As a long time MUD/MMO player, I can only say that the MMORPG market is
headed in the right direction, but still on the wrong end of the
spectrum.

I've actually found a much more interesting MMO experience - ironically
enough, called Alternate Reality Gaming, or ARGs. These are online
adventure games, usually for the purposes of marketing some upcoming
movie/game/event without all the advertising. If you've ever heard of
"The Beast" - it was the ARG for the movie AI, which acutally had
nothing to do with the movie but instead was a murder mystery that took
place within the AI universe.

The current ARG that's popular right now is called "I Love Bees" --
which seems to be (but not confirmed) a tie-in for Halo 2. In typical
ARG fashion, it has no actual ties to the game Halo, but instead takes
place in our time, involving an AI that has infested someone's website
and is slowly branching into the real world to hunt for the Webmaster
who thinks tried to kill it while it was still dazed and defenceless.

Every week we get more clues and story bits about how the events are
unfolding, as well as the background of the AI and it's origins from the
future. I would wholeheartedly recommend this kind of adventure to
anyone who enjoys the community aspect of MMOs, with none of the grind.
Unless, of course, solving puzzles and reading a thousand pages of
speculation seems like a grind to you ;)

Here's some relevant links:
http://www.ilovebees.com <-- the infested website
http://www.unfiction.com <-- Unfiction, the definitive source for ARG
info
http://forums.unfiction.com/forums <-- The Unfiction Forums, where most
of our work takes place
http://bees.netninja.com/wiki <-- our up-to-the-second ILB Info source,
in Wiki format

-----Original Message-----
From: Kyle West [barrick75--hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 2:21 AM
To: <Address Masked>
Subject: RE: Unable to download from the Original Alternate reality site


I managed to find a couple copies of AR City for ST.. I can't remember
exactly where I got them from though. I *think* I got them off of emule
by
doing a search for "tosec atari st". This isn't going to be the
quickest
way to find a copy, but I expect it will work if you persevere. eMule
is
like Kazaa, only without everything that makes Kazaa suck. On the flip
side, emule takes a LOT longer to get a file, so start it up and go on
vacation for a couple weeks. http://emule.sourceforge.net for a free
client.

Not really interested in new MMORPGs... the MMORPG market has become
incredibly cluttered - in big part, I think, to each one being designed
to
gobble up as much time as you are willing to give to it... and it seems
like
they are all going for the same crowd of people.

On that note.. if anyone is as obsessed with Final Fantasy XI as I am,
say
hi.. I am "Carar" on Fairy server. :-)

What does everyone think about the Matrix Online? Is it gonna flop? I
think it's gonna die. MMORPGs are falling over faster than alcoholics
at an
open bar. That'll teach monolith to drop ARO! ;-) <joke>

Ya know what I think would be cool.. is a real-time strategy game,
similar
to starcraft/warcraft.. but on a massive multiplayer basis. or even
some
big ol' kind of street brawl, a-la mortal kombat/street fighter. not
sure
how to pull it off though... *sigh*

and I am still eagerly awaiting the new Bard's Tale game over the next
couple months.. *drool*


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