History of Athiria

[Detomah]

What is the World of Athiria like?
It is a world of interaction, of promise and advancement, and of intense action where the player can live and thrive in a virtual place unlike anything they have experienced before. Athiria is a world of powerful warriors, scholarly scribes, colorful jesters, menacing wizards, and hustling merchants. It is a world where the savagery of the middle ages is present along with all of its risks. It is a world where the resulting rewards foster epic stories that bards sing for years to come and that scribes write about for centuries.

Is there a story behind the history of Athiria?
Athiria is based on a rich storyline and plot. Click here to read part of the history of Athiria. We will be revealing much more about the history of Athiria throughout the development process.

Can I take part in the story?
Players will be able to directly interact with the major characters in the storyline and the plot will unfold directly based upon the actions of the player base. In many ways the players will determine the plot of the story as they play the game. While the predetermined story is already developed, it is not at a micro managed level. Complete sagas will be player-driven and will be available for the bard to sing and the scribes to chronicle for ages to come.

How big is Athiria?
The world of Athiria is enormous. You will not be able to cross the globe in any short period of time. The size of the world needs to be this way to support the large player base, provide large enough distances to give rise to resource management and production specialization (giving rise to trade) and to provide adequate amounts of room for player-run cities to expand. We plan on having a spherical world design as well, so that there are no tactical advantages to being near a "map edge" with your city.

How many cities are in Athiria?
The world of Athiria is constantly changing and the cities in the world show the dynamic nature of the world. Ancient strongholds can crumble under the siege of war and new cities can be built from the ground up. The game will initially begin with enough cities to support the initial players. As time goes on we fully expect player-run cities to dwarf the size and number of NPC run cities. At some point we may even surrender the NPC cities to players if they can take the city by force or negotiation.

Will I have to “zone?”
Minimal zoning will be required. We are aiming to not have any visible zone lines, but we understand the limitations of today’s computing resources and do not see some of the limitations disappearing in the near future. As a result we will minimize the amount of zoning that needs to occur as best as possible. Perhaps zoning will only be required when a dramatic change of scenery needs to happen. (i.e. you enter a dungeon)

Will the game encourage racial conflict?
Racial conflict will exist, and be encouraged, but not very much for the four standard races (Leaman, Querca, Silar, Subadi) we have already introduced. It is entirely possible for any single member of one race to hate one, two, or all three other races (depending on how you want to role-play them), but We're not intending these four races to be constantly at each others throats. Yes, this does mean there will be additional playable races. They will be introduced by story released either via newsletter or some other form of content on My.AgesofAthiria.com. Most playable races will be free to be "good", "evil", or "neutral" and to join with other races as their players see fit. However, certain races will definitely be introduced in such a way that they are known to be enemies (or even extraordinarily neutral/ambivalent) to other races. Where appropriate, in-game mechanisms will exist that reinforce those situations.