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MMORPGs - From MUDs To Mainstream

Posted by simoniker on from the brought-to-you-by-sponsor-x dept.

Thanks to GameSpy for the first in a series of weekly articles charting the evolution of massively multiplayer online games. The piece discusses the claim that "All of the elements of MMOGs existed by the late eighties, but they did not exist in a single product", but suggests that Meridian 59 was the first "Internet-based, true graphical-based MUD." The article goes on to chart the rise of MMORPGs through Ultima Online (which "proved that there was a market for MMOGs, but... also suffered from problems that would haunt online worlds"), Lineage (which found "a ravenous market of its own overseas"), and EverQuest (which "accomplished everything that Meridian 59 attempted to do.")

2 of 14 comments (clear)

  1. The Realm Online! by Calmiche · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Whoa, hold on! The Realm Online came out several months before Meridian 59. It actually existed as a stable open beta for almost a year before that!

    It featured, at the time, better graphics, more people playing and a great deal more innovations. Many latter MMORPG concepts were based off the ideas it pioneered.

    Development began in 1995 and shortly thereafter Sierra bought the rights to it and began supporting it. It was developed at the same time as the legendary INN. It moved through several companies over the years, including AOL, Codemasters and now it is owned by a player run company, Norseman Games.

    It is one of the longest running MMORPG out there, if not the longest. It still has a fairly large and extremely dedicated fan base.

    Since it is under new management, a lot of things are changing. You can expect to see a LOT more about Realm in the coming months.

    Check out www.realmserver.com for information and screenshots. The company is even offering a free month trial of the game.

  2. Re:Paying for high level perks by MMaestro · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Companies like GameShark had nothing on early PC gaming "short-cuts". Cheat programs for PC games have been handmade and hand distributed for years now. The only reason you're hearing about character selling these days is because MMO games save all character data on their own servers and have a (fairly) secure system. You NEVER heard of anybody selling their items or characters in Diablo 1 or Diablo 2 (open server) where the data was saved on the player's computer.