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Previews: Meridian 59
Developer: Publisher: Genre: Fantasy Released: 09/26/96; 05/13/02 (Near Death Studios) Discontinued: Advancement System: Class/Skill Player vs. Player Combat: Yes Competitors: The Realms, Ultima Online. "The First Internet Graphical MUD Game!" In ancient times, powerful streams of magical energy, known as Meridians, coursed through our world, unlocking pathways and sources of immense energy. Now a new connection has been made to that ancient world - Meridian 59. Meridian 59 players enter a rich and complex medieval setting populated with thousands of players from around the world engaged in adventure, exploration, and social interaction. Characters can act with honor, betray friends, or ally with one another. Evil actions, such as killing another player, have long-term repercussions that are visible to all players in the game. Character generation consists of applying points to six base stats consisting of Might, Intellect, Stamina, Agility, Mysticism and Aim. Out of your base stats, you begin with 25 out of 50 possible points in each of these six areas to distribute. Once your stats are set you move on to distributing points depending upon your type of play, between spells and/or skills. With a pool of roughly 45 points to buy your initial set of spells and skills, choose wisely on your distribution between all Mage, some Mage, all Warrior skills, or a mixture of both. You may want to toggle back and forth between the skills and spells when deciding what to purchase. Spells come from different schools of magic each having certain specialization's to classes as well as two advanced schools that you can learn in the game granting access to bard and illusionist types of spells.
Commands in game are keyboard, mouse and text driven, where you either enter text commands for certain actions and communication, as well as using you keyboard for hotkeys although keyboard commands work only when the "focus" is on the appropriate area. A great feature of the map interface allows you to “mark” areas by using the mouse and entering a text label to the area. Expansions: Vale of Sorrow (03-17-97) introduces vast new areas, new monsters and non-player characters, new spells, additional quests, character customizations, as well as updated graphics to augment the look of the entire world. The Vale of Sorrow name is derived from a new and mysterious forest inhabited by an enchanting, but deadly, dichotomy of Faeries. A battle between good and evil is waiting to erupt and immerse the entire world of Meridian in what could be a constant struggle for power. Players will choose to side with the noble Elhai or the sinister Dirhai and engage in this magical war, ultimately searching to discover a secret source of mystic power. Other new areas lurk deep in the heart of the sewers where players will encounter a dangerous addition to its depths known as the Lupogg. This two-footed nasty is all mouth and ready to chomp all that dare to enter his domain. Players can also descend into the dark and dangerous crypt to challenge hordes of evil mummies. Revelation (06-19-97) introduces a huge island city with an expansive forest, hidden temples, and buried catacombs to explore boosting the overall world size by 50% with the addition of the Island of Ko'catan. Ko'catan, previously unknown to the Meridian inhabitants, is a thriving island that features its own culture, language and clothing. Players journey to the new island through a network of caverns filled with powerful orc guardians and clever traps. Travel to the new island is a major expedition requiring cooperation, planning, and intelligence. Once there you will discover a whole new race of beings and will uncover a dark and disturbing mystery to solve. Updated graphics, new classes, new spells, new npc's and new weapons.
Insurrection (08-00-98) No information is available on what this expansion provided. Various sources state that it introduced two new classes, graphic upgrades and expanded quests. Dark Auspice (02-10-99) continues the epic storyline of the Meridian 59 game, intensifying the faction-driven chaos endemic to the Meridian world. The council is forced to acknowledge that Jonas has the power to compete with the already-established Princess and Duke. Jonas now leads a rebel faction, which players may support, and has upset the balance of power in the world of Meridian 59. A number of new shrines have mysteriously appeared in the world, and a far more sinister evil than any have encountered is approaching. Highlights to this expansion include: a group of virtual guides, called 'Bards,' oversee the graphical storyline and help set the stage as players adventure through this massively multi-player world; enhanced graphics for most of the known world of the Meridian 59. These graphics increase the depth of detail and realism in most of the towns. Also, many monsters feature new graphic models and animations. Liberation (07-06-99) features a revamped combat engine that focuses on the dynamics of skills, spells, and the way combat develops. Spells in the game have also been improved and, in conjunction with the enhancements to the combat engine, the game dynamics of Meridian 59 Liberation have been tweaked to work best when playing in groups. Meridian 59 will also feature a change in the pricing model that became effective July 1st. ``With the new flat monthly rate of $14.95 our customers can play as much as they want without paying high monthly charges,'' said Beliaeff. ``Our recent upgrades to the game have inspired people to stay online for longer periods of time. With our new flat-rate pricing, we expect to both encourage and reward our loyal players for hanging out and having fun in the medieval world of Meridian 59.'' [-ed. Thanks to CDMag for the information on this expansion.] Ressurection (05-13-02), M59 is brought back from the halls of death as Near Death Studio's ressurects the game and brings it online fixing, repairing and improving upon the last build of the game, "Liberation." Originally discontinued by 3DO in August of 2000, Near Death Studios consisting of some of the original developers purchased the rights and all property from 3DO bringing the game back to life. Comments: Originally developed by two guys in a basement, and expanding to include a team of folks that are well known developers today; M59 is proof that a great game, a great team, and a community can make or break a game, especially when it comes to MMOG's. Created by Archetype Interactive and later sold to 3DO Studios where the team went to work M59 takes the claim as the first true MMOG game that allowed support for players on multiple servers and the first game that was commercially available in stores.
Many of the features in games today draw upon what was created in Meridan59. Features that today are still in use and are drawn from aspects of M59. The game that offered PvP to players while protecting those new to the game, chat channels so that players, groups and guilds could interact privately, guild features, quests and events driven by staffers. All have roots grounded in M59 that took gaming to a new level. Competing with new titles coming into the market, as the MMOG genre was expanding with new technology M59 was shut down by 3DO in August of 2000. A community of gamers who called M59 home wept, with numbers that were in the 25,000 mark during beta and close to two hundred thousand plus accounts during it's life if not more had fallen into obscurity by the mainstream press barely noticed it's passing. One of the former developers, Damian “Ubiq” Shubert posted his memories on the Lum the Mad site. M59 will be missed. New beginnings! Proof that a gaming community can make or break a game, finally someone, who also had a love for the game, listened! After an absence of two years (while there were still German and Japanese versions available) Near Death Studios consisting of members from the original 3DO team purchased the rights of M59 and brought back a classic game aptly titled Resurrection. Plans include correcting many of the bugs that were in earlier versions, upgrades to the game, and continuing the life of not just a game, but a community! Discuss:
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