So don't start any rumors that we are abandoning it or something... we're not, I promise. We are using a good majority of the server technology developed for this project for M.E. I never said the game was over, everyone... we will continue to improve and upgrade the Realm. Kerry Sergent is now full-time working on Realm improvements... and Stephen and I will chip in from time to time as well. Consider Middle-earth as 4.0, in some ways the Realm is an R&D project... simply because it never really was advertised and never really made any money.
All:
I'm not really authorized to spill the beans on this totally, but I just can't hold it in any longer. There has been a bit of speculation about Yosemite Entertainment's new Middle Earth game and what it means to The Realm. Well, here's the scoop:
Middle Earth is a brand new game based on the same basic server technology that was developed for The Realm. The client technology has been totally reworked (I've been busy) and is seriously kick-butt. Our acquiring of the Middle Earth license has been about a year in the works and I'm VERY VERY excited to be able to design a game based on those FANTASTIC works.
I want to stress that The Realm is not going away. While I will not be personally working on it any more, we do have a support team in place to continue advancing the gameplay into the future. I suspect, however, that most all of The Realm's players will flock to Middle Earth when it's ready. (Just like version 2.x to 3.x)
The only other tidbits that I can share are that Middle Earth will be an awesome product for a number of reasons. We've been doing massively multiplayer graphical games longer than just about anyone out there. Unlike The Realm, Middle Earth will have MAJOR support in the form of That means big fat servers, full musical scores... and LOTS more graphics and sound. We also have the entire universe of Middle Earth to draw on and build upon.. which is arguably one of the most recognized fanasy franchises around.
That's all I'm gonna say at the moment. But this thing is gonna ROCK!.
steve
the realm: town hall
FAQ...
from Stephen Nichols (StephenNichols), Sat May 9 16:16:41 US/Pacific 1998
Please read this message in it's entirety. It helps to clear up the questions that have been asked about our new massively multiplayer game called Middle Earth Online.
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Q: What is Middle Earth?
A: Middle Earth is a fantasy world created by J.R.R. Tolkien. You've probably heard of the stories. "The Hobbit", "The Lord of The Rings". It's a great franchise. The same development team for The Realm (much enhanced now) is in the process of creating a new massively multiplayer game called Middle Earth Online. As you may have guessed, the Middle Earth Online game is based on the Middle Earth universe created by J.R.R. Tolkien.
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Q: If you're making Middle Earth? What's going to happen to The Realm?
A: We will continue to support The Realm entirely during the development of Middle Earth. A new team has been hired to continue development of The Realm. We are planning several revisions to The Realm over the next year. The programming lead for the new revisions of The Realm is Kerry Sergent. He is one of the original developers of The Realm and knows the game well. He will serve everyone nicely.
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Q: Will my characters transfer over to Middle Earth when it's done?
A: No. Your characters will not transfer to Middle Earth. The games will be entirely different. We may (MAY being the operative word here) provide some kind of name saving for existing Realm players in Middle Earth. There may also (MAY being the operative word here too) be some kind of account transfer options. We will do something to support moving your identity over to Middle Earth, but it's too early in the process to be sure what that will be.
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Q: Did I waste my money in renewing my Realm account?
A: No, not at all. We will continue to support The Realm fully and will add new features and regions over time. We are taking what we have learned from The Realm and applying it to Middle Earth. We will NOT be abandoning The Realm in any sense of the word.
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Q: What will the pricing of Middle Earth be?
A: We can't say because we don't know yet. We are partial to the pricing system used by The Realm, but anything is possible. We will release proper information on this at the appropriate time.
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Q: Is Middle Earth using the same graphics engine and look the same as The Realm?
A: No. The engine is much improved. Animation quality is 1000 percent better. The basic interface will reamain similar, but the client is totally reworked.
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Q: Is Middle Earth going to be real-time 3D?
A: No. We researched using real-time 3D for Middle Earth for quite some time and decided that the quality of real-time 3D characters was below the level of quality needed to do the Middle Earth environment justice. All artwork in the game will be rendered in 3D instead of the cartoony style of The Realm.
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Q: Will I be able to download Middle Earth?
A: No way. Well, I take that back. You *could* if you wanted to download 600 megabytes of data. It's CD all the way for most people though.
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Hopefully this answers most of the question you have. We will post something more formal next week. You can also visit http://www.tolkien-game.com for more basic information.
steve
Visit Middle Earth Online
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