DragonRealms

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This article is about the Simutronics multiplayer game. For the set of locations called Dragon Realms in the "Spyro the Dragon" video game, please see Spyro the Dragon (series).

DragonRealms
Developer(s)	Simutronics
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X (Game is a text game, played using a custom client based on Windows telnet architecture.)
Release date(s)	February 1996
Genre(s)	MMORPG, MUD
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

DragonRealms is a medieval fantasy game set in the world of Elanthia. One of the oldest and most popular^{[citation needed]} examples of a type of game known as a multi-user dungeon, it was developed from 1992-1995 and released in February 1996. It was originally intended for an online service planned by the Ziff-Davis company. When Ziff-Davis did not launch the service, DragonRealms was offered on GEnie and later AOL, Compuserve, and Prodigy. When AOL and other services went to a flat rate instead of hourly fees, DragonRealms was offered on the web on its own site^[1] and through the Microsoft Gaming Zone.

Contents 1 Game 1.1 Gameplay 2 Attempted Sept 11th hoax 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Game

The design basis for the game was created by Simutronics founder David Whatley, in response to a production request for a new game to open at the same time as the then-pending Ziff-Davis online service. While in development, the team called its as yet unnamed game many things, including "GemStone IV" and "Project Bob." When the Ziff-Davis contract was cancelled, the game was renamed as "DragonRealms", and opened on the GEnie service, where Simutronics already had other games including GemStone III and Orb Wars.

The game was implemented by a team of on-site employees and off-site contractors, led by Eric Slick, Elonka Dunin, and John Donham, with assistance from Tina Hill, Stephanie Shaver, David Dean, Nancy Gross, Jim Penrose, and Melissa (Callaway) Meyer, who later became producer of GemStone III. In later years, GemStone III was extensively updated and took the more appropriate name for itself of "GemStone IV", though this was no relation to the earlier working title of the DragonRealms game.

The two games, DragonRealms and GemStone, are said to take place in the same game universe of Elanthia, but in different eras, though it has not always been clear which game world pre-dated the other. Both games are considered flagship products of Simutronics, and have been some of the longest-running and most popular online text games in existence. ^[2] They were the top two products on GEnie, and in the mid-1990s were the top two games on America Online, together bringing in over one million hours per month of usage. ^[2]

During the first half of 2004, the staff of Simutronics and DragonRealms engaged in a major overhaul of the system to make it work with the newer game engine (IFE2). This project was dubbed "DR2" but, unlike GemStone IV, the actual name of the game was not changed.

DragonRealms 2 removed some programming limitations which made it difficult to come up with some kinds of new content and new mechanics. However, Dragonrealms 2 did not in itself come with major new gameplay systems or content visible to the player; it was a behind the scenes transition enabling the Gamemasters to create such systems in the future.

[edit] Gameplay

Character creation and gameplay in DragonRealms allows players to assume the role of a variety of races and professions and participate in combat, trading and other activities in an array of different settings. Naval travel and combat, non-standard casting (magic) classes and a use-based training system and a comparatively active base of players distinguish DragonRealms from many other text games. Subscribers can choose to play on one of three different game servers, including the "Prime" server (intended for normal gameplay), the "Platinum" server (intended for mandatory roleplay acting) and "The Fallen" (intended for unrestricted player killing, idle time and use of scripted commands).

Gameplay on DragonRealms also shares elements common to many role playing games, including the ability of players to increase character level (referred to as "circles" in DragonRealms) through experience gained in-game. Players train their characters' skills in specific categories in order to gain strength and abilities, and progress becomes more difficult as the character develops.

DragonRealms screenshot

[edit] Attempted Sept 11th hoax

Shortly after the attacks of September 11th in New York City, DragonRealms gained attention as the target of an online hoax. DragonRealms staff received e-mails from someone claiming to be the wife of a player, first claiming that the player had been killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers and later asking for control of his character. With the recent rise of virtual economies and the practice of trading virtual assets (like game characters) for real money, the character identified in this hoax was potentially worth thousands of dollars. While the claims generated a great deal of sympathy from other players of DragonRealms, an investigation by DragonRealms staff led to contacting reporter Damian Guevara at the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. Guevara tracked down the player, and published a story in The Plain Dealer in which he claimed an imposter tried to steal control of the game character.^[3][4] Ultimately, however, the player confessed that the correspondence and claims of both death and identity theft were his fabrication.^[5][6]

[edit] References

• Amy Jo Kim, Community Building on the Web, 2000, Peachpit Press. ISBN 0-201-87484-9

[edit] External links

• DragonRealms homepage