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Earth Eternal showing signs of life
We'd heard about Sparkplay Media's issues with raising further funding to continue its independent anthropomorphic MMO, Earth Eternal. When the game and overall site dropped offline a few weeks ago without any further official statement, we figured that time had run out, and it was simply the sunsetting of another MMO. That's why we were surprised to see both the Earth Eternal Facebook and Twitter accounts light back up, if only to let us know someone's still there -- and that there's still hope. The message on Facebook notes, "...our ISP pulled the plug for non-payment, which was expected. I wasn't able to give you any warning, unfortunately, because I was at Burning Man and completely out of reach for the week that it went down. Full backups of all the data exist and the company that is in the process of buying Earth Eternal will be starting it back up again in the nearish future." As to what company is seeking to purchase the game and how fast this process will be moving, we have no idea. However, we're certain that this nugget of reboot hope is welcome news to those who were enjoying this kitschy, yet fun, title. With any luck we'll be hearing something from a representative of Sparkplay before too long.
Earth Eternal facing the prospect of shutdown
There's incredibly bad news today about Earth Eternal, the free-to-play browser-based MMO from Sparkplay Media. Or we should say formerly from Sparkplay Media, as it appears that hard times have hit the company with resounding force. In an extremely sad letter, CEO Matt Mihaly has informed players that Sparkplay Media has been all but shut down, with only two remaining employees (including himself) taking care of closing down the company and trying to sell the game to another service provider. Although the game is not currently being shut down, Mihaly is frank about its prospects: it entirely depends on whether or not another company will pick up the hosting costs of running Earth Eternal. For the time being, the game has made all of its microtransaction items free for all players, in hopes that whatever the game's ultimate fate, players can enjoy it for a little while longer. Our consolations go out to the team behind the game, and we offer our sympathies for what has no doubt been a painful process for the entire staff.
Earth Eternal releases new patch, revamped models
Earth Eternal unveiled their new take on bears, deer, robots and other odd races today in their latest patch. We've suggested to change the appropriately named "New Character Models" to "From Flab to Fab." Not only do the character models look better, but now they can spin on a dime to auto-face enemies. Instant travel between henges is also possible, as well as the ability to teleport directly to your friends! We've discussed the game before and even added it to a favorites list, so read up on it if you'd like. Armor looks and stats have also been tweaked and many other fixes have been put in. This is a very large patch, so it would be a good idea to visit the official forum post to read all the details.
One Shots: Walk softly and carry a big hammer
Games like Earth Eternal which offer the ability to launch from a browser have piqued the curiosity of players -- we hardcore MMO geeks are all about interesting innovations. But it's not just the ability to launch from the browser that intrigues players -- it's the fun, stylized take on fantasy that keeps many coming to Sparkplay Media's free-to-play game. Today we have a picturesque screenshot from Massively regular commenter, Ripper McGee, showing off a view from an early area. He writes in to explain: "Here's a simple shot of my new clockwork knight, Django Fett, against the night sky and shattered moon in Earthrise, the final tutorial zone in Earth Eternal." Are you playing a game we don't get a chance to see all that often? Why not share your experiences and views with us here on One Shots. It's easy to do. Just grab a great screenshot and send it in to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it here for everyone to check out and give you the credit for sending it in. %Gallery-85937%
Earth Eternal celebrates Zombie Awareness Month
Did you know that May is Zombie Awareness Month? Well, now you do, as do the folks at Earth Eternal. They've prepared for the event in the nick of time -- hordes of undead are invading the lands of Earth Eternal, threatening the land and the beasts that inhabit it. What's worse, rumors are flying that some of the beasts are assisting the zombies, as well as "glorious rewards" promised to those who help feed their appetites. The heroes of Bremen, Heartwood, and Camelot need your aid in defeating the zombie invasion. Log in to Earth Eternal every weekend this May to warn the people, defend the beasts, and learn the secret behind the zombie invasion and strange alliances being formed. The first event is this weekend, May 15th - 16th. Sparkplay warns players to be careful: "zombies may not be fast, but they are everywhere!"
China declares day of mourning, closes all entertainment venues
News of the earthquake that hit China last week was devastating enough to gain worldwide attention immediately, even more so as the numbers of killed, injured, and missing rose with every new report. As China begins recovering this week, officials declared a day of mourning for today. Flags flew at half mast, citizens wore white paper flowers, and even rescue workers paused for three minutes to remember the victims. So what does this have to do with MMOs? Matt Mihaly, the CEO of Sparkplay Media, is in Shanghai this week and dropped us a line to let us know that those aren't the only things being done for today's day of mourning: "...all entertainment options in China have been shut down today (4/21). That includes everything from karaoke bars to entertainment tv channels (non-news channels are blacked out here today) to online games." That's right, no MMOs in China today. And while we at Massively love our games, we can't help but approve of this measure of respect for those affected. [Thanks to Matt for the tip!]
Earth Eternal celebrates Earth Day with in-game contest
Many MMOs celebrate the same events in game, such as Thanksgiving/Fall, and the various winter celebrations, but Earth Eternal takes a bit of a different approach in celebrating Earth Day. It's an obvious choice for Earth Eternal, where the storyline revolves around a world in which mankind has wiped itself out, and anthropomorphic beasts have reclaimed the planet. All is not well in this alternate earth, though. Sinister Rotted Treekin are showing up in part of this two-day Earth Day event. Rotted Treekin will spawn throughout the world, threatening Innocent Treekin, who will call for players to come to their aid. Players who respond will be able to enter the contest and compete for some great prizes: "Participants will be competing for the esteemed title Boss Lumberjack, complete with winning a collectable plush Shroomie hat and a forum article dedicated to their combat prowess." The contest kicks off on Earth Day, which is this Thursday, April 22, and continues for two days. Take a screenshot of your battle and send it in to enter. The winner will be announced in-game at 5 p.m. PST on April 23, so good luck to all of you!
Earth Eternal takes players Down Below
The team over at Sparkplay Media have been hard at work polishing up Earth Eternal as they move towards the game's eventual release. This dedication to the 'it's done when it's done' MMO development is certainly a great thing to see -- especially when it comes hand in hand with fun new content! The newest patch, 0.8.5, adds a spooky new dungeon called The Down Below for players to explore. This area is an excavated ruin in Midland between New Badari and Grunes Tal that offers players 10 enormous new areas and 30 named mobs just perfect for groups of 5 level 33 to 36 players. There are also a bunch of fixes and updates in patch 0.8.5 that players of all levels will definitely want to read up on. The Earth Eternal beta is open for any and all people who have been interested in the game, but haven't had a chance to try it out. So if checking out browser-based MMOs where you get to play animals, robots, or demons sounds like something you'd enjoy, head on over to the Earth Eternal site and get signed up to play!
Sparkplay Media secures more funding, may introduce new projects outside Earth Eternal
Sparkplay Media, the team behind the browser/client hybrid free-to-play title Earth Eternal, has just wrangled up an additional 2.8 million dollars in investments, according to a filing within the SEC. The team is certainly showing growth, as noted in a recent interview with the new lead designer on Earth Eternal when he asks for more members on his team, but VentureBeat believes that Sparkplay is experimenting on more projects outside of Earth Eternal. Currently their job page speaks otherwise, as Sparkplay is looking for more developers to be placed onto the Earth Eternal team. But, even if the company isn't working on new projects, more investments are only good news as it means more ambitious updates will likely be coming to Earth Eternal in the coming year, thanks to more people working on the project. [Thanks for the tip, Ripper!]
Earth Eternal hits open beta
You ever want to play an MMO in your browser? Well now you can! Sparkplay Media's Earth Eternal has finally made the leap into open beta, and joining is as easy as a few button clicks.All you have to do to check out the free-to-play MMO with 22 races is go to their website and sign up for an account. That's it. It's really, really just that easy. After your account is made, you can play Earth Eternal in your browser, or you can grab the actual client and run it separate from your browser.If you like the game and want to throw some money its way, you might want to consider doing it during the open beta. For the month of October, any game credit purchases will have an extra 20% credits thrown in for your purchase. So if you grab 1,000 credits, you'll get 1,200 instead.So, what are you waiting for? Jump on over to the EE website and sign up. It's easy!
[Updated] Stress test Earth Eternal, get a cool hat
Are you a big fan of fantasy? Like exclusive items? How about helping to stress test games? If you answered "yes" to all three of those questions, then listen up! Our friends over at SparkPlay Media have sent over another shiny batch of 1,000 beta keys so those people who are interested can get involved with a new round of beta testing in Earth Eternal starting at 12:00 PM Pacific tomorrow. As a thank you for making it online, testers who are in at 2 PM Pacific (Saturday, September 26th) will get this special Earth Eternal hat that we think looks sneakingly like the stylish one worn by Tim the Enchanter. We're told the EE logo on the front sparkles too, so be sure to get there early! All you have to do if you want in on all the fun is to head over to the Massively code-giving-out-site-thing, read the instructions, and click the button. Or click the button and then read the instructions. It's really not too terribly hard to do - and hey, it gets you in to the Earth Eternal beta! Then show up tomorrow at 12 PM Pacific (3pm Eastern) and hang around until 2:00 PM Pacific (5pm Eastern) to net yourself one of these funky hats. With your new hat, you can then run around warning everyone about those killer rabbits and their nasty sharp pointy teeth. Hopefully they'll believe you, unlike those who doubted the word of Tim.[Edited to show updated times]
Come test Earth Eternal tonight, get a special beta gift
There's nothing we love here at Massively more than giving our devoted readers the chance to get into betas whenever we can. That's why when Sparkplay Media contacted us today to ask if we could help them fill their servers to bursting with gamers who were interested in their upcoming anthropomorphic fantasy game Earth Eternal, we knew just what to do. So, we asked for a bunch of beta keys to give out! They were all too glad to give us a large bundle, which we've now set up on our beta key server for you to grab.But if free beta keys weren't fun enough, Sparkplay decided to make the deal even more interesting by offering a very special beta item available to any and all testers who log in tonight at 5PM Pacific (8PM Eastern). All you have to do is play some Earth Eternal and help them push the servers hard. Testers who show up and give them a hand during that time-frame will get a special "Beta Beast" Earth Eternal banner to display. So if you've been curious about this casual-friendly fantasy MMO, then be sure to go snag one of the beta codes and pop by tonight at 5PM Pacific to lend a hand.
Fileplanet wants you to play Earth Eternal really badly
What's this taking up one of the center links on Fileplanet? Is it the upcoming MMO Earth Eternal? Why yes it is! Sparkplay Media's Earth Eternal has made it to the top of the free games listing... except for the fact that EE is still in closed beta.Fileplanet's link, while enticing, will not get you instant access into the closed beta. What it will do, however, is sign you up for an account that will let you be eligible to be selected for the closed beta. It will not let you play the game immediately, but it will certainly net you a chance at playing sooner rather than later.According to Sparkplay Media, Fileplanet will be involved with getting the game and the word out there, but it seems they've jumped the gun in releasing their link for the game. It's cool, we all make mistakes.As to what special in-game items Fileplanet members will be receiving for signing up and playing, well, that's still a secret to everybody.
Matt Mihaly talks microtransactions and Earth Eternal
It looks like we're not the only ones on the block to talk to Matt Mihaly, as Gamasutra has recently sat down with the Sparkplay Media CEO. The topic of the conversation: microtransactions.Matt's no stranger to microtransactions, having utilized them back with Iron Realms Entertainment and their many MUD games. His talk with Gamasutra starts out focusing on how microtransactions can generate a very modest income, but mainly center on a small segment of the game's population paying the most to play the game.Beyond microtransactions, Matt gives a few very interesting details about the development of Earth Eternal and how it reached the form it's in today. Did you know that originally Earth Eternal was going to be a hyper-violent and hyper-sexualized fantasy MMO before it evolved into the playful multi-race animal/fable theme? No? Then you might want to check out the full article, as there's more where that came from regarding the game's evolution.
Meet the Sparkplay Media team: Part Two
Yesterday we introduced you to the lead designer and concept artist from Sparkplay Media, the makers of the upcoming free-to-play MMO Earth Eternal. Today we have more behind the scenes action for you as we continue our "Meet the Sparkplay Media Team" feature and introduce you to the lead writer and one of the programmers that work so diligently on this new MMO.In today's feature we get the inside scoop on the microtransaction store and story from Sparkplay's CEO and lead writer of Earth Eternal, Matt Mihaly. Plus we're also getting a peek inside what goes on during the coding of Earth Eternal with Ryne Anderson, one of the programmers.
Meet the Sparkplay Media team: Part Two, pg. 2
Massively: Is there any MMO that has influenced your work on Earth Eternal, and if so how did it influence you? Ryne Anderson, programmer: Absolutely! One of the most enjoyable aspects in working with games is digging into the titles that you really enjoy and seeing if you can't make them a bit better by throwing your own unique spin on them. Of note, World of Warcraft has been my shining beacon throughout the project. The simplicity of getting a player into the action opened the floodgates to people who might have previously been intimidated by the stigma that MMO's were for 'hardcore' players. Earth Eternal aims to not only meet, but exceed the accessibility of the current 3D MMOs, by not requiring a monthly subscription or up-front payment to play– all within a very polished game world that you can play in a browser. What Earth Eternal race represents you the best and why? Ryne: Being a technical guy myself, it is without a doubt the Clockwork. First and foremost, his look is amazingly different from all of the other races in Earth Eternal. Secondly, let's face it: robots are awesome! (Unfortunately though, I can't be a robot ninja in Earth Eternal...yet.) If you could pick out your favorite part of Earth Eternal, what would it be and why? Ryne: As hinted above, I'm really into accessibility for any type of player. To me, if we can get a player, from seeing our webpage, to in the game killing monsters in five minutes or less, that's a huge win for both us and the player. I believe we have succeeded in this, as our intro area not only looks beautiful, but gets players into the action right away. What has been the most difficult obstacle for you to overcome in your work on Earth Eternal? Ryne: Making any sort of game is always a learning process, and sometimes simple issues turn out to be much larger when you try to lay out all the details. For me, the most difficult part of making an MMO is keeping the client and server in sync at all times. It's a trade-off between being responsive to the commands issued by the player and validating that they are actually allowed to do those commands on the server. What are some of the limitations/problems you encounter when coding for both a client and a browser-based game? How have you guys overcome that? Ryne: Honestly, getting the game running in the browser isn't a monumental task. It requires a bit of touch-up every time a new browser version comes out, but the plugin we have is fairly solid. The difference between the browser and client version are pretty minimal. Having said that, since we are running in a browser we want the game to be able to run on as many computers as possible, and optimizing for all sorts of different configurations is always quite a challenge.Thank you so much to the Sparkplay Team for lending the time to answer our questions! If you're interested in Earth Eternal or would like to put your name into the hat for the closed beta, stop by their website!
Meet the Sparkplay Media team: Part One
Here at Massively we recently got the chance to sit down with a couple members of the Sparkplay Media team and pick their brains about their upcoming MMO, Earth Eternal. However, these guys had a lot to say to us! So much so that we couldn't fit it into one of our standard interviews!So that's why we're bringing you "Meet the Sparkplay Media Team," a two part feature article with all of the info and answers that we've been exposed to. Today and tomorrow you're going to get to know the lead designer, a concept artist, lead writer (and moonlighting CEO), and one of the programmers behind Earth Eternal.Today we're sitting down with Greg Chapman, the lead designer, and Alex Madrigal, one of the concept artists. If you wish to comment on today's interviews, please do so on page two of our interviews. Otherwise, hit that continue reading button and come on in!
Meet the Sparkplay Media team: Part One, pg. 2
Massively: Is there any MMO that has influenced your work on Earth Eternal, and if so how did it influence you? Alex Madrigal, Concept Artist: I've been pretty active with MMOs for about seven years now. I've played Final Fantasy XI the most, but I've spent a serious amount of time in World of Warcraft as well. I've dabbled in Everquest 2, Lineage II and most recently Dragonica. Artistically, I've picked something up from each of the games I've spent considerable amounts of time with. What Earth Eternal race represents you the best and why? Alex: I'd have to say that I'm probably most like the Ursine. I'm big, tough and hairy. Also...not so much tough, but definitely cuddly! If you could pick out your favorite part of Earth Eternal, what would it be and why? Alex: My monster designs. That will probably (definitely) come across as conceit, but the time spent with the team discussing, designing and fine tuning the monsters was probably the most fun I've had working on this game. To take something from a simply stated verbal concept and then see it grow through the stages of development is always exciting. Getting to draw strange things and seeing them show up in a 3D virtual space is a hoot. Plus it does my ego good when I hear people say that they think the designs are cool. And if you manage to find monsters you think aren't so cool – I didn't do those. [Laughs]What has been the most difficult obstacle for you to overcome in your work on Earth Eternal? Alex: Doing user interface work. Having come from an animation background, jumping headfirst into designing a UI was a hell of a hurdle. Dealing with a whole new set of technical limitations and rules was difficult at first. For my first UI, I'm pretty happy with the end result, but I prefer the pencil and paper/Photoshop route instead of shifting around tiny pixels. What has influenced your art style for Earth Eternal? Why this art style? Alex: I wish I could say that I was on the ground floor to help decide the artistic style for the game, but I actually came on as the concept artist about a year after the game's development started. I've been following a style set by another group of artists, but I have taken the opportunity to slather it in a healthy coating of my own personal style when possible. I'm heavily influenced by European graphic novel artists, and I really enjoy classic fairy tale illustrations. Things with visual texture and very rhythmic line work. Earth Eternal has rich lore and to me, it feels like a fairy tale world. I try to implement that kind of stuff wherever I can.Come back tomorrow for part two, when we get to speak with the lead writer, Matt Mihaly, and one of the programmers, Ryne Anderson!
Massively speaks with Sparkplay Media's CEO on Earth Eternal pt. 2
How have the launches of FusionFall and Free Realms affected Earth Eternal? Have you changed your development or goals in any way because of the success of those two games, or have you stayed the course and continued to build things your way, disregarding those two games?Not really, no. Games like Runescape and Habbo have had more influence on our plans than either of those two games, simply because they're so much bigger. FusionFall and Free Realms have gotten a lot of press in the last year, but neither of them have achieved the level of success that games like Runescape and Habbo have. Actually, nobody really knows how Free Realms is doing outside of SOE. Three million registrations doesn't tell you much about how many active players they have as you don't know how quickly players are churning out of the experience. With the massive dollars they spent on marketing too, it'd be surprising if they couldn't get a few million registrations. The challenge for them (and everyone else in this space, including us) is to convert that fleeting attention into long-term, loyal players. "We're more in the vein of a classic fantasy MMO than a collection of minigames." How will Earth Eternal separate itself from the growing free-to-play genre in America? What will make this game stand out?We're a different kind of experience from FusionFall or Free Realms. We're more in the vein of a classic fantasy MMO than a collection of minigames. I think where we stand out is by offering the best browser-based fantasy MMO out there. We've made the decision to have no humans, elves, or dwarves (or gnomes, hobbits, or anything else too close to human), preferring instead to offer everything from humanoid lizards and falcons to the Clockwork and Yeti. We're definitely fantasy but we want to stay away from the pack, almost all of whom have the humans/elves/dwarves thing going on. We've also got an enormous number of races for players (unlike the two games you mentioned) – 22 at launch.Considering all of Earth Eternal's development, what part of the game are you the most proud of? What is that one feature you can't wait to show off?The number one thing I'm proud of is how much our team has managed to do on relatively little funding for an open world 3D MMO (about five million dollars.) As far as game features go the biggest feature I'm looking forward to showing off is our Groves system, which will be introduced at final launch, a few months after we go into open beta. Thanks so much for your time, Matt!
Massively speaks with Sparkplay Media's CEO on Earth Eternal
With Sparkplay Media's first game, Earth Eternal, going into beta, we got the chance to sit down with the CEO of the company, Matt Mihaly, and pick his mind on a variety of things related to setting up shop in the free to play genre.Matt's no stranger to the massively multiplayer space, holding a strong background as the CEO and founder of Iron Realms Entertainment, a company dedicated to creating multi-user dungeons (MUDs) including Imperian, Aetola, Achaea, and Lusternia. If that wasn't enough, Achaea was one of the first games to introduce the sales of virtual goods, making him one of the pioneers of the base that free-to-play games now stand on.So what's his thought process behind Earth Eternal? What are some of the things we can expect from the MMO that's sporting over 22 races? Hit the continue reading link, and find out!
