Zork Returning As a Browser MMO 108
Gamasutra reports that Jolt Online Gaming is teaming up with Activision to revive the Zork franchise in the form of a casual, browser-based MMO. The Legends of Zork website provides some basic background information: "The Great Underground Empire has recently fallen and the land is in disarray. The Royal Treasury has been sacked. The stock market has collapsed, leading even mighty FrobozzCo International to fire employees from throughout its subsidiaries. A craze of treasure-hunting has swept through the remnants of the Great Underground Empire. The New Zork Times reports that trolls, kobolds and other dangerous creatures are venturing far from their lairs. Adventurers and monsters are increasingly coming into conflict over areas rich with loot. It's a dangerous time to be a newly-unemployed traveling salesman, but it's also a great time to try a bit of adventuring." Gamasutra also has a brief interview with Jolt's CEO, Dylan Collins. There's no word yet whether or not players are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Multi-player text adventures? (Score:5, Insightful)
Gee, someone should have thought of this YEARS AGO [wikipedia.org]!
Oh wait they did.
I'm on dialup, so got tired of waiting for TFA to load. Maybe it's graphical and awesome and whatever.
Re:Multi-player text adventures? (Score:3, Insightful)
So what do you call MUDs that use a java telnet client in your browser.
Zork? (Score:5, Insightful)
The Great Underground Empire has recently fallen and the land is in disarray. The Royal Treasury has been sacked. The stock market has collapsed, leading even mighty FrobozzCo International to fire employees from throughout its subsidiaries. A craze of treasure-hunting has swept through the remnants of the Great Underground Empire...
Sounds a bit too much like reality to me.
It's a rare game... (Score:5, Insightful)
...that can survive being turned into a MMORPG. Most developers tend to think that making a game into a MMOG adds value, but I tend to think it's the reverse.
Re:It's a rare game... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It's a rare game... (Score:5, Insightful)
We need a Leisure Suit Larry MMO.
Re:Two questions: (Score:2, Insightful)
1. Are any of the people involved with the original in on this? I know TFA says that they were in contact with Activision regarding backstory, but that's not necessarily the same thing.
I think that's rather unlikely. Mr. Collins explicitly says in the interview that he's "continually searching for people who were involved in the games over the years" and quotes only Activision as a source for the "entire mythology". None of the original Zork Implementors works (or has worked in the past) for Activision.
Also, the artwork on http://www.legendsofzork.com/ [legendsofzork.com] makes you wonder if Mr. Collins has really caught up with the "entire mythology". This adventurer is from anywhere but from Zork -- not with that torch in his hand.