My Favorite MMORPG: Tibia

In my spare time I’ve been playing a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) called Tibia. For any of you who’ve played Tibia you may appreciate my character sheets (at right). As you can see by my knight Gauvin of Pacera on the left, I hate training. If I could just get my skills up to (80 sword/80 shielding) then I’d be happy. On the right is my druid Rick Oshea, as you might think by the magic level I’ve made myself a “pretty penny” selling icicle and UH runes.

The game usually gets 2 major updates each year, one in the summer and one the winter. Usually the updates are great because even if there are changes that the community doesn’t totally agree with, Cipsoft almost always finds ways to change the dynamics of the game so much that it keeps everyone interested to keep playing. Each recent update includes new hunting areas, new items, and some changes to character abilities (usually in regards to balancing the vocations). The most recent update actually included one change that upset me. The graphic of “Hat of the Mad” was changed from Blue to Purple. If you notice my druid character wears all blue equipment (Blue Robe, Blue Legs, Vampire Shield, Platinum Amulet, Beach Backpack, and Hailstorm Rod). After the graphic change, I have to use a Mystic Turban. However, soon after the update I heard that someone had found a new item “Batwing Hat”. The graphic is the same as the old item, with the addition of wings on the sides (so much cooler anyway) and even the stats are identical to the Hat of the Mad with the only exception being a lvl 50 requirement. Looks like I need to get leveling.

One of the great things about Tibia for me, is that my wife and I play together. She plays a sorcerer Chichikin (at left). We hunt and quest together and she has a much better demeanor for selling equipment to other players for the maximum value. In fact that was the reason she started playing. She was intrigued by the economics of the game.

The game has a great quest system. Quests can either be stumbled upon, being a chest deep in a dungeon, containing an item that every character can only receive once, or they can be involved plot lines, including chatting with many NPCs, collecting items, and teaming up with groups of players to defeat seemingly impossible boss odds.

The overall best thing about the game is: It’s totally free to play. It’s true that you can pay to have enhanced abilities and hunt in premium only areas, but you can play and keep your characters for ever and never pay a dime. Perhaps even better is you can pay for premium when you have the desire to do so, and if you want to take a few months off then you don’t pay while you don’t play, but when you come back your characters are exactly the way you left them. This is great for those of us being hit hard by the recession. I've made the decision to play as a free account for a while as a way to save money .