I have always been intrigued
by Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) and
have played several. I liked Asheron’s
Call so much that I spent more than a year exploring Dereth. I was
attracted by the social aspects of the game but grew weary of dungeon
crawling, creature killing, and dying.
 A Tale in the Desert (“A Tale”) takes the MMORPG genre
to a new level and should appeal to those who would rather think
than fight and to those who would rather create than destroy. Set
in ancient Egypt, this game recreates civilization in a persistent
world driven by other players. “Persistent” means that
the game continues whether or not you are playing. Day turns to night,
players advance, and the landscape may be altered in your absence.
The most unique feature of A Tale is that there are no weapons and
no beasts - a quality that will attract a special type of gamer.
Unlike combat-based MMORPGs, the world of A Tale is not apt to be
invaded by teenagers running wild in their search for bigger swords
and better armor. For the adventure gamer, this is all great news!
 To start playing A
Tale,
you create a character and make choices as to your gender and appearance.
You begin the game on a “Welcome
Island” - a safe haven that ensures new players can learn the
basics with help from in-game mentors. The interface is intuitive
and easy to use, with windows for conversation, inventory, and character
attributes. The graphics are of medium quality and the sound is minimal,
but you are provided with 360 degree panning, zoom capabilities,
an overhead view, and a pop-up map that combine to give you everything
you need to explore. Your first challenge is to become a citizen
and get to Egypt. Since you can’t be voted off this island
or swim, you must master basic skills (carpentry, spinning, weaving,
etc.) in order to make the journey.
When you are ready to
depart for Egypt, you have a choice of destinations. To encourage
you to explore, you are allowed to teleport to 20 different
places before settling. This is important, as it gives you a chance
to experience various communities and talk to other players before
building a base camp and establishing your place in the game world.
I found that Egypt was filled with generous, friendly participants
who were eager to share their knowledge as well as their inventory.
I’d encourage you to visit the A Tale fan
site to get a true
sense of the devotion that players have to this game.
 The stated objective of
A Tale is “...to build the ideal community
by perfecting the Seven Disciplines of Man.” These disciplines
include architecture, leadership, conflict, art, worship, thought,
and the human body. Each discipline has specific skills that can
be learned at Universities and Schools. You develop your expertise
in a discipline by passing a series of increasingly complex tests.
While some tests can be completed alone, most require cooperation
or competition with other players. Your character’s attributes
(strength, endurance, speed, perception, etc.) are built through
your advancement in the disciplines.
With A Tale, eGenesis provides a framework for players create their
own game. There do not appear to be preprogrammed events or non-player
characters (NPCs) that drive the story. Instead, you are given the
basic building blocks of civilization and people to interact with.
The results are fascinating. In some areas, guilds of players are
tightly organized with planned communities and cooperative divisions
of labor. In others, the landscape is chaotic - with scattered camps
and little structure. In short, the game is whatever you want it
to be and, by finding like-minded players, you can become part of
a unique community that evolves as its members become more skilled.
 eGenesis has made it very easy to test the waters of A
Tale. The
game can be downloaded free from their site and played at no charge
for 24 hours of connection time. After that, you can choose to continue
for a monthly fee of $13.95 (U.S.). This gives a new player adequate
time to learn basic skills, explore portions of Egypt, and make friends
before a financial commitment is required.
There are a couple of
drawbacks to A Tale, which are inherent to the world of MMORPGs.
Lag (delayed response time) is a battle that
all developers fight when providing an online graphic environment
to many concurrent users. For the most part, the response time when
playing A Tale was acceptable. However, there were periods during
which the lag was so bad that the game was unplayable over a DSL
connection. I’m confident that eGenesis will address this and
make improvements, as needed.
Secondly, to immerse your self in any MMORPG requires a substantial
investment of time. This is not a game that can be played on occasion
or finished in a few weeks. This is an ongoing experience that only
be fully appreciated if you are willing to dedicate regular time
to build cooperative relationships, explore the landscape, and develop
your character.
 In truth, I have only
glimpsed a fraction of the potential that A Tale offers. You can’t
begin to experience the complexities of this game or reap its full
benefit during a review period. If
I had more free time right now, I would embrace A Tale with all of
my gaming heart and dive deep into Egypt. I would build great temples,
solve the riddles of the Sphinx, and come to know the landscape like
my own neighborhood. I would join a guild and develop that sense
of community that is often lacking in my own world of busy schedules
and urban sprawl. I would strongly encourage any who have the time
and inclination to give A Tale a try, as it is a wonderful departure
from the traditional MMORPGs and offers a host of possibilities for
the adventurer.
Final Grade: A-
System Requirements:
- Windows, Linux
- 400 Mhz Pentium
or better
- 192 MB RAM
- 3D Graphics
Accelerator
- High Speed
Internet Access
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