Dark and Light

Dark and Light is a fantasy MMORPG set in the fictional land of Ganareth, where forces of light and dark are at war. After choosing a race, you start as a citizen working your way up, distributing experience points in different areas and paths. Once you reach level 10, a general class can be chosen: fighter, healer, hunter or spellcaster. Experience can then be spent in three areas: Craft Axis, Combat Axis and Social Axis.

During your training, you have to choose one of nine different gods (factions). Each God has a specific relationship to a kingdom, to races, classes and alignment. The relationship to your god is defined by a divine faction, granting additional characteristics or even the god's interference. During a year, each constellation dominates the others in turn, allowing for improved skills. Certain quests are only opened up by a defined amount of allegiance, and both NPCs and creatures react to your alignment.

Dark and Light claims to have the largest seamless playing surface in an MMORPG: 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles). You can move around using gliders, mounts, boats, cable cars and hot air balloons. Another means of transportation is the mana tower. You can use it to travel through regions, and if you are nearby and the tower is fueled with the proper crystals, you benefit from the influence. There is a total of 13 realms, of which 10 are PVP-enabled.

You can start guilds and brotherhoods, a holding if you focus on the economic side with resource management, and a fortress if you are more interested in fighting. Each of these comes with a management system where you get an overview of all members, including a ranking system. The same system exists for temporary adventure groups. There is also a focus on the crafting of items to advance. Daily game events are published in the online Ganareth Gazette.

The game can be downloaded for free, but an access key ($54.99 at the launch with one month of subscription or 15 game credits included) needs to be purchased. Once playing, there are two account options. You either pay a monthly fee of $14.99 - or you use the freedom card with game credits. A pack of 15 credits ($14.99) has no monthly fees, but requires credits for certain actions, such as equipping or teaching a companion, and the exploration of further realms added after the initial release. It also holds the restriction that you cannot become a guild, fort or holding leader and there is restricted access to honorary titles.