Crafting-only MMORPG (no fighting at all).
The community is the best I've ever seen in a MMORPG: very helpful, and fun to work and chat with. There's only ~1800 paying subscribers (unchanged since the beginning). I was at first discouraged by the small population, but I found this game to be very much alive despite the small numbers.
The game is extremely cooperative. While every player has their own personal goals, there are several important objectives to achieve for the World as a whole. So you will see a lot of donations for public causes. The game is stable, no crashes since I started playing. Somewhat laggy in places with large concentration of complex objects. The GM's and the development team are very helpful. I had a couple calls so far with some minor technical questions.
The graphics and sounds are decent, but not impressive. What is impressive is how they are used in the gameplay. For instance, you will hear the shirp when cicadas are nearby (a cicada is a very rare and valuable find). An herb (another rare and valuable item) needs to be identified based on its appearance, before you can pick it up.
The whole game is described in the wiki format at http://wiki.atitd.net. Many things are still unknown, and as players research them, they post their findings on this wiki. A free 24-hour trial account is available from http://www.atitd.net.
The crafting system is well-balanced. Both solo players and huge guilds have their roles. The technology behind the crafting system changes with time, as players make contributions to Universities, and unlock further levels of technology for the World.
Crafting comes in the form of a huge variety of unique mini-games. For instance, to produce charcoal, you burn some wood in a hearth, while controlling the fire. If your fire goes out of control, all your wood is wasted. You decide when to add wood, whether to open or close the vent, etc. There is no simple rule to follow; you really have to develop a feel for the hearth and it takes quite a bit of practice.
Everyone will eventually learn to make charcoal (though some will take a bit longer and waste a bit more wood than others). But very few players will ever become decent blacksmiths. In blacksmithing, you are trying to shape a piece of metal into a certain pattern. You choose where to hit, with which tool, and with what force. The finished item will have a quality rating. It is incredibly hard to achieve high quality. Top blacksmiths are known throughout the land, and can easily live off their talent if they desire.
A lot of the crafting is quite mathematical in nature; if you like numbers and calculations, you would enjoy the crafting system more than an average player.
For me, the novelty of the different technologies eventually wears off, and often crafting feels more like a job than a game. But that seems unavoidable in a MMORPG. And, if you like to build things, whether on your own or with friends, maybe you don’t mind putting in some hard work when necessary.
Tests are kinda like very hard missions. There are a total of 49 Tests; they come in seven disciplines, each with its own flavor. You don't have to pass any Tests to enjoy the game. But doing so will gain you respect from other players, and reward you with stat bonuses. Passing all seven tests in any one discipline makes you an “Oracle”. Very few people will achieve this title; those that do will play a very special role later in the game.
Here’s two examples. Test of the Prophet asks you to predict which other players will make the fastest progress in the game. You make predictions from time to time and accumulate points from successful predictions. Those with the most points at the end of each week pass this Test.
In Test of the Vigil a group of people make sacrifices to Gods. The required sacrifices are random, and not known in advance. Gods can ask for *any* item that exists in the game. Your group has some time to bring each sacrifice; if you fail, the Vigil ends. The longer you can keep the Vigil going, the more points you get. Again, people with the most points at the end of each week pass the Test.
One of the cool things is how player actions change the World. I already mentioned donations to Universities that unlock new technologies. Player research, like cross-breeding of seeds for better harvest, benefits everyone. Passing a Test has an impact on how hard that Test will be for others. Any player can start a petition, and if its gets enough votes, the developers will implement the new law in the game (with some restrictions, of course; the chief designer can veto any law if it’s technically infeasible or unbalances the game). The country also has a democratically elected leader.
I wish the game had at least some PvE fighting. I think it would complement the crafting and the Tests quite well, say with dynamically evolving monsters that require ever-changing crafted gear to deal with. I do sometimes feel ‘stuck’ with nothing exciting to do, and so such a motivation for crafting would be very welcome.
The game does have some weak design points. For instance, one of the required steps for a new player is to build a certain puzzle for others to solve and judge. The puzzle is built from a template, and is not hard to make. For you to pass, you need at least 7 other people to solve and "approve" it. However, solving this puzzle is an annoyance after you've done two or three, so no one would do it of their own free will. To get votes, you have to stand next to your puzzle and beg passers-by or your friends to come and vote on your creation. Clearly, the idea here is great -- but it needs more work before making it into the game.
Or take perhaps the most boring Test in the game, Test of the Acrobat. Players try to teach each other different acrobatic moves. Whoever learns all possible moves, passes the Test. Cool as it sounds, it contains zero strategy, zero decisions, just thousands of mindless clicks as you repeatedly show different moves to everyone who cares to suffer through this ordeal. In fairness, I should say that some players like this Test.
Part of the crafting does not have the form of mini-games, but rather follows the more traditional approach of a million mindless clicks. Also, some mini-games are nothing more than boring trial and error. Luckily, macros are allowed in ATiTD, as long as you're not afk. Many players post macros on their websites, and they can automate not just the boring parts but almost any crafting activity except for a few especially hard mini-games.
Another questionable design choice is the leveling system. You are forced to level up before you can access many skills and Tests. The leveling is not horrible, and is intended to give new players a better sense of direction. But it feels more like a needless restriction on your freedom to play the game the way you choose.
I also felt that strategic decision-making is lacking. You won’t find yourself in a heated discussion with your guild about how to proceed on a major project – there’s usually only one way to build things. You won’t be deciding where to invest your limited resources – as a rule, you build whatever you like to play with, or what you clearly need. You won’t be traveling around your region or country trying to understand its economy and how to best improve it – usually it’s obvious what is needed (typically donations to Universities and some public facilities to help players who don’t belong to large guilds).
Finally, ATiTD’s hasn’t (yet?) succeeded in its ambition to develop into a sophisticated virtual society. The potential is there, and it sure would add an exciting new aspect to the game. But at present, the society is no different from a simple community present in any small online game. There is no political power to fight for, wealth distribution is limited to the standard guild system present in any MMORPG, and there is no social status beyond the obvious ‘well-known/respected’ and ‘unknown’ players.
The legal and political systems are currently quite primitive. In the three years since the first version of the game came out, several dozen laws have been adopted (all of them carry over into the next version). None of them were world-shattering; a few were of modest significance, but with time, their relevance fades. In the four months since the current version was launched, players were only given two chances to adopt a new law; both new laws just added a minor interface feature.
The political system is limited to a single elected leader, whose only power is to ban offensive players (which almost never happens anyway). And even this feature of the game was not created by a player vote, but rather mandated ‘from above’ by the game designer. The game is flexible enough to let the players do almost anything – for instance, establish a powerful government, collect taxes, etc. But the ATiTD World in its current incarnation lacks the depth and complexity to motivate any such evolution. For instance, in the absence of violence, a central government can only emerge if it offers significant benefits compared to the anarchy. But the current anarchy does not present any significant problems or annoyances, so there is no reason for players to try and come up with a new system.
Despite these criticisms, I really like the game so far. The game is constantly evolving, and the developers actively communicate with players, through forums and chats. ATiTD is the most innovative and unique among all MMORPGs and I hope it would sort out its problems with time.