[Baram]

I do not know what Persistent Realms is doing, the last time I spoke with Ryan he wanted to build a new engine and try again. After what happened there, and knowing that it wasn't the first time, I decided working with people that are dedicated to making good MUDs was the way to go.

When Matt and I were discussing a new game, we both agreed that what was needed was a good game in a different genre. After a few different designs we settled on Sci-Fi, and here we are... a whole year later. It is my hope that by having a different genre it will help to attract players that have so far stayed away from IRE games, but that is not the only thing we have to offer. ToP has gone very much away from the standard model, to the point that I started from a clean slate and didn't use the same base that most of the other games started with. This has allowed me to do some different things with combat, PvE, skills, a semi-classless system, etc. I've also taken some steps that I think will help in the ever popular arguments that in IRE games you can't get anywhere without money, of course it is still a commercial venture but we're trying some different ideas.