Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[The Game Archaeologist and the veteran of Kesmai]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/the-game-archaeologist-and-the-veteran-of-kesmai/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/the-game-archaeologist-and-the-veteran-of-kesmai/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/the-game-archaeologist-and-the-veteran-of-kesmai/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

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Aaand we're back! Did you miss me? No? Not even a little bit? Aww, you know how to make me feel all kinds of appreciated!

Even though it's been quite some time since we finished up our two-part series on the Kesmai company and its incredible (and little-remembered) role in powering up the MMO genre, I wanted to return to take the topic for one last spin. A fellow blogger, Wilhelm "The Ancient Gaming Noob" Arcturus, backs his nickname up by providing memories and stories from gaming eras well before many Massively readers' time. Since he actually played several Kesmai titles back in the day and lived to tell the tale, I wanted to pick his brain before we moved on to other titles.

So join me in welcoming Wilhelm and his magical clockwork nostalgia retrieval system!

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MassivelyThe Game Archaeologist and the veteran of Kesmai originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>3-dair-warriorappleapple-iiapple-iieclassicclassic-mmosclassicscompuservefeaturedgame-archaelogistgeniekesmaikesmai-corporationMegaWars-IIImud1nostalgiaopinionstellar-emperorstellar-warriortagnthe-ancient-gaming-noobthe-game-archaeologistwilhelm-arcturusWolfenstein-3-DTue, 17 Apr 2012 21:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Game Archaeologist discovers the Island of Kesmai]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/06/the-game-archaeologist-discovers-the-island-of-kesmai/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/06/the-game-archaeologist-discovers-the-island-of-kesmai/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/06/the-game-archaeologist-discovers-the-island-of-kesmai/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Island of Kesmai
It was the mid-'80s, and I was just a kid in love with his family's IBM PC. Not having a wealth of capital at the time, I relied on hand-me-down copies of software that rolled in from friends and family and probably the Cyber-Mafia. Practically none of the disks came with instructions (or even labels, sometimes), and as such I felt like an explorer uncovering hidden gems as I shoved in 5 1/4" floppy after 5 1/4" floppy. Some titles were great fun, some were so obtuse I couldn't get into them, and some were obviously meant for those older and wiser than I.

One game that fell into the latter category was a brutally difficult RPG that smelt of Dungeons & Dragons -- a forbidden experience for me at the time. It was just a field of ASCII characters, jumbled statistics, and instant death awaiting me around every corner. I gave it a few tries but could never progress past the first level, especially when I'd keep running out of arrows, so I gave up.

Unbeknownst to me, I had my first brush with Rogue, an enormously popular dungeon crawler that straddled the line between the description-heavy RPGs and arcade titles like Gauntlet. Rogue defined the genre when it came out in 1980, spawning dozens of "Roguelikes" that sought to cash in on the craze. Not five years after its release, Rogue got a worthy successor that decided it could bring this addicting style of gameplay to the larva form of the Internet. It was called Island of Kesmai, but you may call it "Sir, yes sir!"

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MassivelyThe Game Archaeologist discovers the Island of Kesmai originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adventureBill-Loudenclassicclassic-mmosclassicscompuservedungeons-of-kesmaifeaturedgame-archaelogistisland-of-kesmaijohn-taylorkelton-flinnkesmaikesmai-corporationlord-of-the-ringsmegawarsmudmud1nostalgiaopinionrichard-bartlerogueroguelikethe-game-archaeologistuniversity-of-virginiavaxzorkTue, 06 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: A talk with Richard Bartle]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/12/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-a-talk-with-richard-bart/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/12/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-a-talk-with-richard-bart/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/12/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-a-talk-with-richard-bart/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

From talking with Richard Bartle, reading his blog, and looking over several interviews that he's done, I've concluded that the co-creator of the first multi-user dungeon is, in many ways, a card. A smart one, a perceptive one, and an outspoken one, but a card nonetheless. I say this in a good way, of course, because for all of the verbal pussyfooting that often goes on in this industry, it's refreshing to hear the voice of someone who knows what he thinks and isn't afraid to say it, even if it goes against the grain.

Dr. Bartle's name often comes up in discussions of both MUDs and MMORPGs. His designs, work and scholarship have influenced MMOs in substantial ways, and it's possible that if our children end up learning about massively multiplayer RPGs in school some day, Bartle's name will be mentioned once or twice.

While he's sometimes polarizing, it's hard to deny the incredible work he's done, which is why I was excited to get to talk to him about this month's subject on the Game Archaeologist. So hit that pesky jump and let's pick the mind of a guy who really earned the right to post "FIRST!!1!"

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MassivelyThe Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: A talk with Richard Bartle originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>a-tale-in-the-desertadventureancient-anguishassemblerassembly-languagebaldurs-gatebaldurs-gate-2bartle-testbatmudBCPLciv1civ2civ3civ4civ5civilizationcoding-headachedarklandsdesigning-virtual-worldsdlcenglish-channelfeaturedfootball-managergemstoneipclegendmudmacro-10master-of-orionmedieviamoomoo2moo3morrowindmudmud1mud2multi-user-dungeonoblivionplay-testerplaytestingrichard-bartlerogueroy-trubshawSETUWPstar-firesunsetThe-Patriciantops-10Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST<![CDATA[The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The history]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/05/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-the-history/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/05/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-the-history/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/05/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-the-history/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

You know that sinking feeling when you get into something that's way, waaaay over your head and you have no choice but to swim furiously or drown? That's exactly how I felt when I started to do research for this month's series on MUDs -- Multi-User Dungeons -- and their descendants.

At first I was thrilled, because I knew that along with Dungeons & Dragons and Bulletin Board Systems, the MUD was one of the key predecessors to the MMORPG as we know it today. It was, and still is, vital gaming history that helped to shape the genre. The only problem was that for various reasons -- mostly a lack of good internet access in college and general ignorance -- I'd missed out on MUDs back in the day.

But it's not like that stopped me from covering any of the other games in this series that I never experienced first-hand way back when; after all, there are few among us who can honestly say they did everything. So the problem wasn't the lack of first-hand knowledge but the sheer, overwhelming scope of this subject. One game alone is a manageable subject -- MUDs are an entire genre unto themselves. It's intimidating, to say the least.

It doesn't still my excitement, however, nor will it stop us from diving into this topic no matter how deep the waters get. This week we'll take a look at the brief history of the MUD/MUSH/MOO/et al. and then get into specific games later this month. So hold your breath and jump on in with me!

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MassivelyThe Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The history originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today marks the 30th birthday of the original MUD, created at Essex University by Roy Trubshaw in 1978. We recommend you check out what Richard Bartle -- who worked on later iterations of the project -- has to say about this event, as well as Raph Koster's words on the subject. The question at hand, as presented by Bartle, seems to be: does this matter?

While he is skeptical, we would like to posit that it does matter a great deal -- or at least that it should. Graphics alone shouldn't lead to a strong distinction when the fundamentals are the same, so let's consider the modern MMO to be part of the same tradition as the MUD -- let's say that this is the MMO's 30th birthday too.

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MassivelyToday the MUD and the MMO turn 30 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>30th-anniversary30th-birthdayanniversarybirthdayessex-universityeverquesthistorymeridian-59mudmud1raph-kosterrichard-bartleroy-trubshawtextthe-realmultima-onlineworld-of-warcraftMon, 20 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST