It may come as a shock, but that’s what true role-playing games are about -- the opportunity for players to create and interact within a rich world that borders on becoming a reality separate from our own but not alien to human experience. DragonRealms and its kin are a much more clear and exact extension of the heady days of and late nights of early Dungeons and Dragons gaming than any more contemporary games. Other than a few nods to the real world to determine actions or outcomes, everything depends on the imagination of the player. The more any one player pushes the performance envelope and approaches close to becoming the character they’re portraying, the more rich and full the experience becomes for all the other players. In this aspect, DragonRealms succeeds where many other games fall far short.

DragonRealms is far closer to the world of multi-user dungeons (MUDs) or multi-user shared hallucinations (MUSHs) than it is to the contemporary world of gaming. The user-interface is a throwback to the original form of computer gaming: text and typing. To the novice this can be bewildering. To the experienced veteran of DragonRealms, it’s an open palette to perform any action imaginable under the sun. The Wizard interface is little more than an enhanced telnet client. Everything happens here -- information alerts, help services, combat, weddings, everything. The developers and the help system acknowledge that DragonRealms can be overwhelming to a novice user. There’s so much going on all around and the only interface, the only source of information for the player, is a scrolling text screen.

Text-based actions and and commands haven’t come too far from the days of Hunt the Wumpus or Zork. Exploring the world requires typed commands, north, south, enter, out, etc. To find out what equipment you have, you type in "inventory." To look at something you say "look." If you want to look in something, you have to type "look in." You get the idea. Players may also perform any action they can describe in words. While not having any direct effect on the game, these flourishes provide players with a greater sense of personality. Last night I happen to encounter someone who was juggling gerbils in a fine criss-cross pattern. I was assured that the gerbils relished the experience and none where harmed during filming.

Character development also follows traditional role-playing concepts. The novice player starts off weak, lost, and with little concept of what to do next. It can be disconcerting at first to be presented a world of near limitless interaction but with no clear direction. The advice system suggest a few initial steps but it quickly outpaces the user and what they should be trying to accomplish. It’s this initial first, few steps that I believe DragonRealms fails the greatest and what may cause them to lose many potential players. It takes hours and hours just to learn the most fundamental basics of the game -- where to go and what to do. The Crossing, the initial town the user finds themselves in, is very large and complex. Guilds, armories, banks, etc. are scattered throughout the city. Fortunately, within the Crossing the "direction" command will give players a list of movement commands required to get from where they are to any important building. Character classes are also familiar to traditional role-players: warrior, thief, paladin, etc. Players may join one of the classes by entering guild buildings and meeting minimum guild requirements.

Like many multi-player games, many more mundane actions are available and some are mandatory for users. A key example is how the system deals with money. The world of DragonRealms abounds with thieves and pickpockets. The advice system suggests early on that players deposit their money in the bank so that the cutpurses won’t rob them blind. On a first visit to the bank in the Crossing, you find out that the teller won’t accept all your money. Some of your money is foreign currency from other realms. You have to exchange it first (next window please) and then your able to deposit your hard won cash. Opportunities to join the Paladin’s guild or the Warrior-Mage guild.

Combat is much more like a traditional role-playing game than you’ll see in more graphically-oriented games. Combatants start simply in the same area. Over the course of a few rounds, they will close through long-range down to melee ranges for hand-to-hand combat. Death comes quickly to the novice character that manages to go too far without companions. Fortunately, death isn’t handicap it used to be. First level players do not lose their possessions or lose favor with the Gods through the pangs of death and subsequent re-incarnation.

The core of DragonRealms is character interaction. This is not a game for solo players. Novices should seek out experienced users, basically begging for help or to join a party. Beware though, many players have years of personal experience and dedication to preserving a role-playing experience. Come armed with your thee’s, thou’s and m’lords or you’ll throw off the whole illusion. However, most folks I met online were compassionate and understanding if not absolutely helpful. You realize very quickly that some of these wizards or warriors could squash you like a bug, but inter-player conflict is strictly discouraged.

DragonRealms is a big game and a tough one to learn. There’s a universe of new game players who’ve never experience the level of interaction and facets of gameplay that a system like DragonRealms offers. Text-based interfaces, like role-playing games, will never be everyone’s cup of tea. However, carte blanche dismissal of any game without blood splattering on the screen or full-motion, 3D interactive environments would be a crime. Over the years, the DragonRealms has evolved into a complex society with many far lands that demand exploration. Mentor societies, use-generated maps, weddings, and more oddities that humans have in the real world have grown-up within this game. There’s just so much here.

The bottom line is that there’s more to come. In two weeks, I’ll cover much more of the game and explore the latest addition to the game, the Maritime Expansion. I’ll also let you know my verdict.