MMOs are a strange kind of genre to get into. With console games like BioShock or Gears of War, it's usually the hype or the fact everybody on the entire planet is playing which persuades me to buy/rent a game. MMOs however require a little more patience and have a steeper learning curve. You need to be in it for the longish haul and most aren't exactly pick up and play. Not if you're me anyway. In my case I got into MMOs because of friends and then because of my job. I started off not knowing a thing about this strange online genre and suddenly three years later they make up a good fifty percent of my income as a freelance journalist. But at the same time titles like EverQuest, WoW and more recently AoC and LotRO lingered in my peripheral radar for months before they were released, only getting my full attention once the shiny collector's editions were all sold out.

So, constant readers, how did you discover the strange new world of the MMO? Do you just play one or do you now find yourself torn between many different words and cultures. Were you initially sceptical about this MMO lark, or did you embrace online gaming with enthusiasm and have not looked back since?