Monsters Go Gold!(Berkeley, California; Denver, Colorado — August 6, 2002) — Skotos Tech Inc. and Worlds Apart Productions, developers of innovative prose-based computer games, have officially released their newest game, Grendel's Revenge, after several months of beta testing. Now you can join the world of Uthgol as a regular player, taking the role of one of dozens of different races of monsters in the fight against the scourge of humanity. "Beta testing is critical for any online game where complex systems interact with one another in unexpected ways," says Scott Martins, President of Worlds Apart and Lead Designer for the project. "It's a great feeling to turn a host of active minds loose in a game for the first time and let them hammer on it. The players always stretch, break, and 'game' the game in ways you didn't quite anticipate. We've had a great group of testers and owe them a big thanks for the mayhem that both they and their monster characters caused." The many different systems in Grendel's Revenge give players a wide variety of choices. To start off with, they get to choose to be either wandering monsters, who loot and destroy, or social monsters, who congregate together in clans... before they loot and destroy — with each classification having its own set of monster races. Each player also gets to select between five very different roles: builder, leader, warrior, magical, and shaman. Finally numerous subroles and over a hundred special abilities allow players to make their monster truly unique. "Our goal was a high degree of customizability for the player," says Martins. "Chimera, Undead, or Humanoid. Builder or Warrior. Troll, Scarab, or Lich. Diplomat or Champion. We've been spending the last months trying to ensure that these thousands of different combinations all interact well. With a great and patient group of beta players and a lot of work, we've created a fun game with opportunities for a variety of gameplay. The feedback we've been getting has been great." The entire concept of an online game where the players all take on the roles of traditional monsters is a new one. "We've had a lot of fun twisting around and playing on the stereotypes of fantasy games," says Christopher Allen, Skotos Tech President & CEO. "At last, players get to be the villains. Vampires, Mummies, Trolls, Minotaurs, Wyverns, Phoenixes — they're all here, and they're going to finally put those human adventurers in their place once and for all." Grendel's Revenge also offers many unique gameplay opportunities, to expand upon the novelty of concept. One of the most interesting is a lair-building system that allows builders in Grendel's Revenge to literally extend the landscape of their world, digging dungeons that tunnel deep beneath the surface, and filling them with traps to ward away wandering monsters... or the dreaded humans. Grendel's Revenge expands upon five years of work Worlds Apart has put into its game engine, which currently powers The Eternal City, a top-ranked game at Top MUD Sites. The Eternal City is also renowned for its detailed combat system and its strength as a role-playing environment. It is one of very few prose games in recent years to have been written up in both PC Gamer magazine and Computer Gaming World. Available as a beta since early May, Grendel's Revenge has now been officially released to the public. You can play in this fun and unusual prose role-playing game by visiting http://www.skotos.net. Be one of the first monsters in the world of Grendel's Revenge! ABOUT WORLDS APART PRODUCTIONS Based in Denver, Colorado, Worlds Apart is a six-year-old company specializing in the development and operation of multiplayer online games. Primarily involved in text-based titles to date, its flagship product is The Eternal City (TEC), a critically acclaimed and commercially successful Roman-themed RPG currently published by Skotos. The Eternal City was called "the consummate Multi-user Dungeon" by Computer Gaming World in August 2001, and has been particularly praised for many of its innovative social gameplay features. ABOUT SKOTOS TECH INC. Founded in 1999, Berkeley, California-based Skotos Tech Inc. (http://www.skotos.net) is a developer and publisher of multiplayer prose games. Its current offerings include Castle Marrach, Galactic Emperor: Hegemony, and The Eternal City. A recent article in Wired News highlighting the Skotos gaming community said: "Besides the simple economics, Skotos has a chance to compete because game players have one simple rule that trumps technological innovation, marketing budgets and glitzy graphics: Good games get played." Skotos is continuing to expand its service with Good Games, of which Grendel's Revenge is the most recent offering. For further information, please contact: Worlds Apart Productions: Skotos Tech Inc.: |
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