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Embers of Caerus website is nuked by its host
Website woes have hit Caerus hard in the embers, if you get our drift. Embers of Caerus' site was nuked by its host, and it looks as though some data may have been lost for good. The problems began back in early February, when the sandbox MMO's website went down. Regular posts on Facebook indicated that the site would come back, but that changed when the game's creator realized that agreements between the company and the website host lapsed. Subsequent renegotiations did not go well, and the site has remained offline. "After lengthy discussions with the host, it seems they're absolutely unwilling to work with us," the team posted on Facebook today. "They're basically wanting a big chunk of change that Forsaken Studios can't afford. Unfortunately, because they shut everything down without us being aware that it was happening/impending, they also have a lot of data on their servers that we no longer have access to. Obviously, some of that which was hosted was the website and everything on it. I'm not certain where we're moving to from this point, but this monkey wrench definitely hurt."
Embers of Caerus making 'drastic changes' to its development
Embers of Caerus has hit a crisis crossroads in its development, and as such the team is abandoning its current schedule as it seeks out a development studio to help the volunteer project succeed. Creative Director Rob Steele broke the news on the forums, where he admits that mistakes in developing a prototype for the game's systems cost the project financial and volunteer support. Without the funds, he admits that the team cannot make its previous goals of regular module updates and benchmarks. "Instead of continuing down this path, attempting to play catch up, and risking missing more benchmarks that we have no assurances we can hit, Forsaken Studios is making a drastic change in its plans for Embers of Caerus," he wrote. Steele went on to say that he has been in talks with other game studios to help with the future development of the game, all while upholding promises made to supporters and crowdfunding investors. He said that the project will be encountering "a great deal of changes" but should be more active if and when another studio signs on to help.
Embers of Caerus partners with Havok Engine, seeks more sandbox supporters
The good news continues to roll in for fans of emergent MMOs and the little-indie-sandbox-that-could, otherwise known as Embers of Caerus. Forsaken Studios has released a PR splash noting that it is making use of the Havok Vision Engine to power the forthcoming fantasy epic. If you've been keeping abreast of this story, you probably know that EoC is riding a wave of positive buzz following on from its successful Kickstarter campaign, which has already met its initial funding goal and then some with 19 days left to go. Forsaken is now seeking to galvanize additional sandbox fans, a demographic that creative director Rob Steele says is ready for EoC and games like it. "It just shows that the audience is out there, hungry for the kind of game that we're making -- one where the players take control of the world and make it their own," he says. [Thanks to flintwicktog for the tip!]
