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The Realm Online
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The Realm Online, originally known simply as The Realm, was among the first MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) for public release (the public 'Beta' was out 5 months before Meridian 59's commercial release. , often referred to as 'The Realm', is still being played by a small number of players, and is known as one of the few games that is still dial-up friendly and easy to play.
It was launched in March, 1995 for Windows personal computers.
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Encyclopedia
The Realm Online, originally known simply as The Realm, was among the first MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) for public release (the public 'Beta' was out 5 months before Meridian 59's commercial release. , often referred to as 'The Realm', is still being played by a small number of players, and is known as one of the few games that is still dial-up friendly and easy to play.
It was launched in March, 1995 for Windows personal computers. It was designed in the tradition of graphical MUDs, before the popular usage of the terms "massively multiplayer" and "MMORPG".
Community
The Realm has a very dedicated userbase. The game's outdated graphics and incomplex gameplay mechanics compared to more modern games, as well as a decided lack of widespread advertising, keeps the player community small. Approximately 180 accounts are active during peak hours, and a stated total of several thousand accounts currently exist. The Realm is a niche game. In its prime there were approximately 25,000 subscribers.
Methods of social interaction include numerous standard and user-created chat channels (of which 990 may exist at any given time), "room" chats (limited to the players shown on a screen), private messages, and an in-game text-only mail service.
A player-generated economy exists in the game, and the game has led to most players possessing many billions of gold due to hyperinflation, the game's functional currency.
As a player, you may create up to 4 characters to play within the Realm, each with different attributes and skills that are customized by the player at the beginning of the game.
| Character Display | Character Customizer | Character Information |
|---|
| | | | Create up to four characters, each a separate entity within the world of “The Realm”. Use your characters to choose your own style of gameplay.
Transform yourself into a Giant Warrior, an Elf Wizard, a Human Adventurer, or any of the hundreds of totally customizable beings. | | Create up to 4 Characters | Customize look | Player Stats |
Gameplay
The combat system of The Realm is turn-based with a changeable timeout to keep action to allow the best benefits of real-time combat and thought-out strategy. The same system allows player to engage in player versus player combat.
All of the characters in The Realm play on a single server, though a test server exists where new features are sporadically added to the game before, in rare cases, going live on the main server. Most said changes are now tested first on a separate Beta Server that players have access to before being migrated to the Test Server.
The game has a variety of zones that the player may opt to visit, and subsequently 'grind' kills for experience and material rewards.
Events
The Realm has a volunteer staff of in-game Event Hosts who are tasked with entertaining the population of the game. This comes in the form of games of various sizes which reward the players participating with Coppers, a form of currency that is semi-bound to the character. Coppers are used to purchase vanity items and upgrades for player housing, such as new chairs or fountains.
Originally, Coppers were to be bound to a player's account. Upon release of the system, however, it was found that the concept had been removed. Coppers are now able to be traded, creating a pseudo-underground economy in the game for those who desire housing upgrades.
Races, Classes, and Attributes
Each race and class combination begins with a predetermined arrangement of attributes, with eight points free for the player to distribute. Initial skills are determined by the class.
The Realm's primary attributes are:
- Strength: Determines the damage dealt with some melee weapons, and the carrying capacity of the character.
- Dexterity: Determines the speed in combat of the character, his or her dodge rate, and damage on throwing weapons.
- Endurance: Determines the character's maximum hit points.
- Intelligence: Determines the character's spell damage modifier.
The races that exist on The Realm are:
- Humans: The quintessential "balanced" race.
- Elves: Intelligent but weak.
- Giants: Strong but dumb.
- Orcs: Recently added, more of a balanced race.
Classes are not rigid, and a member of one class can learn the skills of any other class (though they will be less proficient at those skills):
- Adventurer: Can use weapons and magic equally, but will never become exceptional in either.
- Warrior: Best at the various weapon skills.
- Wizard: Best at the five schools of magic.
- Thief: Employs skills such as pick pocketing and lock picking.
While characters pick a starting alignment (good, neutral or evil), each character is ranked in alignment automatically as a result of in-game actions, from Beatific (ultimately good) to Demonic (ultimately evil). NPCs are rated in a similar way, with good creatures tending to attack evil players, and vice versa. A player changes his or her alignment by killing monsters of the opposite alignment or in the case of a neutrally aligned player killing monsters from one of the other two ends of the alignment spectrum will push them towards the opposite end.
The level cap in the game originally was 100, but later on it was changed to 1000 levels.
Professions
The Realm Online has only three profession paths, each of which may be learned by any class at any level, making it feasible to be fully proficient in all three. Armorsmithing, Weaponsmithing, and Alchemy may each be learned, the former two being relegated to near obsolescence due to an inability to create items of true usefulness past level 50. As of 2006, materials may no longer be purchased from supply shops due to a failed experiment with material gathering implemented by the owners, making the professions, at current, unprofitable. The owners have said this system will return, but not when, or how.
As of late 2007 however, all supplies for trade skills were made dropped by common monsters.
Storyline
The storyline aspect of The Realm once remained in ongoing development. It consisted of multiple characters operated by in-game staff members that furthered ongoing plots and story arcs to explain updates or simply to entertain the game's population. It strongly encouraged players to role-play, making the Realm an alternative to non-graphical online RPG's. Unlike most MMORPGS that develop large parts of the storyline in annual expansions, The Realm's storyline was constantly being developed.
The plotlines revolved around six gods and numerous other background characters. Empty temples to these gods may still be located in-game. The gods, which were divided into three alliances, include:
The Light
- Enid: Goddess of Peace and Nature
- Mabon: God of Magic and Knowledge
The Dark
- Duach: God of Greed and Vengeance
- Finvarra: God of War and the Forge
The Balance
- Despothes: King of the Gods, God of Balance
- Elphame: Goddess of Justice and the Afterlife
The primary antagonist, known at The Shrouded One, had sent multiple invasions from beyond the Mistwall (the edge of the game world) that surrounds the Realm. These invasions took the form of staff interaction or, more likely, the addition of new creatures to the game environment.
External links
- Information pertaining to the game itself can be found, in the manual, What's New and art sections. Other member's area information requires a paid account.
- An aid to The Realm Online MMORPG
- Game Maps, Help, and General Information Forum
- This website is outdated, but still contains a lot of useful information.
- Game Maps, Help, and General Information Website
- An Rp/PvP Community
- Originally known as "SilentStalker's Unofficial Realm Boards" - a forum of old Realm players.
Sources
Bartle, R. (2003) Designing Virtual Worlds.New Riders Publishing.
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