Meridian 59 - Old Gods, Nearly Dead

Thanks to GameZone for their interview with Brian 'Psychochild' Green of Near Death Studios, talking about their resurrection of the 3D graphical MMORPG for PC, Meridian 59, which first launched in 1996, a year before even Ultima Online. Some of the original developers bought the property back from 3DO in 2001, and are "unveiling a new graphics engine" at this year's GenCon. According to Brian, "We think that Meridian 59 still has a lot to offer online RPG fans with it's innovative gameplay, interesting character advancement, well-balanced PvP, and great communication tools. Unfortunately, the graphical presentation gets in the way of people appreciating the game."

Comments

Look, ma, I'm on Slashdot!

[Psychochild]

Wow, didn't think this interview would get posted on Slashdot!

I'm the interviewee in the posted article. It's a variation on my current soapbox topic of game players supporting the independent developers. Independent developers are doing some cool things, and we need support to keep doing this.

Anyway, check out Meridian 59 if you like online RPGs but are a bit tired of the current offerings. We offer balanced PvP, great communication systems, and very flexible character creation. The game has a lot of depth from having 7 updates added to the game over 6 years. Just be patient with the newbie area, a lot of the really interesting complexity is hidden in the first part of the game in order to get online game newbies into the game easier. (There were a lot more of them 6 years ago, you know!) Make some friends, join a guild, and explore a new world.

If you're going to Gen Con Indy, stop by our booth and see the game in action. We'll be showing off the new graphical client, which is a marked improvement over the current software rendering engine.

See you in the game!

Re:Look, ma, I'm on Slashdot!

[casio282]

I wanted to second Brian's rallying call to support independent developers -- these people are doing it out of love, and it tends to show. Another independently produced game is A Tale in the Desert, an incredibly innovative MMOG which has one of the most sophisticated and complex world-models I've ever seen in a game...Moreover, it's the only RPG-style game I've seen in which people become truly skilled at doing what they choose to do (gemcutting? gear-box design? pyrotechnics?) by doing it, and performing the complex machinations involved. So players actually become skilled, rather than characters just advancing a skill number! There's at lot more -- check out the website if you are at all interested. Only in an independent game like ATITD would the lead developer give out his cellphone number in case the server goes down!

No, I don't work for them -- I'm just really impressed by the game and want to spread the word.

Another independent game I'm keeping my eyes on is They Came From Hollywood!, which looks to be a great update on the old "Crush, Crumble, and Chomp!" concept...

The only MMORPG I really enjoyed

[codexus]

I was in the beta (or was it even alpha I'm not sure) and it was really great, despite the really bad internet connection I had at the time!
Maybe it was because it was new, but it was really fun. I remember the first M59 online wedding ceremony, lots of players had connected to see that :)
I tried UO (the alpha was fun, but I didn't play more than a few hours in the retail version), EQ (I don't think I even played that one for more than an hour, I paid for at least 6 months though) but the one I remember with good memories is Meridian 59.

Value Package

[Kwil]

$10.95/month for Meridian 59 on its own.

Go to http://www.skotos.net and you can sign up for a year for $129.95 and save two bucks plus have access to a bunch of other RPG and strategy games, including The Eternal City (MUD), Underlight (another graphical MUD), and several strategy games.

Or you can just sign up on a monthly basis for $2 more than you'd pay for Meridian on its own.