Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

For example, there may be a ring called Ring of the Fire Lords that increases the attack rating of a player. To wear it though, they may be required to have a Fire Magic skill of level three. Things like this go a long way to ensure a player doesn't feel as though they've wasted their time in case they've made a "mistake" in the progression path of their character. This system also means that running into a duplicate of yourself is going to be far rarer an occurrence in Alganon than it is in other games (*cough* WoW *cough*).

Probably the biggest innovation of Alganon rests within the game world itself, though indirectly. How many MMOG players do you think hit various websites seeking assistance on any number of quests, skill progression charts, mob locations, etc, on a daily basis? More than either you or I could possibly imagine, let alone count. The Alganon development team decided there should be no need for anyone to have to go somewhere else to learn something about their game, so they created the Great Library.

Having problems with Quest X? Need to know where Mob Y is located? Looking for some history on your class? How about wanting to look over your upcoming skills? All of this and more can be found within the Library without ever leaving the game. Everything (and I do mean everything) in the game can be located in the Library - every mob, item, spell, NPC, etc. The Library is also directly tied to the game, so it will always have accurate information.

If the stats for Item A get changed because of a patch, the moment the servers come back up, the Library will have the correct information. Your characters are also tied to this so information on them is always up to date as well.

To test this system, I logged onto another computer and went to MyAlganon.com to search for my character as soon as I leveled up. When the page came up, there it was... the new level I achieved 15 seconds prior, the new cloak I had equipped just a few minutes before, everything. All of it was up to date within seconds of it happening in the game. No more waiting for server restarts, 2am database updating, or anything else. The Library is a feat worth heralding as pretty amazing and long overdue in this day and age.

Overall, I've been enjoying my time within Alganon. The game is still in beta, so things aren't always perfectly smooth, but that's to be expected. For all the players that have been crying for years there are no more games left with that old school feel, I suggest you give Alganon a shot during the beta. Don't let the first thirty minutes decide the game's fate. The early parts of the game are obviously designed to get players comfortable, so do some solid exploring before making your final decision. You’ll be glad you did.

I'd take the time to discuss this further, but there's a certain quest boss I owe a beat down to as soon as I gather up my corpse. See you in game!