I set foot in Thestra for the first time on Tuesday morning, and the first thing I noticed was how utterly quiet the newbie area was. This bothered me a little, since newer MMOs like this usually have at least a few low levels running around, even several weeks after launch. I have to admit, I had a negative opinion of the game before I even logged in, and this did nothing but reinforce it. It launched early, and had a lot of memory leaks and other issues that have been giving it a bad name. I expected a lag filled, buggy gaming experience, and have been very surprised to find a game that runs fairly smoothly, and hasn't crashed for me once. I'm glad I decided to give the game a chance.

My first character is (of course) Knarr. Once I logged in, I walked up to the first quest giver I saw. His name is Beardun Ironguard and I asked if I could be of service. It turns out that he really dislikes kobolds, and wanted my help in thinning the population a bit. I agreed to help, and I was soon up to my elbows in kobold bits. I am loving the quests so far, as they are fairly unique. And you have no idea how utterly beautiful this world is until you see it first hand. The screenshots just don't do it justice. I find myself standing on the hill just outside the starter tower, gazing off into the distance. Now, if only I could afford to get that second 7950!

Anyway, I will update you in a couple of days on how the leveling is going, and my overall impression of the game. Feel free to send me a tell in game if you see me on (Knarr or my goblin Khrul, both on Shrideth), I'll be there, somewhere, starting at the trees...