Legends of Zork Goes Live

TinBromide writes "The developers over at Jolt Online Gaming have released Legends of Zork to the general public. It's a free, browser-based, adventure game based on the world of Zork. You play as a Traveling Salesman, recently laid off from FrobozzCo. You start off in a clearing, where a white house has a boarded up door. From there, you can do what you like. Explore the world, fight other salesmen in PVP, or try out your Darkvision Goggles in the dark — just try not to get eaten by a grue." It's free in that you're given 30 Action Points each day, which are consumed by moving about and fighting. Their business model is that if you want more Action Points, you can purchase more.

Comments

Action Points? Oh no.

[SuperMo0]

It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

> USE TORCH

You have no more action points.

*log on the next day*

You have been eaten by the grue.

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH.

What?

Re:Action Points? Oh no.

[Norsefire]

I think it is more likely to go:

It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

> USE TORCH

You have no more action points. Please enter your credit card details to not die.

Re:Action Points? Oh no.

[Anonymous Coward]

Please enter your credit card details to not die.

If you're interested in the business model of Legend of Zork, you essentially buy "coconuts" with cash (a wagon load of 60 costs $20) and then these can be redeemed for action points. So while it won't work to pay not to die, you certainly can pay your way through the system instead of waiting for your AP cool down.

Since it's a lot like Legend of the Green Dragon, one could with a lot of cash become much better than anyone else (you need action points to battle and you need to battle to gain experience and gold). Just walk about dueling after that.

It's slick and graphically beautiful, it's a shame that the option exists to shamelessly become better through the tendering of cash instead of dedicated play. I hope this works out for them financially though as none of these browser games seem to become mainstream (and I know I'll take flak for some classic mud that everyone knows and still plays at some site).

Re:Action Points? Oh no.

[AftanGustur]

I went through my daily "25 points" in about 25 minutes or so ..

"Authentic FrobozzCo Bottle o' Berzio" costs 10 Coconuts and gives you 200 "Action points" which you will easily spend in an hour or two ..

If those 200 points are one-time-shot, then this is the most expensive game I have ever seen.

Hello sailor

[Anonymous Coward]

The mac logo on the back of your laptop is a shining beacon to attract men.

You could at least try to stay on topic for Zork.

O ye who use Macs :
Dost thou know the magnitude of thy sin before the gods?
Yea, verily, thou shalt be ground between two stones.
Shall the angry gods cast thy body into the whirlpool?
Surely, thy eye shall be put out with a sharp stick!
Even unto the ends of the earth shalt thou wander and
Unto the land of the dead shalt thou be sent at last.
Surely thou shalt repent of thy cunning.

Actually seems kinda fun

[shinmai]

Plays easy, doesn't require flash or other plugins, and everything actually is sort of "Zorky".

Most browser-based games have perks for paying players, and being able to buy action points isn't really the worst I've seen. It doesn't overly imbalance the gameplay, at least in my opinion.

Only time will tell how this really fans out, but I'm in positive spirits. (Between this and Battlefield Heroes I'm going to be spending even more time at my browser in the future :D)

Re:Actually seems kinda fun

[montyzooooma]

I played until level 3 or 4, basically a days worth of action points and really don't see the appeal. RPS did a reasonably in depth rant here:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/04/02/grue-some-zork-remake-live-horrible/#more-9807

Re:Actually seems kinda fun

[flitty]

I think they should have given out 60 action points for free. 30 just isn't enough to even do any sort of exploring. The one dungeon I found was a 19 step dungeon, and there's just something about getting halfway through it and being forced to quit that left a bad taste in my mouth. I know they are trying to entice me to pay for points, but 30 is sort of silly. Unless someone pays for points, nobody will really know if it's good or not for another couple weeks.

browser-based

[Thanshin]

Am I the only one who reads "browser-based" as "play from work"?

Some day I'll develop a web browser impossible to distinguish from an excel spreadsheet.

"You | 50.22 | Have been | % | 3473N | B Y | a GRUE"

great game - doesn't deserve to be called zork

[peaceful_bill]

I love the art style. I love the monsters. I love the locations. I love the "feel". Very well realized, but, um, activisionâ¦. THIS ISNT ZORK! This is somethingâ¦.awful. This is some horrible, Frankensteinian aberration. This is heresy. This is a gut-wrenching vomit soaked, "find out you have cancer" thing to do to the zork series. W.T.F. ?!

This is *gasp* web-based. You've made a pretty decent web-based game, and given it the spiritual name of the most important game to EVER COME TO COMPUTERS. Do you see where I'm coming from?

DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?! Kingdom of loathing is a great web based game, and in all honest more deserving of the title zork. Have you guys ever played nethack? Adventure? MUD II? Do you even KNOW who Richard Bartle is?

This is like a terrible thing to do with zork! Zork is a text-based game! text-based! that's why WE LOVED ZORK because we could imagine stuff - you know - WITH OUR IMAGINATION THINGY!!!!!

But text based games are alive and well - both multiplayer (in the MUD and MUSH community) and single player (in the interactive fiction community).

PS: whoever thought of the idea of buying coconuts for fucking action points needs to be eaten by a grue. you know about that, right?

Re:great game - doesn't deserve to be called zork

[Red Flayer]

Did you forget your head in your ass?

Why yes, yes I did.

And the worst part of it is that I had to shove my monitor up there too in order to read your post.

Re:30 points?

[cthulu_mt]

That's the dumbest business model I've ever heard. You need to go back to business school son.

No one would ever pay a monthly subscription for a game.

Summary of the game

[uigrad_2000]

All you need to know is here:

• The game is text-based, with static images of monsters to show what you are currently fighting.
• There are no dungeons to learn. Your only options for moving is "step forward to fight a new monster" or "retreat to your home".
• The main focus of the game is the leader board, which can be sorted by total XP or total gold.
• Each day, you receive 30 more action points.
• Action points let you fight monsters and level up. One Action point is needed per battle.
• More action points can be bought with Coconuts. The best rate is +200 action points for 10 coconuts.
• Coconuts can also be used for buying armor. The best rate for buying coconuts is 60 coconuts per $20.

In conclusion, if your friend spends $20, in one day, then you'll need to play 40 days to catch up with him. The rankings really just show which players have spent the most money.

I've been playing since the first slashdot story about this, and I think it's pretty well done, when the server isn't crashing. The need to pay real money to be competitive is really a shame. Everyone who tries it should know this going in.