Thorns of War - A Free Browser Based MMORPG

Thorns of War is a fun and free online RPG. It's a modern browser based MUD that's also an MMORPG. The game is open with no pre-determined script or set of quests for you to follow. Nearly everything in the game (roads, buildings, weapons, etc) was built, and continues to be built, by players out of dense forest. The players control the destiny of the game.

Role playing is a huge part of this game. You'll join one of two human races that inhabit a land known as The Gelod. The native Gaeldor are based in the northern regions and the seafaring Thular, looking for new lands to inhabit, have begun settling the south. The woods are also filled with animals and strange creatures.

Warning: This game is addictive.

Thorns of War has a lot of features to keep the game fun and interesting. Here are a few key features...

1. No Ads - Thorns of War is free and doesn't fill up your browser with ads.
2. Chat With Other Players - There are several ways to communicate with other players in Thorns of War. There's a game wide chat window that all players can join. You can send private messages to any player in the game. Talk to the other players in your same location or shout to players in your general area (what you can see on the map). If you are a member of a clan, there's also a clan chat feature to chat with all other clan members.
3. Multiple Ways to Play - You're free to develop your character as you wish in Thorns of War. There's no pre-defined path. You decide which survival, crafting and combat skills to develop. You can become a merchant, a warrior, a builder or any combination you want.
4. No Download - There's no software to download to your computer. Simply play in your web browser.
5. Everything Is Built By Players - All of the buildings, forts, paths and other structures you find in the game have been built by other players. Most of the armor, weapons and other clothing items are also crafted by players. The only exceptions are items recovered from creatures. Start crafting and you can create stuff, too.

Like any new game, there's a learning curve to playing Thorns of War. Here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Practice - Every combat, crafting and survival skill in the game requires practice. It will be slow at first but your character will get better with practice.
2. Get Leg Armor - The first NPC creatures you'll fight are giant rats. They only attack your legs so get some leggings or other armor to protect your legs.
3. Get Copper or Bronze Weapons - Metal weapons are much stronger than the stone or wooden weapons. Upgrade as soon as you can by shopping in the shops or crafting your own. Same goes for your armor, but leather armor is better than nothing.
4. Be Friendly - Most people playing Thorns of War are very friendly and helpful towards new players. Ask questions if you can't find an answer in the Help menu. To participate in the game wide chat, type /chat followed by your message. To talk to someone in your space, just type and press enter. To shout to everyone on the visible map, type /shout followed by your message.
5. Avoid Getting Killed - Everyone dies eventually. But three things happen when you die in Thorns of War: First, you go back to your race's spawn point. Second, all of the weapons and armor you're carrying get damaged. It costs ruks to repair your gear so this can get expensive quick. Your gear can get damaged beyond repair and disappear if you're not careful. The third thing that happens is your combat skills take a small hit. To avoid dying, you can try to flee a fight if your health (the red bar) is getting low by running away. If you're fleeing an aggressive creature (red dot), try to run into an open tower or building and close the door. Once you've fled, sit down so your wounds will start to heal and your health can recover.

Above is a screen shot of the map displayed on your screen. It shows the village of Idavale near the center of the Gelod lands.

You can see the buildings, paths, towers, walls and even a bridge over the stream that have all been built by other players.

The white dot in the center is me. Green dots are items...doors, gates, weapons, furniture, food, a chopped down tree, etc. The blue dots are non aggressive NPCs such as hirelings, rats or forest creatures you can hunt for food and skins.

Other players would show as a yellow dot and aggressive creatures (ones that will chase and attack you) are displayed as red dots.

Above the map is the name of the area your character is in, the type of ground you're standing on and your sense of the danger level in the area. Don't rely on your Spidey sense too much, I've been attacked in "No Real Danger" areas and traveled "Grave Danger" areas without seeing any hostile creatures.

The status bars below the map are your stamina level (green) and task points (blue). Task points are needed to craft and help speed up actions like digging clay or foraging for food. Below the status bars is a short cut list of key commands.

Free vs. Paid Accounts

Like many other online games, there are two options to play Thorns of War...free and paid accounts.

A free account allows you to do everything in the game except build buildings and hire NPC hirelings. All of the combat, crafting and other skills are open to you. You may even advance your skills faster since you're not distracted by gathering resources to build and maintain buildings.

The biggest drawback of the free account is that you can't build a place to safely lock up your stuff or a shop to sell your items in. You can still sell things directly to other players but not in a shop manned by a hireling that players can buy from even while you're offline.

The paid account is about 4 USD per month depending on how many months you sign up for. This gives you the ability to make a bigger impact on the game's landscape with buildings, paths, bridges and forts. It also allows you to claim panning and felling rights in the area around your buildings.

My recommendation is to try Thorns of War with the free account for a while then decide if you want to build buildings and upgrade.

Have you played Thorns of War? What do you think of it?