Hey G1s! Today I'm going to take a quick, nostalgic look at The Shadow of Yserbius, one of the very first graphical MMORPGs (along with the original AOL-sponsored Neverwinter Nights). Back in 1991 or 1992, I was an adventure game junkie, absorbing the Sierra and LucasArts classics as soon as I could afford to buy them. While I still played my NES and would soon get a Genesis, whenever I was at my Dad's house (on weekends), I would engross myself in those adventure games like Quest for Glory, Monkey Island, etc. My Dad and I were really into building our own computers back then, and we were among the first people I knew who had a modem and were dialing into the net, even if it was mostly all-text BBS forums back then. But then something came along that combined those two worlds, adventure games and early dial-up: Sierra On-Line's ImagiNation Network. This was a very basic (but advanced for the time) point-and-click interfaced meeting place for people interested in all sorts of activities. There was a Leisure Suit Larry-themed casino, a Red Baron-themed game (didn't play it), a kid's area, just tons of stuff. But the big draw to me and thousands of others was The Shadow of Yserbius, a role-playing game they developed. It really was massively multi-player, although "massively" is pretty relative. I don't remember seeing more than a few dozen players on at the same time. Here is how it worked: when you ran the INN program, it brought up the main dialing screen - you paid by the minute back then - after which you saw this map of the INN world... and in the background, at the very back of the world, was a shadowy volcano, spewing dark smoke. Clicking on that volcano brought you to a dark, atmospheric screen full of purples and oranges and shadows... Extremely enticing. So I clicked on that volcano, and created an avatar (I was a Human Knight, I believe) and ventured into the volcano. Now, I was too young to understand or be interested in guilds, so I didn't have anyone to automatically pal up with. Instead, I had to just type away in the general lobby until someone agreed to journey with me. When you entered the main part of the volcano, you generally partied up with your friends or acquaintances and ventured forth into the bowels of the volcano. I remember the game had a really rich atmosphere complete with a great plot. I'm only hazy on the details all these years later, but I remember an elemental named En-Li-Kil, and an evil wizard trying to tame it, and a dead king... a lot of things. And I remember a lot of the items, like the Harvest Horn (needed to enter someplace or other) or the weird metal you needed to create the much-ballyhooed Flex Sword. Etc. The game had one absolutely devastating spell - Death Darts - which attacked all enemies for huge damage. With multiple wizards casting Death Darts, a couple tanks, and someone who could cast Resurrect if someone went down, a party could go a long, long way. I remember begging people to help me on quests that were simply impossible to do alone, the difficulty ramped up too quickly. The game had a fantastic visual look. Back in 1992 it looked damn good. In addition it had great sound effects and music. Being so old, you couldn't hear any voices of your fellow gamers like you can now, but that never even occurred to me then. Some problems: dial-up connections were tenuous - maybe some of you remember, but if someone called you the connection died and you had to log back in once the call was over. Even worse was when I had made it deep into the volcano with the help of advanced high-level friends... and THEY would get booted off. I was a goner. There was no way to continue, I would get slain the first battle I encountered; the only options were to exit back to the beginning or wait and hope that your friends could make it back to you in a timely manner. Another problem: the age demographics were heavily toward people in middle age. Not many people wanted to play with someone in their early teens. I had little in common with anyone there, so couldn't contribute much to conversations... and was left out (or booted) from many parties because of it. This also affected joining guilds. Lastly: the difficulty level was very high. The game was meant to be played with as large a group as possible, and solo playing - even with a fantastically powerful character - was extremely difficult, perhaps impossible. Once you were paralyzed and poisoned, you were virtually done. I actually bought the standalone version of the game a year or two later, having enjoyed it so much (by that time, INN had collapsed, been sold and never brought back by Sprint or AT&T, whoever had bought it)...and found it nearly unplayable. With a solo character, it's nearly endless level grinding to be able to compete with the nastiest creatures. But the game really changed my gaming perspective. It showed me that there were a LOT of gamers out there willing to play thoughtful games with me. It showed me there were a lot of gamers out there, period! And it was the first game I ever played that had people from across the country playing together ... which was a momentous occasion back then. It was mind-boggling to see all the places listed when someone asked "where is everyone from?" ... really amazing. My dad was as amazed as I was, which is why he put up with the monthly charges for so long, as well as the loss of his son for long hours in the night. I've heard that the game has been brought back in a limited way, but I'm not sure if it's still working, if anyone is still playing. It's a game that would do well on XBOX Live or whatnot, now that modern networking has been ironed out. It would suck down a LOT of hours, guaranteed. It's too bad Sierra never made INN more successful, it was great while it lasted! And now Sierra is dead and gone - what empty shell of a company that now calls itself Sierra is a travesty, a zombie masquerading as the original company, an abomination to the name of good gaming. So that's The Shadow of Yserbius! There was at least one sequel, The Fates of Twinion, but I never played that one. If anyone knows if the original is back up and running and people are actually playing it regularly, PLEASE let me know - I'd love to play it again for a month or two, work through that great story. But the likelihood is that Yserbius is a ghost, one of the first RPGs to realize that the more the merrier. Anyone who is curious should check it out - it's worth a glance or two.