1 | Ravin

August 6th, 2009 at 7:40 am

I have been playing Threshold off and on for the last ten years. The world is one of the deepest and richest environments I’ve ever immersed myself into. This realm has years of commitment by folks who love what they do and it shows. In all this time, I feel like my growth and experience is still limitless. Everything here is original quests, deep seeded history in religions, politics, guilds clans and so much more, and I’ve never had to opportunity to enjoy gaming with so many women who enjoy this place too. Having new players and being a new player always adds to the experience. After playing and enjoying may graphical muds, and social networking games, I find that non let me sink in, explore people, places and even yourself more than here. I hope to see you there!

2 | Sanskrista

November 18th, 2009 at 12:57 am

Having played this game for the past 9 years or so, I’ve often wondered why I have continued to play this game long after all the other games I’ve played over the years have gone to dust and recycling centers. I think it’s because of the actual friends I’ve made in the game, and have gone to become friends with outside of the game. It’s the level of maturity and commitment that the other players exhibit with regards to actual role-playing, and not just go gear-hogging power-leveling etc.

It’s free-form improvisation, conversations in depth regarding all aspects of the culture within the game, from religion and politics, to day to day trials and tribulations, who don’t you like and why, the plotting and secrets while keeping an honest face towards other players, being a genuine hero or bastard. You’re an actor on stage, but you make up the lines, and have to deal with the consequences, good or bad.

The player-base and the Administration all work together to make this an experience that I have yet to see in any other online game I’ve played. Many of the players I’ve known have continued to have real lives outside of the game, graduating college and having full fledged professional careers, from all walks of life, and across the world. They can put aside their real lives and contribute to a world that has a life of it’s own that’s not prescripted by Administration.

The majority of the plots and story-lines are made by the players themselves, from start to finish. There’s no guarantee that your particular thread in the story will be successful, but your contribution can make or break someone else’s plot, or even draw in other players and start a new tangent altogether. The number of allies and enemies you can make within the game weave a historic tapestry that years later you can share with the newer players as they arrive and allow them to grasp the sense and wonder of a new world that’s theirs for the taking.

The grandeur and scope of the plot lines run by Administration over the years, from times before I started playing this game, to the ones I’ve seen since, are still talked about within the game, having become legends unto themselves and adding to the heightened immersion within that game. It’s one thing to see such an event run, and after a few hours, it’s forgotten, as I’ve seen in countless games before. It’s another that the effects of such events are still felt within the game years after the plotline has run its immediate course, and the effects thereof continue to be felt even to the newest players today.

I guess, after all these years of wondering why I still play, I don’t have to wonder anymore. I know why.