For those who are short on time and who are not hard-core players, quick trivia questions and other fast games will also be available.

It's fun for both casual players and for the hard-core players for whom the game is more just than a game: it's a lifestyle.

Earlier massively multiplayer online games like EverQuest, which topped out at around a half-million users, appealed almost entirely to hard-core young male players.

But some of the most powerful new features in Vista are not for hard-core players at all.

"That makes the hard-core players very important, not so much as role models but as measuring sticks for other players."

Perhaps only 3 percent of them are hard-core players like Thedeacon.

"But the key thing is that we haven't substantially increased the participation of hard-core players," said Brad Patterson, the industry association's executive director.

Lead developer Alan Flores has stated that the difficulty of the game is much harder than previous games and is designed to challenge the hard-core player.

That can be rewarding for hard-core players, though also punishing and frustrating for newcomers.

But for hard-core players like Kevin O'Connor, the extra cost is worth it.