Hey, guys.

Sorry for bumping this topic, but:

I'm curious to know how the development is comming along? Is there a set date? I'm looking forward to play on this new project.

It's dead, last I heard. Traithe has moved on to a new project of his own.

Yep. I was a finalist for the job. It was disappointing *not* to get it. However, it would have been even more disappointing to get it and then have the project shelved. I think IRE still holds the rights to the theme, though.

Development has begun on Midkemia Online (working name), but so far it's all backend work and some high level design work (primarily working through concepts for a combat system). We have decided to use the period between the end of the first Riftwar and the beginning of the 2nd Riftwar (the Serpentwar) as the setting for the game.

--matt

Does that mean you're dropping the normal IRE combat system?

Yeah. We want Midkemia to be a different style of game for market segmentation reasons.

--matt

Didn't I say this wouldn't work?

If you make it an RPI, I'll play.

Sorry, but RPIs are just not popular enough as a playstyle to be worth it.
--matt

If you change your mind, let me know. Guess I'll stick with SoI.

People don't change their mind, especially where profit is concerned.

That's an exceptionally ignorant statement. The people in the world who are the best at generating profit tend to be those most willing to change their minds to adapt to new realities or new understanding of those realities.

In this case, neither the reality that RPIs are a small niche even within text MUDs or my understanding of that reality has changed. Iron Realms is interested in entertaining larger groups of people than that.

--matt

You know logos, if you made your DreamMud, instead of focusing on the market and drawing the most players... I mean with your experience in organizing the creation of mud, mindstorming ideas etc.. damn it would probably be great.

ps. before you post that you love all your current MuDs we all do realize that you need to do that for the marketeering... :-p

Anyway I look forward to trying your new mud since you say it will use a different system. I hope one which allows you to use abbreviations all the way!

There are a couple of RPI's that consistantly stay in the top 20 here and on other sites.

Honestly, I think that IR should try their hand at an RPI. They might just be surprised and help the overall RPI market in the process.

*shrugs*

Achaea was my dream MUD actually, and until June of this year, was my baby. I don't have the time to do much direct work on individual MUDs these days though. I'm working on the meta-design for Midkemia Online, and then will hand it over to the lead designer.

Well, I can't say that I personally love (as a player) any of our MUDs but Achaea, as I haven't spent a ton of time playing any of them and was lead designer on only Achaea. Virtually every player of Aetolia, Imperian, and Lusternia knows more about those games than I do, except at an administrative level of course.

It's not about whether I like a MUD or not though. I'm not the customer, nor is anyone else at Iron Realms. We're concerned with the desires of potential players as players make the virtual world go round.

Actually, Iron Realms has teamed up with the series of typing tutorials and we will be creating extra-long commands to give people everywhere more practice at typing. No longer will your typing education be hampered by the convenience of just typing "l" for "look" for instance. In this brave new world of edutainment text MUDs, you will have the opportunity to type, "lookatwhatishere" instead! And remember how you might just type an apostrophe for 'say'? No more will the fascist apostrophe insert its vile self into your dreams, for in Midkemia Online you will have the great privilege of typing "expressmyselfplease" instead of "say" or a simple apostrophe.

As you can see, MO is really going to be the sort of virtual world that stands up and says, "I teach typing!!"

--matt