One day, in a weak moment, I ran out of lies and excuses for not wanting to play and agreed to see what it was all about. I’m not proficient in ‘computerese’, but it took only a few mouse clicks for the game to grab my attention, and I quickly became a player.
You can read the Wikipedia explanation of the game at (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATITD). At the bottom of that page, there are several underlined references giving details. There is a player maintained Wiki just for A TALE IN THE DESERT which explains how to do everything in the game (http://wiki.atitd.net/tale3) . There are levels which players achieve, (or not) as they choose but regardless of the level, all the players are great about mentoring and helping others.
After choosing a user name, and passing several simple tests, one becomes a citizen of Ancient Egypt. There is absolutely no violence in this game. No guns or killing allowed. It’s a culture based on creating the kind of community all the players decide they want. As each player learns new skills, they share, trade and join guilds.
There are levels of achievement earned by learning and developing projects. Players advance at their own pace, but all players vote on laws, and approve works of art and sculpture. I am now at Level 2 and have built my house, and learned the skills of mining iron ore, sowing and harvesting flax seeds and making and firing clay pottery. I have also learned to fish and am busy trading with other players for items I need for projects of my own.
Iziz, Kalateth and ShuoftheFieryHeat growing Flax near the lake with the Ferry and SHANNARA Guild Hall in the background.
There are many activities where multiple players band together to do a common task. Working in concert they achieve special goals like “digging for stones” or learning “acro (acrobatic)” moves from each other and from advanced players like Acro Masters. Last night I went on my first dig for stones. There were 60 other players there and we all took turns digging the hole. I signed in with the Dig Master and then we gathered around a “dig hole”. Each player has an internal game timer which dictates how fast or how often he can “dig”. Digging ensemble allows players to “uncover” more and more stones. At then end of the dig (a time set by the Dig Master) the stones and other wealth are divvied up among all the diggers. There are multiple chat windows in the game and lots of chatting and greeting and directions are passed around the group. It’s a fun way to meet the other players.
Time, day and night, follow realistically in a 24 hour pattern with 20 real-time minutes = 1 hour passing in the game day cycle. I’m amazed at the way the day goes from sunrise to night time with the sky full of stars and phases of the moon. I’ve never played other computer games so I have no way of comparing, but I’m amazed at the figures range and smoothness of motion as they walk, run, sit down or fish. The sounds are fun too. Bees buzz , frogs croak and crickets chirp. Even when I’m fishing on the bank of the lake and not catching a single fish, I’m still fascinated enough to keep casting to hear the sound of the hook plopping in the water and the croaking of frogs.
Iziz and ShuoftheFieryHeat turning Jugs on the Pottery Wheels and Firing Jugs in the Kiln at SHANNARA Guild Hall.
