You might have noticed that my "in-depth" look at Fresbo World was rather short, compared to my other atlas entries, and the honest reason for that is that there isn't that much of it!

However, my feelings on that are rather conflicted. I have to admit that Fresbo World is still in beta, which can be used to an extent as an excuse for its limited nature, but on the other hand a lot of other beta worlds I've experienced there was still a huge amount of content. In turn, however, Fresbo World's team is very small (as little as 4 people according to the company blog!) which means what they have done is actually very impressive.

There are more features to come in future (including upgradeable homes and pets) and when I think about the world in the context of the small team, I do appreciate it, especially because the world loads quickly, is completely stable (I've never had it crash) and is a strong basis for a deeper MMO to be developed from. The small community is a problem if you find socialization to be the main reason to play an MMO (as would most people) but the bonus is that Fresbo is at such an early stage the community has a better chance of growing than tailing off, especially when you consider the MMO is designed to be used as part of social networking through Facebook etc. -- making it easier for players to incorporate it into their daily internet socializing. The inhabitants of the world are having fun, too, no matter how few there are.

If there are problems, it would be the general lack of polish to the world. The graphics are fine in certain respects but are often basic or clash with each other -- it's not a particularly attractive world -- and the interface is rather ugly, despite being very functional. Because I don’t find the world very nice to look at, it's important to note that my urge to work hard to improve my avatar's room or clothes was never very high -- something that may be the case with many other players, as few showed the flair that they do in other worlds.

The fact is that the MMO genre is a very crowded one, and while it's admirable for a small team to have created an MMO, the main worry is that without some major future development Fresbo World will be lost in the shuffle. They've done some good work in signing up microtransaction methods (with Cherry Credits and Offerpal Media, for example) but if there's something I've felt about the world it's that it's missing a vital spark, or a unique touch, that sets it apart and makes it essential. Fresbo World is certainly an MMO to keep watching as an underdog, but it remains to be seen if it can overcome that and find its place.