Artifact Entertainment made the following press release today regarding new property auctions in the game:
| September 30, 2004 MESA, Ariz. - Artifact Entertainment, the developers of Horizons: Empire of Istaria today announced the commencement of in-game property auctions for subscribers. Horizons, a massively multiplayer on-line game (MMOG), allows subscriber characters to bid on over 1770 available plots of in-game land. Once the auction is complete, the plot owner has the opportunity to build, or contract other players to build, personal houses, and workable structures ranging from a blacksmith shop to a jewelry center, to storage silo on that property. Groups of players with similar interests who have banded together as a Guild may also pool their resources to purchase a master Guild plot. When the associated Guild house is complete, over 900 other Guild Plots are then available to guild members for purchase and development. Artifact Entertainment's CEO, David Bowman says, "In Horizons, crafting is an integral part of community building and the player developed economy. The Istarian Auction was necessary after our shard consolidation and provides a well-rounded and equitable solution for many players who previously owned property." Bowman continued, "Right now Horizons has 20 trade and craft schools a player can join. Our crafting system is well known to be intricate, specialized and fun. Increasing the number of available structures a plot owner can develop on their property continues our tradition of this robust crafting system." Istarian property is available in many different sizes. Depending on the size of the plot a player can construct a single building or, on larger plots, develop many buildings that provide different benefits to the player and their community. Player built structures also feature new functionality. "Previously, player built personal residences were simply meeting areas, now these homes can be used as inventory storage for the many items a player accumulates through ordinary game play." stated Mr. Bowman. "If a character chooses to create the structure themselves they earn crafting experience points in that crafting school; this is another reward and incentive for players to experience all that Horizons has to offer. This plot auction is the first of its kind in a massively multiplayer fantasy world; it adds a new level of excitement to the game and allows players to form a strategy to get the plot they want. The process for all 1,770+ plots will take about 10 days to complete. To accommodate this auction we have added technology and functionality to the game that can be used again and again." said Bowman. |
