Hero's Journey Forum » General Discussion » Estimated Release Date

     I don't spend much time playing games anymore. Full time job, school full time, family, blahblahblah. Anyway, I do get bored and reminisce about the times I used to play a ton of games and was an avid hardcore gamer. All that to be said I try to keep up with games and how they're doing.

     I always found heroengine.com a far better resource for development of Hero's Journey. They're recently updated the engine page in the last month or so and now have an estimated release date at the very bottom of one of the latest press release pages. The engine continues to grow and is becoming even more awe inspiring IMO. Simutronics has always been picky, they may have not been happy with the games immediate hardware requirements, how it looked, how it played, how much content or etc.

     The engine itself makes Simu money and they continue to license it out as they develop what their own game will be using. Overall, I believe this will benefit the MMO community that will play the game. Many people have complained about other's games coming before their own game is released. I say let it happen, let them make use of the engine first and validate the engine. It's almost like Simutronic's own version of a beta test for their own engine. I'm sure they will know how to fully use its power, but others may suggest new things or find ways to use it Simutronics hasn't thought of, enabling them to integrate even more into their own game.

Anyway, my source: http://www.heroengine.com/press-releases/76-press-release-32509

With a release date of 2010

     I don't check forums much, but I knew this one is stll watched. I look forward to this game and if it does all it promises, I'm certain it will be pulling me out of game retirement along with some of my friends. Who knows though, it may never get released... but I do believe it will eventually be released, until that time I'll continue waiting and working. Don't expect me to respond too much to this thread, it's just info for the masses.

I'm pretty interested in this game and have been since it was announced aeons ago, the only problem I have with it is the companies pricing scemes, for example aside from the base subscription ($15) on say DragonRealms you can upgrade for premium ($25.00 EXTRA per month - www.play.net/dr/premium/) AND the obscenely expensive Platinum ($50.00 per month- www.play.net/dr/platinum/)

I'll be more than happy to pay as long as they dont pull the same subscription scheme.

(Yes I know these are optional but still, everyone should pay one sub and play the same game, some of us dont have the extra $25 to spare per month).

 Something else:

Hero Engine GDC 09

Pretties.

http://www.mmogamer.com/05/01/2009/from-gemstone-to-heroengine-simutronics-ceo-david-whatley-on-putting-the-mud-back-into-mmos

Interview with Simutronics' CEO and co-founder David Whatley about the engine and this MMO.

Originally posted by Cemm

http://www.mmogamer.com/05/01/2009/from-gemstone-to-heroengine-simutronics-ceo-david-whatley-on-putting-the-mud-back-into-mmos

Interview with Simutronics' CEO and co-founder David Whatley about the engine and this MMO.

Nice find.

Originally posted by ultimatum1

I'm pretty interested in this game and have been since it was announced aeons ago, the only problem I have with it is the companies pricing scemes, for example aside from the base subscription ($15) on say DragonRealms you can upgrade for premium ($25.00 EXTRA per month - www.play.net/dr/premium/) AND the obscenely expensive Platinum ($50.00 per month- www.play.net/dr/platinum/)

I'll be more than happy to pay as long as they dont pull the same subscription scheme.

(Yes I know these are optional but still, everyone should pay one sub and play the same game, some of us dont have the extra $25 to spare per month).

Its about quality of play , these schemes work really well and add a lot of value to gameplay.

For people who want a better gameplay experience and can afford it is great don't really care if you can't afford it the model is based on people who can. 

Originally posted by Isane

Originally posted by ultimatum1

I'm pretty interested in this game and have been since it was announced aeons ago, the only problem I have with it is the companies pricing scemes, for example aside from the base subscription ($15) on say DragonRealms you can upgrade for premium ($25.00 EXTRA per month - www.play.net/dr/premium/) AND the obscenely expensive Platinum ($50.00 per month- www.play.net/dr/platinum/)

I'll be more than happy to pay as long as they dont pull the same subscription scheme.

(Yes I know these are optional but still, everyone should pay one sub and play the same game, some of us dont have the extra $25 to spare per month).

 

Its about quality of play , these schemes work really well and add a lot of value to gameplay.

For people who want a better gameplay experience and can afford it is great don't really care if you can't afford it the model is based on people who can. 

Are you kidding me? You cannot justify giving richer people a better experience in an MMORPG. I want a good community too and I cannot afford $50 per month to get it. Why should people pay to have a better experience with a game? Theres plenty of ways to make sure you make a better community for a server (such as perhaps an application system). 

Originally posted by ultimatum1

Originally posted by Isane

Originally posted by ultimatum1

I'm pretty interested in this game and have been since it was announced aeons ago, the only problem I have with it is the companies pricing scemes, for example aside from the base subscription ($15) on say DragonRealms you can upgrade for premium ($25.00 EXTRA per month - www.play.net/dr/premium/) AND the obscenely expensive Platinum ($50.00 per month- www.play.net/dr/platinum/)

I'll be more than happy to pay as long as they dont pull the same subscription scheme.

(Yes I know these are optional but still, everyone should pay one sub and play the same game, some of us dont have the extra $25 to spare per month).

 

Its about quality of play , these schemes work really well and add a lot of value to gameplay.

For people who want a better gameplay experience and can afford it is great don't really care if you can't afford it the model is based on people who can. 

 

Are you kidding me? You cannot justify giving richer people a better experience in an MMORPG. I want a good community too and I cannot afford $50 per month to get it. Why should people pay to have a better experience with a game? Theres plenty of ways to make sure you make a better community for a server (such as perhaps an application system). 

I have played it and experienced the benefits you know when I stay in a Hotel and decide to stay in one that is a little more luxurious there are benefits... wow well i guess that is real life , I guess it's below you to play a MUD and pay for it as well.

Just dealing in facts and the proof is in the pudding there is no point of discussion here, maybe you should either earn a little more money(find a job or a better job). Or just stay and play as a second class citizen.

You have choices it is up to  you, remember what we are discussing here exists and people pay if you like it or not.

Originally posted by Isane

Originally posted by ultimatum1

Originally posted by Isane

Originally posted by ultimatum1

I'm pretty interested in this game and have been since it was announced aeons ago, the only problem I have with it is the companies pricing scemes, for example aside from the base subscription ($15) on say DragonRealms you can upgrade for premium ($25.00 EXTRA per month - www.play.net/dr/premium/) AND the obscenely expensive Platinum ($50.00 per month- www.play.net/dr/platinum/)

I'll be more than happy to pay as long as they dont pull the same subscription scheme.

(Yes I know these are optional but still, everyone should pay one sub and play the same game, some of us dont have the extra $25 to spare per month).

 

Its about quality of play , these schemes work really well and add a lot of value to gameplay.

For people who want a better gameplay experience and can afford it is great don't really care if you can't afford it the model is based on people who can. 

 

Are you kidding me? You cannot justify giving richer people a better experience in an MMORPG. I want a good community too and I cannot afford $50 per month to get it. Why should people pay to have a better experience with a game? Theres plenty of ways to make sure you make a better community for a server (such as perhaps an application system). 

 

I have played it and experienced the benefits you know when I stay in a Hotel and decide to stay in one that is a little more luxurious there are benefits... wow well i guess that is real life , I guess it's below you to play a MUD and pay for it as well.

Just dealing in facts and the proof is in the pudding there is no point of discussion here, maybe you should either earn a little more money(find a job or a better job). Or just stay and play as a second class citizen.

You have choices it is up to  you, remember what we are discussing here exists and people pay if you like it or not.

Stop with the superiority complex just because you can afford to pay an obscene amount. I have no problems with paying to play ANY online game including a MUD but being a "second class citizen" as you so thoughtfully put it, in an online world is just wrong. People should not need to pay extra to play with good roleplayers. They could have so many other ways of finding out if people are "worthy" of playing on a server with the best community like applications games such as illarion used to have. Ah you know what screw it, if you're the quality of player they have on the $50 servers then it wouldn't be worth it even if I did care and did have the money.

Where are you guys FINDING this stuff?!

Also, this is what premium and platinum characters get:

Premium
10 extra character slots
5 premium only  levelling areas (which are at key leveling points, but are out of probably 100+ areas)
10% off pay quest tickets, and advanced booking (shouldn't be an issue if you don't intend to go on pay quests)
Free vault transfers (costs 5 gold for normals, I believe)
Bank transfers (costs 10% of the transfer amount, defeats the purpose of having multiple banks)
A house (One per account.  Strictly an RP tool.)
Two premium only trading posts to sell your loot.
An extra type ahead line
Faster GameHost assistance (I've never seen the queue go beyond 5 people)

Platinum:
Access to the platinum server, plus all premium benefits.

Long Term Benefits can include rare items, but the only totally premium exclusive items are the unbreakable gweths, which really aren't all that fancy since gweths are a player made product.

Normal subscribers can buy extra character slots for $2/month each, so premium pays for itself in character slots immediately.

Really premuim and platinum aren't all that great. I got premium just because I thought I might use the extra character slots, but I never did.

 I currently have a Gemstone Platinum account. I pay extra to play on a server with 30 people on it at a time rather than 500. The Roleplaying in Prime is non existant, and is completely ruined by the sheer number of people.

Since it's a smaller server, I almost never have anybody else hunting in the same area I am, which is a great benefit.

I used to have a prime (not premium) account. I had two account and still was just bored with the people. There are harassers that are just jerks that pass it off as roleplaying. My hunting areas always have 3-5 other people in it so there would be 5x the mobs which is hard in Gemstone somtimes.

And since I did have a Prime and not Premium account, I did feel like a 2nd class citizen. I only had 100 spaces in my locker and 1 locker. Now in Plat I have 10 lockers and 110 spots in each. I couldn't get to the Premium-only island. I couldn't buy a house... It did feel very crappy that I just wasn't willing to pay for those perks.

I know my Platinum community. I like my Platinum community. They're good people with diverse styles. I'm not rich, and have debated if it's worth the 50 bucks a month where I could have 1/4th the cost and play an MMO. But every time I do that, I come back.

That being said, most of the time these days all I do is make scripts with a 3rd party scripting program called Lich. I love coding a script and debugging the problems and watching it when it's perfect.

So I guess I'd say I completely agree with paying extra, even a lot extra, for a small, RP-only server. But I do not agree with paying extra for more perks in the same server. That seems wrong to me and it felt wrong when I was experiencing it.

Originally posted by Isane

Originally posted by ultimatum1

I'm pretty interested in this game and have been since it was announced aeons ago, the only problem I have with it is the companies pricing scemes, for example aside from the base subscription ($15) on say DragonRealms you can upgrade for premium ($25.00 EXTRA per month - www.play.net/dr/premium/) AND the obscenely expensive Platinum ($50.00 per month- www.play.net/dr/platinum/)

I'll be more than happy to pay as long as they dont pull the same subscription scheme.

(Yes I know these are optional but still, everyone should pay one sub and play the same game, some of us dont have the extra $25 to spare per month).

 

Its about quality of play , these schemes work really well and add a lot of value to gameplay.

For people who want a better gameplay experience and can afford it is great don't really care if you can't afford it the model is based on people who can. 

$50.00? Wow, I'd much rather give the extra $35.00 to charity -  a natural high from doing a good deed as opposed to spending it all just to play with a bunch of "elite", yet arrogant roleplayers.

Can I afford to pay $50.00 per month to play? Yes. Will I? Absolutely not. This is a mere exploit and it only makes the company look cheap. It's their job to introduce a good game and to provide a reasonable way so that everyone can have fun.

How'd this game get on the hype meter again.... I thought it was dead?

Originally posted by Emeraq

How'd this game get on the hype meter again.... I thought it was dead?

I would like to know that too.   There has not been an update on their official web site for over a year.   IMO they canned the project a long time ago and kept it just alive enough to promote the  Hero Engine.    I camped it for a long time too but srsly people its vapor ware.  Unless Simutronics wants to come forth with evidence of a pulse we need to let it go.  They did have some great ideas though.

Agreed, when I posted this a long time ago I thought maybe - just maybe something would happen. I still had hope and still looked for tid-bits of information across the web. We're coming up on 6 months now and all I have heard is doom and gloom, my hope is  shot and I'm back to playing Age of Conan right now. Oh well, I'm going to play Star Wars KotOR just to see the engine in action and since I haven't really played a futuristic MMO yet. I think pushing the engine over the game was a large mistake of theirs, just got way too side tracked.

The status of Hero's Journey is officially "We're out of money."

Simutronics is currently seeking funding for the HJ project, the Hero Engine sales haven't been enough to sustain it.  All development on HJ is currently on hold indefnitely. This is not to say it's "dead" but in the current economy it's not easy for a company to get loans and investments.

Before you write off HJ, wait for the following things to happen:

1. Bioware releases The Old Republic. Seeing a Hero Engine based game in action should spur a new generation of licensees. Without absolute proof that it is a superior product, companies will be hesitant to invest in HeroEngine, especially in a recession.

2. The recession ends. Because of the recession it's becoming harder for people to get loans and investments. A subscription MMORPG is not a wise investment in an economy where people might not have the money to burn on entertainment.

 

Just can't figure out why a vaporware title is listed in the Top Voted games under development section of the MMORPG homepage. Reality really is stranger than fiction...

mabye if we hype it to the top of the page someone will throw some money at it?

huh? huh? huh?

Release date?  How about Feburary 29th of 2010?  Uh, but 2010 is not a leap year, you say.