[Greymain]

I had a great year playing AC2 for all its faults it was better than EQ2.

Good article and I agree with most of it.

As to instancing I agree it is a tool to be used when appropriate. The golden rule should be that you are unaware that you are in an instance.

The boat trip is not quite the same as an instanced forced group trip if I can jump off the ship and swim away any time I want to. Whereas Gryphon Flight in EQ2 is a form of instance or teleport in that you cannot interact with the world while flying.

Virtual worlds that you can customize? With the power of machines doubling every year and mass storage cost halving in price, the production of a world that every player can actively customize will arrive soon, after all housing is a tiny step in this direction.