Once created, the character is deposited in the game world. Immediately, one sees the difference between Camelot and other games of this genre. You start off facing your “trainer” the computer controlled individual (or NPC) who will be your guide and instructor for the early part of your career. Right-clicking on the trainer opens up a dialogue between you and him (or her) and they will slowly introduce you to the complexities of adventuring in the realms.

Communication between Player and NPC is very simple… right-click on the NPC, be it a trainer, a merchant or one of the multiple mystery NPCs. If they have something specific to tell you about, a separate dialogue box pops up and keywords that relate to quests or further information, are highlighted. The player then clicks on the highlighted word or phrase, rather than having to type in, for example: “What unfeasibly large testicles?”

When the player logs-in, they are greeted by the first of many “Help” Screens, so, aside from basic keyboard commands (which, by the way, come on the handy pull out Map fold for ease of reference) the player can easily jump straight in and play.

The help screen tells you to Right-click on your trainer, and sure enough, he has a job for you.

This basic quest is generally a very simple introduction into navigating the world and the quest system of DAoC – a very smart and slick way to provide a tutorial of sorts. Depending on your realm and character selection, your intial tasks are very simple “Go tell a man about a dog” quests, where you find another NPC and either deliver a message given to you by your trainer, or simply just talk to them. Can’t find the NPC? No problem! In DAoC, you can simply ask one of the friendly guards “/where ” The Guard then points in the direction you should travel, and voila! There is the NPC.

The Quest system in DAoC is very nice indeed. In fact, unlike every other game so far – most of the best items are obtained through questing, and even if the quest does not result in an item, it usually results in an appropriate amount of money and experience. There is also a mini-quest system called /task’ing where you can walk up to an NPC and type “/task” and receive either a simple delivery quest in return for money and experience, or find and kill quests – where you are directed to find a NPC creature who is a threat to your realm, whacking it, then returning for more money and experience.

Experience is ultimately what it is all about – the more experience you gain, the faster you increase in levels opening the way to new skills, spells, or abilities. Not to mention, a more powerful, more able character – able to take on new challenges. In this respect, Camelot pretty much sticks to the standard fare of kill stuff, gain experience and money (some critters drop things that can instead be sold for money). However, have also included the ability to forgo the leveling game, and instead focus completely on the games very detailed and diverse Trade Skill system.