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The galaxy needs YOU!
I came across this game, Shores of Hazeron, about a week ago. It's in beta, free to play, buggy, has a Dwarf Fortress-esq learning curve, looks kind of awful in places, but damn, it's the most compelling MMO I've played EVAR. Not a fetch quest in sight. In fact, no quests at all (although it looks like there may be a player-scripted quest system in the works). Everything in the game is player-driven. There are no Non Player Characters other than city-dwellers and generic crewmen/soldiers (used to fill gaps in your ship's crew roster that aren't taken by real players). You even design and fly your own ships. You could recreate Serenity, people, or the Millennium Falcon, or the Enterprise (and plenty of people already have, if you look at the screenshots on the front page)
If I had to compare it to other games, it has the best elements of Elite, Spore, Sim City and Master of Orion. It's an MMO (but there are really only about 60-80 people playing it at a time) that takes place in a galaxy called Hazeron. The galaxy is huge. I'm not sure how many stars are supposed to be in it, but it's more than you could reasonably expect to see in a lifetime of playing.
It's played mostly in first person perspective, but you can switch to a top-down view for city building.
So here's how it goes. You either choose to join an existing Empire, or start your own.
If you join an existing empire, you are dumped at the capital, naked and wielding a very potent weapon (heh), and with a few spacebucks in your (non-existent) pocket. From there you can do what you like - wander the planet and live by your wits and survive off the land, or you can start a new colony on the planet (if the government allows it), or sign up for a crew position on somebody else's spaceship, or maybe beg the government for your own subsidised (govt. provided) ship, or earn money trading in order to buy your own ship. Whatever interests you.
But maybe you have higher ambitions...
If you start your own empire, you get to create your own race, its political system, set taxes, appoint officials (other players) etc, and you get a whole virgin planet (and solar system) to develop. That's where the Sim City/Civilization elements come in. It's time consuming without being grindy. The game moves along at a reasonable clip, and you can have a city of a few hundred (NPC) people up and running in a couple of days of play, and have functional starships not long after that.
This is about as far as I've gone in the game. In my first empire, I got to the point where I needed a mineral for creating anti-gravity drives that only exists on airless, cold moons. Problem was, my system didn't have any of those. Derp. In my next (and current) empire, I found the necessary elements and was able to build a basic, low-tech starship. Yay. And with that ship, last night I found the holy grail of Hazeron exploration - a Ringworld. Fuck yeah. And they are really impressive. While nothing in the game is to a "realistic" scale (hence the comparison to Spore - it has that kind of planetary scale, maybe slightly bigger), a whole ringworld has more land than I could ever use. So while I could colonise it (it's only about 6 jumps from my home system), without other players, I couldn't possibly exploit it fully, or defend it.
That's where you come in.
I need fellow players to fill in gaps in my hierarchy. I need a couple of sector administrators, a few system administrators and several world and city rulers, and most importantly, an heir. As a dictatorship, I need a co-ruler who would take over in the event of my unfortunate demise (or if I get tired of running things). I'm not sure how to determine who that would be, but I suppose we'll figure that out later.
The other option is that if there is enough interest, we could start an entirely new empire (BTW, empire is the generic term for a government - doesn't have to be a dictatorship, there are several options), called, I dunno, Frontrowcrewforumia or something. The only downside is that it will take a while to get to the point where we can recruit people other than the leader. But the big upside is that everyone gets a chance to build their own cities, learn how the game works while helping each other out, and begin trading with each other, which means we all get really rich before we open the doors to the public.
Is anyone interested in either option? I'd really enjoy conquering the galaxy with you guys and gals. If you're worried about time commitment, don't be. You can be on as little or as much as you like, although a couple of uber-committed Sector Administrators would be awesome.
If I had to compare it to other games, it has the best elements of Elite, Spore, Sim City and Master of Orion. It's an MMO (but there are really only about 60-80 people playing it at a time) that takes place in a galaxy called Hazeron. The galaxy is huge. I'm not sure how many stars are supposed to be in it, but it's more than you could reasonably expect to see in a lifetime of playing.
It's played mostly in first person perspective, but you can switch to a top-down view for city building.
So here's how it goes. You either choose to join an existing Empire, or start your own.
If you join an existing empire, you are dumped at the capital, naked and wielding a very potent weapon (heh), and with a few spacebucks in your (non-existent) pocket. From there you can do what you like - wander the planet and live by your wits and survive off the land, or you can start a new colony on the planet (if the government allows it), or sign up for a crew position on somebody else's spaceship, or maybe beg the government for your own subsidised (govt. provided) ship, or earn money trading in order to buy your own ship. Whatever interests you.
But maybe you have higher ambitions...
If you start your own empire, you get to create your own race, its political system, set taxes, appoint officials (other players) etc, and you get a whole virgin planet (and solar system) to develop. That's where the Sim City/Civilization elements come in. It's time consuming without being grindy. The game moves along at a reasonable clip, and you can have a city of a few hundred (NPC) people up and running in a couple of days of play, and have functional starships not long after that.
This is about as far as I've gone in the game. In my first empire, I got to the point where I needed a mineral for creating anti-gravity drives that only exists on airless, cold moons. Problem was, my system didn't have any of those. Derp. In my next (and current) empire, I found the necessary elements and was able to build a basic, low-tech starship. Yay. And with that ship, last night I found the holy grail of Hazeron exploration - a Ringworld. Fuck yeah. And they are really impressive. While nothing in the game is to a "realistic" scale (hence the comparison to Spore - it has that kind of planetary scale, maybe slightly bigger), a whole ringworld has more land than I could ever use. So while I could colonise it (it's only about 6 jumps from my home system), without other players, I couldn't possibly exploit it fully, or defend it.
That's where you come in.
I need fellow players to fill in gaps in my hierarchy. I need a couple of sector administrators, a few system administrators and several world and city rulers, and most importantly, an heir. As a dictatorship, I need a co-ruler who would take over in the event of my unfortunate demise (or if I get tired of running things). I'm not sure how to determine who that would be, but I suppose we'll figure that out later.
The other option is that if there is enough interest, we could start an entirely new empire (BTW, empire is the generic term for a government - doesn't have to be a dictatorship, there are several options), called, I dunno, Frontrowcrewforumia or something. The only downside is that it will take a while to get to the point where we can recruit people other than the leader. But the big upside is that everyone gets a chance to build their own cities, learn how the game works while helping each other out, and begin trading with each other, which means we all get really rich before we open the doors to the public.
Is anyone interested in either option? I'd really enjoy conquering the galaxy with you guys and gals. If you're worried about time commitment, don't be. You can be on as little or as much as you like, although a couple of uber-committed Sector Administrators would be awesome.
Comments
Also, as a vizier in your grand dictatorship, I would have no problem with the establishment of horrific slave worlds, genocide, xenocide, the bulldozing of inhabited systems for shipping lanes, and the establishment of a cult of personality. All for the emprah. Actually, I'd like a Sector that's a horrific cross between The World of Progress, the 40k Imperium, and the Termight Empire from Nemesis the Warlock, where happiness is not a word and the suns do not shine so much as oppress.
A Byzagul helmsman at his station on the bridge of the flagship, Byzag's Pride:
(If you play in this empire, your character will look exactly like this)
The aforementioned flagship, front view:
The ringworld:
Beautiful downtown Byzag City:
Here, enjoy this video of some gameplay:
Also, I'll open my empire, "Byzagul Empire" for new players. It should be on the drop-down list when you create a new character in Join Another Empire mode.
P.S. I skinned and ate your trainer guy. He was delicious.
also the controls are well.. fucking crazy annoying... plus doing anyhing in the world is crazy annoying...
It was awesome ;-p