamic world that players, and nature, could change over time as well as the most detailed crafting system in existence which creates a player owned economy in the game… Oh, and playable Dragons!
Well, there was a bit of an issue with this concept as it was so large and grandiose that the technology just wasn’t there yet. The game launched with all sorts of problems due in part to the publisher, Atari, rushing things out the door. Soon after Atari decided they didn’t want to be in the MMO business and left the developer, Artifact Entertainment, holding all the bills… About a year later Artifact folded and filed for bankruptcy.
So, move forward in time a bit and you’ll see a small Texas based game company, Tulga Games, buy the rights to Horizons in the bankruptcy auction. Tulga hires back several of the core people responsible for Horizons and they set about both fixing it, and bringing it in line with current technology – in a small garage-like atmosphere.
So here we are today: Horizons is still in what I would call a Beta, though I pay $13 a month to play it, and as it is both a ‘dead’ game and there is no PvP, all of the players are adults who are interested in the story of the game and the role-playing opportunities it represents. Horizons is recruiting some interesting folks to help them in their quest for the most accurate fantasy world simulation ever, and the latest is writer Peter S. Beagle of “The last Unicorn” fame who will be creating more backstory for the world.
In all of the ten or so MMOs I’ve played over the years, I’ve not found as great of a community as the one in Horizons. These are people that you’d not give a second thought to inviting over for movie night, if they lived next door you’d have BBQs with them, and you’d certainly be ok with having them watch your pets while on vacation…
Really, Horizons is as close to the old BBS era as I’ve been able to find since the inception of the internet. No one plays to get the biggest sword, the best stats, or to simply be annoying. Jae has done nothing but craft things for two weeks and he’s happy as a clam.
I’m playing a Dragon in the game; a mere hatchling. Though I’ve been taken under the wing (literally) of one of the ancient dragons (huge, building sized beings) who is helping me find my way in the world. In another few weeks I’ll be ready for my ‘Right of Passage’ into adulthood where I’ll not only be able to learn how to fly, but I’ll get about twice the size I am now. Ancient status won’t happen for at least another six months, but there’s no hurry – I’m happy.