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There is a new Tale in the Desert. We'll call it Episode III. MMORPGDot has given us their take on this continuing saga.

The third installment of the surprisingly complex MMORPG, A Tale in the Desert, recently went into open beta testing in preparation for its upcoming launch. Along with many A Tale in the Desert fans, I joined the open beta to see what improvements are being made and what new stories will be told in this next tale.

Having never played any of the previous games, I was new to the series, so it took me awhile to get my bearings and understand the premise of the game. As an avid MMORPG player, the first thing I noticed is the absence of any combat at all in the game. While usually confronted with myriad enemies and hack and slash fighting engines upon entering an MMORPG, in a Tale in the Desert III, players start in random locations in the middle of Egypt and must navigate the landscape, accomplishing tasks and solving puzzles in order to become a citizen. For those who are new to the series, the game is, essentially, based on social puzzles. Unlike most MMORPGs, this game has a beginning, middle and an end. During each telling, players work to solve an ultimate puzzle by interacting with the society to solve larger problems, creating their own puzzles for the next telling in the meantime.

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