I play Istaria because..........

[Chasing]

Time to do something different

When you read these forums you see debates (sometimes heated), bug reports, rants and so on.

Never enough about the good aspects of Istaria.

So,

• Why do you choose Istaria as the MMO game of your choice?

• What do you enjoy in Istaria?

• What is unique about Istaria?

Feel free to say as much as you want, all I would ask is don't say 'I agree with x, y and z', give your own personal opinion.

Please focus on how the game is now

Please don't derail into 'Dragons vs Bipeds' or something similar (use Rants), that would just be counter productive.

[Xanthia]

1. Well Istaria was the first MMO I ever played and the only one since. The aspect of playing as a dragon is what attracted me - the overall "awesomeness" is what kept me here.

2. I enjoy the community- talking to my friends. I enjoy the story this game has and the quests which make me feel like I'm a part of that story. And of course I love playing the dragon naturally.

Oh- and I enjoy the fact that I can play this game for long hours and not get dizzy afterwards. Console games have terrible cameras.

3.Well before I played Istaria I really only played on console games and handhelds. So I think the most unique thing about this game is that no matter how many times you play it, every day is something new. With console games, once you finish it and done everything you could do-there's nothing really left. All you can really do it start over and do it again. But Istaria is different. It's always changing....be it on a small scale or large. And the people element of it makes every day a new experience.

Yes there are some days I might not feel like playing or I may feel "bored" cause there's nothing to do. But I always find something new, something to do. A new goal to reach if I look for it. Even after all these years I'm still finding out new stuff I never knew before. And when I am tempted to start over again with a new character- it's never the same thing twice.

[hallucin8]

Good questions indeed Chasing, however, rather than try answer each question seperately, I’m going to go a mini (positive) rant about my story in Horizons/Istaria and hopefully that will explain why this is the greatest game every imo.

I was introduced to Horizons about 7 years ago and started playing a friends account to get a grasp of the game and see if I was willing to invest money into it. I started as a Gnome Spiritist, which was a little difficult yet quite entertaining. About 3 weeks later I got my own account and started as a Dryad Spirtist/Druid and boy did I sink some hours into that beginning adventure

I was fortunate to meet some wonderful people who helped me out with gear and spells, as well as answering all my lovely noob questions :P I was happy to pay for most things where possible, however I rarely teched anything until well into my third school. I still remember my Dark Cyclone quest, I wasn’t high enough Druid, but with training points into nature I did it as Spiritist... or at least I got a heck of a lot of help and got it done Asside from trophy quests (or what ever that were called), there wasn’t much in the way of quests going on back then, so the DC quest was a wonderful treat

Once Druid and Spiritist were lvl 100 I think I moved on Spellcrafter. Seemed like something a little different, and given my play style sounded extremely helpful. Smashing out the stone tools and getting to 100 wasn’t too difficult but I still didn’t get a taste for crafting. I just used the lvl 100 to wear gear to help level up new adventure schools.

I then moved onto Healer, then Mage to 36 for the masterable Multi-Cast I and Perfect Spell. Then I thought it would be best to boost my stats so went for Warrior, Monk and finished Mage. Conjuerer was next for Multi-Cast 2 which gave me a taste for the arcane. Things get blury here, but I think you all get the idea, I really liked hunting and loved multiclassing! I’ve always enjoyed multi-classing, in every RPG I played every, I alwasy multi-class with a rogue/ranger style, so I have dual-wield and some casting where possible (think Baldur’s Gate here).

Before merger I built my first plot in Felathien, just some lowly T2 buildings, but got my construction schools to about 40 each. I started to get a taste for the crafting, so I started lvling other schools I could get up on stone tools. Tinker was next I think, I wanted to craft the banners, which also lead me back to hunting for the Nature Tokens. That was a blast! I still trek out to the WD for some fun from time to time

The Satyr islands (Elnath in particular) were always a fun place for some group DP’s and also allowed me to see what other schools bring to the battlefield. Any area which brings the possibility of death before the battle begins is crazy fun in my eyes. I was convinced some more arcane and melee schools would go nicely, and although I wasn’t wrong, I still far prefer Druid.

In the past 5 years I’ve built at least 3 plots and enjoyed the rewards thoroughly. I spent the last 8 or 9 months hunting the snot out of SoG and was finally rewarded with my very own Demongii (among all the other Demon weapons along the way... thank you to all whom helped!). Hunting my own comps was always interesting, though I was more willing to pay than hunt in some cases. I did however, spend about a month hunting for my Paladin’s gear just before the loot/tech comp revamp and collected over 30 blue vex fringes and 30 abom chest skulls in two days, which I was very pleased with myself.

I often seek different rewards then some might consider worthy. I like educating myself, and teaching myself to hunt on the Satyr island was definaltey an eye-opener... don’t ever look away from the screen! NO WHERE IS SAFE!

So from a biped point-of-view, the massive multiclassing possibilies are almost endless. I now have officially set myself the goal of getting rating 278... maybe this year However, I have now started a dragon too. Level 60 adventure and 30something crafting and maybe 30 lairshapping.

It’s a whole different game! AND I LOVE IT TOO! I started on the lair, but it’s a lot different to ped plot building and I have’t quite caught the bug yet. Managed to build a dozen pathways on lvls 0, 1 and think 2, as well as silos on lvls 0 and 1. I would love the patience for this endevour... maybe next year when I finish my first university degree

Well that was a little convaluted, but hope you get some ideas to keep you amused in the off-season.

[Sigi]

1.
Long long ago I ran into the game and after reading the box I decided to buy it. Arriving at home, removing the strategecally placed sticker I learnded it was s MMO. Bummer. Didn't want to play a MMO.
Having bought the game I decided after a while to use the free month play which came with it. That month was enough to get me hooked.

2.
I really like the freedom of play. You can do what you want, go where you want - mind the dangerous mobs at some places -there is no presure to level or to get stuff. In all the time I played (started a month after European launch) I personally only met 1 nasty person. I am very very glad there is no PvP.
I like that you can become "everything" you can make your own stuff. One thing leads to another and before you know it another year has past.
Talking to people who feel like friends even though you've never met them and they live at the other side of the world. Nice encounters with total strangers.

3.
Istaria is the first and only seriously played MMO, so nothing to compare. But perhaps it is unique that after all these years there is still lots to do and I'm still not bored.

[Starstilanxs]

Well, this is a good question. There are many aspects about the game that I chose, personally, for it to be the single most played MMO that I currently am subscribed to. Istaria brings in several aspects that I wish more games had, first off being the most obvious, the dragons.
Dragons in an MMO universe as playable characters are just -not- done in any other MMO other than Istaria.
My second point for enjoying Istaria more than any other MMO is the community. I wouldn't have stayed with Istaria for as long as I have if I wasn't enjoying the community and my friends within it that I have made over the past year or so. It is a wonderful community filled with great people that I will likely be friends with for a very very long time, they are practically my family! Community even overshadows the dragon aspect about the MMO which is extremely hard to accomplish with me as dragons are my single most favorite creatures!
Istaria also has an aspect to it that is rarely found in other MMOs, not to say that it isn't in existence in others, but it is more prominent in Istaria. Istaria has Role-Play. It is an on-going thing where your character -will- have an effect on the other characters in the world and perhaps the world as a whole (RP wise of course). It is a very immersive world that you can enjoy for countless hours should you enjoy collaborative and on-going story writing.

So wrapping this all up, the reason I play Istaria primarily is: Dragons, Role-Play, and the wonderful community!

[Andaras]

I play and love Istaria because -

- Saris
- Dragons
- Flying in-game
- The basic storyline of the Game - Undead Vs Living Races
- No PVP
- The number of Crafting schools I can pursue is not limited
- The number of Adventure Schools I can pursue is not limited
- Adventure schools are not Racially restricted
- Building construction, both private and Community
- The early world events and sense of Community
- The Community
- No PVP
- The joy and satisfaction of helping others/New Players
- Personal Plots and Building them
- Lairs, tho I hear many a Dragon say "Laaairrzzzz"
- group hunting of every range
- No PVP


Yeah, think I'll stop there.
Andaras

[Jorev1]

It's a sandbox, not a theme park.

The crafting is the best.

All the other MMOGs on the market suck or have serious insurmountable flaws such as supporting RMT.

[Kesqui]

I play Istaria as my MMO of choice because it is the only game with player dragons, and in fact is one of the few games with dragons in it that doesn't HAVE to be combat-oriented, since I don't have the reaction times to play Lair or some such (and I really want to play the *dragon* not the dragon's rider). That's the heart and root of it. Because I have no choice of MMORPGs with my chosen player class - I have no interest in playing one of the many flavours of humanoids - that means I have exactly-one MMO to play.

I enjoy Istaria because the folks who have stuck with it are good fun to talk to, and because flying around is fun.

Aside from the player dragons, I don't know what else is unique about Istaria; I have never really played another MMO because they don't have the character class to attract me. I have tried only one other game, briefly, and learned from that experience that I do not like PVP and that if I can't play as a dragon I don't really want to play.

[Balthizar]

1.) Dragons! Dragons! Dragons! hehe and Dryads too

2.) I have always liked what has become to be knowen as Sandboxs. I.E. UO,EVE,Istaria. I have always felt that out of all the MMO's I have played that Istaria has the most possablity of expanding there world and game play. We just lack the funding

3.) Crafting is top of the line. The techs/forms all of it.

4.) The people are all around the best of any mmo I have played as well.

[Idana]

I tried this game because I knew someone who beta'd it and loved it. While I've played or beta'd many many many other MMOs, I have come back here to stay because there is no other game like it.

I NEVER have to alt (unless I want to play a dragon). My main character can be ANYTHING she wants to be. When I switch classes, I never lose what I was doing before (unless I chose to do so). If I tire of being a cleric, I can switch to warrior and play to my heart's content but cleric is still there waiting for me when I'm ready to come back to it.

I CAN be independent. While there are some things in game that aren't solo-able, most things are. Also, as I can be any class I like, I can work up the skills to make any item for myself that I choose.

I don't HAVE to be independent. There is a wonderful community of players who are welcoming and helpful. While the population of this game isn't large and sometimes I have to wait for help, the help I get is usually of high quality. I don't worry about most people ripping me off or stealing my stuff. When I ask a question, the answers are helpful and usually correct.

For most of the game you don't have to participate in combat to do crafting. Some items/levels/gear do require combat levels but not all and I got along for many levels without ever lifting my mace. After years of being in a high end raiding guild in another game, it was so refreshing to me to just go out and chip away at a clump of stone and not have anyone yelling at me to HEAL HEAL HEAL!!!!!!

I love that, with a plot, you can make a (sort of) permanent change to the server that any passing player can see, and if you choose, use. It is nice to see the community come together to rebuild key plots when they become vacant. It's also really awesome to see the community come together to complete world projects. We help each other out to improve the game experience. Some crafters make an effort to keep vendors stocked so that newbies have items that are useful as they begin their game experience. How awesome is that?

Some of the graphics are beautiful, even if they aren't the most current technology. The music in New Trismus and the new dungeon under Degarath is really nice. Istaria is a pleasant place to be (or a scary place where appropriate). It has atmosphere!

I like that the developers ask questions, both on line and in game. They listen. They don't always give us what we want but neither does life. You can't please everyone but they really do make an effort to implement things that people seem interested in having or changing.

After playing this game, no other MMO has ever been able to hold my attention. While it's not perfect, this game offers me more of what I want than any other game out there.

Idana

[Demonwing]

Istaria is an awsome game , what origanlly drew me to it was the dragons....but since then i have made several bipeds as well so have seen game from both views, and i find them both to be fun, altho was a bit tough to first get started the comunity is awsome and i quckly made freinds in game that were more than willing to help...i have played mmos befor but the istarian comunity is by far the best i have seen....i love the fact that there is the pvp option in only a select area..<.unless this was removed as i saw a few say there was no pvp>

[meepsa]

I started playing istaria because:
there be dragons here!!!

I kept playing istaria because:
my friend TigroDra

I'm still playing istaria because:
I'm starting to feel responsible for blight....but seriously, everyone is so sweet there.

[Darkwing_Duck]

The dragons! draggies draggies, and more draggies!

There`s only one other MMO that you can play as a dragon, but meh.. I really don`t care for the design, too mangey looking. :P
Istarian dragons just got the classy western dragon look. well they are western dragons of course!
I found out about this game looking at screen shots on Deviant art. then I asked "what game is that? what system?" here I was thinking it was a playstation or XBox game! LOL!! come to find out it`s an MMO where you can fully customize your very own hatchling dragon, and I was like "Wow!! I`m instantly in love!"
Starting to play, I got addicted, started role playing for the very first time. well not really, but in a game. yes. I used to do messanger RPs, and forum RPs with friends. though never as a dragon, but as Darkwing Duck hehe!
Learning how to play was a challenge at first, but everyone was so friendly, and helpfull, I got it figured out pretty easily ^^

I love the crafting system in this game. never played any other MMOs, other then WoW, but I never learned to craft there. :P Started planning my first lair, that was fun. never knew dragons were so talented. *chuckles*

Made quite a few friends, many I still have, sadly a few left the game, and lost contact, but most I still talk to, and often RP with ^^

All in all, I gotta say Istaria is the best MMORPG least in my opinion. Even inspired me to make more dragon art!
speaking of which I`m long overdue for a new avatar here on the forums

[Fix]

Time to do something different

When you read these forums you see debates (sometimes heated), bug reports, rants and so on.

Never enough about the good aspects of Istaria.

So,

• Why do you choose Istaria as the MMO game of your choice?

• What do you enjoy in Istaria?

• What is unique about Istaria?

Feel free to say as much as you want, all I would ask is don't say 'I agree with x, y and z', give your own personal opinion.

Please focus on how the game is now

Please don't derail into 'Dragons vs Bipeds' or something similar (use Rants), that would just be counter productive.

Why? I like it's unique feel and community! While the leveling does feel a bit slow and at times the game does feel very, very hard...I like it!

What do I enjoy? Well the community and the game's overall storyline. I don't know, I just like it. I also love the idea of how dragons where created in this game.

And what I think is unique? What I personally find unique about this game is it's style. I do not see alot of mmos that can pull off relatively low graphics and yet get away with being so fun! I enjoy the wide variety of classes and choices, and I feel like the game has a sort of...hidden layer of cusotimization.

[velveeta]

Time to do something different

When you read these forums you see debates (sometimes heated), bug reports, rants and so on.

Never enough about the good aspects of Istaria.

So,

• Why do you choose Istaria as the MMO game of your choice?

• What do you enjoy in Istaria?

• What is unique about Istaria?

Feel free to say as much as you want, all I would ask is don't say 'I agree with x, y and z', give your own personal opinion.

Please focus on how the game is now

Please don't derail into 'Dragons vs Bipeds' or something similar (use Rants), that would just be counter productive.

i am afraid that my answer is short but complex - i choose to play istaria because it has 'it', the x factor.....

i choose to play horizons because it has the perfect combination of playability, comraderie, and attention holding.

i enjoy playing horizons because it has that perfect combination.

horizons is unique because it has that perfect combination.

that's about it for me!!!

[velveeta]

I started playing istaria because:
there be dragons here!!!

I kept playing istaria because:
my friend TigroDra

I'm still playing istaria because:
I'm starting to feel responsible for blight....but seriously, everyone is so sweet there.

heehee, and i agree absolutely with meeps last statement - where else but blight can i be queen? with all the attendant responsibilities, which i happily undertake!

[Amerelium]

...why wouldn't I?

[Chasing]

...why wouldn't I?

*sighs* there's always one isn't there eh shula :P

Bit more than 3 words if you please

[C`gan]

because I helped form the shard as we know it now. My eagerness to help with construction led to my being elected to the WorldProjects Team Lead position on Order shard after Merger. It helped me come in contact with so many of the most trusted names on the shard as well as getting the then-newly started builders involved in forming a future. It has always been the excitement for construction itself, the desire to "build the Aegis out of Istaria" as I put it that keeps me going. With each new vault, crafthall, silo, house, guildhall, lair, bindpoint, or decor item built, the tone and flavor of the world changes ever so slightly but importantly. There's that joy of seeing the next new building or wall come into being. Knowing that someone carefully put that tree or fountain or walkway there for a specific purpose so they could enhance the area around them. Unlike other MMOs out there with their cookie cutter, this is your house to clutter up method, Istaria's construction actually means something vital. The community gets places to handle resources just that much better, places to save up for larger processing, places to store short- or long-term materials. Even more offerings of where people can sell goods. Ask those in any other MMO if they can do that. If what they build actually changes the game play.

I play Istaria because I'm a builder.

[Shadina]

1. It's neat to get to play a dragon.
2. Saris are sexy.
3. The Sslik are hot, too.
4. It's cool that players can actually change the landscape of the world, and change the playability of the game with their plots.
5. The crafting in this game is much better than in virtually any other MMO that I've played.
6. No PvP FTW
7. Likely related to #6, very nice community.