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GemStone IV is a text-based online role-playing game, or MUD, produced by Simutronics. It takes place in the medieval, Tolkienesque fantasy world of Elanthia, where players can engage in a wide variety of activities such as slaying creatures, spell-casting, foraging for edible herbs, and more. Simutronics charges players a recurring monthly fee to play. GemStone is one of the longest-running online games in existence, having started in 1987 and outlasted many competitors.

Overview

GemStone IV was originally developed in 1987 as GemStone, though it only existed as an internal product under that title, and eventually progressed to its current title, GemStone IV (also referred to as GS4). During prime-time hours, the number of active players online ranges from 650 to over 1000.

Within GemStone IV a player can conceivably progress in level as far as it is possible to go without relying on the aid or assistance of other players. This solo aspect is of particular interest to MMORPG players who do not desire the "group focused" central theme of MMORPGs such as EverQuest.

GemStone IV offers three account types for players to choose from: standard ($14.95), premium ($39.95) and platinum ($49.95). Platinum and premium accounts offer various advantages to players over the basic service provided by the standard account subscription.

As one of the longest-running Internet games, there is a substantial base of players from the 90s who felt disenfranchised by the lack of emphasis now placed on role-playing in GemStone. As a way of placating those players, a service, called GemStone IV Platinum is available. It is an exact replica of GemStone IV's world, with some minor changes as well as an enforced role-playing environment, for the price of $49.95US per month.

History

GemStone was originally offered on the GEnie service in the late 1980s, eventually competing with such games as Dragon's Gate, Federation and Hundred Years War. The game is built on Simutronics' proprietary engine, the IFE (Interactive Fiction Engine). Its product managers over the years have been Elonka Dunin, Suz Dodd, and Melissa Meyer.

GemStone III opened for beta on December 1, 1989, with a license to use the Rolemaster game mechanics and Shadow World environment from Iron Crown Enterprises. A few years later, ICE and Simutronics agreed to let the business relationship expire, which required Simutronics to alter GemStone slightly. (For example, the game world's name changed from Kulthea to Elanthia, along with numerous other minor changes.)

Another Simutronics game based on the IFE engine, DragonRealms, opened in 1996.

In addition to being on GEnie, the Simutronics IFE games also maintained portals on AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy, and other online services. In December 1996, GemStone III and DragonRealms were the top two titles (hours/month) in the entire multiplayer gaming industry, with GemStone III doing over 1.4 million hours in one month, and supporting over 2000 simultaneous users.

GemStone IV was released as an enhanced version of GemStone III on November 21, 2003.

All of the Simutronics games are now available exclusively on the World Wide Web at Play.net.

External links

• GemStone IV homepage
• Unofficial Player Documentation/Guides
• Krakiipedia, the Unofficial Free GemStone IV Encyclopedia

• MU* games
• Virtual communities