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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 1869631" data-attributes="member: 11760">The subscription model, it should be noted, is not a way to rob the players. MMORPGs have most of their programs running on servers, not on the end-users computers, and hosting a hundred thousand or more players (WoW is actually expected to be the first North American MMORPG to break a million players) costs a LOT of money. In addition, there's bandwidth, in-game customer support for when things go wrong and, most importantly to the players, on-going additions to the game world and live events.Some MMORPGs don't do the latter, and I wouldn't argue against them needing to drop their prices as a result, since they don't need the same level of manpower, but City of Heroes, for instance, did a quite nice Halloween event over that weekend, and I definitely had fun logging on for it.Even during beta, World of Warcraft had a few minor things like this, like special fireworks vendors with never-seen-before-or-since firework for sale.The easiest way to know if the game is worth it to you, though, is to find a friend who bought the Collector's Edition, which comes with a coupon for 10 days of free play. They can install the game on your computer, you type in the code off the paper, and you get your days, free and clear. If you decide the game's not for you, no loss. If, on the other hand you see the appeal, you buy a full copy of the game and retain all your characters.A lot of people aren't ever going to like the MMORPG subscription model, and that's cool. I know people who refuse to pay for cable, too, since they'll never watch 50 channels of golf or Mexican soap operas. But the industrialized world is getting wired ever-faster for broadband Internet, and it's awfully hard to buy a new computer that doesn't meet or exceed WOW's minimum specs.A subscription fee of $15/month is less than a movie, popcorn and drink in my area, and I assure you, a good MMORPG will get a whole lot more than two hours of playtime a month. Popcorn and soda extra, of course.</blockquote>

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