Opinions on Starmourn?

It looks like IRE is working on a new sci-fi MUD called Starmourn; the website is located at http://www.starmourn.com/ but it's very detail-light right now. They sent out an email to announce it not too long ago, which I've included below.

What do you guys think? I'm just hoping this doesn't turn out to be another Tears of Polaris.



Today, I’m pleased to announce our 6th MUD, and first sci-fi game: Starmourn. I’m incredibly excited about it. We’re building it from the ground up and it’s set in a universe I personally created – the first time I’ve done that for an Iron Realms MUD since our original one – Achaea.
 
You might ask yourself, “Why the heck are they building a new commercial MUD in 2016? Isn’t that a little crazy?” 

Well, maybe, but we live and breathe MUDs and as long as there’s an audience for them, we’re going to be making them. I’ve always wanted a sci-fi MUD, and while we had one in the works years ago that we cancelled due to the whole project just being an utter mess, this time we’re putting some very experienced people on it. Namely, myself and Justin Walsh, who has been producer on Achaea for the last 6 years and is the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) for Iron Realms as a whole.

Because I have enough on my plate overseeing Iron Realms as a whole, I can’t be producer. Justin’s going to fill that role, with two other people taking over as co-producers on Achaea while Justin continues to exercise oversight on Achaea as executive producer.

Starmourn won’t go into beta until, at a minimum, the middle of 2017, so it’s aways off. We’ll be slowly leaking out info about the game between now and then, from info about the universe of Starmourn, the game systems, concept art, and more.
 
The best way to get that info is to sign up for the mailing list. Go tohttp://www.starmourn.com and you can sign up using the blue tab on the upper-right. There’s also a little teaser video there that tells you a tiny bit about the Starmourn universe. Apologies for its somewhat inconsistent visuals! It’s something we put together from mainly stock video, because we’re a scrappy little company without a 100 person CGI team (*shakefist Blizzard*).

So, if you’re psyched to learn more about what we hope to make the best sci-fi MUD ever made, www.starmourn.comstarmourn.com is the place to go.

I can’t wait to tell you more about it!
 
Best,
 
Matt Mihály
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Comments

  • PortiusPortius Likes big books, cannot lie
    I have no faith after Tears of Pollaris (I think that was the one they canceled?) but I still really want to be hopeful about it.
    Any sufficiently advanced pun is indistinguishable from comedy.
  • Well, it's always nice to have a new MUD to play after years of the same old, same old from all the other IREs.

    Hopefully, they don't mess it up this time.

  • I agree that it's nice to have a new MUD to play, and I'm happy they're making a sci-fi since it's my favorite genre, but I'm also wondering if it's a good idea to open up another MUD when some of the IRE games are already suffering from a mid-to-low playerbase. I'm worried that a sixth MUD might fragment the playerbase even more.
  • As much as I would love this to happen, after ToP, I also don't have much faith. Being a scifi thing, I also am a bit wary of the MUD format. But it is good to hear that they are doing a more hands on approach this time.
  • If it doesn't end up going tits up like Tears of Polaris....all I see is a fancy animation...

    image
  • Hopefully it actually implements some of the changes the ToP was going to make. The whole technomancy thing would be amazing (especially the aspects like building relay stations to spread your not-aetherwave network which can also be hacked by the enemy, along with some hoops to jump through to build defences against organisations), and being able to learn specific abilities in a skill is handy. (and having interaction between abilities, such as learning one makes others stronger or even changes functionality, I think )

    The main thing I'm waiting for is their forums/any actual info about what the game is going to be like, the video really isn't enough. :/
  • TarkentonTarkenton Traitor Bear
    I love scifi. Let's hope they don't frag it up.
    image
  • I just want my Frakken from ToP back, man. That shit was boss.
    come2mag
  • SiamSiam Whispered Voice
    I want to make sure I play on day 1 and steal the names Celina, Xenthos, Sidd, Sojiro, Kelly, Ceren, Xiel, Soll, etc.  :D

    I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully they have something similar to Aetherspace!
    Viravain, Lady of the Thorns shouts, "And You would seize Me? Fool! I am the Glomdoring! I am the Wyrd, and beneath the cloak of Night, the shadows of the Silent stir!"

    #bringShikariback 


  • What you of classes did this other sci if game have?
  • Rolsand said:
    What you of classes did this other sci if game have?
    IIRC, the class system was somewhat similar to Lusternia's in that you had a baseclass, and you could pick specializations. 

    The sad part is, the only two I remember is that there was a warrior class and a mutant class.

    The mutant was a bit weird, but neat with its branching. You could either specialize in a mage-style class (pyromancy and geomancy being the two available at that time), or what was called Frakken (they didn't have a good name set up yet). Frakken were like a mix between Illuminati in this game, and the Serpents in achaea or imperian.

    The really neat mechanic behind Frakken were the use of combos. They had a poison skillset (a la serpents, though you injected with mutant sharp finger bones or some shit), and some of those poisons would interact with other poisons to create different afflictions, or even an instant kill.

    I, uh, I really liked Frakken.
    come2mag
  • @Rolsand there were four archetypes. Warriors, Mutants, Priests, and Technomagi. But archetypes were... rather different the best example (being the only one I still have in the wiki) is Mutant. Like, there's the Fraken which is a bit similar to Transmology all bodyshifting and stuff, then also within the Mutant Archetype was the Elementalists which had their own specialisations and looked to function pretty differently with some aoe stuff both in their primary and their secondary (which involved growing spores inside themselves and others).

    The Warrior Subtype that was announced focused on swearing oaths, you'd swear to achieve a certain goal within the time required, get a buff, and if you failed you'd suffer the consequences. Priests had a Manipulator Subtype focused on using psionics to mess with peoples brains. And Techomancers never really got anything released there was talk of a robotics focused Subtype and they were going to be responsible for a lot of the defences (the plan was a skill which was high level programing, you'd piece together components to make things like a turret that fires when an enemy enters the room, or a barrier that is deactivated with a vocal command) though at the same time... well hacking was going to be a thing.
  • Man, I seem to recall there being a church of the singularity in ToP that I was going to hop on so hard. Cyberpriests of the robot overmind forever!

    Fortunately Hallifax came along just in time to save me from never getting to experience that joy.
    Jadice, the Frost Queen says to you, "Constant vigilance."

  • Ileein said:
    Man, I seem to recall there being a church of the singularity in ToP that I was going to hop on so hard. Cyberpriests of the robot overmind forever!

    Fortunately Hallifax came along just in time to save me from never getting to experience that joy.
    Robot overmind from the future :P It was communicating with the past to make itself possible

    I mostly really wanted to see space stations, while flying around in my ship and hacking stuff, so hopefully electronic warfare will be an aspect.
  • Yay, the facebook and twitter accounts are active.

    Probably won't stop checking the website daily for a while.
  • Saran said:

    Ileein said:
    Man, I seem to recall there being a church of the singularity in ToP that I was going to hop on so hard. Cyberpriests of the robot overmind forever!

    Fortunately Hallifax came along just in time to save me from never getting to experience that joy.
    Robot overmind from the future :P It was communicating with the past to make itself possible

    I mostly really wanted to see space stations, while flying around in my ship and hacking stuff, so hopefully electronic warfare will be an aspect.
    Oh man I forgot that bit, that was the best part. It was basically Roko's Basilisk but (possibly???) benevolent, and you could worship it by getting all cybered up and being smug at people, which is my favorite way to worship things.
    Jadice, the Frost Queen says to you, "Constant vigilance."
  • I didn't understand the appeal of the Singularity bit at all, but a ton of people loved the idea.
  • SylandraSylandra Join Queue for Mafia Games The Last Mafia Game
    If Hallifax goes completely empty due to this, time2takeover.
    Daraius said:
    "Oh yeah, you're a naughty mayor, aren't you? Misfile that Form MA631-D. Comptroller Shevat's got a nice gemstone disc for you, but yer gonna have to beg for it."
  • Hallen said:
    I didn't understand the appeal of the Singularity bit at all, but a ton of people loved the idea.
    I don't care for singularity-obsession in real life, but I can really appreciate the idea of a techno-church and it sounds like something that would be a lot of fun to play.
    Jadice, the Frost Queen says to you, "Constant vigilance."
  • I definitely wouldn't put this in the same basket as TOP considering who we know was the Producer of TOP (and their history) and who is the producer of Starmourn. I was so excited about a sci fi IRE.

    I have at least a year to prepare for my retirement. 

    edit: I pray to baby jesus that they build this game from the ground up WITH server side curing as a thing. 
    They built MKO from the ground up instead of reusing Achaea's base code, so I'm hoping they do the same for Starmourn.

  • I don't see why anyone would willingly subject themselves to the old achaea base code when they've the chance of an alternative... >_>

  • Also it seems likely that it might be easier to implement things like space (and hopefully cyberspace... I really want to be able to hack into a ship through a cyberspace kinda Dystopia/Shadowrun style, and having AR stuff within the game would be cool) with a fresh start.

    It's been a slow week at work so far and I've had time to just think about this game >_>
  • Will we get to RP Star wars type space operas or pretend to be Han Solo (pre-chewbacca) in his Millenium Falcon?
    is dead like the dodo
  • edited May 2016
    For the curious, there was a small discussion about Starmourn on Reddit involving /u/ironrealms-ceo; might have some new info about the game.

  • I'm really trying to hold back my excitement/dreaming >_< I need more info :P

    But @Xeria, hopefully the rogue who flies around space will be an RP archetype. But I'm kinda hoping for influences like BSG (And Caprica), Shadowrun, Galaxy Web (the reddit reminded me of the name thankfully), and the like to jump into the mix.  I may be dreaming about playing a physically reclusive character who interacts with people mostly through their AR/VR avatars (I'm also hoping we can have multiple such avatars to make it hard to tie them to one person)

  • @Saran you mean how we interact with lusternia now? :P

    SPACE GYPSIES! I hope it has a han solo rouge archtype, or some kind of class that allows me to play as one.

    Exploring the universe!
    is dead like the dodo
  • DaraiusDaraius Shevat The juror's taco spot
    Will loboshigaru be a race option so I can play as Fox McCloud?
    I used to make cakes.

    Estarra the Eternal says, "Give Shevat the floor please."
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