Matt Mihaly's Earth Eternal announced

[Endie]

Iron Realms, who do some pretty neat textual MUDs, have announced Earth Eternal.  Rather unusual as an announcement of an MMO, in that they reckon it'll be released this summer.  It seems to be diku-ish, just from the comparisions in their FAQ, and seems to be partly a version of earth, partly something very different.  It'll be free-to-play (with payment for character enhancements) and Matt Mihaly (regular at Terra Nova) says that they're already fully funded past release.  On the downside some of the character art looks like some sort of freaking furtopia.  I fear what people will want to do with a race called foxicus, given the wrong emotes...

Edit: Browser based play available, which is probably going to be an increasing trend

[HaemishM]

It's like Furtopia threw up on a copy of Lord of the Rings.

[Merusk]

It seems to be diku-ish,

Given Iron Realms' history and where their older games came from, yes, it's what folks here would call "Diku". 

[Xanthippe]

I like the art.  But no human races means no boobies, and if I can't play as a large breasted nonfurry human, I'm unhappy.

[Signe]

I kind of like the art, too.  I wouldn't mind being a non-furry boobified female so much if I could be a 'shroom.

[Yegolev]

I have tried to play Achaea twice.  This might be OK.  Hard to say.

[CmdrSlack]

Heh, heaven forbid that people make a game with humanoid animals. 

I know it's fun to bash furries and all, but does everything with humanoid animals HAVE to be designated as furry material?  What if the gameplay was like Robot Jesus? 

Bah, it's not like there'll ever be a game that this community actually considers to be Robot Jesus for more than a month after launch.  That said, playing as a giant shroom would rock.

ETA -- From the FAQ:

For instance, in EE, most of the Greek and Norse Gods were slain by extra-dimensional Sphinxes acting in concert with Anubis, Egyptian God of Death.

See?  Extra-dimensional Sphinxes!  How can't it not be awesome?

[caladein]

It's not that it's intrinsically furry material, more so that it attracts furries...

[Nija]

I know it's fun to bash furries and all, but does everything with humanoid animals HAVE to be designated as furry material?

Yes.

[Soln]

It's not that it's intrinsically furry material, more so that it attracts furries...

smart man

[AcidCat]

It's not that it's intrinsically furry material, more so that it attracts furries...

The sad thing about the whole furry phenomenon is that you folks see something like this and automatically think "animal sex"

Your minds have been poisoned! Before you know it, you'll be afraid to even own a dog or cat, because somewhere out there some furry would want to have sex with it!

[Signe]

We don't just see animal sex.  We see hot animal MONKEY sex!

[CmdrSlack]

We don't just see animal sex.  We see hot animal MONKEY sex!

With hermaphroditic monkeys.

[Rasix]

Your minds have been poisoned! Before you know it, you'll be afraid to even own a dog or cat, because somewhere out there some furry would want to have sex with it!

My cats are not bipedal, cannot speak, and do not have large breasts.   They're safe from the furrverts.

[damijin]

Rasix speaks truth.

However, you may want to consider canceling any family trips to Disney World. That anthropomorphic cesspit is no longer trustworthy in this brave new world.

[tazelbain]

I am sure Disney's rooftop snipers will take care of the furries if they cause trouble.

[damijin]

In a related matter, I'm actually looking forward to this game, and strongly hope that there are "Yiff" and "No-Yiff" server variants on launch day to contain the population of Foxicus RPers.

[HaemishM]

I know it's fun to bash furries and all, but does everything with humanoid animals HAVE to be designated as furry material?

Yes.

Because eventually, the furries will claim it as their own, and the Forced Yiff Marches will begin.

[Engels]

We don't just see animal sex.  We see hot animal MONKEY sex!

With hermaphroditic monkeys.

Hermaphroditic lactating monkeys

[Nonentity]

What classes will Earth Eternal have?
When EE is released, it will have four classes: Warrior, Mage, Druid, and Sneak. As noted above though, you are not limited to abilities within your class. If you've ever wanted to be that high-level badass who can do everything well, Earth Eternal is your game.

A sneak!

They have a class called a sneak! That is awesome.

[DataGod]

Heh, heaven forbid that people make a game with humanoid animals. 

I know it's fun to bash furries and all, but does everything with humanoid animals HAVE to be designated as furry material?  What if the gameplay was like Robot Jesus? 

Bah, it's not like there'll ever be a game that this community actually considers to be Robot Jesus for more than a month after launch.  That said, playing as a giant shroom would rock.

ETA -- From the FAQ:

For instance, in EE, most of the Greek and Norse Gods were slain by extra-dimensional Sphinxes acting in concert with Anubis, Egyptian God of Death.

See?  Extra-dimensional Sphinxes!  How can't it not be awesome?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_CHZ8z-t6M

Chocolate Jesus > Robot Wannabe


I Dont know about them robot jesus clones.....but I sure do luv mah chocolate jesus!

[Riggswolfe]

It's not that it's intrinsically furry material, more so that it attracts furries...

The sad thing about the whole furry phenomenon is that you folks see something like this and automatically think "animal sex"

Your minds have been poisoned! Before you know it, you'll be afraid to even own a dog or cat, because somewhere out there some furry would want to have sex with it!

I live in fear that I'll get a hysterical call from my daughter while I'm at work and drive home to find SirBruce having consentual relations with her terrier.

[CmdrSlack]

I live in fear that I'll get a hysterical call from my daughter while I'm at work and drive home to find SirBruce having consentual relations with her terrier.

Dude, don't mix furvert metaphors.  Sir Bruce != Shepherd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_CHZ8z-t6M

This is the best random Tom Waits Link Evar and so you're my new hero for as long as it takes me to drink another beer.

[LC]

I know it's fun to bash furries and all, but does everything with humanoid animals HAVE to be designated as furry material?

Yes.

[schild]

So... Yes.

[pxib]

Those aren't humanoid animals. They're 'furries' in the same way Star Trek had 'aliens'.

[Lt.Dan]

Matt Mihaly's blog has some interesting tidbits (http://forge.ironrealms.com/2007/01/10/earth-eternal-announced/).  Theve got three "core" team members, some outsrouced art, and a six-figure budget.  Furries aside, it's a pretty interesting development in a space where everyone is looking for the next AAA $50m title.

[Modern Angel]

The Thundercats are also now furry heroes. So, yes... anthropomorphic animal-people doodad critters bring furries even if it's unintended. Things that do not suck will eventually suck because of this.

[geldonyetich]

"Furry" is such a strangely all encompassing term.

If you just like animals and want to impersonate them, there's probably no more harm in that than a 6 year old kid that want to be a penguin for Halloween, but you'll still get called a furry.

If you're downloading furry art that isn't crappy and find it aesthetically pleasing, maybe it has nothing to do with a fusion of animal and human and more to do with the artists' capacity to capture the beauty of either, but you'll still get called a furry.

If you're looking to use furry art as a circular way to express your sexual deviance due to an interest in homosexuality (not that there's anything wrong with that), pedophilia (which there is definitely something wrong with), or bestiality (see pedophilia comment), you'll get called a furry and in two out of three of the cases expressed here need psychological help.

In the end, "Furry" alone is not a sufficient label to bring about my scorn, but considering the possibilities it does at least put me on guard.

So, Earth Eternal - how does it play?  Given that its development probably wasn't very long, I'm thinking very rudimentary online RPG.

[schild]

If you're downloading furry art that isn't crappy and find it aesthetically pleasing...

...then you're a GODDAMNED FURRY. Fuck, here, let's try this with childporn.

"Gee guys, I don't know. Just because there's a couple 4 year olds in this picture and a lot of dick, I'm more impressed with the way the light is bouncing off little Timmy's ass cheek. It reminds me of this obscure Ansel Adams piece I saw once at Museum Du Art Fag."

PEDO ALERT.

Seriously man. Fuck.

Here's the thing about furry-dom. THE BRAIN SAYS NO. IF IT DOESN'T SAY "NO" YOU'RE GODDAMN BROKEN. Oh, and a furry. Now, do I think the term furry is too broadly applied these days? Maybe, though I can't come up with an example. Wait, no, I can. An anime character who's only defining animal characteristic (or cosplayer for that matter) is some fake cat ears, well, it's a stretch to apply furry there. But applying it to "furry art," well, shit Winger, it's goddamn Furry art. No. It's furry DRAWINGS. I don't care if DaFuckingVinci painted it.

Now, in real life, can I function around someone who's into furry shit? Yea, probably. I can deal with a lot of shit that makes my skin crawl. But what I can't deal with is people who fucking rationalize it. No, I'm sorry, your brain is fucking broken.

Next.

Oh, this game will be a diku grind. No question. Genetics dudes, genetics.

[Calantus]

Man I hate me some furries. Not because of the fetish. I really don't give a damn what they do with themselves. The problem is that you're wearing your fetish on your sleeve if I know you're a furry. And I don't want to know. People who like women to stamp on their cocks with high heels don't let me know what kind of fucked up shit they're into. More people should be like those people.

An online game with animalistic humanoids is just an excuse for every extroverted furry (ooh, redundancy) to shove their fetish in my face. So yeah... pass.

[Soln]

it's a thin edge of some wedge. Don't they tend to congregate?  Witness SL.

[CmdrSlack]

it's a thin edge of some wedge. Don't they tend to congregate?  Witness SL.

Yeah, heaven forbid that they congregate.  I mean, if they weren't conveniently bunched up into Furcadia, SL and a few other places, they might be sneaking into games for normals.  EQ2 has two "furry" races, but I've not heard tons of complaints about rampant yiffing there, so why is that?  Because the color pallate sucks?

ETA -- Seriously, shouldn't EQ2, by design, attract an asston of furries?

[Nija]

EQ2 has two "furry" races, but I've not heard tons of complaints about rampant yiffing there, so why is that?  Because the color pallate sucks?

ETA -- Seriously, shouldn't EQ2, by design, attract an asston of furries?

I have actually been denied a group because I wasn't a cat dude, whatever those things are called. This was on the PVP server that opened last year, too.

You can bet it's more popular on the PVE servers.

Anyways, furries. Yikes. The worst video I've ever seen involved furries. It was so bad I kept it in my "soul-stealing videos" folder but ZIPPED UP, so nobody accidentially clicked it. yiffmach.zip - think about it.


Now, when I was a kid in the Ozarks I liked wolves. I had a dog that was mostly wolf. I'd run around the forest with him and a slingshot and I'd try to shoot crows with steel ball bearings for ammo, and he would chase armadillos and field mice and all kinds of things. I had a wolf tshirt. 5 years later when I first hear of what a "furry" is, it blew mind. Despite my unhealthy association with wolves, the thought had never crossed my mind that I should dress up in a wolf costume and frolic with other people in animal costumes.

We griefed Furcadia when UO was down during UO beta. A very simplified version of the Secondlife griefing you'll see on SA and other places. The only reason I can see to play this game would be to grief disturbed people, and that is even a long shot because apparently you'd have to pay a monthly fee to get access.

[Endie]

The only reason I can see to play this game would be to grief disturbed people, and that is even a long shot because apparently you'd have to pay a monthly fee to get access.

Nope, as i said in the OP your furry-griefing comes free.  Payment model is for character enhancements.  Which, hopefully, does not mean huge, dangly animal penises.