 My
First Sorcerer's Guide!
|
Curious about what GemStone III was like in the ICE Age? Here is the July 1995
edition for you to compare with the world as you know it today. |
| The Soul Stealing Blade! |
This controversial weapon underwent many changes over its short lifespan, here is
the blade as it appeared the day after it was found. |
| The Reaver's Release! |
In theory, There are some containers that should never be opened, but what fun is
that I ask you? |
| The Reaver's Death! |
A somewhat comedic ending to the Reaver saga... |
| A Costume Party! |
House Pauper's 1993 Halloween Party. The Costume Judging portion. As the Scribe put
it, "What a despicable display of disgusting debauchery!" |
| GEnie Log On! |
Something to stir up a few memories for the long time GemStone III player. |
| WHO (STAT)! |
There wasn't the fancy WHO, WHO FULL, and FIND commands we have today. You simply
typed WHO or STAT and got a list of everyone online. Here are a bunch of randomly selected
WHO results from 1992 to 1994 presented in chronological order. You can see the growth
from 20 something folks a night to 70 something folks a night playing GemStone III. How
many of these names do you recognize? |
| Town Square Central! |
This is what a crowded Town Square Central (TSC) looked like in 1992. Prior to TSC
being noded, folks hung out in the temple and used the bank on Banker's Square. |
| A Small
Blaze! |
This is the story of how Manny (with Warble's help) set free the Fire Wizard whose
minion's burned down a minor portion of the town. The Game Master's had smoke drifting
through the town for a week afterwards, and the buildings all looked singed. To this day,
you can still see the remains of the Bank on Banker's Square and a destroyed Warehouse or
two. |
| Elvanion's Tale! |
In my opinion, this is the finest piece of short fiction to emerge from the ICE
Age. I am extremely pleased to be able to share it with you as I continue my efforts to
preserve what I can of the games past. |
| Characters and Items! |
So what did people actually look like back then? What kinds of items did I have
over the years? Here is a something designed to stir the memories of the long time player
and the curiosity of the new. |
| Manny's Rezz's! |
Two short examples of Lord Manny the Cleric at his best. The second is centered
around one of the Reaver's many attacks on the lands. |
| Fame! |
The fame list had its uses, I miss having one. This abstract from May 1994 shows
the breakout by class of the lords and ladies in the game. Yes, the only person over level
50 is Strom. Remember we did not have unlimited access - rather hourly rates, and monthly
bills over $1000 a month were not uncommon. Making lord/lady was a big 4-5 figure deal
people spent months if not years accomplishing. It meant something. Player levels did not
skyrocket until the game was offered on AOL for free in the fall of 1995. |
|
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Caution: Total file size is 1017K, it will take a while to download! This was the
games player run newspaper, the Kelfour's Edition (running from 1992 thru 1993), volume 3
in its entirety. I cut and pasted the seperate issues into two ASCII files, I figure it's
easier that way than having to download each and every issue. Almost 300 pages of fact and
fiction! |
| Charts & Guides! |
Monster lists (The oldest critters in the game where the the Level 27 Arachnids!),
Herb Lists, Trachten's To Hit Chart, Taluk's Armor Guide, Pawn Shop Prices, Gem Shop
Prices. A handful of pages we all swore by. |
| The Catacombs! |
This small (11K) GIF file shows the Catacombs under town as I knew them as a
newbie. Notice there are an entire three huntable rooms full of Giant Rats! |
| The Mine Road! |
This small (26K) GIF file shows the Mine Road as I knew it as a youngster. Talk
about space! Why you could hunt here for hours and maybe see another player once if you
were lucky. Of course, there where only 30 or so other folks online as well. |
| Claedesbrim! |
This (124K) GIF file shows the Claedesbrim area! This area was removed from the
game in order to free up sufficient system resources to allow for Darkstone Castle to go
in - or so we were told. The Blood Beasts, in my opinion, where the best designed and
implemented critters in the game. |
| A Dragon ... |
This may very well be one of the funniest episodes in the history of GemStone
III - You see there once was this Dragon ... sorta ... kinda ... well ... |
| Natasha's Guide! |
Once upon a time there was only one guide in the lands, and here it is once
agan - Natasha's Guide! |
| Caduceus! |
GEnie Hot Summer Nights Auction featuring Becky the Auctioneer and a Caduceus. |
Dreamweaver ... |
Revised (expanded) on 06 March 1999!
Dreamweaver is the greatest bard GemStone has ever know. Come and view what little
of her performances I have been able to gather. |
Your comments are appreciated!
