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Brash_Endeavors

Project Gorgon, small indy MMO by former Asherons Call devs

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I thought that I had written about this one before but I can't find it in the archives, so I must have spaced it :( Sucks to be a space cadet sometimes


 


Project Gorgon  is an Indy MMO that you can try out for free right now and has a fair bit of playable content that has some really new and intriguing gameplay elements. It is designed by two experienced game developers who worked on games like Asherons Call 1 & 2, Star Trek Online, Everquest 2, and others. 


 


phoca_thumb_l_human_armored.jpg


 


Project Gorgon sadIy already failed two kickstarter attempts, in part perhaps because some of the graphics and animation in the game are not as polished as people who put together better "flash and dazzle eye candy" with less content. It's only got the two devs working on it, a husband and wife team (Eric Heimburg  and Sandra Powers), and because of their limited budget they are focusing on gameplay concepts rather than buying up expensive premade Unity assets (yes it is made in unity, like half the games out there today).  Even though the kickstarters failed and they had no development seed money, Eric and Sandra never gave up, and they have been quietly working on it around other projects over the past three years. They have had a playable "early access" version up running for free for almost three years now.  (Did I really forget to ever even mention this??)


 


COMBAT SKILLS range from unarmed, archery and Sword to Mentalism and Psychology (I could have sworn Poetry was a combat skill when I played before, hmm)


 


Trade Skills are even more varied! They include classics like tailoring and cooking alongside innovative skills like Mycology (mushrooms!), Geology, Art History (!!!) and Calligraphy


 


_________


 


 


Here is how to make a free account, and links to more details about the gameplay features. 


 


Below are some videos -- as I said some of the animations are not exactly dazzling as they are working on a tiny two person team and a shoestring budget right now. Character graphics have been updated since this video was made, and  updates are made almost monthly:


 


>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZjEQJ83zu0


 


MOAR:  Some developer video blogs also


 


 


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*** I should give a disclaimer -- I am personal friends with Sandra Powers,   a truly lovely wonderful person I have known for almost 15 years now. We knew each other from early Asherons Call days, when she was a dev and I ran an archery-focused website, The Unrepentant Archer. Later I moved on to Everquest 2 and was shocked to run into her again on the EQ2 test server -- turned out she was then Executive Producer for EQ2!  Finally we met yet again in World of Warcraft when I made a little website for WoW hunters named Petopia, and Sandra aka "Mania" came in to help me run it after I got it jumpstarted in its first years. Sandra was like a thousand zillion times more efficient and smart than me and brought the website into "modern times" because under me it looked like something dragged kicking and screaming from the late 1990s, lol. Sandra/Mania cleaned up the style to something sleek and modern, gave it a real searchable database and actual stylesheets (mine was hand coded in notepad), and kept it updated daily and with a thriving forum community long after I wandered off to other games.  

 

Anyway, I meant to write about PROJECT GORGON before now, and thought I had. I actually played it a couple years ago and had fun with it but at that time, it lacked that "special hook" and worse I was already addicted to Wurm, and getting me away from Wurm at that time was an impossible task for any game ^_^

 

Sometimes though I have to give a game a second or third chance (Wurm also failed to hook me the first two times I tried it).

 

I figured it is now time to give Project Gorgon another try since they have had several updates this year, and I was thinking some of you might be interested too. 

Edited by Brash_Endeavors
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is there terraforming in this game? i mean like wurm terraforming?


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Don't think so Hoof.


 


Looks a lot like the older style MMOs... I'll try it out and see what its like. Kind of worried they might be taking on a lot more than 2 people can handle with that many skills/professions etc though.


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No terraforming. Nothing like Wurm.  Oldschool style meaning, "pre-WoW"  but with some intriguing quirky things.   


 


I am still downloading files as I have not poked my head in there for some time and figured I should see what they are up to these days. (Probably should have looked before I posted, I came across some article suggesting it was still alive and kicking and updating monthly so figured I should run a post on it before I spaced out again :P


 


I think it requires a 64-bit operating system until they get memory usage optimized better. 


 


I am going through their recent twitter updates while I download and do family stuff. Maybe I will run into some of you ingame ^_^


 


edited to add a video review with gameplay from last fall, to give a better idea of the games "oldschool" style and direction:


 


>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fGeG1bzhqs


Edited by Brash_Endeavors

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as a side note I really want that armor in the first pic!!!! a nice addiction to wurm "Emperial Armor"


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Tried cheering up a depressed man with a spoon, solved a puzzle, ran from a boss fight and tamed a rat with some cheese.


 


10/10 would be captured and have my mind wiped again :P


 


I can see the game being fun, in many months time.


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Wow I loved AC 1 and played it a lot.  I will  have to check this out.


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Oh wow what a small world. When I started reading this post I knew Sandra's name was too familiar. Then to learn =you= started Petopia.


I was a pre-BC warcrafter +[too many] years, loved original EQ and stayed with Vanguard to the end. I even still maintain an account on EQ2 though I haven't had the time to spend there in a while. I'll have to check this out.


 


Thank you!


Edited by Calisthra

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I loved Vanguard too ^_^ here is my little boat collection (yes these are all mine -- I didn't craft them I just collected them!


 


I used to run a forum screenshot contest where I would give away the boats to the newbies who could figure out "Where in Telon..." certain clues pointed to, and submit an artistic screenshot of the location


 


I did not stay with Vanguard to the bitter end as I got too upset with the many ways that Smedley & SOE kept ruining a once marvelous game, and promising stuff they never intended to deliver on


 


fleet.jpg


Edited by Brash_Endeavors
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Quite the collection. I actually learned of Wurm while on walkabout several months before the plug was pulled. The community here is so very much like Vanguard, may be why I can tolerate all the bugs and little annoyances. If Gorgon is cultivating a similar crowd it may be well worth the look.


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Thanks for posting this game. I'm really liking it so far.


Hanging out with Lawara, grooming eachother. :D


Playing as Tuanta there as well.


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Hey, neat, I'll have to check this out. Hadn't heard of it until now. Thanks for the links. :)

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LOL wow...I had no idea you ran Petopia.  I was on that site 10x per week during my peak Wow days.


 


AND you played Vanguard too.


 


Tis a small world.


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Just want to say thank you Brash for bringing this game to my attention.  I am loving it.  So many great ideas and a laid-back old school feel.


 


It is not a replacement for Wurm but a really nice diversion for those times when I have finished a project and am a bit burned out.


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That is great news, it is a little gem that really deserves a lot more exposure. 


 


Also I found their wiki which explains some of the unique things (like werewolf form and Howling skill)

Edited by Brash_Endeavors

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how big of a map is it?  walking from one end to the other - an hour, a few hours?  looks interesting.


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oh thanks for pointing this out :D last time I played project gorgon it felt so clunky, but now, after all those updates it starts to feel really good :D


 


edit: oh and, the heck :D youa re the one who started petopia? thats awesome :D from all those sides, it's the ONE site that I loved using when playing a hunter in wow :D since it's the only one I could find that is heavily image based :) 


Edited by Miretta

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I loved Asheron's Call 1.


 


I absolutely despised Vanguard and hated my time in that game.


 


Project Gorgon is definitely on my watch list now.


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Well, I blinked and completely missed the fact they had a successful Kickstarter fundraiser last month, third time was the charm! They raised about $75,000 to add more resources to the game.


 


However even without the new influx of money, the devs have been continuously working on and adding to the game.


 


Anyone been keeping up with this better than me?


 


Here are their forums, you can see they have a small but active fanbase :)


 


This was their latest (successful) kickstarter page which offers more information on where they are taking the game:


 


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/projectgorgon/project-gorgon-pc-mmo


 


 


 


This is a very OLD SCHOOL style game, so more of interest to people who miss games such as the original ASHERONS CALL

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i played this awhile back, was amusing and confusing, game needs alot of time to mature to the true form itll be. atm its good if your bored and wanna try something new.  (careful of the goblin near the city outside the starter cave, hes up on the hill by a chest,  that chest i died many times n didnt get to open it :-(  )


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Dunno, I've been playing this game the last few weeks and I'm having a blast.  No, it's no Wurm...but it's fun anyway.  It has a unique outlook on things, such as there's actually a Dying skill.  

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Aww, I ran to this topic cause I was hopeing to see an active Brash, now I will have to try this game also!

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Just an update -- now released on STEAM and in a more polished form (It is still an OLD SCHOOL MMO and still has oldschool graphics, but much prettier than the old beta version of a few years ago)

 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/342940/Project_Gorgon/

 

It is a "Buy Once And Play Forever Free" style MMO.  For those who missed on on the "try for free" alpha period -- sorry, I tried to alert you back then!

 

 

 

 

more videos here (all recent)  

 

This is a great game for people who like leveling skills through actual use not "character levels" (which probably apply to most wurm users) as it seems to have as many or maybe more skills than wurm, not just traditional ones like Archerry or Leatherworking but .... more:

 

Alchemy Anatomy Armor Patching Art History Artistry Blacksmithing Butchering Calligraphy Compassion Dye Making Dying Endurance First Aid Fletching  Gardening Geology Goblinese Gourmand Hoplology Iocaine Resistance Leatherworking Lore Meditation Mining Mycology Notoriety Pathology Phrenology Poetry  Sigil Scripting Skinning Surveying Tailoring Tanning Teleportation    Textile Creation Toolcrafting Treasure Cartography Vocabulary

 

Full list of skills and what each does (some have secret benefits)

 

Some of these will bolster combat or craft skills (anatomy gives a greater understanding of where and how to land a blow for critical damage, calligraphy gives more grace in handling weapons).

 

If you have always yearned to play a warrior-poet, a werewolf,  a travelling herbalist,  or a beastmaster / necromancer with multiple pets that actually mean something, this may be the game for you. 

 

Player size is not too different from Wurm (yes, another one of those NICHE games):  

Players in the last 2 weeks: 2,646 ± 1,636 (76.92%)
Players total: 2,646 ± 1,636 (76.92%)
Followers: 2,667
Peak concurrent players yesterday: 309  

 

 

Massively Overpowered did a two-hour livestream of the gameplay a few days ago here:

 

 

 

 

Edited by Brash_Endeavors

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