entirely AI controlled. According to David Bowman in 2002, "Horizons will not ship with player versus player conflict. Rather, Artifact has chosen to put its full attention to making the player versus environment gameplay the best it can be." This enemy was originally supposed to be dynamic in nature, launching automatic attacks on player held positions and blighting (capturing) the ground with its evil magic. This proved to be difficult to implement properly in practice, and the battlefront was eventually scaled back into static regions of player and Blight held areas. However, in the years after Horizons launched World Events that would be held. This would allow players to make a permanent mark on the world. While not as cost-effective to maintain as an automated system, this allowed Artifact and Tulga to keep their promise of a changing, interactive world. After several years, there was no longer any land or lairs to purchase anymore. Only through Plot Reclamations, released by Virtrium in 2008, did owning areas become available to players without a paid account. The Plot Reclamations have since been carried out monthly. With the various updates, new content has been added since 2007. Updates to the client in recent years, along with more powerful computers have significantly reduced lag and improved the stability and smoothness of the game. Plot Events When first launched, the Horizons staff established an event-driven storyline. These events revealed the lore and history of Istaria, and occasionally led to the discovery of new, different events. Originally the game was slated to have weekly events, but since September 2004, they have been drastically reduced in number due to staffing and financial issues at Artifact and, later, Tulga. Some of the events included digging tunnels and building bridges to access new areas, and the freeing of an entire race from magically maintained slavery. Both the Satyr and Dryad races became player accessible through such large-scale, server-wide events. Prior to the launch of Horizons and the problems that followed, these events and others like them were intended to be ongoing in a continuous fashion. Virtrium added seasonal events held throughout the year: Spring Festival, Summer Festival: Pax Istaria, Fall Festival and Winter Festival: Gnomekindle. Reception Istaria suffered from several problems in the first years after launch. Many of these are acknowledged by both the current and former management of the various companies that have owned Istaria. Rick Simmons,