Earth Eternal

Earth Eternal is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game currently in open beta that was created by Sparkplay Media. It was first announced on January 10, 2007, and was released for Open Beta on Oct. 7, 2009. It is free to play with additional pay for bonuses. The game is currently in open beta and is playable in a browser or via a client download on Windows, but is not playable on Mac OS yet. On August 8th, 2010, SparkPlay Media announced it was likely going into bankruptcy and that it was actively holding an auction for Earth Eternal. The credit system was shutdown and many of its items were made freely available. SparkPlay Media's CEO stated that unless a buyer was forthcoming, Earth Eternal would end when its webhost shut down the server for non-payment. However, on the 17th of the same month, Earth Eternal was bought off in an auction.

Earth Eternal
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Developer(s)	Sparkplay Media
Publisher(s)	Sparkplay Media
Engine	OGRE
Platform(s)	Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. Mac OS is in development
Release	Open Beta: Oct. 7, 2009
Genre(s)	MMORPG
Mode(s)	MMOG

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Screenshot of Bremen town

Setting

The game takes place in the future, after modern human civilization has fallen and been replaced with a civilization of anthropomorphic animal races. In the game's world, humanity was preceded on Earth by a series of magical civilizations. This background information is referred to as "Lore" on the game's website, which provides both a summary of the fictional history and a comprehensive, 145-page pdf version. In this story, the history of Earth is divided into four periods: the Lost Ages, the Age of Legend, the Age of Man, and the Age of Beasts.

During the Lost Ages, Earth was ruled by the Titan Kronos and his wife Gaia. Their subjects included many races, but primarily the Faerie, who eventually rebelled. The Faerie leader, Agalarna, was exiled into space on a comet. During the subsequent millennia, a malevolent being called Djall, also known as the Dark Lord, attached itself to Agalarna. When the comet returned to Earth, Djall came to the planet and tricked the Titans into entering a portal to the plane of Tartarus in pursuit of greater power. He then sealed the portal, trapping them and leaving him locked in a struggle with Gaia, the lone Titan to not fall for his ruse. Over a period of aeons, the Godwars were fought. Gaia released the Gods, children of the Titans who had been in hibernation, to fight against Djall. Life on Earth was nearly destroyed and the Faerie hid themselves away in a refuge called Otherworld. Gaia, the Gods, and Djall reached an accord to wage their conflict only through intermediaries, ending the Lost Ages.

During the subsequent Age of Legend, Djall created Salamanzar to lead his Undead hordes while Gaia greated the Beasts, a large number of races that resembled various animals. Among the evil races they fought were the Dvergar. Eight Beasts became particularly powerful mages and were called the Mystarchs. The Mystarchs discovered an evil force called the Shadow Legion and attempted to unite Beasts in opposition to it. However, the rule of the Mystarchs became oppressive and the Beasts rebelled, executing or exiling the Mystarchs and instead uniting under the leadership of the judge Solomon. The following twenty-three generations constituted a golden era during which all Beast races lived in peace and culture flourished under the rule of Solomon's descendants. However, the peace was shattered by the invasion of the Primals, who stormed Europe from over the Western Sea. They were repelled only through the intervention of the Faerie, who subsequently returned to Otherworld. Vinga, the first Vampire, then rebelled against Salamanzar and established the Blood Kingdom in Eastern Europe. Salamanzar was killed in the course of his campaign to retake Vinga's domain, and Vinga became the ruler of Europe. During the two-thousand-year "Bleakness," only a stronghold in the Great Forest in Western Europe remained free of Undead rule. A hero, Atan, then arose. Of an unknown Beast race, Atan learned magical arts in the Far East and returned to Europe with his followers, freeing Europe from Vinga. However, the People of the Skull and the Dvergar remained as threats.

The Age of Legend ended when one Beast was slain by other Beasts, ending their covenant. The murderers became Mankind, beginning the Age of Man. Gaia, seeing that Man would come to dominate Earth, hid the Beasts outside of reality in areas called Groves. Millenia later, Mankind declared war upon itself. Over the course of a few decades, Man's cities were destroyed and the environment was badly damaged. The Gods persuaded the ancient race of the Maar to cleanse the atmosphere, but in the process the Maar became the monstrous Goliaths. In a process called the Reclamation, the Beasts returned to Earth, starting the Age of Beasts. The game takes place in Europe, about two millennia into the Age of Beasts.

Development

Earth Eternal has been in development since 2006, but was only announced on January 10, 2007. It was originally developed by Iron Realms Entertainment but is now developed by Sparkplay Media, a sister company of Iron Realms Entertainment. The game was initially scheduled for released in the summer of 2007 but, as a result of a substantial increase in funding [over $4million,] is now scheduled to be released in 2009.

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Questing party at night in Bremen town

As of April 2009, approximately 40 chapters of the history have been released, along with 22 male and female anthropomorphic races. In addition, the classes have been tentatively released.

On February 2, 2009, Sparkplay Media released a new website. The new website has improved features and more information than the older website, as well as new videos and information.

On May 18, 2009, Earth Eternal announced the beginning of its closed Beta phase. A newsletter was sent out, inviting the recipients to take a brief survey and thereby put themselves in the pre-selection pool of beta testers. Although the survey is now closed, players can still get into the beta selection pool by creating an account on Earth Eternal's website/forums.

On July 14, 2009, Sparkplay Media released a Fansite Kit to the public. The fansite kit included Logos, Avatars, Images of the Playable Races, Concept Art, Screen Shots, a Fact Sheet, FAQ, and a Getting Started Guide.

On Oct. 7, 2009, Earth Eternal went into open beta, meaning that there are still a few bugs to work out, but anyone can play the game and all characters are permanent.

On August 8th, 2010 , Matt Mihaly, CEO of Sparkplay Media, announced that the company was out of funds and all but himself and another unnamed employee had been laid off and that the future of the game was uncertain.

Gameplay

Earth Eternal is a free massively multiplayer online role-playing game. It is comparable to RuneScape and Achaea as it shares many gameplay elements with these games.

The game is free to play, with the option of players to purchase in-game content with real money; though everything that can be bought with real money can also be gotten for free by playing longer, essentially making payment a faster way to level up, obtain items and advance in the game.

The 22 Player races, while they look drastically different, will not have any racial differences among them. This means that a Clockwork, Foxen, and Fangren will all start with the same stats, and none will have an advantage in any area when they begin the game. The reason for this was because the game developers wanted a player to be able to choose any race they wanted, without any handicap or penalty for specializing in a particular class.

player versus player combat system is included in the game. It consists of several arenas scattered throughout the major cities. Players can enter the arena at anytime and battle other participants currently inside. There is no penalty for dieing in the arena. Additionally, most of the game does not have loading zones, but rather be contiguous for most of the map, except in some far-flung areas of the map and underground areas. The game will have a 'soft level cap', so a player can theoretically gain infinite levels, though as the player progresses, it will take more experience points before they level up, such that eventually it make take years to gain another level. Lastly, there will be no 'death penalty' in terms of gold, items, or experience. When a player dies, depending on the option they choose, they can lose coins, or take temporary health and stat loss. They also lose "Heroism", which is a bar that affects luck, item drops, extra HP, and which is filled through killing monsters.

Classes

Earth Eternal features four playable classes: Druid, Knight, Mage, and Rogue. The player can choose one of the four classes as a primary class. The player will not be restricted to their chosen class however; a Knight could specialize in melee combat, or they could learn some Mage, Rogue, or Druid skills if they want to. Though, they will not be able to learn all the skills that a player who started in those classes can learn. The Developers have also stated some changes will be made to classes in future.

Groves

Groves will be areas, unique to each player or clan in the game. Groves are expected to provide a respite from the game world, a place separate from any world map; a place where the player can either be alone and in complete safety or a place to invite friends to hang out with while online. Each player will be able to choose from a number of different Groves, and will be able to modify the terrain, making mountains, valleys, lakes, etc. as they wish. Each player will be provided a basic Grove free of any charges. Additions or amenities such as furniture to the Groves will likely cost credits.

Clans

Players will have the ability to both join and form clans, though creating them will cost 10 gold. Any player may create a clan if they wish, and there are NPC's for creating a clan in Camelot, Bremen, and Heartwood. Each clan gets its own chat channel, and ranks are available for the clan leader to decide on. Additionally, each clan will have its own Grove, though it is unclear if the Grove will be free, or if the new clan must pay for it. Clans can only be created by players, no preexisting clans will be established.

External links

• Earth Eternal homepage
• Earth Eternal at IGN
• Earth Eternal at Ten Ton Hammer