How much does it cost to play.

Is it FUN?? in your opinion.

any help would be appricated.

You can do the free trial to try it out which I would recommend if you have questions. Better to see first hand than trust someone else's opinion.

The cost for the box these days (if you like the trial) is $29.97 ish, and the monthly fees are $12.95, with discounts for longer term purchase.

I like the game a lot, but let me tell you why. I was really burned out in EQ. I wanted a MMOG that I could play more casually (no more pressure to play longer to get to the named). I wanted a game with NO PVP. I wanted a game that felt fresh.

When I first got into beta, I was surprised and dubious about the lack of mob drops. All the gear is crafted. I liked tradeskills well enough in EQ, but Horizons tradeskills beat EQ's hands down.

One of the things I tell people is that if you absolutely hate tradeskills and never want to do them, Horizons will probably never deeply appeal to you. While you don't have to tradeskill, it is a big chunk of the game and you miss a lot of the greatest things about the game if you don't do it.

Some EQ players find the adventuring side of the game a bit flat ... they say due to the lack of mob drops. I don't know...it has been a long long time since mob drops mattered to me in the daily grind of EQ, and POP seemed to have none at all. What you don't see right away is the sense of the end game. EQ eventually can lead up to playing in a raiding guild and killing a big mob or a hundred. Horizons' end game is about fighting a war against the undead...liberating races and cities, fighting back the blight, etc. It just plays very differently.

Horizons also uses an Asheron's Call system of serialized content. Each week new events happen...some big, some small. All add something to the game, sometimes temporarily. So there might be a quest that is only available for a few weeks, etc.

Some of the "adventure only" folks have found that the invasion events frustrate them because there are no drops. Again, I can't get too hung up about that, but I mention it because if you really look for a super sword drop to have fun in a game, Horizons simply won't please you.

On the crafting front, one of the most amazing things is that you can customize your gear. The look of gear will soon be customizeable (starting with weapons) but more importantly the stats and effects on gear can be customized when you make them. So I might have a BP made that has a power stat boost on it, and you might choose one with a dexterity boost.

The higher the level of the gear, the more custimizations you can apply to it (up to 3). There are several hundred customizations (they are called techniques) that do different things - skill boosts (1hs, etc), crafting boosts (spellcrafting boost, etc), resist boosts, and so forth. Spells also can be customized in this way (add range, add damage, add debuff, etc).

A lot of the richness of the game is about the multiclassing. Balancing out what classes you take and how high you take them is how you explore your character, and the result is a vastly more unique character than you can achieve in EQ. In EQ, you are a druid...you can specialize Alteration or Evocation, etc. You can get different AA's.

In Horizons, you can be a druid...but have 50 levels of cleric too. Or some spiritist (hmm kind of necroish, but a priest class). Or you can start as a druid and pursue a prestige school (shaman, ranger, and guardian are all prestige schools based on druids). Guardians are kind of like druid versions of paladins.

The trial is the best way to see. The truth is, Horizons seems to be a love or hate kind of game.

To be honest, I haven't had this much fun since the early days of EQ. It's definitely not a game for everyone, so the trial would be good to check it out.

The thing I like the most about Horizons is that I can be totally self sufficient if the need arises. If I need a spell, and can't find anyone to make it, I can take up the scholar school and make it myself. I know it's not feasible to level all craft schools very high, but so far I'm able to get them all as high as I want. I can make my own armor, spells, and weapons. I can even build my own house.

There is no pressure to level as there aren't really any "raids" to do ala EQ. So I can log in for an hour, work on a community building project, or practice some crafting, or just go kill things for a while. It's really an easygoing environment.

Of course, your mileage may vary, so by all means try it out :)

so is there a link i can get to download the trial it sounds pretty cool.

so is there a link i can get to download the trial it sounds pretty cool.

Link to download page (http://www.fileplanet.com/files/130000/136798.shtml)

It's on FilePlanet. It's also 964MB :crazeye: