ETERNAL LANDS MAPS FREE

It's not entirely clear what benefits each race might confer, but that just leaves me free to choose what I prefer. There are 3 more choices (Gnome, and the exotic-sounding Orchan and Draegoni, which I know from the website refer to half-orc, half-humans and half-dragon, half-humans), but they're unavailable to the non-paying user. As you can see, you've got the option of 1 of 3 classic RPG choices, Human, Elf, or Dwarf. %Gallery-12498%Let's start with what you see right up there, a screenshot of the character creation/customization process. It's a post about how the first hour or so of a game strikes me, with no preconceptions or foreknowledge. Remember, kids, this is not a guide, this is not an in-depth look. I'm going to be as gentle as I can be here, given that this is a for-the-love-of-the-game effort, but some snarkiness may sneak through. Why won't I be going back to Eternal Lands? Call me spoiled, but even free MMOs have to compete with mindshare, and it's difficult to 'dumb down' expectation of graphical quality and user interface sophistication. Having said that, I will say that I'm impressed by what's there, even if it's not something I'll be spending any more time playing.

In fact, the home site makes a point of welcoming volunteer help and encouraging donations. We start the fun with Eternal Lands, which is very much a homebrew effort, meaning that no one's getting paid for developing this game. For as long as I can stand it, I'm going to commit the next batch of First Impressions to free Mac MMOs, a list of which I found on the Apple Geeks forums (thanks, DarkChronic!).

Eternal lands maps