Filed under: A Tale in the Desert

A Tale in the Desert to launch new player driven server

by James Egan Jan 27th 2010 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Historical, A Tale in the Desert, Culture, Economy, MMO industry, Politics, Legal

A Tale in the Desert may not be the first game that comes to mind when you think of MMOs, but the title from independent developer eGenesis is something quite unique in this market. A Tale in the Desert isn't a combat-focused game at all, rather it's more about social, economic, and even legal systems in an ancient Egyptian setting. Players involved in a "telling" (a game arc) can even vote to determine the game's laws, which sets this title apart from most others.

eGenesis announced this week that they're launching a new server on February 20th, stating that it will give even greater control to players by allowing them to "completely control the timing of the telling." The new server will offer players an ancient Egypt that has yet to be built. In other words, it's an open environment where the players can have some degree of control over how that setting takes shape.

If the notion of a player-driven setting where the game's subscribers shape the play experience and surroundings appeals to you, have a look at what's coming soon to A Tale in the Desert.

Designing a single-server MMO

by Jon Shute May 18th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: A Tale in the Desert, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, Game mechanics, Crafting, PvE, Opinion

Game Set Watch have posted an opinion piece by James Portnow, founder of Divide by Zero Games, that looks at the design approaches to creating unsharded MMOs, and the advantages that they can bring.

Games that manage this, such as EVE Online and A Tale in the Desert, manage to provide an environment in which players can affect the world they play in due to the fact that they share a single world. Portnow suggests that MMOs won't be able to provide meaningful stores in games that don't provide this due to not being able to change the world because different servers may have made different choices. Portnow goes on to explain in detail what the problems are with creating a single shard world and proposes some solutions to the design to support the large number of people involved. This includes the resources supporting crafting, letting the players build their own settlements and making the PvE content to make it interesting.

You can read the full article over at Game Set Watch.

Open beta for A Tale in the Desert IV starts tomorrow

by Shawn Schuster Dec 5th 2008 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Historical, A Tale in the Desert, Events, in-game, Game mechanics

Apparently, we're in beta season as yet another independent MMO has announced its open beta. A Tale in the Desert IV will open its beta doors tomorrow, December 6 at 2pm Eastern to all players who are interested in giving this Ancient Egyptian MMO a shot.

If you're unaware of A Tale in the Desert, it's a social MMO that boasts no combat system at all. Its main focuses are actually a strong social structure and economics. The game first released in February of 2003 and this beta marks its fourth "telling", which acts as a major update or version of the game. Head on over to the official website for more information and to apply for your own open beta key.