Mourning Online
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This article or section contains information about an unreleased video game. It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically as more information becomes available. |
| Mourning Online | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Quad Software, Newrosoft R&D |
| Publisher(s) | Limitless Horizons Entertainment LLC |
| Engine | Abyssal Engine |
| Release date(s) | TBA |
| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Online |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: RP? |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| System requirements | 1.5 GHz processor, 512mb RAM, 128mb video card, Internet Connection |
Mourning Online (formerly called Realms of Torment), is a fantasy MMORPG currently being developed in Romania. In many previews of the game, Mourning claims that players will be able to bear children and pass on their abilities to their children, entertaining player vs. player combat, implement a fame system in which you were judged by how powerful and successful you are in the game, and in some cases, die permanently.
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[edit] Abyssal Engine
Not much is known about this engine, although the website stated that it will be able to render massive areas without having to split an entire area into "zones", which is a common practice to increase performance in other MMORPGs.
As of today, this technology is to be doubted as many companies claim to develop engines capable of doing that, without any noticeable success.
[edit] Controversy
Mourning "debuted" on February 25, 2005 in the United States as a preorder or as a download from FilePlanet, but it was quickly discovered that the game had none of the features claimed in many previews of the game. When the preorder arrived, fans say that they only got a white box containing a burned CD-RW with an old beta client and nothing else. Also discovered was that the game was hardly even considered "finished" to any extent. Also noted was the sheer amount of bugs in the game, almost preventing any sort of enjoyment in the game. Some bugs range from CTD to incredible lag to extremely long server downtimes. The game sold no more than 211 copies, and total lack of tech support from the developers prompted many to cancel their Mourning accounts. On average, no more than 10 players are online at a time, and even when the number touches 50, the server crashes due to the networking code of the game. Gamers complained of lack of animation for the characters, rather simplistic player vs. player combat, only 2 quests for the entire game, and many bugs that were apparently never fixed, though reported numerous times.
Also, after the initial criticism from players, the developers now have a zero-tolerance policy for any negativity about their game. Those who spoke harshly about the game in their forums would often be banned, their posts deleted, and their IP address posted to encourage people to hack it. The developers often have deleted entire archives of posts for apparently no reason at all. Also, they have threatened with legal action the owners of MMORPG.com and Something Awful for refusing to reveal the identities of some Mourning critics and in Something Awful's case, slander. In the end, MMORPG.com removed its Mourning section, and some other sites like WarCry followed the suit.
In October of 2005, the entire Mourning site was taken down and those tried to access the game itself got server errors. A chat with a designer stated that Mourning was in financial trouble and was attempting to secure new funding from a new publisher, who wanted to "upgrade" the site to reflect the new contract. However, it appears that development has stagnated at this point.
[edit] Recent developments
Little has changed with Mourning. As of January 2006, the official site has partially reopened. Many of the pages are still lacking in content and many areas of the site still say "Coming soon", although the message boards have reopened. It's hard to say whether or not development of the game has picked up steam again. A comment posted by lead developer Andrei Gireada at MMORPG.com, stated that development would pick up again in April 2006, after the company is finished with several projects commissioned by Sony Pictures. However, nothing new appears to have happened.
Recently the game has been reannounced as Thrones of Chaos and will be developed by a different developer, Loud Ant Software, which is based in the United States. It has also been reported that the new game will retain the same engine and that some of the game's original developers will stay on as "advisors" for the new developer.
[edit] Fanbase
Although Mourning has attracted a lot of negative attention around the Internet, (notably after the beta "debut" and other fiascos), there remains a loyal fanbase who believe that Mourning will eventually become successful and believe that the game will break through the stereotypical MMORPG structure with the unique gameplay that was mentioned in previews and interviews dating almost 3-4 years ago, when Mourning was announced.
