My first experience with Gemstone was Gemstone III on AOL when I was around 14 or 15 years old. I was a big fan of fantasy novels by authors like Melanie Rawn and David Eddings and it was enthralling to explore a fantasy world and create a custom character. I'm an avid reader so exploring a world via text and using my imagination to bring it to life is more attractive than graphics that might not match up with what you envision. I've played a lot of modern MMOs since then and nothing scratches the same itch that Gemstone does in regards to creating a unique character. From features, to clothing, to items, etc. there are numerous ways for you to make your character unique albeit in the form of text on a screen. If you enjoy exploring a world, interacting with other players via roleplaying, and not running full tilt towards an end-game/dead end, then Gemstone IV might be a very worthwhile experience for you. www.play.net