Character selection screen

The character selection screen (CSS), also known as character select screen, is the screen you are presented with after you log in from the Login screen.

Here you can select a character to play and enter the game, or select an empty slot to create a new character (which will take you directly into the game using them).

Your character slots are displayed in a ring fashion around the bottom of the screen. If there are more slots available than will fit on the screen at once, the ring can be rotated by holding the mouse over the arrows. The sort order of the characters can be changed with a selector in the upper left corner of the screen.

You can also access the in-game store, manage your account access keys, change your password, and delete characters from this screen.

History
The background of the screen changes according to the most recent campaign release. It is not possible to revert back to any of these screens, they are just shown here for reference.

Prophecies CSS
The Prophecies CSS did not allow for camera movement, and all characters you had were shown at once. Rather than thumbnails, you selected characters by clicking on them directly, which caused them to move forward.

There was no online store at this time.

Factions CSS
The Factions CSS added camera movement, and a new layout for characters. Characters were selected by clicking their thumbnails, and the selected character would appear in the center of the screen. Many UI elements, such as account key management, were changed to appear in a window instead of full screen.

About halfway through this screen's existence, the online store was added and its button placed in the upper right corner of the screen (example here).

Nightfall CSS
The Nightfall CSS was essentially the same as its predecessor, but with new borders, UI, background, and music to fit the Nightfall theme.

On July 17th of 2007, the sky used in this CSS was modified slightly: The left side was darkened somewhat. Some people claimed to hear a new gust of wind and the sound of wolves in the background. This may have been a foreshadowing to the:

Eye of the North CSS
On July 20th of 2007, the CSS was changed to feature a view of the Far Shiverpeaks with a Norn settlement in the background. The music and theme elements were updated to fit Eye of the North.
 * One of the mountains in the background closely resembles Half Dome in Yosemite National Park
 * The music played on the CSS is the same as the music played when you flee the Destroyers in their first apperance in any of the Eye of the North access missions.