Meridian 59 catapulted the MMORPG genre into the 3D age in 1996. Now the developer who kept the game running solo since 2000 has spoken out.
For the feature image, we use a stock image.
Who is this developer? Behind the Reddit user DAT_DROP is GuardianKana, or Gilroy, who announced in a letter to the community on January 7, 2000 (just over 25 years ago) that the last patch for Meridian 56 had gone live (via gilcon.net).
On the community platform, the developer explained that they handed over the moderation of the MMORPG to the players that day and reduced the team behind the game to just one person – himself.
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It was a different time: In the letter to the community, Gilroy wrote at the time:
We all know that Meridian 59 has been around for over 3 years, and many people say it has long has its best times behind it. Think of the games you play today… How many of them were there in 1996? Not many, I would bet.
It is due to the unique community that has grown here, and especially because of you! Each of you is part of a larger, greater whole that was inconceivable just ten years ago. You are all pioneers in a frontier land, and in decades you will be able to tell your children how you played the very first 3D online role-playing game of all time, Meridian 59, what friends you had, and what battles you fought.
Gilroy via gilcon.net
When Meridian 59 was released in 1996, it was the first MMORPG with 3D graphics and thus a trailblazer and important pioneer for the entire genre. A few hundred players fit into every version of the game world at that time.
The technological advancement that developers achieved with games in the 90s and early 2000s was so comprehensive that games seemed to become outdated much faster than they do today. When Gilroy wrote the letter to the Meridian 59 community, there were already Ultima Online, Phantasy Star Online, and EverQuest.
How does the community react to the nostalgic post? With over 5,300 upvotes and 146 comments, many players celebrate the journey back to the beginnings of 3D MMORPGs.
- Vakhir writes on Reddit: “Absolute legends trying to keep the lights on as long as possible. Thank you for the help with everything.”
- TommyEarsPizza remembers on Reddit: “I was one of the beta testers for this game. They printed the names of all testers in the back of the manual. As a kid, I thought it was the most incredible thing ever. I thought I was a celebrity because my name was printed there.”
- Osleg was a fan (via Reddit): “Oh, the countless hours spent there! It was THE game at the time.”
Back then, it was simply unthinkable that players could be playing the same game for ten, twenty, or thirty years.
Even more astonishing is that you can still play the MMORPG classic today thanks to the Resurgence version, for free and even on a platform like Steam: The first MMORPG was released almost 30 years ago and is still free to play today.
