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December 27, 2000 - Happy Holidays everyone!!! The Atriarch team will be taking some time off during the holidays. We will all be back in full swing January 8, 2001. Come back then to look for the some exciting news about Atriarch in 2001.
December 20, 2000 - Interview: RPG Planet posted an interview with Serafina about Atriarch. When asked about how human players will relate to alien characters, Serafina began here response with:
"First, the time and care we are taking to integrate personality, story, politics, culture and economy into Atriarch will tap into your emotions in a very human way. Your character is not just an observer dropped into a static world. Your character is part of the integration into the world. Atriarch is your world. Either way, aliens or human, knowing you can make a difference is compelling. We hold on tight to that belief for the players of Atriarch."
December 19, 2000 - A reminder that tomorrow night is the Player Chat and Debate hosted by Crossroads of Atriana. The next community profile covers Phinehas and is now posted. QoTW: "Maximizing Immersion and Culture Through Words" This Question of the Week discusses the issue of how the words we use outside the game affect the immersion inside the game, in particular for those that do not roleplay. This question is posted on the Crossroads of Atriana boards. I look forward to your thoughts and feedback. New Intern: Congratulations to poq who was one of the founding members of Atriarch Stratics. He is the newest addition to the Atriarch team. He is a part-time intern who will help us out answering questions on the boards and coordinating community events.
Gamespot Question of the Week: "What Game Are You Most Looking Forward To Next Year?"
"I'm also looking forward to playing World Fusion's Atriarch, an ambitious and rather offbeat online role-playing game that'll take place on the alien world of Atriana. The game will feature five different alien races, but interestingly enough, it will also feature complex building and social systems and will let you (once your character becomes an architect with enough skill and funds) design and build your own city in the world of Atriana and populate it with other player characters or "native" nonplayer characters"
- Andrew Park, Gamespot Managing Diretor
This is probably a good place to mention that a recent article on Gamespot had Atriarch releasing Q2 2001. As much as we would love that to be the case, Atriarch is not scheduled for release until end of 2001. In the meantime, we will be increasing our coverage and releasing much more story and information in the new year.
December 12, 2000 - Please note that there is phone company maintenance and construction occuring today and tonight. Therefore, this site may experience a temporary outage for no longer than one hour. Thank you for your patience. Herok over at Crossroads of Atriana has been busy. Here is their latest Atriarch event calendar. Player Chat & Debate: Game Subscription Price December 20: "Fair Fee Schedules for Players and Developers" Crossroads of Atriana will hosting their monthly player forum, Wednesday, December 20. The Sessions are an open forum self-moderated only in keeping with that month's discussion topic. If you have a topic that you think should be discussed by the Atriarch Community, do not hesitate to suggest it. Someone is always around, but things will start at 8 EST, 7 CST, 6 MST, 5 PST. To join the Session, set your favourite IRC-program (ie. pirchat/mIRC) to #atriarch at: irc.sorcery.net (port 6667) cookie.sorcery.net (port 6667) kechara.sorcery.net (port 6667) Player Profiles: Crossroads of Atriana has always supported the growth and recognition of the Atriarch Community. Thus it is that we are pleased to introduce the Atriarch Community Profiles. Highlighting some of the notable members of the community, is not meant to create a hierarchy or competition between members, but a point of recognition for those who have helped stimulate the creative juices of the Atriarch DevTeam and the rest of the community. Kicking off this twice-weekly exclusive section is an interview with Xanvis. Stay tuned for more Profiles...you may find yourself listed next!
December 11, 2000 - Quick Development Update: During the past week, the Atriarch team improved the Cavolon Embassy area for use during private pre-alpha testing. We have implemented a new character armor and clothing feature. You will see some screenshots of the new armor designs soon. We have a new U.I. that now has some performance feedback built into it. It is a nifty little tool that has proven to be very useful. We added a scroll lock to the chat window. (It was starting to get annoying watching the chat pass by without being able to read it fast enough.) Three new creatures were added to the Cavolon area, and three more are in the process of being added. *grin* Of course, they aren't any of the ones you've seen on ATVault yet. We'll keep you posted about progress. Creature Download: Creature Animation of the Week can be downloaded at ATVault. The Quicktime animation is of the Cryll.
December 4, 2000 - QoTW: This Question of the Week asks if you would like to see more character customization features at the beginning when you start a new character, or rather have them integrated as part of the gameplay, for example, dyes. This question is posted on the Crossroads of Atriana boards. I look forward to your thoughts and feedback. If you haven't already, then we recommend you check out our New Screenshot Page that has a thumbnail of every screenshot released to date, including some recent shots of crowds at the Arena. November news is archived.
November 29, 2000 - New Creature Animation: PC IGN has released an animation of the Marmu. Download it here.
"They are difficult to control but they have been used to good effect a few times in military operations to bowl through ranks of enemy troops."
"The Eshlar also use them for demolition of unwanted buildings, but great care must be taken as they sometimes get out of hand, destroying more then they should."
November 23, 2000 - Preview: Gamespot has posted a summary of Atriarch. There is only one correction that we noticed... the release date is incorrect *grin* Interview on Gamespot: Gamespot also included an interview with Serafina, Lead Game Designer, where she discusses combat, armies, player-construction feature, and more. Here is a snippet:
"All the best items will be player-made. Tradesmen will most definitely have their place in Atriana. The trade skills will be rich and multidimensional. The craftsmen will be able specialize and tailor down their skills. That, coupled with a broad choice of materials - some rare or even unique - will give the craftsmen endless possibilities. The items they craft will be far from cookie-cutter."
Crowd Screenshots: Gamespot has included three new screenshots in the interview part of the feature. They show a crowd of players gathering at the base of the Tyrusin Arena ready to watch a duel. Screenshots Section: We have added a new section to this site that has thumbnails of all the screenshots released to date. It also provides links to sites that have the exclusive versions of them. If you would like a single page with all the screenshots, then go here: Atriarch Screenshots: Full Set. (Please note that depending on your connection, then page may take a little bit to come up.) Website Update: Links to Serafina's developer journal has changed on Gamespy. Those links have been updated.
November 22, 2000 - Creature Download: Creature Animation of the Week can be downloaded at ATVault. The Quicktime animation is of the Matnotmee, one of Atriarch's many alien creatures. AT Vault has a thread going on their discussion boards to see if you can figure out what it is saying :-) Good luck. Tyrusin Skin: One of the many character customization features in Atriarch will be the ability to choose different skins for your character. Crossroads of Atriana has posted an example of a new skin available for the Tyrusin Warriors. There will be plenty of variety.
November 20, 2000 - QoTW: This Question of the Week has two parts. Do you think that Natives (npc's) should be distinguishable from Player Characters? Second, since characters in Atriarch are persistent and stay online whether or not the player is logged in, should a player be able to tell if another player is offline? What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages to doing it either way? This question is posted on the Crossroads of Atriana boards. I look forward to your thoughts and feedback. Atriarch Preview: Gen4, a French game magazine, has a three-page preview of Atriarch featuring twelve screenshots and images. Also included is a brief interview with Serafina (and a picture).
November 16, 2000 - Developer Profile: Fifth in the Atriarch Stratics developer profile series is Satyric, Writer and Cultural Lead. Here is a snippet from his profile:
Atriarch Stratics: After completing your tasks with Atriarch, do you plan on continuing in the game development field on other projects? What will your duties be once Atriarch goes live?
Satyric: Completing my tasks in Atriarch? I don't know if that's ever going to happen -- certainly not any time soon. :) After launch, I'll still be creating fiction and cultural stuff for the world as I do now -- basically helping to make our world deeper and more interesting. I'll also be acting within the world as a variety of characters.
If you missed the previous interviews with Mythfit (Writer & Ecosystem) and Joss (Writer and Lead Quest Designer), then get a list of all the developer profiles here. QoTW: Question of the Week asks what you think about skill atrophy. Do you think skills should atrophy if not used? If so, then how? how fast? to what limit? This question is posted on the Crossroads of Atriana boards. I look forward to your opinion and ideas.
November 14, 2000 - Atriarch team members have been busy posting on all the various discussion boards answering questions and exchanging ideas. A list links to the various boards can be found in our Community Section. We look forward to seeing you online and reading your thoughts!
November 10, 2000 - Atriarch Stratics has posted a log of last night's developer chat covering the Eshlar Architects. There were tons of great questions. Movie Day: We are going to the movies today to see Red Planet. If you would like to join us, we will be attending the 2:30 showing at Edwards Metro Pointe Stadium 12. You will recognize us by the Atriarch t-shirts that some of us are wearing.
November 8, 2000 - Developer Profile: fourth in the Atriarch Stratics developer profile series is Min, Story Writer. Min is busy writing Atriarch story episdoses. If you missed the previous interviews with Mythfit (Writer & Ecosystem) and Joss (Writer and Lead Quest Designer), then get a list of all the developer profiles here. Crossroads of Atriana has recently redesigned their site and has a new web address: http://atriarch.xrgaming.net/ You can also check out a list of other community sites in our Community Section. Remember, tomorrow at 5pm PST is the House of Commons (developer chat) on IRC and is hosted by Atriarch Stratics.
November 7, 2000 - PC Gamer (December 2000) listed Atriarch as one of the "20 Hot New Online Games You Simply Must Play" Here are some quotes:
"It's like nothing you've ever seen!"
"Many of the upcoming virtual worlds will allow you to find your own place in that world, but only the 3D RPG/Strategy hybrid Atriarch offers you the opportunity to create your own."
Creature Download: Creature Animation of the Week can be downloaded at ATVault. The Quicktime animation is of the Suppek, one of Atriarch's many alien creatures. QoTW: Question of the Week asks what you think makes up the ideal quest in a game like Atriarch. This question is posted on the Crossroads of Atriana boards. I look forward to your thoughts. HoC (developer chat) is this Thursday, November 9th at 5pm PST. Atriarch Stratics will be hosting it on Stratics IRC #athoc. Atriarch Newsletter: An Atriarch newsletter was sent out today. If you did not receive yours, then email news@atriarch.com and write "join" in the subject. The newsletter mostly covers the news that has already been posted here with one exception. World Fusion is heading to the movies this Friday to see Red Planet. Everyone is welcome to join us. We'll post the time Friday morning.
November 3, 2000 - New Character Profile & Eshlar Skins: PC IGN is featuring the Eshlar Species Profile. The Eshlar are the Architects and builders of Atriarch. There is also a new image showing some of the different Eshlar skins available during character customization. Here are some snippets:
"Eshlar tend to avoid or eschew politics whenever possible. They'll naturally fall into a student-teacher hierarchy when creating a large communally-built project, with the project's designer directing and the most experienced leading."
"Of course there are sometimes conflicts, as well as decisions or long-term plans that need to be made and carried out. In these cases, a Council of elder Eshlar will begrudgingly leave their work for a time, think deeply about an issue, and make a ruling. Councils are also convened to judge architectural and other creative contests, which the Eshlar love to hold and participate in."
Eshlar epitomize the Atrian Architect. However, all player characters can learn architectural skills and construct faction (guild) fortresses, homes, shops, monuments, and lots more. An actual in-game, player-constructed fortress can be seen in the recently released Construction Screenshots on IGN.
November 2, 2000 - Gamepot UK has posted a preview of Atriarch.
"Atriarch Online aims to add a strong strategy element to the predominantly roleplaying bias of the competition, resulting in a new online game that promises to be the best of both worlds."
The most significant strategy element over existing persistent worlds is the way your character will remain in the game world after you have logged off. Buildings can be constructed, traps and bodyguards can be purchased to secure the safety of your precious avatar while you're out of the game. Your alter-ego won't be idle while you get on with your life either. You'll be able to set behaviour patterns for your character to perform actions during the time you're not around. For example, you could instruct him to build a new house or practice a combat skill until you return."
November 1, 2000 - Interview: third in the Atriarch Stratics developer profile series is Iimzodar, World Builder. If you missed the previous interviews with Mythfit (Writer & Ecosystem) and Joss (Writer and Lead Quest Designer), then get a list of all the developer profiles here. Jeux Mag just posted a preview of Atriarch in French. October news has been archived.
October 31, 2000 - In-game Construction Screenshots: Four New Screenshots showing a Player-Constructed Fortress and a Flying Mount are posted on IGN. Players can fly on creatures like the two-headed, winged Bulldra in the screenshot.
"Customizable construction is one of the cornerstones of Atriarch. Players utilize easy-to-use pieces, resources, and materials to create customized and detailed structures they own in the game, like homes, storefronts, bridges, or the guard tower shown in the screenshots. These structures are fully-functional within the game. Groups of players can build awesome guild houses it they choose. Individual players can begin their empire with their home and build up a city that will serve under their rule. Customized player-construction is an extensive feature in Atriarch."
October 30, 2000 - This Question of the Week is something that I think is an important issue and would like to know your thoughts. Question: Would you rather have one world where everyone plays or three instances of Atriarch physically located in in North America, Europe and Asia to combat latency and localization issues? This question is posted on the Crossroads of Atriana boards. I look forward to your thoughts.
October 25, 2000 - New Interview: Second in the Atriarch Stratics developer profile series is Mythfit, Writer & Ecosystem Designer. He is currently focusing on bringing Atriarch's animals to life.
October 24, 2000 - Two MORE New Creature Animations: Creature Animation of the Week can be downloaded at ATVault. The Quicktime animations are of the Lempek which has wings that flutter and the TripRock which is not quite what is seems :-) This Question of the Week asks your opinion on Character, Item, and Building Customization. Where do you think the effort and resources on customization should be focused? It is posted on the Crossroads of Atriana boards. We look forward to reading everyone's thoughts.
October 23, 2000 - Multiplayed! has posted a preview of Atriarch.
"With their upcoming sci-fi mmorpg, Atriarch, developer World Fusion aims to bring something fresh and different to the persistent world table. How so? By doing away with them tired ol' humans completely and focusing on alien species, organic construction and empire building - that's how!"
- David Moore, Multiplayed!
October 21, 2000 - Two New Creature Animations: Creature Animation of the Week can be downloaded at ATVault. The Quicktime animations are of the Warmak and the Skaiden. The Skaiden is the first in a series of underwater creatures to be released.
October 18, 2000 - New Interview: Atriarch Stratics will be interviewing five of the Atriarch content team. First in the series of interviews is Joss, Writer & Lead Quest Designer. Big thanks to the folks at Mega Tokyo Comics for mentioning Atriarch. This is what they had to say:
"However of all the MMORPGs I think I haven't really spotlighted some that deserve that second look, today I got a chance to spend some good 'me' time over at Atriarch, another of the growing batch of 2nd generation MMORPGs that will for lack of a better and less overused phrase, '0wnz j00' … Go there.. right now… I mean it! I've been personally assured that Atriarch wants to make sure customers come first... which seems like such a great, I wish everyone would think that way... Imagine it.. customers, the very people who use your service.. being... listened... to.... For this noble act, I will not link them one, but twice, so if you haven't already go visit Atriarch's site right now."
October 16, 2000 - This Question of the Week is all about roleplaying and is now posted on the Crossroads of Atriana boards. Question: How important is roleplaying to you in Atriarch? Where do you fall in the grand scheme of roleplaying? What gameplay features do you think best encourage roleplaying? We look forward to reading everyone's thoughts.
October 13, 2000 - Vote Atriarch! PC Paradox has a poll up asking your favorite upcoming mmorpg in development. Atriarch was added to the list late so we have some catch up work to do. Be sure to go vote for Atriarch! T'aeg, an active member of the Atriarch Stratics community, works at Software Etc and has convinced his boss to put up screenshots and promotional information of Atriarch at his store if he can get 100 people to reply to his Role Call post on the Open Forum Boards on ATS. Woo T'aeg!
October 11, 2000 - Thank you for your patience in waiting for an update. World Fusion took a few days out to run as a team in the Lake Tahoe Marathon relay (26.2 miles; 42 km). Our team was called the "Atriarchs" Congratulations to the Atriarchs who all received medals! New!!! Creature Animation of the Week can be downloaded at ATVault. The Quicktime animation is of the very unique Mygrym.
October 3, 2000 - This Question of the Week is a controversial topic and is now posted Crossroads of Atriana boards. What is the purpose of player death in a game? Is it really necessary or just an inconvenience that doesn't accomplish its goal? Should Atriarch eliminate player death, but keep pvp? We look forward to reading everyone's thoughts. Atriarch Vault has posted a new poll submitted by Joss, Writer and Lead Quest Designer. We everyone to vote and let us know what you think quest rewards you would like as a player. September news has been archived.
October 1, 2000 - Creature Animation of the Week can be downloaded at ATVault. The Quicktime animation is of the Clyft, one of the many mounts and riding creatures available in Atriarch.
September 28, 2000 - Six New Screenshots! RPG Planet has six new screenshots showing the Tyrusin Arena, an Eshlar in a precarious situation with the Cavolon Scientists, and a few other treats :-)
September 27, 2000 - 8 of the Atriarch team were on hand last time to answer questions about the latest Character Species, the Cavolon Scientists. The log of developer chat is already posted on Atriarch Stratics. You can read the entire log here. We submitted a new poll to Atriarch Vault asking your preference for a quest you would like to see in Atriarch. We encourage everyone to vote. Computer Gaming World's October issue includes an online reprint of the article,
"Building a Better Online RPG: Atriarch Leads the New Wave of Grassroots Games"
If you didn't get a chance to read the article in the magazine, you can now read the full reprint online here.
September 25, 2000 - Developer's Chat Tomorrow: Everyone is invited to join the developer's of Atriarch for a chat about the Cavolon The time of tomorrow's developers chat has changed to 5pm PST (7pm CST). Atriarch Stratics is hosting the next Atriarch House of Commons chat! #atriarch on Stratics IRC. The topic will be the Cavolon and a discussion of the Cavolon Species Profile released this week on IGN. We encourage everyone to participate in this week's topic. This Question of the Week is inspired by thread began by Tyranis on the Crossroads of Atriana boards. In addition to choosing a character, should players have the opportunity to choose to play a creature or animal in Atriarch? Assuming the player could only play the animal within the limitations of the animal's behavior, is that something you would like to do in Atriarch? We just picked up a copy of the October issue of Maximum PC (page 29) where T. Liam McDonald writes about how Atriarch is taking advantage of the major gaps being left open by major publishers in the online market.
September 22, 2000 - Creature Animation of the Week can be downloaded at ATVault. The Quicktime animation is of the Raffkin, one of Atriana's larger creatures. Also, Iimzodar has posted on several of the discussion boards asking for your opinion about how difficult puzzles should be in Atriarch.
September 21, 2000 - Developer's Chat: Tuesday, September 26th at 6pm Pacific Standard Time, Atriarch Stratics will host the next Atriarch House of Commons chat! #atriarch on Stratics IRC. The topic will be the Cavolon and a discussion of the Cavolon Species Profile released this week on IGN.
September 19, 2000 - IGN is featuring the Cavolon Species Profile. Here is a snippet from the profile:
"They have control of a vine-like tongue that extends outward from a tentacle. The tongue can stretch far beyond arms length and attach to certain materials at the other end. As long as the tentacle tongue is healthy, the Cavolon can travel by swinging from one tongue to another. Not all materials allow for attachment of the tentacle tongue. Cavolon can also use the tentacle tongue to attack a creature that is not within arm's reach."
September 14, 2000 - Atriarch Stratics has a new exclusive image available for download to use as Atriarch wallpaper. Question of the Week is now up on Crossroads of Atriana. What size should the world of Atriana be? Also included is an image comparing the size of Atriana to the Earth and the Moon.
September 13, 2000 - The Tyrusin Warrior has a new look. The Character Section has been updated with images of the Tyrusin. We encourage you to drop by the discussion boards and let us know what you think.
September 12, 2000 - Creature Animation of the Week can be downloaded at ATVault. The Quicktime animation is of the Shardaan.
September 11, 2000 - AT Stratics has a new feature called, Daily Board Review, which sumarrizes the topics of Atriarch discussions on the ATS boards daily. It is turning out to be very popular.
September 9, 2000 - Serafina, Lead Game Designer, will join Verant, Stratics, and two avid game players and ebay users for a lively panel discussion about persistent worlds. Join us live, Monday, September 11, at 5pm PST for the Fat Pipe Show on StreamingMedia.com.
September 8, 2000 - We are happy to announce a new Atriarch community site for French-speaking fans, Atriarch La Source. There is also a new interview with Serafina, Lead Game Designer. You can read the English version or the French version. Here is a snippet:
"You can use building blocks to customize the form of your structure, or you can buy a blueprint from a skilled architect which includes plans for a fully-designed structure." - Serafina
Nous sommes heureux d'annoncer l'ouverture d'un nouveau site consacré à Atriarch, en Français: Atriarch, La Source. Nous vous encourageons à visiter le site et à devenir des membres actifs des forums. Nous lisons les forums régulièrement, même si nous avons besoin d'un traducteur *sourire*.
September 6, 2000 - Creature Animation of the Week can be downloaded at ATVault. There are is one animation of the Eshlar Guide. Each of the Character Species has a Guide associated with them. The Guides will take you take you places if you pay them appropriately.
September 4, 2000 - Question of
the Week is now up on Crossroads of Atriana.
We would like to hear your opinion on character anonymity within Atriarch. Should
you be required meet another character before you know their name in the game or should
you be able to click on
them and know who they are immediately? Most of the August's news is now archived.
September 1, 2000 - Creature Animation of the Week can be downloaded at ATVault. There are two animations, a Guard and a Beatle Bug.
August 31, 2000 - Woohoo! Atriarch is featured in an article in the October issue (page 152) of Computer Gaming World, entitled:
"Building a Better Online RPG: Atriarch Leads the New Wave of Grassroots Games"
We encourage you to email cgwletters@ziffdavis.com to thank them for covering Atriarch and tell them your thoughts about the article and how Atriarch would make a really cool cover! *grin* The German game site, ZOCKS.de, has a preview of Atriarch. For those who are not fluent in German, you can have it loosely translated here. Question of the Week on Crossroads of Atriana now has a new twist to the current question about storylines during testing. Serafina asks, what if the world is not reset after beta testing and the characters were turned into Natives (npcs)?
August 30, 2000 - Five of the Atriarch development team were on hand to answer questions during yesterday's House of Commons Chat. The topic was the Lokai Character Species. You can read the full log of the chat here. Thanks to Atriarch Stratics for hosting the chat.
August 28, 2000 - Live Developer Chat tomorrow (Tuesday) at 5pm PST. Atriarch Stratics will host an House of Commons with several of the Atriarch development team. Everyone is welcome! To access Stratics IRC, simply connect to one of the following servers than join the appropriate HOC channel. If this is your first time on IRC, then instructions can be found here. compu.stratics.com; dhp.stratics.com; frws.stratics.com; or intworks.stratics.com Question of the Week is now up on Crossroads of Atriana. We would like to hear your opinion on whether you think players should affect the storyline of a the game during the testing phases. Atriarch Vault has a new poll up asking in what phase of testing you would like to participate.
August 25, 2000 - A chat between Serafina, Lead Designer, and Darkmoor Dragon of Four Below Zero was posted. It covers her views on several game and industry issues, such as camping, eccosystems, twinking, quests, player-created items and more.
August 24, 2000 - The Teemak Animation is available for download. It is this week's Creature Animation of the Week on Atriarch Vault. Atriarch Stratics Dev Chat: this coming Tuesday, August 29th at 5pm Pacific Standard Time is the next Atriarch House of Commons chat! #atriarch on Stratics IRC will play host to the Atriarch dev team. This time we'll be discussing the Lokai species which has just been profiled at IGN. Just in case you haven't seen the Lokai Species Profile, be sure to check it out now. Get your questions ready now, the big night is less than a week away! Rosswell of La Main Noire, an official Atriarch minor faction, posted that Herok of Crossroads of Atriana has provided a French Discussion Board to cover the Question of the Week in French. If you are aware of any other Atriarch discussion boards in a language other than English, please let us know and we will post a link to them here.
August 22, 2000 - Utildayael at Atriarch Vault has posted a developer interview with Atriarch's Lead Game Designer, Serafina. Find out what kind of community support is planned in game and out.
August 21, 2000 - There is a new Atriarch Question of the Week posted on COA. Serafina asks you to discuss how much you think a subscription for an online persistent world should be.
August 20, 2000 - A new player faction was added to the list of official Minor Factions. Congratulations and welcome ASK'rian members. The Atriarch fansite, Netfirms, has a new name and location: AtriarchNews.com. It has an amusing description of some Atriana creatures. It is regularly updated with community and Atriarch news by Bialar Crais.
August 17, 2000 - PC IGN is featuring the second in a series of Character Species Profiles for Atriarch. Read how to immortalize your Lokai Character while gaining notoriety as a famous explorer in the world of Atriana.
August 16, 2000 - To keep you up to date on what is going on in the world of Atriarch, the team is hard at work implementing the latest in what we think is a very fun combat system. We are also finalizing the Character Species and will be revealing the new Tyrusin Warrior look soon. Tomorrow evening, we will be revealing the next in a series of Species Profiles.
August 15, 2000 - Crossroads of Atriana has a new weekly feature: Atriarch Question of the Week. Every week, Serafina will post a topic question to gather your viewpoints on key aspects of the game. This week, the question is: Should a player be given the option to choose their family members in Atriarch or should it be random? Note that characters in Atriarch can spawn offspring.
August 9, 2000 - EP Radio has posted a 40-minute Radio Interview online with Serafina, Lead Game Designer. Hear how we pronounce the Character Species names. Many issues are discussed including quests, customer service, roleplaying, the ability for players to take over the Atriarch position and lots more. (If you need a recent version of a media player to use, you can download one here.)
August 8, 2000 - There are some excellent topics of discussion occurring about Atriarch features and gameplay. We invite you to join in the discussions and offer your opinion. Debate on Stratics about whether or not trading in the game should be secure. Thank you to everyone who submitted ideas for animated emotes. We are getting ready to implement the first batch of emotes, so this is your last chance to get you ideas included in the first batch of animated emotes. There are three threads that include lists of emotes: Atriarch Stratics, Atriarch Vault, Crossroads of Atriana.
August 6, 2000 - We are back from a trip to New Orleans, Louisana where we attended the Siggraph Conference to discuss the latest in graphic technologies and techniques. (We also took a day off to go on a swamp tour and wrestle alligators.) You can now expect to see the Atriarch website updated again regularly. To catch everyone up on what's been happening, here is a summary... Atriarch Stratics has been posting Atriarch Community News often. The slogan contest poll is up; be sure to vote. They have links to several new faction fiction and writings. They also have a new email notification for updates. Atriarch Vault has two new movies for download. There are two short movies showing the Cavolon Guide Animation and the Tree Dweller Animation. Due to the massive amount of email we receive, new and more specific email addresses have been added to the Contact Us section of the website. This should make it easier for you to contact us and enable us to answer emails in a more timely fashion.
- Web Site Comments: webmaster@atriarch.com
- General Business: info@worldfusion.com
- Game Design Comments: design@atriarch.com
- Resume Submissions: jobs@worldfusion.com
- Press Inquiries: press@atriarch.com
- Community Info and Fansite Listing: community@atriarch.com
- Player Faction Info and Listing: factions@atriarch.com
- Atriarch News: news@atriarch.com (write in subject: join or remove)
Ends of Atriana fansite has a new look and is much easier to read. It just posted Atriarch IRC chat log #18. Currently this site has the most extensive archive of #atriarch chat logs with Atriarch developers of any site. It is maintained by Synon. There are two new Atriarch fansites: Atriarch HQ - Maintained by Zfalcon, Merlin, and Krunk. Atriarch Net Firms - Maintained by Bialar Crais. We have received several ideas from fans for weapons that can be used in Atriarch. Thank you for all your wonderful thoughts. To make it easier for us to track, please send any contributions, comments, or constructive criticisms to design@atriarch.com
July 23, 2000 - Five new Player Factions have been approved and added to our Faction List in the Community Section. Order of Insight; Shayun; Mearkfemuh/Darkflame; Karshan; Tahohr Muhtat. The featured fansite of July is Krunk's Page which includes a short discussion posted with Arc about player in-game construction.
July 21, 2000 - Crossroads of Atriana is the first site to post a log of last night's Tyrusin Developer's Chat. It is an unedited version.
July 19, 2000 - Tomorrow, Atriarch Stratics will be hosting a House of Commons (Live Developer's Chat) with the Atriarch team on IRC. The topic will be the Tyrusin. We will discuss the Tyrusin Profile that was posted yesterday on IGN and HoC (Developer's Chat): Thursday, July 20, at 6pm PST; irc.stratics.dhp.com #atriarch Today we sent the first Atriarch newsletter in awhile. Some people will be receiving duplicates. We apologize and will fix it for next time. If you are not on our mailing list and would like to receive it. Send and email to: news@atriarch.com and type "join" in the subject.
July 18, 2000 - Today PC IGN features the first of five Player Character Species Profiles. Read about the six Warrior Castes of the Tyrusin.
July 11, 2000 - The Atriarch team has been busy answering questions on the discussion boards. If you would like to join the discussions, you can visit the three most visited discussion boards: Atriarch Vault; Atriarch Stratics; Crossroads of Atriana
July 10, 2000 - IGN Vault announced today the opening of the Atriarch Vault, a new fan and community site dedicated to Atriarch. New Creature Animation: AT Vault is debuting with the first animation of an Atriarch creature to be released. You can download the 20 second Pliilar Clone animation at atvault.ign.com.
July 5, 2000 - PC IGN is featuring a reader interview with Serafina, Lead Designer, that includes some new information about Atriarch not yet released. Here is a quote from the interview: "The focus of our skill system is to make it so the player has a lot of choice. The way we accomplish this is by providing ample opportunity for customization, specialization, and player-created skills. From this, we hope to see the skill system evolve into something better and beyond what even we as the developers imagined." Thank you to Darksoul from Atriarch Stratics who preached Atriarch goodness to the gaming masses at this year's DragonCon.
June 30, 2000 - EvilAvatar has posted New Exclusive Screenshots of Atriarch.
June 27, 2000 - 12 New Screenshots of the Cavolon Habitat have been added to the Screenshot section.
June 24, 2000 - Something that is fun and definitely aids in roleplaying is making lots of emotes available to characters. For those who are not familiar with an emote, it is basically a visual representation (animation) of what your player is thinking, feeling, or wants to convey to another. For example, your character waving hello to another character. We ask for everyone to help us create the best and longest list of animated emotes of any game. Since our characters are alien, we can have a lot of fun with it. There are a couple of threads that have begun with this discussion on Atriarch Stratics and RPG Vault. Please use this thread to list emotes and descriptions of animations you would like to see in the game. They can be for all character species or for a specific species. We look forward to reading what you would like to have included in the options of animated emotes.
June 17, 2000 - IGN is doing an Atriarch Reader Interview. Readers can submit questions about Atriarch, and IGN will pick a handful for the World Fusion team to answer. They can be any topic. You have until this Friday, June 23, to submit your questions. Submit your questions about Atriarch here.
June 15, 2000 - Two New Player Factions have been approved and listed in our Community Section. Congratulations to Eon and the Atrianic Trade Corporation. The featured fansite of the month is: The Ends of Atriana. Check it out when you get a chance. Thanks for spreading the word about Atriarch Synon!
June 14, 2000 - Unarra Music has been added to the Download Section.
June 9, 2000 - RPG Vault has posted an Atriarch Intelligence Report.
"Finally, as a world in which players can make a far-reaching and permanent impact, Atriana will represent a level of immersion never before seen."
- Michael "Pipeline" Barenberg, RPG Vault
June 8, 2000 - An edited log of the first developer's chat hosted by the community site, Crossroads of Atriana, can be read here. The topic was Spawns (offspring). Here is one of the answers given when asked how the Tyrusin spawn. "Tyrusin plant parasitic eggs in dead host victims. The eggs eventually hatch, and the warrior eats through flesh to exit the host body." There are other interesting questions answered about the option for Player Characters to become the Spawn (offspring) of other Player Characters.
June 6, 2000 - An Atriarch Windows Theme is available for download on Crossroads of Atriana. There will be a live Developer's Chat tomorrow at 6pm PST (9pm EST). The chat will be at irc.sorcery.net #atriarch. The topic is "Spawn Smorgasbord" We will be discussing the lineage system, character offspring (spawns), and families.
June 4, 2000 - Atriarch takes place current day on a planet called, Atriana. Atriana does in fact exist; we just haven't been there yet. Osweld, an active member of the Atriarch community, recently began a quest to contact the inhabitants of Atriana. He has created an Atriarch SETI@home club. If you have SETI@home click here and join the quest! If you don't have SETI@home you can find out more about it at their website.
May 30, 2000 - Incite has a preview of Atriarch. Read the full article here. "Atriarch will fuse the elements of a persistent-world RPG with those of real-time strategy. You will be able gather resources, build colonies, form an army, form allegiances, and ultimately build an empire. You can also choose one of many professions." - Kevin da Luz, Incite. Be sure to vote for Atriarch's "buzz factor" at the bottom of the article. We want to get as many 5's as possible. Woo Atriarch!
May 28, 2000 - GA-RPG has featured Atriarch team members Lauren, TJ and Joseph's E3 Journals. Here's a excerpt: "Welcome to E3 2000, what a spectacle that was! It was like being caught on the set of blade runner before they brought in the truckloads of dirt to give it that 'gritty' feel." -Joseph, Atriarch Writer. Thanks to TJ, Master Stickerer, our favorite picture of E3 was taken while pretending to watch a demo of EQ. The temptation was just too great *evil grin* We added a Developer's Journal Section in our Press Area so links to writings of our Atriarch team members will be readily available.
May 26, 2000 - Atriarch is listed as one of the Top 10 Online Games of E3 by Electric Playground... woohoo! We were also awarded, "The Game You Won't Hear Enough About." You can read the entire article here.
May 25, 2000 - Gamespy has posted a new entry to Serafina's Design Diary where she gives an account of her E3 experience.
May 24, 2000 - RPG Planet has posted a First Look on Atriarch. Here is a quote:
"In an industry where clone games run rampant, Atriarch could be a breath of fresh air for online role players looking for an experience like no other."
- Mark "Kyote" Allman, RPG Planet
May 23, 2000 - Congratulations! Six new player formed Factions made official: The Racsin Grahnath, The Order of the Orb of Fire, Forged Unity, Haze, Fellowship of Atriana, The Founders. Thank you for your patience in waiting approval! You can get the complete list in our Community Section.
May 15, 2000 - Last week the entire Atriarch team descended upon the Los Angeles Convention Center for E3 to evangelize to publishers, the press and gamers our vision to make Atriarch the standard by which persistent games are measured. We also conducted some private demos that were a huge success! Now that the World Fusion team has sufficiently covered the Greater Los Angeles area with Atriarch stickers, we will update this site again regularly.
May 3, 2000 - New image of the Unarra has been added to the Species Section. Also, each of the species have a new picture in their section.
April 26, 2000 - A new interview with Serafina, Lead Game Designer, was posted by Lum the Mad.
April 17, 2000 - Unarra cultural information about the Tresed and the Death Ritual has been added in the Species Section. Email has gone out to everyone who requested an application for Atriarch's World Building Internship. The deadline to submit your application is May 9, 2000. If you want more information about the internship, then email: internships@atriarch.com
April 10, 2000 - Two Atriarch Internships Available: World Builders (Level Designers) No experience necessary. We only care if you can design cool stuff. If you are interested in applying, send email to: internship@atriarch.com and request application guidelines and deadlines. We will accept levels designed for most current games along with your application. Must be 18 or over. We will accept submissions from most any country. Must speak English or Atrianese.
April 9, 2000 - Crossroads of Atriana has relaunched with a new webmaster, Herok. They also have a discussion thread going about disasters and spawning issues.
April 6, 2000 - In part 5 of Serafina's design diary on Gamespy, Atriarch's Lead Designer talks a bit about the business side of the things and offers what we hope to be three guiding principles for working with a publisher (based on actual experiences).
April 4, 2000 - IGN posted GDC Musings written by TJ and Mythfit, two members of the Atriarch writing team. Find out what it is like to be a first-time attendee at the Game Developer's Conference and be thrust into a wild sea of game celebrities, publisher discussions, and of course, general fun.
April 3, 2000 - Atriarch Stratics is having a fun contest for anyone who wants to try to figure out what the Entrop is chanting in the Spawn of Afton Movie. First few people to figure it out will win some Atriarch stuff like bumper stickers and mousepads.
March 31, 2000 - If you are interested in submitting your resume to World Fusion, please send an email to: jobs@worldfusion.com Also, information about the world building internship will be posted soon. World Fusion is located in Southern California, but you will be able to work remotely if desired.
March 29, 2000 - The FAQ has been modified and updated. The Community Listings have also been updated. Unarra Species has been redesigned. The new Character model will be put up soon. In the meantime, you can see the current set of Player Characters in the Species Section under World of Atriana. Atriarch will also include the opportunity for players to choose a sub-species for their Character. The link to the Cavolon Music in the Download Section has been fixed.
March 23, 2000 - Hi everyone! I just updated my design diary on Gamespy which includes some photos of us taken by PJ at the Game Developer's Conference; some of the original human warrior sketches for Atriarch; and a couple screenshots of what the Atriarch engine looked like before textures, level of detail, and all the other goodies now in the engine. I included a fairly recent screenshot for comparison. Crossroads of Atriana, famous for the Atriarch Screenshot Puzzle, is now looking for a new site manager. If you are interested email Brad. Special thank you to acidtrakz who was kind enough to mail us a copy of Joystick Magazine. If you see Atriarch mentioned or covered in any print magazine, please email us and let us know.
March 20, 2000 - The March 2000 issue of Joystick Magazine, a French paper magazine, has covered Atriarch yet again... woohoo! However, since none of us speak French here, we aren't sure what it says. So, we just pretend it says wonderful and glowing things :-) The VaultNetwork has three new Atriarch discussion boards up: General Board and Idea Board and Dev Board Atriarch Stratics also has new discussion boards up. There old boards will be there for another month to read, then will go down.
March 17, 2000 - Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hi everyone! The team is back from the Game Developer's Conference. Look for news to be updated regularly once again. While at GDC, Serafina posted her entry to the developer's journal. Read how a typical dialogue between her and Arc progressed.
March 4, 2000 - New Eshlar Music in the Download Section. Most of the World Fusion team is leaving early for the Game Developer's Conference and Workshops. Therefore, this website will not be updated again until we get back in about two weeks. Serafina's Developer's Journal should be posted as scheduled on March 9th at Gamespy. Be sure to read about how Atriarch went from human medieval to alien organic. In the meantime, post lots on the discussion boards so that when we get back there will be lots to read :-)
March 1, 2000 - Four new Minor Factions have been added to the Community Section: DharubaMkondo, Sons of Ether, The Red Guard, Chaos Keepers.
February 25, 2000 - Atriarch Stratics posted today's irc log with Arc (WF's Chief Architect) answering some frequently asked questions about the Atriarch's physics engine. An Atriarch newsletter has been sent. If you did not receive your copy and would like to receive the newsletter, then email: news@atriarch.com and type "join" in the subject.
February 24, 2000 - Lead Game Designer, Serafina, updated her Development Journal on Gamespy. She talks about an early business partnership experience, and how it not working out was a good thing for Atriarch. It includes an original sketch from the very first batch of concept art... a human.
February 21, 2000 - The Vault Network has moved the Atriarch Discussion Boards to a new and faster service. The boards have been wiped clean and are ready for some new and invigorating debates about topics like breeding, player-character spawning, permanent death, persistent characters, and trade skills. I encourage everyone to drop by and start up some new conversations. I'll see you there :-)
February 10, 2000 - Gamespy has posted the first entry in Atriarch's Design Diary written by Serafina Pechan, Lead Game Designer. She talks about Atriarch's genesis. A new topic and entry will be published every other Thursday.
February 9, 2000 - Atriarch's largest fan site has been redesigned. Check out Atriarch Stratics here.
February 4, 2000 - A menu bar image was added to a new and separate Download Section. The old Art Section has been renamed to the Screenshots Section.
January 29, 2000 - A new Minor Faction called, Korath-mir-Marihk was added to the Player Factions under the Community section.
January 20, 2000 -Atriarch's very first Story Movie is released. Download "Spawn of Afton: Part 2" exclusively from IGN here. New Story Episode released: "Spawn of Afton: Part 1" is in our Story Section. IGN is featuring a very detailed and positive article about Atriarch. Read the full article here. Woohoo... this is a quote from their article:
"The game is still in its pre-alpha stage and is a long ways away, but if the team at World Fusion can fully develop their vision, Atriarch may very well be one of the most far-reaching, immersive, unique, and comprehensive games ever."
-Tal Blevins, IGN
January 18, 2000 - Over the past two months we have been flooded with emails from fans. Thank you to everyone. We are as excited and anxious about playing Atriarch as you are (even more)! We have been a bit slow to answer emails recently, but today and tomorrow we are answering all emails and guestbook entries that have been received to date. If you have not received a response from us by Thursday (PST), then we do not have a correct email for you or we never received your message. The next newsletter will be going out soon to announce the release of the new Story Episode (Spawn of Afton: Part I) and Atriarch's very first Story Movie (Spawn of Afton: Part II). If you have sent us email, then you are most likely already on the list. If not, then email us at: news@atriarch.com and in the subject type: join If you missed the first Story Episode, then visit our Story Section and read about the Eshlar and the Veil.
January 13, 2000 - Crossroads of Atriana have posted the long version of the Cavolon MP3 music. Our download section only has a 30 second sample.
January 11, 2000 - New Cavolon theme music has been added to the Download Section.
January 9, 2000 - Thanks to 3D Gaming who posted a 3DGN Quickie (mini-preview) about Atriarch. In the next few days we will be releasing the Cavolon music for download, so check back soon.
January 6, 2000 - Apparently, Y2K has not brought the end of the world upon us as anticipated. Earth and Atriana are still intact... woohoo! We all hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Looking forward to what we have planned for the year 2000, we think Atriarch fans will be excited... I know I am :-) The Crossroads of Atriana has a really cool Screenshot Puzzle. It is loads of fun. Great job Iimzodar! *Note that there are no instructions on how to play, so begin by dragging a tile at the upper right hand corner to the center somewhere.*
Last updated: January 06, 2005
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