The player is now given control of the character they have created, and placed in their chosen starting city. The player will appear close to the center of the city, and on-screen tutorials will pop up to help the player move and learn about the world. The player can move forward and back with W and S, and jump with the spacebar. They can walk with CTRL, sprint with SHIFT, and move the mouse to turn and control their view. The A and D keys will strafe to the left and right, respectively. In the top right of their screen, they will see three bars, health, endurance, and balance. To the left of this there will be a small block-figure of a human body in green that will demonstrate damage the player has taken to various segments of their body (Torso, Head, Right Arm, Left Arm, Right Leg, Left Leg). In the top left of their screen there will be a minimap to help the player get their bearings. This will have no radar functionality, however. Their will be a tabbed chat box and combat log in the bottom left corner of the screen. In the bottom center of the screen, the player will find a horizontal action bar that contains their quickly accessible hotkeys. Unlike most MMOs, however, this bar will contain things like QERTFVCXZ in addition to the numbers 12345, for faster and more accessible hotkey usage. The camera will be in first person view, and at the center of the player’s window will be a small crosshair. The player can right click to unlock the menu bar, which will free their mouse from controlling their view. Instead, the mouse will then control a pointer, which can be used to access the various menus.
Finding Something to do
The player will start out with a single weapon appropriate to their race, some frail harvesting instruments, some basic crafting instruments, and a cloth shirt and pants or robe (depending on their race). The starting clothing will have no affect on their statistics. The player will have a small introductory window popup that will tell them about the world. It will encourage them to talk to other players, check out the nearby bulletin board, or look on their map (accessed by right clicking and then pressing M) to find the location of noteworthy NPCs and buildings. It is up to the player from then on to decide what they want to do with themselves. The bulletin board is a place near where the player started that every city contains. The board will contain requests, missives, and communication between players and NPCs all over the city. It is here that the player may best be able to find a starting task. NPCs will frequently post simple tasks for starting players on the board.
The Bulletin Board
The board can be accessed by pressing G while facing it with the crosshairs. This will bring up a window with all the current postings sorted by date, as well as different options for filtering and searching. For new players, the filter bar will default to “Postings for New Players,” which will include apprenticeship opportunities with local crafter, harvester, and combat players and NPCs (if available). It is important to note that NPCs are not static; they may wander to other towns or be slain. There is no guarantee that a specific trainer will be in any given city. The board is city specific; it is not linked to other cities in any way. For example, the board might contain rumors of a huge bear that has been wandering out of the forest and traumatizing city dwellers. NPC representatives of the city will post what resources the ruler of the city is willing to buy in order to aid in city construction. This allows players to go and find the needs of a place. It also allows for a player-to-player quest system, as well as a less formal and more realistic quest system for players with NPCs.