GemStone IV
GemStone IV is a text-based online role-playing game, or MUD, produced by Simutronics. It takes place in the medieval, Tolkienesque fantasy world of Elanthia, where players can engage in a wide variety of activities such as slaying creatures, spell-casting, foraging for edible herbs, and more. Simutronics charges players a recurring monthly fee to play. GemStone is one of the longest-running online games in existence, having started in 1987 and outlasted many competitors.
Overview
GemStone IV was originally developed in 1987 as GemStone, though it only existed as an internal product under that title, and eventually progressed to its current title, GemStone IV (also referred to as GS4). During prime-time hours, the number of active players online ranges from 650 to over 1000.
Within GemStone IV a player can conceivably progress in level as far as it is possible to go without relying on the aid or assistance of other players. This solo aspect is of particular interest to MMORPG players who do not desire the "group focused" central theme of MMORPGs such as EverQuest. Despite this, Gemstone has a rich social culture among its more dedicated players.
GemStone IV offers three account types for players to choose from: standard ($14.95), premium ($39.95) and platinum ($49.95). Platinum and premium accounts offer various advantages to players over the basic service provided by the standard account subscription.
As one of the longest-running Internet games, there is a substantial base of players from the 90s who felt disenfranchised by the lack of emphasis now placed on role-playing in GemStone. As a way of placating those players, a service, called GemStone IV Platinum is available. It is an exact replica of GemStone IV's world, with some minor changes as well as an enforced role-playing environment, for the price of $49.95US per month.
History
GemStone was originally offered on the GEnie service in the late 1980s, eventually competing with such games as Dragon's Gate, Federation and Hundred Years War. The game is built on Simutronics' proprietary engine, the IFE (Interactive Fiction Engine). Its product managers over the years have been Elonka Dunin, Suz Dodd, and Melissa Meyer.
GemStone III opened for beta on December 1, 1989, with a license to use the Rolemaster game mechanics and Shadow World environment from Iron Crown Enterprises. A few years later, ICE and Simutronics agreed to let the business relationship expire, which required Simutronics to alter GemStone slightly. (For example, the game world's name changed from Kulthea to Elanthia, along with numerous other minor changes. The world as it existed before this turnover is popularly known as the "Ice Age" among players, and in-game items dating from that period are highly valuable.)
Another Simutronics game based on the IFE engine, DragonRealms, opened in 1996.
In addition to being on GEnie, the Simutronics IFE games also maintained portals on AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy, and other online services. In December 1996, GemStone III and DragonRealms were the top two titles (hours/month) in the entire multiplayer gaming industry, with GemStone III doing over 1.4 million hours in one month, and supporting over 2000 simultaneous users.
GemStone IV was released as an enhanced version of GemStone III on November 21, 2003.
All of the Simutronics games are now available exclusively on the World Wide Web at Play.net.
Gameplay
The basic features of Gemstone resemble other role-playing games. Players create a character, pick one of several professions and races that have different skills, spells, and attributes, and choose features such as gender, height, hair and eye color. Players must gain "experience" to advance from one level to the next. This usually involves killing the mutants, monsters, undead and other fauna that inhibit the wilds, but some professions can gain experience through other skills, such as healing other players or resurrecting them from the dead.
Gemstone's gaming engine is built around players moving through "rooms" (indoor or outdoor) that divide the environment. Each room typically features a very lush, literary description of the buildings, objects, and scenery. Rooms such as the town square, or safe havens near hunting areas, are known as "nodes," where players can rest, recuperate, have conversations or exchange goods and services like having a wound healed by an empath or the lock on a treasure chest picked by a locksmith.
Because the community of players tends to be dedicated and remains small, a great deal of social interaction takes place in the nodes and elsewhere that resembles what one might think of as medieval small-town life. Perhaps owing to the lack of guilds, some players have formed families through in-game marriages and the "adoption" of lower-level players by older ones. Rules of etiquette have developed and are fairly well-enforced, such as tipping a healer or a locksmith for their services, not doing violence to one another except in a proper duel, and not making public references to the modern world. Laws are enforced by non-player characters in the major towns.
A notable difference between Gemstone and graphic MMORPGs (such as Everquest) is the complexity and difficulty of gameplay. Advancing from level to level requires a great deal of time because of, among other things, the need to rest and absorb the experience gained after a hunt. (This requirement undoubtably contributes to the rich in-game social life in the nodes.) A multitude of factors are involved in the different mathematical formulas that decide the successful outcome of swinging a sword, enchanting armor, or even trying to climb a hill. A dedicated player must learn about the interactions between different metals or substances, for example, to succeed at more advanced alchemies.
Players can also choose to join one of two societies to earn additional powers. "Voln" is marked by features of medieval, monastic Christianity and Buddhism and fights for purity and good. Before entering the monastery, you must first bathe in a purifying spring of holy water. Members of Voln do battle against undead monsters and must meditate in the monastery for a length of time before having a vision and interpreting its meaning. The underground "Council of Light," of which one is not supposed to speak in public, forces the player into the equivalent of selling his character's soul to the devil. Gaining access to the Council of Light's secret headquarters requires flushing yourself down the bathhouse toilet.
Gamemasters are often referred to as "gods" owing to their powers and omniscience. Much like a mythic god in an ancient Greek epic, a watchful Gamemaster might settle an endless public dispute between players by releasing an invasion of high-level monsters who slaughter the offenders as punishment. Players are also treated to the occasional festival or merchant ship with unusual items or services available.
As a text-based roleplaying game, Gemstone is a dynamic environment that can be modified relatively easily by its creators because new areas and events do not require being rendered graphically.
The various "professions" (clerics, empaths, rogues, bards, etc.) have been significantly adjusted over time, and the game has suffered from what are known as "balance" issues as its programmers deal with the ongoing challenge of not making one profession or combination of skills too weak or powerful.
Gemstone has perhaps diminished somewhat from its heyday in the 1990s, as the limited staff and resources of Simutronics have turned toward creating a graphic MMORPG to compete with World of Warcraft and Everquest. The game has had a significant influence on its successors. That Gemstone continues to survive after nearly two decades is a testament to the richness and appeal of its world.