E306 PRess Release

Valo

Cadet
Online Roleplaying Will Never Be the Same Again; Hero's Journey™ Redefines Online Roleplaying Games at E3
E3Expo 2006
GAITHERSBURG, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2006--At this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, Simutronics holds the first public demonstration of its next massively multiplayer online (MMO) roleplaying game (RPG), Hero's Journey, in Kentia Hall booth 6553.


Like other new MMO games, Hero's Journey features flashy visuals and animations, special magical effects, and combat between players and against monsters, all powered by the company's HeroEngine™ technology platform. Once you get beyond the basics and into the details of game design, Hero's Journey shows its true nature.

Online roleplaying will never be the same again.

"Other MMO games are roleplaying in name only," says Simutronics founder and CEO David Whatley, who has headed the firm's studio since 1987. "They are about leveling up and improving your stats. We believe that is only one small part of the experience, and with Hero's Journey we're bring the RP back to online RPGs."

Hero's Journey is built around the player's character. In a bold move ahead from other games, each character develops a unique set of abilities and a unique storyline. Where other MMO games seem very repetitive, Hero's Journey offers unlimited replayability - no two characters are alike.

The Hero's Journey demonstration at E3 focuses on an innovative system called Wyr™ where the player's character, items and abilities can be customized to make them truly different from everyone else. Wyr can literally change the game by altering spells to behave differently, and several Wyr can combine in surprising ways. Wyr represents a new dimension in online roleplaying games.

The Hero's Journey character generation system lets players choose a unique appearance. Says Whatley, "We decoupled the way you look from your abilities. On the TV show, Xena fought battles in a leather miniskirt. In other MMO games you have to wear bulky armor to protect yourself, but we believe players want to control how they look, so your protection in combat is completely separate from how you look on the screen."

Beyond clothing, Hero's Journey provides players with a system for designing each character's appearance to an unprecedented level of detail in face and body features, so everyone is truly unique.

Hero's Journey supports roleplaying by a social system that encourages players to get to know one another as friends or even as rivals. Players have home towns, houses of their own, and neighbors who may or may not be friends. Unlike other games where players roam the world and only get to know guild mates, Hero's Journey builds a rich social setting where half the fun is the other players, and where playing your part in the world is deeply rewarding.

Hero's Journey also features multiple character classes, letting players break the bonds of rigid game systems and enjoy the features of more than one class at a time.

Hero's Journey will go into beta testing later in 2006 and be launched commercially in mid-2007. Simutronics will announce retail distribution plans and local online partners at a later date.

About Simutronics

Simutronics Corp. is a leading creator of advanced technology platform for developers in the billion dollar global market for massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. Our HeroEngine platform reduces time to market by 1-2 years with a full feature set in an integrated turnkey solution. The company also offers a proprietary catalog of MMO games. Founded in 1987 and known as the original master of online games, the firm has innovated in the multiplayer online game world with popular titles like GemStone, DragonRealms, and CyberStrike, all of which are still played by avid fans on the play.net website. Simutronics has offices in St. Charles, MO and Gaithersburg, MD. HeroEngine and Hero's Journey are trademarks of Simutronics Corp., all rights reserved.
 
I can't wait to hear more about this Wyr system...ah this game is going to be so awesome!!!

I love that if I play an Alt or 2...or 3... they'll be completely different characters, with completely different stories. So awesome.

I hope we find out more about that "roleplay" button as well as E3 continues to unfold...
 
Ok...how do you pronounce that. Weer? Wir? Wire?

I am curious to know more about this social system. It's a bold claim to say:

Unlike other games where players roam the world and only get to know guild mates, Hero's Journey builds a rich social setting where half the fun is the other players, and where playing your part in the world is deeply rewarding."

I'd like to know what that means in reality. Are they talking about the presence of GMs who will reward roleplaying talent? Or is there some other un-revealed system in the works? Because simply having customizable character appearance and spells doesn't necessarily lead to greater roleplaying.

I suppose, being a press release, it's unlikely that it will really tell us that much. Hopefully the information will be forthcoming this the next few days. :smiley:
 
it would be really cool if they are going to enrich the roleplaying so much, that it is as much fun as being a hero. hundreds of actions would be cool. i think it would make the game juicy juicy juicy
 
Originally posted by Foxeye@May 10 2006, 03:21 PM
Unlike other games where players roam the world and only get to know guild mates, Hero's Journey builds a rich social setting where half the fun is the other players, and where playing your part in the world is deeply rewarding."

I'd like to know what that means in reality. Are they talking about the presence of GMs who will reward roleplaying talent? Or is there some other un-revealed system in the works? Because simply having customizable character appearance and spells doesn't necessarily lead to greater roleplaying.
Well, if Simu's previous games are an indication of things to come then, yes, GM's will reward RPing with exp, items, buffs, spells, etc. The GM's are VERY active on GemstoneIII with events happening almost every day. Also, they reward effort as well as talent. The reward you get may depend on how you play your character or how your encounter went with them. I've RPed some nasty, rude, and unpleasant encounters and been rewarded.

Staff has also been known to control various mobs for events such as raids, attacks, merchants, etc. Not sure how this will work in a graphical game, but I'm assuming it would be as simple as changing the skins of their characters (like a polymorph) to the mob race they are raiding with. I've been lucky enough to happen across a GM merchant a time or too and have bought a couple one of a kind items.

All in all, I expect the GMs and staff to be involved heavily with the players. That has always been important to Simu.
 
Originally posted by Foxeye@May 10 2006, 03:21 PM
Ok...how do you pronounce that. Weer? Wir? Wire?

I am curious to know more about this social system. It's a bold claim to say:

Unlike other games where players roam the world and only get to know guild mates, Hero's Journey builds a rich social setting where half the fun is the other players, and where playing your part in the world is deeply rewarding."

I'd like to know what that means in reality. Are they talking about the presence of GMs who will reward roleplaying talent? Or is there some other un-revealed system in the works? Because simply having customizable character appearance and spells doesn't necessarily lead to greater roleplaying.

I suppose, being a press release, it's unlikely that it will really tell us that much. Hopefully the information will be forthcoming this the next few days. :smiley:
It's pronounced like we're.
 
What a great read. You can also find that on our website now too :smiley: Wyr sounds like a great idea, something new!

HEROSHALL.COM Also, check out the IGN.com Media #1 page that was just put up!
 
Dammit. I just crapped my pants after reading that. Yet, I'm still very happy.

Hero's Hall has everything I've ever wanted in an MMORPG. :D
 
Originally posted by HJ-Sisca+May 10 2006, 04:02 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (HJ-Sisca @ May 10 2006, 04:02 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Foxeye@May 10 2006, 03:21 PM
Ok...how do you pronounce that. Weer? Wir? Wire?

I am curious to know more about this social system. It's a bold claim to say:

Unlike other games where players roam the world and only get to know guild mates, Hero's Journey builds a rich social setting where half the fun is the other players, and where playing your part in the world is deeply rewarding."

I'd like to know what that means in reality. Are they talking about the presence of GMs who will reward roleplaying talent? Or is there some other un-revealed system in the works? Because simply having customizable character appearance and spells doesn't necessarily lead to greater roleplaying.

I suppose, being a press release, it's unlikely that it will really tell us that much. Hopefully the information will be forthcoming this the next few days. :smiley:
It's pronounced like we're. [/b][/quote]
I had to chuckle at this, since we just had this discussion (were? we're? wire?) on our listserv a couple days ago.

Goat
 
Lets hope they will release a E3 2006 exclusive ingame video as well.
I really want to se this beutiful world in moving pictures.

Do anyone know if there going to be more "official" E3 info released?
 
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