Online Roleplaying
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Online roleplaying
Roleplaying is a fascinating hobby, for some a way of life. It lets you forget everyday troubles and explore new opportunities, hidden desires and brand new worlds. There are various forms of roleplaying games. You have the dice games and the real life games, but you also have the Internet online games. The latter is the one I will go deeper into here.
Having started out with the traditional Warhammer and Earthdawn, I found that as I became older, it became harder and harder to get the time to play. This because my friends all had new schedules, went of to study in other cities, girlfriends and all that. So I had to look for new ways to explore my fantasy, and then I discovered the online games.
First of all, this entry only concerns itself with 2 online roleplaying games, but they are certainly the most credited ones. I will talk about Avalon, the Legend lives, and Firstage. Firstage is the same as Avalon really, but kind of reset 5-6 years so you can start in a totally new world!
Entering the game, you are asked to create a character, give it a name, and then you are placed in the world. As a beginner you get plenty of help, and the homepage gives a manual down to the last detail. The only thing for the player to do is to set up a macrosystem for help in fighting, and then live the world. There really is no limit for what one can achieve. The only limit is that you can become a God, but only very few players ever managed this. To take part of the daily life of your city, your guild and the general aspects of world is what gives the greatest satisfaction. Or even greater; when you are recognised by your fellows or your enemies for your specific skills. This can be fighting skills or just being a nice/evil person, getting credit for playing out your role. You can rise to be a respected member of your guild, a minister of state or even the prince or princess of your city. People will look up to you, ask you questions, and you will get a lot of satisfaction just being able to help out; just like I am doing here.
Of course, the rise of your character is no easy task. I have spent countless hours playing, and I am no God, nor prince or even a minister. But people there know me. They talk to me as my character is a real person, and that is what roleplaying is all about. To get lost in fantasy, to live a life with no limits, to strive for what is impossible in our daily lives. Your life will never again be bored; you will always have a place to call home.
Over to the more technical parts of the game.
The game never ends. It is always going forward. It never stands still. You log on and the first thing you ask is: "something new?" Your character info is saved when you leave, and when you log on; you have the same qualities as when you logged off. You continuously gain experience and knowledge. The experience you can transform into training your skills. There are 7-8 general skills and when you join a guild, you get access to 4 guildspecific skills. Just to acquire new skills is a thrill! Slowly but steadily your skills improve and so does your knowledge of the game, the people you know and the enemies you get. Being a medieval setting, it brings out all the physical feelings you might have. You hate someone, you can hunt them and kill them off. If you fall in love with someone, you might be lucky enough to marry this person. As I said, it is a life of its own.
As for the layout, there are 4 main cities and lots of small villages and the whole game has over 8000 rooms, ever expanding. It takes a while to get to know the way around, but there is software on the market that can help you map the place, Zmud for one.
For more information in detail on how exactly the game works, its history, the future and information about the cities and guilds, please visit the homepage: www.avalon-rpg.com or www.firstage.net.
Have a wonderful time! Your life will never be dull again.
http://www.avalon-rpg.com
http://www.firstage.net
Roleplaying is a fascinating hobby, for some a way of life. It lets you forget everyday troubles and explore new opportunities, hidden desires and brand new worlds. There are various forms of roleplaying games. You have the dice games and the real life games, but you also have the Internet online games. The latter is the one I will go deeper into here.
Having started out with the traditional Warhammer and Earthdawn, I found that as I became older, it became harder and harder to get the time to play. This because my friends all had new schedules, went of to study in other cities, girlfriends and all that. So I had to look for new ways to explore my fantasy, and then I discovered the online games.
First of all, this entry only concerns itself with 2 online roleplaying games, but they are certainly the most credited ones. I will talk about Avalon, the Legend lives, and Firstage. Firstage is the same as Avalon really, but kind of reset 5-6 years so you can start in a totally new world!
Entering the game, you are asked to create a character, give it a name, and then you are placed in the world. As a beginner you get plenty of help, and the homepage gives a manual down to the last detail. The only thing for the player to do is to set up a macrosystem for help in fighting, and then live the world. There really is no limit for what one can achieve. The only limit is that you can become a God, but only very few players ever managed this. To take part of the daily life of your city, your guild and the general aspects of world is what gives the greatest satisfaction. Or even greater; when you are recognised by your fellows or your enemies for your specific skills. This can be fighting skills or just being a nice/evil person, getting credit for playing out your role. You can rise to be a respected member of your guild, a minister of state or even the prince or princess of your city. People will look up to you, ask you questions, and you will get a lot of satisfaction just being able to help out; just like I am doing here.
Of course, the rise of your character is no easy task. I have spent countless hours playing, and I am no God, nor prince or even a minister. But people there know me. They talk to me as my character is a real person, and that is what roleplaying is all about. To get lost in fantasy, to live a life with no limits, to strive for what is impossible in our daily lives. Your life will never again be bored; you will always have a place to call home.
Over to the more technical parts of the game.
The game never ends. It is always going forward. It never stands still. You log on and the first thing you ask is: "something new?" Your character info is saved when you leave, and when you log on; you have the same qualities as when you logged off. You continuously gain experience and knowledge. The experience you can transform into training your skills. There are 7-8 general skills and when you join a guild, you get access to 4 guildspecific skills. Just to acquire new skills is a thrill! Slowly but steadily your skills improve and so does your knowledge of the game, the people you know and the enemies you get. Being a medieval setting, it brings out all the physical feelings you might have. You hate someone, you can hunt them and kill them off. If you fall in love with someone, you might be lucky enough to marry this person. As I said, it is a life of its own.
As for the layout, there are 4 main cities and lots of small villages and the whole game has over 8000 rooms, ever expanding. It takes a while to get to know the way around, but there is software on the market that can help you map the place, Zmud for one.
For more information in detail on how exactly the game works, its history, the future and information about the cities and guilds, please visit the homepage: www.avalon-rpg.com or www.firstage.net.
Have a wonderful time! Your life will never be dull again.
http://www.avalon-rpg.com
http://www.firstage.net
