Was I dreaming?

[Xanthippe]

I recall a few years ago, someone announced a MMOG that was going to start with just a world (and people, I guess), and players would have to shape everything in the world.  Not like Second Life where players are coding objects, but a mmog world where everything must be created, and eventually the people on the world would be sufficiently advanced (through discovery) to be able to create things, including weapons and armor and political systems and an economy and so on. 

Is this a real memory, or one of those fake ones?  Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

(Sorry for the vagueness - it was when my youngest was a baby and I was not sleeping much or well - and my memory from that time is almost nonexistent).

[Alkiera]

Wasn't that Dawn?  Where new players would have to be born to in-game parents, and have to find rocks to make lame tools so they could cut down forests to develop wooden tools and houses, etc?

I'm pretty sure that was Dawn, the so-vaporware-it-didn't-even-blur-vision mmog.

Alkiera

[Raph]

No, it was Dark Zion, by Wombat Games. The company actually had a working walk and talk (I know, I played it). But they couldn't find a publisher, and they folded. The principals ended up at SWG and UO and SB. (They all started on UO).

[Rodent]

If Spore keeps what it promises you'll get all that and you'll never have to worry about griefers. Unless you know, you discover a planet inhabited with someones Instellar-penis race.

[Bunk]

While on the subject of MMoGs that disappeared and who's names I can't remember: There was one in dev a few years back. All of the races were decidedly alien, bug-like. Focused on capturing towns, changing the landscape (like every other new game promisses). Had a big thing where you would spawn children that would end up becoming your character when your previous ones died or some such thing.

ok, I found the name. Atriarch.

What the hell happened to that, is it still alive? Does anyone give a shit?

[schild]

I don't know where MMOGs go to die, but I've got a handful I'd like to burn out of my memory.

[Jamiko]

Around 5 years ago or so, I had a spreadsheet with upcoming MMORPGs and their website addresses. I dug it up and noted a lot of them are nowhere to be seen:

Adellion, Atriarch, Arcanity, Archaean, The After, Ages of Athiria, Age of Darkness, Archmage: Stabat Mater, Arianne, Ascendant Realms, Battletech 3025, Big World, Black Alchemy, Black Moon, Boundless Adventures, Caeron3000, Charr, Chronos V, Citizen Zero, Clan Lord, Cosm, Crossroads, Dawn, Dark Ages (not Camelot), Dark Millineum, Dark Sector, Dark Space, Dark Zion, Darkfall, Destiny-Online, Diablo Online, Dominion, Dominus Online, Dransik, Dune Generations, Earth's Edge, Elemental Saga, El Kardian, Endless Ages, Enigma: Rising Tide, FaitH, Faldon, Fallen Age, Fate, Fighting Legends, Forgotten World, Fourth Coming, Galactic Command Online, Gladius Online, Graal Online, Gundam Online, Hero's Journey, Highlander, Hogwarts Online, Illusia, Iritor Online, Last Kingdom, Legend of Mir, Lost Continents, Majik 3D, Myarta, Mercenaries of Astonia, Middle Earth, Midgard, Mimeisis Online, Mysteria, Mystic Realms of Alhanzar, Myth of Soma, Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds, Nightmare Conspiracy, Oberin, Obsidian, Ogre Island, Online Pirates, Paradox, Prisoner of War, Project Eden, Quest of Ages, Ragnarok, Realm, RedMoon, Redwyrm, Runescape, Shattered Galaxy, Sphere, SpiritWars, Tibia, Trade Wars, Twilight Lands, Underlight, Vulcan, Waggaworld, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Wrath: The New Dawn, World of Pirates

[HaemishM]

According to the news on their web site, Atriarch went to E3 and the game is still in development.

[Signe]

Yeah, it seems they were there and that it didn't go so well.  Not sure what happened as I was not caring too much to read any further.

[Hoax]

From that list, Charr would have been the coolest game ever had it actually happened and included everything they promised.  The concept art and setting were pretty goddamn cool.

[tazelbain]

People keep making claims about Spore being the next Robot Jesus and vaguely MMOG related.
Is it just Sim-Petredish, right?
What has charged?

[AOFanboi]

Is it just Sim-Petredish, right?

Well, it starts out like that, then gradually expands to a space 4X game. Meaning it in effect is a Greatest Hits sequence of game genres, starting with Primordial-soup Pac-man and going from there. With the world populated by creatures made by you and other players. Did you get that? Player-made content - the Holy Grail of the MMO genre.

I am so waiting with baited breath for it.

[Xanthippe]

Hopefully there's some sort of conflict structure (i.e., battle) in the game.  Otherwise, I'm not sure it'll be a game so much as a toy.

[Rodent]

Hopefully there's some sort of conflict structure (i.e., battle) in the game.  Otherwise, I'm not sure it'll be a game so much as a toy.

My understanding of the game is that first you "make your species" aka The Sims mode, then you "establish dominance of your planet" aka RTS mode, then you "explore the galaxy" aka MoO/4x/whatever mode where planets will be inhabited by species made by others players automaticly uploaded to the central server and distubuted with AI's to others players.

MMOG-Light at it's finest from the sounds of it. All the potential joy and pain that comes from other players, but atleast you won't get tells like "d00d, your momma sucks my dick, want to do *.*?"

[Morfiend]

Wasnt there this really cool game that promised player dragons, demons, and angels. Not to mention a whole slew of other fun races. The wolrd would have a strong PVP to it, with PVP missions handed out by dragon overlords of three different factions....

Oh yeah, it turned in to this.

[Yegolev]

Hopefully there's some sort of conflict structure (i.e., battle) in the game.  Otherwise, I'm not sure it'll be a game so much as a toy.

You picked up on the fact that this is Will Wright's project, right?  I'm assuming this is going to be essentially a linear progression through all of the Maxis Sim games plus some extra ones.  I am happy to not pursue information on this title until my wife beats one of the Sims games.