Shortly after its release, I was cruising BestBuy's $10 PC Game rack. I came across a box labelled "Horizons" and it looked interesting. I knew absolutely nothing about it (so I was not too disappointed like others who knew what the game was originally supposed to be). In fact, I didn't even realize it was an Online Game at the time (hehe)!!


Much to my delight, I had stumbled upon a beautiful game with a very in-depth crafting system and, by far, the best community that was ever present in an MMO to date. I stayed in Horizons and fully supported it for 3 years - surviving though all the times the game changed company hands. I made a lot of great long lasting friendships in that game. Crafted a beautiful plot that I worked my ass off to complete, hah. And created an awesome character through Horizon's unique way of Character Customization (I was a Druid/Healer/Spiritist hybrid - I could AoE those Blights like no tomorrow...40-50+ at a time without even dropping below 90% health LOL).


I have since moved on, and its been many years since my days in Horizon, but my memories of that game matched that of Ultima Online. I have not found a game since then that completely captured me like those two games. And I hope someday for another game to come along with such freedom and open-worldness that will once again thrust me into such immersion.


Like alot of you have stated, I too smile every time I hear someone mention the good ole days of Horizon. =)

 Nice to see that Phelim Reagh's comment has been debated rather than flamed.

I thought it was a really good article. My biggest issue was the contention that the one thing that brings people to MMOs generally is the draw of community - if only that were the case! I've blogged about it here: http://istarianhorizons.blogspot.com

I've been playing MMOs for 10+ years now, and have played most of the bigger ones, but despite the upheaval of having to move shards (servers) twice as Horizons/Istaria has gone through its troubles, it's still the game I keep coming back to. Its nice to have a stable community, plus a purpose to log in - I would echo the point that the community projects have been one of the real highlights of the game and I very much hope the current developers continue to add more of this type of content. 

Disownation, I'm not here to hard sell the game in the least, but if your looking for what you miss from your days in Horizons( now called Istaria Cronicles of the Gifted) , why not give it another shot.

If you'd like to start over the beginner worlds have been completely overhauled and the T2 revamp  will be going live soon , if awaking your old character there have been plenty of rewarding and challanging high end quests added and a whole new zone for maxed characters.

If you decide to give it another look I'm sure you"ll find everything you once loved about Istaria still there and plenty more to do that wasn't. Why long for and search for something when something you already played and loved still exists with numerous upgrades and the fine community you so remember still intact.

Hope you at least give the trial a shot and come at least have a look around, perhaps your search will be over, and you'll find the answer already in a box on your shelf.

 Istaria is a game with a lot to do and learn - it definitely has a learning curve that keeps the player engaged... lots to "wrap your head around" as I like to put it. And that's the type of game I, personally, enjoy. If I've figured out all there is to do within the first few days of playing and it's reduced to simply doing those things over and over and "skilling up" in them... the game is bound to lose my interest.

Many of the newer MMOs have lost my interest for that very reason... just not enough to do. Not enough to wrap your head around to keep it interesting to me.

Istaria definitely presents that... lots to wrap your head around, many combinations and variations on how you can choose to play.... and so on.

However, at the moment, I'm not playing. Why? Well... it does come back to community for me.

When I last played, the community in Istaria was, indeed, small and very "tight-knit"... perhaps a bit too tight-knit, in that it felt very clique-ish. It was a group of people who, for the most part, had been there through thick and thin and stuck with it - an admirable thing, to be sure. However - as such "shared experiences" often do - it made them more insular as a group than they, perhaps, intend to be, or perhaps even realized they were.

In short... being a new player (or in my case, a returning player), you were very much an outsider. You weren't "part of the family", you were a guest in their house, and you were patronized as such. That's honestly how I felt when I played that game. Again, I don't think the others *intended* to be that way or that they did it to be mean or distant... It's just how they were. They had their tight-knit group and didn't seem exactly "welcoming" to outsiders... merely hospitable. 

To put it another way... Being a new or returning player is kind of a novelty... people take an interest in you as "the new kid on the block". But then once that novelty wears off, it goes back to business as usual, and you can tend to disappear into the woodwork again.

Now... once you get into a guild, it becomes a different story somewhat. You're still an "outsider", but you're regarded a bit more seriously as part of that "Istaria Family", because you're now part of one of its own "sub-families" (for lack of a better term).  I experienced a bit of that myself and it certainly was a much more "welcoming" feeling. Unfortunately, many of the core people in that guild left the game, or were just taking breaks, perhaps... and so it became very quiet and very inactive, so I left that guild. Then, it was back to feeling like an outsider again. 

It's a very strange kind of dynamic. The people in Istaria, I found, were polite and hospitable - again, as a hostess or floor manager would be at a restaurant; as a guest in their home. But when it came to making players feel truly *welcome* and as truly *part* of a family as it's described here... Honestly... I never felt that at all.

To be fair, it's not just Istaria... It's any game that has a small and long-established player base... Ryzom felt the same. Many of the persistent servers for Neverwinter Nights I play on feel the same. They have very loyal, but closed communities... and it can be  very difficult for a new player to break through that membrane. 

Not sure what can be done about that - or if it's even still the same. But if there's one word of advice I'd give to people who play Istaria and read this... If you truly want people to feel "at home" as you welcome them... maybe just be a little more aware of how they're treated over time... not just when they first start playing.

Istaria *is* a great game. Don't let its profoundly rough history put you off... all those things were mostly external to the game and don't represent the game itself (though the game certainly did suffer from much of it). The community *can* be great.... just, in my experience, a bit "closed" and tough to feel like you're truly part of.

Originally posted by algenon

 

I thought it was a really good article. My biggest issue was the contention that the one thing that brings people to MMOs generally is the draw of community - if only that were the case! I've blogged about it here: http://istarianhorizons.blogspot.com

 

I don't  think that the ONLY thing that draws people to play online games is the community, but I believe it is a very important reason people would choose to pay a monthly fee over a one time fee for a single player game. Why else do you see console games now including interactive, unlockable goals that are shared across a network? Because (some) people want their accomplishments, even in single player games, to be noticed. You can see this with Wii's online gaming, XBox Live or PS3 Home -- even single player games are turning to ways of creating communities behind their games.

Community can be defined in a lot of different ways -- Wikipedia defines it as a group of interacting organisms sharing an environment. It didn't define it as a harmonious group of organisms or even how these organisms interacted. Just that there was some sort of connection that everyone shares.

Yes, there is a turn towards solo gaming in MMORPGs lately. But that doesn't change the fact that just by signing into the game, that person is part of a community -- they are still sharing the environment of others, and that's something they've chosen to do rather than play a completely isolated single player game. Just because a person prefers to play solo doesn't mean they don't like the feeling of being part of a living and changing world -- I lean that way myself. I like solo play. In fact, I can play solo all day as long as I have guild chat and other chat channels that give me the feeling of other people around me. Solo doesn't mean anti-social. Soloist may be the biggest talkers in a chat channel -- you never know.

And who playing an online game doesn't like taking that newly found leet gear or weapon  (or whatever rare status symbol the game offers) and having another player drop a compliment on them for it? Most people do enjoy showing others their hard work and accomplishments... but that only works if other people are there to see it. :)

Again, maybe not everyone is playing a game to contribute to a GOOD community, but community (good or bad) is the one major feature that online games offer that single player games cannot. There has to be some reason MMORPGs and other multi-user online applications have only grown in popularity. I believe that finding connections to other people is a big part of that.

WSIMike I'm sorry to hear that your experience within Istaria was not all you had hoped for, especially with how glowingly you talk about the game.

May I ask what shard you were on, not that that should make much of a difference?

I won't deny its sometimes hard fitting into a existing tight community, especially one that is basicallly maxed out lvl wise and out of the league to hunt with new players. I hope someday you decide to give it another shot since you clearly enjoyed the game so much. When the T2 revamp goes live maybe give it another shot I know plenty of veteren characters that'll be remaking toons to check out the revamps , more veterens with toons in the lower zones should make fitting in eeasier in the near future.

I truly hope you decide to give Istaria another shot , if not thank you at least for your kind praise of the gameplay offered by Istaria Cronicles of the Gifted (formerly Horizons)

Originally posted by tetofrum

WSIMike I'm sorry to hear that your experience within Istaria was not all you had hoped for, especially with how glowingly you talk about the game.

May I ask what shard you were on, not that that should make much of a difference?

I won't deny its sometimes hard fitting into a existing tight community, especially one that is basicallly maxed out lvl wise and out of the league to hunt with new players. I hope someday you decide to give it another shot since you clearly enjoyed the game so much. When the T2 revamp goes live maybe give it another shot I know plenty of veteren characters that'll be remaking toons to check out the revamps , more veterens with toons in the lower zones should make fitting in eeasier in the near future.

I truly hope you decide to give Istaria another shot , if not thank you at least for your kind praise of the gameplay offered by Istaria Cronicles of the Gifted (formerly Horizons)

Oh nothing to "apologize" for, per se. Again, I don't believe anyone was "stand-offish" or "distant" deliberately... It's the natural outcome of a group of people being tight-knit over a span of time.

I brought it up to, perhaps, give an outsider's point-of-view to how Istaria might be perceived by some. It's very easy to find a community to be amazing when you are part of that community; when you're part of that clique. 

When you're an outsider and not part of that group, it's a very different experience.

I think it might be a good practice to pay attention - objectively - to how new players are really regarded... not only in the short-term as soon as they've joined... but over time, once that novelty has worn off and people go back to their normal routines.

That said, I do intend to check it out again; though I'm not sure if it'd be as a new character or an existing one. I tried it out again when they had redone the starting areas, and they did a great job with it. I was very impressed. I'm glad Istaria's still around for those of us who enjoy a slower-paced, deeper game where everything isn't handed to you for little or no effort. Hopefully that remains intact with Istaria and the developers aren't tempted to jump on the "faster, easier and with more hand-holding" bandwagon that so many others are.

There *is* still an audience for that "old-school" style of gameplay, and I think any developer who recognizes and continues to cater to that group will have an at least successful game - if not a "blockbuster' - game on their hands. I think Istaria could well fill that role, if it's handled right.

@ WSIMike

Thank you for your kind words about Istaria, the game play really does have much of that which you describe.

I have to echo to post above to ask which server and maybe even how long ago this was. I've been in the same boat, having been a returner to the game, but did not share the same experiences as you've described. I suppose many factors could be different -- server, time, people -- and I don't deny your experiences/feelings about the community in any way.

When I rejoined, I came in pretty much unknown, so I may as well have been completely new to the community. I did actively seek out a guild from the start, spent  time in the New Player Assistance channels when I needed to, and found even random folks in the community to be willing to offer time, help, suggestions and clarifications. As I've leveled and the newness has worn off, I haven't seen that change all too much. While I'll not deny there are probably groups of old-timers that have formed over the years in this game, I've found most of them putting their best foot forward to help newcomers and welcome returners.

However, mileage may vary, as the saying goes. It's different for different people.

Originally posted by Aywren

@ WSIMike

Thank you for your kind words about Istaria, the game play really does have much of that which you describe.

I have to echo to post above to ask which server and maybe even how long ago this was. I've been in the same boat, having been a returner to the game, but did not share the same experiences as you've described. I suppose many factors could be different -- server, time, people -- and I don't deny your experiences/feelings about the community in any way.

When I rejoined, I came in pretty much unknown, so I may as well have been completely new to the community. I did actively seek out a guild from the start, spent  time in the New Player Assistance channels when I needed to, and found even random folks in the community to be willing to offer time, help, suggestions and clarifications. As I've leveled and the newness has worn off, I haven't seen that change all too much. While I'll not deny there are probably groups of old-timers that have formed over the years in this game, I've found most of them putting their best foot forward to help newcomers and welcome returners.

However, mileage may vary, as the saying goes. It's different for different people.

Well I don't remember the exact time period, but it was shortly after Virtrium acquired the game and began rebuilding it. It was after they'd revamped the starter area. So... if that helps any heheh. Also, I was on.... Chaos server I believe. It wasn't the RP one, which I think is Order.

In particular, what I noticed is that people were mostly involved in their own conversations and not paying much attention to when newer players asked questions. I noticed a very common behavior, as well, which is what was the most off-putting to me... If someone who had been around a while asked a question, or made a comment, they were answered immediately by others. If it was a newer, "unestablished" player asking questions, they'd often have to ask 2 or 3 times before anyone would reply. Many times the answers included jargon or statements that would only lead to more questions for a new player. Then the people answering would go back to their conversations with other long-time players. This, of course, perpetuated the situation. I experienced this myself a few times. 

I do remember a few times, people being told to stop asking so many questions and learn how to play the game them self. Though to be fair, those people were usually reminded that they were once new, too, and had many questions... So that was at least nice to see; people keeping others "in line". 

Anyways... I do intend to check it out again and see the improvements made... So maybe the community's different now than it was back then. I'll update either way :)

Originally posted by WSIMike

Originally posted by Aywren

@ WSIMike

Thank you for your kind words about Istaria, the game play really does have much of that which you describe.

I have to echo to post above to ask which server and maybe even how long ago this was. I've been in the same boat, having been a returner to the game, but did not share the same experiences as you've described. I suppose many factors could be different -- server, time, people -- and I don't deny your experiences/feelings about the community in any way.

When I rejoined, I came in pretty much unknown, so I may as well have been completely new to the community. I did actively seek out a guild from the start, spent  time in the New Player Assistance channels when I needed to, and found even random folks in the community to be willing to offer time, help, suggestions and clarifications. As I've leveled and the newness has worn off, I haven't seen that change all too much. While I'll not deny there are probably groups of old-timers that have formed over the years in this game, I've found most of them putting their best foot forward to help newcomers and welcome returners.

However, mileage may vary, as the saying goes. It's different for different people.

Well I don't remember the exact time period, but it was shortly after Virtrium acquired the game and began rebuilding it. It was after they'd revamped the starter area. So... if that helps any heheh. Also, I was on.... Chaos server I believe. It wasn't the RP one, which I think is Order.

In particular, what I noticed is that people were mostly involved in their own conversations and not paying much attention to when newer players asked questions. I noticed a very common behavior, as well, which is what was the most off-putting to me... If someone who had been around a while asked a question, or made a comment, they were answered immediately by others. If it was a newer, "unestablished" player asking questions, they'd often have to ask 2 or 3 times before anyone would reply. Many times the answers included jargon or statements that would only lead to more questions for a new player. Then the people answering would go back to their conversations with other long-time players. This, of course, perpetuated the situation. I experienced this myself a few times. 

I do remember a few times, people being told to stop asking so many questions and learn how to play the game them self. Though to be fair, those people were usually reminded that they were once new, too, and had many questions... So that was at least nice to see; people keeping others "in line". 

Anyways... I do intend to check it out again and see the improvements made... So maybe the community's different now than it was back then. I'll update either way :)

 

You may have just caught the community at a transitional time, then. When the game felt its stresses, the players probably did respond differently.

I'm playing on Chaos, too, and I know a good group of folks who are always ready to answer questions in NPA (New Player Assistance). I'll be one of those, as long as I have the proper answers to offer. In fact, I know some players who are spending in-game time to go to the starter islands as mentors who answer questions and help direct new-new players towards the channels where they can find help. I've done the same as much as my  time and my knowledge allows.

So, yes, please. Visit us on Chaos -- hopefully you'll find a different story this time around. Please look ME up anytime -- I'm always in the NPA (either as Aywren or my dragon Kudako).

 Thank you for mentioning that you hadn't noticed that we have a Free to Play option now.  We'll change the name of that subscription so that it is crystal clear that this is free to play.

I was there at the launch of Horizons (the original name for Istaria) ... and I while I only lasted a year, this game is one that keeps popping up in my mind.

There's really only two things that I'm interests me in an MMO;  Crafting / Economy, and PvP.   Its not that PvE isn't important to a game, but I have always viewed it as the long term tutorial to get you ready and geared for PvP.

What is ironic about this article, and the thread is, while the community aspect of Horizons was one of the best I'd ever seen in any game, or really any game since ... it was the mechanics of the game in conjunction with the community, that caused me (and my circle of friends)  to move on.

All of my friends who I finally brought to the game were spread all over hell and back because almost all the plots (or at least the ones you'd want) were taken.  We were to a point where we were spending as much time trying to find a place where we could be together and call it home ... as we were actually playing the game.

Eventually we were all drawn away to Star Wars Galaxies because it had the same level of crafting ... but you could build you cities with your friends.

I probably will not go back to Istaria, just because I know it won't be the game I played 5 years ago ... and as a crafter oriented player, I have mo desire to pick up a game where I'm 6 years behind the other crafters in the game.

But if that doesn't bother you ... you should give Istaria a try.   It was, (and as I'm reading) still is, a very unique game in he forest of MMO's out there/

For me, it was special enough, that its like the place you visited once during your travels that you keep recalling fondly in your memories thinking, "I wish I were there."  

There have only been three MMOs that I have ever played (and I play a ton) that had the level of community and crafting that I would like to see in every MMO  ... Horizons, SWG, and Eve ... and even Eve doesn't have the same level of community.