While the net world was fascinated by “the Big Three” Western MMOs in 1999 — that might be EverQuest, Ultima Online, and Asheron’s Call — this didn’t imply that they have been the one three MMORPGs in existence. Plenty of different tasks had come to fruition round this time, particularly abroad within the Korean market.
One of those was Dark Ages, a Nexon-developed MMO set in a Celtic fantasy realm. Today we’re going to look again at this maybe obscure title to see what different choices MMO gamers had again across the flip of the century.
Following its founding in 1994, the Nexon company went to work on churning out fashionable MMOs throughout the remainder of that decade. While I coated its first venture, Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds, in a separate column, what I wish to take a look at at the moment is its follow-up video games.
In early 1998, Nexon launched Legend of Darkness, a web-based RPG that embraced a quarter-view angle. And whereas this wasn’t as a lot of an enormous hit as Nexus was, Legend of Darkness did feed into and encourage the studio’s third MMO, Dark Ages.
This time round, Nexon determined that it will incorporate Celtic components into this fantasy realm. Players would discover a world stuffed with historical secrets and techniques, crazed gods, rising empires, and deep magics. When the MMO was introduced over to the west, sport designer David Ethan Kennerly additionally included sides of Lovecraftian lore to make Dark Ages, properly, extra darkish.
Players began out their journey in Dark Ages as a peasant, graduating into a category (in the event that they selected — you can be a lifelong peasant!) as they discovered an related guild of their starter city. These courses have been pretty customary, with Wizards, Rogues, and the like on faucet, however gamers needed to develop them properly with the correct stat factors and ability acquisition.
Those who caught with their class to degree 99 bought the choice to change into a Master in that position, incomes new skills and kit. This additional reworked their class into a sophisticated position, with Wizards changing into Summoners and so forth.
On high of that, adventurers might additionally pledge themselves of to one of many sport’s religions and work their approach up in a temple by performing sure actions and enlisting extra folks into the religion.
In Dark Ages, gamers explored an isometric world the place they floor out expertise in looking areas, engaged in PvP, and went on prolonged quests. But maybe essentially the most notable aspect of the sport was its in-depth political system that allowed gamers to run their very own cities, maintain places of work, and even change the principles for sure locations.
Another neat function was a the Aristocracy system, which was, in fact, a literal recognition contest. Actually, seven contests which can be held regularly. Players vote on others’ contributions to the sport’s inventive scene, with classes for artwork, biography, historical past, literature, lore, reminiscence, philosophy, and poetry. Contest winners are rewarded with development in varied features of the sport, together with working their approach up into the the Aristocracy.
While different MMORPGs have been birthed and killed within the subsequent many years, Dark Ages continued to quietly truck together with its quaint old skool appeal. In 2020, Nexon delivered a big replace for the sport which elevated the display decision and added extra quality-of-life options. And whereas the inhabitants is reportedly very small, the group continues to activate occasions and promote the sport.
Believe it or not, MMOs did exist previous to 2004! Every two weeks, The Game Archaeologist appears again at basic on-line video games and their historical past to be taught a factor or two about the place the trade got here from… and the place it may be heading.Advertisement
