''Dragon's Gate'' was an interactive, real time,

text-based In computing, text-based user interfaces (TUI) (alternately terminal user interfaces, to reflect a dependence upon the properties of computer terminals and not just text), is a retronym describing a type of user interface (UI) common as an ear ...

multi user online fantasy role-playing game, sometimes referred to as a

MUD Mud (, or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally cal ...

. It was one of the longest running pay-for-play

online game An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and mobile devices, a ...

s in the world, it opened to the public in the spring of 1990 on

GEnie GEnie (General Electric Network for Information Exchange) was an online service provider, online service created by a General Electric business, GEIS (now GXS Inc., GXS), that ran from 1985 through the end of 1999. In 1994, GEnie claimed around ...

. In 1996 the game was moved to AOL. Later the game was moved to Mythic Realms, and finally to independent server, where it ran until the summer of 2007.

History

At its creation, the core of ''Dragon's Gate'' was based on the AUSI-entitled game Aradath, which was programmed and designed in 1985 by Mark Jacobs. ''Dragon's Gate'' was originally developed by Mark Jacobs and Darrin Hyrup, who had joined AUSI from Simutronics where he had been a programmer on '' GemStone II'' and lead programmer on ''Orb Wars''. ''Dragon's Gate'' was launched on

in late 1989 and was eventually taken up by AOL as an online product.Bartle (2003), p. 14; "GEnie was the launch point for many classic online games, including two very important virtual worlds: ''Gemstone II'' in 1988 and ''Dragon's Gate'' in 1990". Hyrup's initial work on the game was to help port the game to GEnie's Mark III operating system, though in the end, the resulting game was more of a new creation than a port. That partnership led to Hyrup becoming an integral part of AUSI as well as the evolution of the game from Aradath to ''Dragon's Gate'' on GEnie and to its other homes. Jacobs and Hyrup, along with partner Rob Denton, later formed a company in 1995 called Interworld Productions, which in 1997 was renamed as Mythic Entertainment. In 1997 Hyrup and Lori Silva (now Lori Hyrup) joined forces, Darrin as the producer/lead programmer and Lori as an associate producer/lead game designer. In 1998, programming was taken over by Roy Sutton, and in 1999 lead game design was passed on to Colin Johanson. Mythic Entertainment is currently best known for the

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

'' Warhammer Online'' and '' Dark Age of Camelot''. In June 2006, Mythic Entertainment was purchased by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

. In January 2006, Mythic Entertainment dropped a number of games from its services and official sponsoring, including ''Dragon's Gate''. After being rescued by Darrin and returned to service as a free game running from his basement, the game was taken back down again a year later after a lightning storm damaged the server equipment.Official Dragon's Gate Message Boards

Production overview

Like other games of its kind, ''Dragon's Gate'' was based on ideas similar to popular fantasy stories (such as ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' and ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

''). Each player created a character and assumed the identity of that character while participating.

Role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...

allowed interaction between PCs (

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...

s) and NPCs (

non-player character A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...

s in the form of computer-controlled creatures including monsters and merchants among others) within a simulated environment, which runs in a real-time framework, allowing for an extremely immersive experience. Among the possible game events are numerous GM ( game master) or player-run scenarios which variously consist of adventuring, completing quests, fighting in gladiatorial sports, and making new friends with other players. A

could be of any one of several classes and races and be individualized in many ways, similar to more modern MMORPGs. Throughout the gaming process, players quickly learned about the way the world functions and how to adventure (usually in search of things like loot, glory, fame, and fortune) either alone or with other players. The game is specifically designed to emphasize its

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...

aspects, and to this end the developers have de-emphasized the statistics, although they are still an integral part of the way the game works, and some statistics with numbers are still shown, but are kept to an absolute minimum. Life in the game continues 24 hours a day, and events continue to occur without requiring the direct intervention of players, a concept commonly referred to as "persistence". According to the official website: "The world is rich with political and religious strife and has a detailed history. It is very easy to get involved and immersed in

role-play Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to Acting, act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-p ...

. Dragon's Gate allows you to experience an exciting world designed to be more than just a

text adventure Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text Command (computing), commands to control Player character, characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narrati ...

. As a social gaming system, ''Dragon's Gate'' is intended to be fun".

Reception

Ken St. Andre wrote in ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'' in 1992 that "gamers who like medieval fantasy ... will positively love the ''Dragon's Gate'' experience". He said that the opportunity to interact and cooperate with other players, and "unparalleled opportunity for extensive role-playing" were its main virtues, and called the cost of $6 per hour "a very reasonable price for being transported into a world of alien wonder and adventure".

References

External links

Official website
(archived) {{MUDs 1990 video games MUD games Mythic Entertainment games Video games developed in the United States