Meridian 59 News and FAQ

     What is the news?

Near Death Studios, Inc. has purchased Meridian 59 from 3DO on
November 29, 2001.

     What is Meridian 59?

Meridian 59 was one of the first commercial 3D graphical online
RPGs. Released in September 1996, Meridian 59 was one of the first
games in the new era of graphical online games. Using a
proprietary graphics engine similar to id Software's DOOM engine,
the architecture of the world was rendered in 3D with sprite-based
objects within the world.

Meridian 59 remains one of the best PvP (player vs. player) and
social games even today. Thousands of the game's players agree
that the balance in PvP combat has not been matched by subsequent
games, and that the communication tools are still the most
developed in any graphical game. Many important aspects of today's
online RPGs, such as customizable chat groups; buying, defending,
and conquering player owned buildings; and player selection of
guild emblems were an early part of Meridian 59.

     What is Near Death Studios?

Near Death Studios is a small game development company formed in
2001. Like many developers, the founders of Near Death Studios
were frustrated with the "big business" of the gaming industry.
The founders of Near Death Studios hope that they can do things
better for themselves, their games, and for the gamers that play
their games. Although we are organized as a corporation for legal
reasons, we hope to avoid the feeling of a "large, faceless
corporation".

Near Death Studios is the new owner of Meridian 59 and will be
responsible for fixing, updating, and running the game.


     Who is Near Death Studios?

Currently Near Death Studios is a small company. We are great
friends with many of Meridian 59's previous developers and support
staff; many of them are eager to help us make Meridian 59
successful. We hope to grow the company as our resources allow.

     You made Meridian 59?

Most of us have worked on teams that helped make and improve
Meridian 59. It took quite a bit of teamwork to build Meridian 59
from its humble beginnings in the basement of Andrew and
Christopher Kirmse's parents' house. Many people worked together
over the years to prepare the game for its purchase by 3DO, for
its first commercial release to stores and to the public, and on
each of the many expansion packs and updates over the years.

Co-founder Rob Ellis II worked on the original team from the Beta
test release all the way through the game's second official

expansion pack, Revelation. Rob is better known in the Meridian 59
community as Q.

Co-Founder Brian Green joined the team later in its cycle working
from the fourth official expansion, Insurrection, through the last
expansion, Liberation, and on until the game was closed down.
Brian is known to the Meridian 59 community as Psychochild.

     Psychochild's an ass? He's the one that ruined Meridian 59!

Yes, he is an ass. =) But he didn't ruin Meridian 59. By the time
Brian Green joined the Meridian 59 project, all of the original
developers had left 3DO. He was tasked with updating a game in a
poorly documented, proprietary scripting language with a game
design that was created before he joined the company, and with
very little support. Brian put forth great effort toward improving
the game given his circumstances and did a fine job.  Much of the
work Brian planned to implement never made it to release since he
was moved off full-time development. Near Death Studios may
include some of that work in the future.

     Did you buy Meridian 59 from 3DO or are you licensing it?

Near Death Studios bought all of the Meridian 59 intellectual
property and existing assets, including art, source code, and all
international rights, from the 3DO Company. The staff of the 3DO
Company that worked with us on the purchase was incredibly
professional and helpful. Throughout the entire purchasing
process, the 3DO Company was a pleasure to work with, always going
through extra effort to ensure that we were comfortable with every
aspect of the transaction, and that we received all existing
assets to our satisfaction.

     Why did you buy Meridian 59?

Let us be clear that we are NOT doing this to get rich. As
experienced game developers, we could make reasonable salaries at
almost any large game company. We have already poured a
significant amount of personal money into this purchase, and have
personally borrowed more money to complete this transaction. If
possible, we plan to initially make only 10-20% of the salaries we
could make at other companies while paying off our loans. This is
obviously the wrong way on the road to becoming fabulously
wealthy.

We did this primarily because we love the game. Meridian 59
represents the work of many developers that truly cared about it.
When you work on a game like Meridian 59 and see how much the
community enjoys the game, you cannot help but have strong
feelings for the game.

The community also convinced us that this is the right thing to
do. Many people played on the former German licensee's servers
after the 3DO servers closed, showing dedication to a game that
continues to outshine other games in various ways.  When the
German servers closed, everyone was saddened. It is the community
that makes Meridian 59 a truly great game.

Finally, Meridian 59 is also an important part of the history of
the online medium. When the game was shut down in August 2000,
that history was removed from the Internet. We are proud to let
Meridian 59 have more life so that others can enjoy the game.

     What are you going to do with Meridian 59?

Our first priority is to fix the game destroying bugs and then
launch the game for people to enjoy the game. If there is enough
community support, we would like to develop an update to the game
that would include new content such as spells, skills, and areas
and possibly even new monsters and items.  We would like to
include the community in discussions of possible future directions
when the time comes. We will make an effort to gather the players'
opinions on possible features and discuss proposed features when
appropriate.

In the long term, we would also like to create an updated sequel,
taking the best of the existing Meridian 59 features and putting
them into a modern game engine. Meridian 59 has quite a bit to
offer, and a future version would have the benefit of learning
from other online games as well as from its own history.

     Which update are you going to run? Vale of Sorrow was the
     best update, are you going to run that one?

We are currently planning to run an updated version of the last
version, Liberation, which was available before the commercial
servers were closed down. We are planning to fix as many
outstanding bugs as we can and make a few basic tweaks that were
impossible to do while the game was running at 3DO.  Overall, the
game should be as big or bigger than you remember while remaining
free from bugs.

We are not currently planning to run the Vale of Sorrow update.
We are already planning to do a lot of work to improve the current
game and cannot spare the time to set up a game server running
Vale of Sorrow and fix the bugs that were in that update. This may
change in the future as time and demand dictate.

There seems to be a vocal handful of players that likes to
romanticize the Vale update. Since the original Vale of Sorrow
update, years worth of work and content were put into the game.
The game world was roughly doubled since the Vale update. Many new
creatures, spells, and items were added.  The world of Meridian 59
would not benefit if that content were discarded and more recent
updates were ignored in favor of a Vale server.

     Are you going to make it fully 3D? Are you going to add "this
     feature"?

We will be making changes to the game as time goes on. Since we
are still a small company, we must spend our time providing the
greatest benefit for the least resources.

We are not going to determine or rule out the inclusion of any
features in future updates. The game system that Meridian 59 was
developed from is still very flexible in the additions it will
allow.

Unfortunately, we do not foresee a major overhaul of the graphics
engine in the near future. The development of new 3D art assets
alone would be a huge undertaking that we do not currently have
the resources for. We also feel that the graphics engine is an
important part of Meridian 59's historical value. As stated above,
however, if we are able to make a sequel, the graphics engine will
undoubtedly be updated.

     I hate "this feature", are you going to remove it? Are you
     going to add "this feature" I hate? Why did you remove "this
     feature" that I love?

There will be features that you don't like that are kept in the
game or added over time. Some aspect of the game that you like
might be removed or changed. We promise to do our best to help
shape the game for the good of the community and the longevity of
the game world while taking into account community opinions.

However, there are going to be times that a feature is changed,
added, or removed and some people will not be happy about it.
Please be patient and realize that we are doing what we believe is

best for the game and the community while doing our best to
include our customers' opinions.

     Are players going to have to pay to play the game?

Yes. There will most likely be a monthly fee to play Meridian 59,
but the cost to play will almost certainly be cheaper now than it
was in 2000. The game client will most likely remain free to
download.

     What are you going to do with all the money you make off of
     us!?

We are a very small development company that is making an effort
at running and growing our own game. This is a difficult and risky
undertaking. A large percentage of the monthly fee will be put
toward paying ongoing costs of running the game.

We would like to get enough money to pay back all of the loans we
had to take out in order to buy Meridian 59. Our lenders are
hoping the same. Next, we will use what we can afford for paying
contractors and employees that help us to grow and support the
game. If there is any money left over, we hope to take small
salaries, much smaller than we would receive if we were working
for a large company.

As stated before, we would like to grow the Meridian 59 game world
beyond the existing engine into a sequel. We will only be able to
do so if we can afford to pay the employees required to create
such a sequel.

     I heard about a server in another country running the game;
     Can they do that?

There is one company in Korea that has a legal license from 3DO to
run a Meridian 59 game server. That license will expire when the
current license year term ends.

Currently, there is no other legally running Meridian 59 game
server. Parties interested in licensing and localizing Meridian 59
for use outside the United States should email us at
Business@NearDeathStudios.com.

     Where can I get the latest news about Meridian 59 in the
     future?

The best way to ensure you're always up on the latest Meridian 59
news is to sign up for our mailing list. Also be sure to check out
the official Meridian 59 website from time to time at
http://meridian59.neardeathstudios.com/. Although content is
currently sparse on this site due to our having recently completed
the purchase, this page will be updated with the latest news and
information as it becomes available.

     I want to help Meridian 59 succeed and grow; What can I do?

Now, more than ever, the fate of Meridian 59 is in the hands of
the players. The most important thing each of you can do to help
Meridian 59 is to sign up for an account when they're made
available. Play fair, have fun, and tell your friends.  Support
Near Death Studios with your monthly playtime payments and
positive contributions to the Meridian 59 community.

Many have expressed interest in donating money to Near Death
Studios to help in our successful re-launch and growth of the
Meridian 59 franchise. For more information on donations, or to
send a donation, please visit our donations page.

From time to time we may offer special items such as collector's
CDs, printed t-shirts, game world maps, and other items. The sales
of these items will be used to help grow the company and the
Meridian 59 franchise. If you can afford these items, buy them. If
you cannot afford them, just keep playing, having fun, and telling
your friends about Meridian 59.

DOOM and the Id Software name are trademarks of Id Software, Inc.

All other trademarks and tradenames belong to their respective
owners.
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