Warning: Just written for fun.

Hello, I'm somebody who can't come up with an original way of telling you this, so I'm using the Zero Punctuation-style to do so. And before Yahtzee breaks into my room and tries to slit my throat with a butter knife, let me tell you the story about an MMORPG that is fun. And yeah, I know that „MMORPGs“ and „fun“ are normally only likely to appear in the same sentence together if the word „aren't“ is included, but hey, we live in a world in which Jack Thompson has actually defended a game against somebody who is even stupider than he is, and if it continues like that with less and less probable things happening, then the prophecy of the Mayans actually may become true!

The point is: Spiral Knights. Developped by only three people and still million times more fun than, say, World of Warcraft. And now the reasons why:

First, there is actual gameplay. Something resembling a challenge. The only challenge in most MMOs is not to try to fall asleep while you're doing your bloody grinding to get one more percent for your XP bar.

Sorry, but WoW and other games of its kind just don't seem to pull me in. It doesn't feel like I am the hero doing all these deeds. It's more like I'm a god who got bored of burning cities and banging his relatives who decides to dress a doll and make it go to point X to kill Y so quest Z will be completed.

In Spiral Knights, while it still has mouse control, is a lot more immersive because you have to actually pay attention to what you're doing due to its very Zelda-esque gameplay or you can say bye-bye to half your life energy.

Second, we have a huge focus on exploration. Normally, MMORPGs try to have a gigantic world you can explore, but only if you're participating on the grinding so you can kill monsters with a slightly higher level.

In Spiral Knights, even though we have smaller levels, you're going to see much more because you have several differently themed kinds of rooms, which change their order all the time and you have to visit the dungeons several times to actually see everything. So while you still have to grind a little bit, you don't need to do it in the same enviroment for hours upon hours until your brain melts.

Third, it has to be the first MMO that made me shed a tear because I realised that the developpers gave a crap. The only reason WoW is still running is not because Blizzard keeps making money the same way George Lucas keeps pressing the last penny out of his franchise zombie, but because if they do shut their servers finally down – and if they do, feel free to come to the party I'm going to celebrate - they either have to deal with hundreds upon hundreds of suicides or making a new game. And remember, they're under Activision now, so the second option is less likely to happen than me actually having a girlfriend within the next fifteen years.

Fourth, the developpers ask YOU, as in YOU, the player, if THEY can call YOU on YOUR phone so YOU can tell THEM what YOU think of THEIR game. Imagine, for example, Nintendo doing something similar. They would make at least ten times the money because they would start to introduce more franchises without having to worry that the game won't sell because Mario's face isn't slapped on it.

Now, not that Spiral Knights is perfect. It does have one flaw and one flaw only, but it's big enough to rage about and if you're making a video like this and don't complain about something in great detail, people are going to click on the red X before you can say „horrible rip off“.

You know those free MMOs that have these few superspecialawesome things that you can only get by either the G-word or reaching into your divine wallet only to realise later on that the sword or the cosplay you just bought is going to disappear in a week because the developpers need more money or are dicks?

Well, Spiral Knights does that WITH THE CURRENCY YOU NEED TO ACTUALLY PLAY THE GAME.

You see, there is Mist Energy and Crystal Energy. The former regenerates until you reach a fixed amount, while the second doesn't and needs to be bought with the money you got from playing or with your own currency.

When you enter a dungeon, a certain amount of energy is taken away for reasons that do make sense in context, but if you're bad at this game and have to pay with more energy so you can get resurrected because you're the only one playing and nobody can give you half their live, better hope that there are people who lend you energy for the elevators or you get thrown right back to the last city so you can start all over again!

And if it was just this, but Energy is also neccesary for the Alchemy system. Buying equipment with money and money only is ludicrously expensive and if you don't suck hard enough and get the concept of „Use the left mouse button for attack and X for your shield“ you don't even need to bother.

Well, here the Alchemy systen kicks in. And now follow me, because every step is neccesary: You need energy to visit a dungeon, money to buy a recipe within the dungeon from a merchant, materials that you get by killing things, and yet more money and energy to actually make what you want. And if you're really bad off and a piece of equipment needs 100 energy – the maximum amount of Mist Energy you can have at a time – you have to sit on your arse until you have that much, make the piece of equipment and then sit on your arse again before you have enough energy to visit a dungeon so you can actually use your new equipment for something!

So basically, you have the choice between „making something that's slightly better for you when you're playing the game“ and „just playing the game“!

Though, admittedly, it has gotten a lot better with the energy system and you don't have to – or better, can't - fuse equipment too often as some materials are so bloody rare that finding the Question to Life, the Universe and Everything is more likely in front of your eyes to provide you with expensive prostitutes and a copy of the good version of Duke Nukem Forever.

But who am I kidding? The soundtrack is nice and relaxing, the characters are so adorably designed that it makes me wonder why they aren't making money with actually existing merchandise, the community is friendly which is doubly important because team play plays a very big role and it feels like an actual game rather than a bad Point-and-Click adventure with no puzzles that you have to pay monthly fees for if you feel really fancy.

By the way, have I mentioned that I hate grinding more than Busy Street hates That Guy With The Glasses? Because I do.