[Horizons] Rachat d'Horizons par EI interactive

[Gortack]

Horizons vient d'etre racheté par la société EI

EI Interactive (EI) has acquired the game Horizons: Empire of Istaria

BUTTE, MT - (July 20, 2006) EI Interactive (EI) has acquired the game Horizons: Empire of Istaria from Tulga Games effective July 21, 2006. Horizons is an online role-playing game originally published in 2003 by Atari, Inc. and winner of multiple game show awards. Horizons has gone through a genesis, emerging today as a world class MMORPG providing a very stable and intrinsically interactive persistent universe for play. The quality of the Horizons community and the potential of the Istaria world defines this game as a flagship property. EI is committed to maintaining the integrity of the Horizons way of gaming and will continue the Horizons support in a new Phoenix, Arizona office. “The magic of Horizons is not only in its uniquely supportive community, but also in the deep potential this game has for a player’s participation in building the environment and growing the storyline”, said EI Chairman Edward C. Andercheck, “the success EI has had in building the Savage Eden community is a great testimony to our in-game event team’s efforts, we look forward to the same experience in Horizons” EI Interactive is a Butte, Montana division of EI Communications Corp., an established publisher of online content, including MMORPGames, casual games, web based game portals and information sites. EI Interactive combines an intense customer service culture, broad gaming experience and in-depth technology skills to provide a uniquely strong platform for a superior customer experience. For more information, visit: www.eiinteractive.com - www.mygamehaven.com or contact us today at info@eiinteractive.com ---END---

La communauté encore présente sur ce jeu (il resterait entre 5000 et 10000 joueurs) est dans l'attente des objectifs de cette nouvelle société. Pour le moment, les messages officiels se veulent rassurants, insistant sur le fait qu'après avoir étudié le fonctionnement (sa programmation) de ce MMORPG qui aura marqué un  certain d'entre nous, ils vont continuer à l'améliorer.

Il faut savoir qu'une extension avait été annoncé avant l'été par la société en charge du produit préalablement (TULGA games). Nul ne sait à l'heure actuelle si cette extension (gratuite) est toujours d'actualité.

POur l'heure, certains ex employés TULGA sont en cours de réembauche auprès de EI.

Wait and See 

[Alvi / Ghany]

ça fait plaisir

[Cybele]

Vi vi !
D'autant que la communauté (Franco/Cancoon) semble se reformer quelque peu d'après ce que j'ai pu voir.
Par contre ils ont encore pas mal de souci, de bug, de down server sans explication, ... Bref ce qui est bien c'est que le jeu continue d'exister et de fonctionner.
Ce jeu reste pour moi le meilleur auquel j'ai joué, non pas seulement pour les points novateurs qu'ils pouvaient avoir mais surtout pour son orientation très fortement communautaire et l'ambiance que cela génèrait qui était ... merveilleuse.

(Je suis d'ailleurs toujours en contact avec les Dragons Noir et la Team Palouf, notamment)

[Zephyro / Drelioh]

Il faut savoir qu'une extension avait été annoncé avant l'été par la société en charge du produit préalablement (TULGA games). Nul ne sait à l'heure actuelle si cette extension (gratuite) est toujours d'actualité.

D'apres se qur j'ais pus lire par ci par la, elle seras gratuite pour ceux qui sont tjs aboné au moment de sa sortie.

[Gortack]

Une interview du nouveau boss d'Horizons sur Stratics

Stratics: Thank you Danu for taking the time out of your busy day for an interview.

Danu can you tell us a little about yourself and your position at EI?

Danu: I thank you for the chance to chat, I am an active gamer who plays mmo and rts games with my children and friends. I was an active player in Asheron's call and in eve online. My youngest son and I had played Horizons on and off a few years back, so I got excited when the Horizon's opportunity appeared.

I am Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors at E I. I play Horizons and participate in the creative team as a player advocate.


Stratics: Ok Danu the question that I am sure everyone has on their mind at this moment is "What does EI have in store for the future of Horizons? Near and Extended."

Danu: First of all, today I am happy to report game play is going well and Horizons isn't going anywhere. For the first time in recent history there are two server technicians insuring dependable and fun game play at the server level. So near term, we want to assure fellow Istarians of a fun and dependable place to play with exciting new events.

This brings us to the work of today, the documentation of a game is the foundation on which we can build and code new content, this is an area which requires a lot of attention immediately. We have some very smart people working on this. We're firmly committed to growing Horizons content once our documentation phase is completed and then making it the best game it can be.

The future of Horizons will be the created by the citizens of Istaria, on a tablet carefully crafted to allow history to be written by the outcomes of storyline events and quests. Each shard will have its own outcomes and unique geographical and cultural outcomes.

We plan to bring added opportunities to the Elder Players and the Guilds of Istaria to participate in new craft challenges, civilization defining levels of team events and joining our League of Historians in chronicling the history of Istaria. We believe the Elders are the thread of a civilization, they are mortal, they perish, but their legacy lives on, their civilizations live on. We believe the Guild is a core of our world's civilization and have special plans to keep Horizons young with new approaches to Guild impact and activity.

In the extended future, it is the civilization of each Istarian shard which will live on, and we are committed to making this game a place where players will uniquely create that civilization's destiny.


Stratics: On the billing issue for Horizons. What is being done to fix the billing issues currently associated with Horizons?

Danu: Obviously the billing conversion didn't go exactly as we'd planned. The new billing system has two phases of implementation, first Pay By Touch has been reinstated as the credit card vendor and is up and running, the second phase will be brought on line in the very near future, we will be bringing new web site customer interfaces up and introduce Paypal account settlement.

At this point we're simply listening to our players one at a time to solve any residual conversion problems and we are committed to providing the highest level of customer support possible. An example of this is our recent hiring of CS specialist Jim "Amadan" Poole. Formerly Jim worked for Tulga Games, and has a wealth of experience with Live Events and Customer Service. Obviously two of the areas we're going to be focusing on in the future.


Stratics: When Can we expect to see game patches and updates to Horizons?

Danu: Ahhh, the culture of all of us gamers is the desire for the future to be here immediately.

'tis very natural, we have all dreamed about a car when we were 12, hoped for the last day of school in October or for Christmas morning in July.

I fear Horizons has tried to get to the future immediately…… from Beta until July 21st of this year. As of July 21st we began a foundation building period. We have endeavored to understand Istaria's Cultures and to build a foundation of disciplined documentation and procedures for running the software for our shards.

I believe a strong foundation is necessary for any good construct, this will take time. We will now slowly accelerate the growth of content, we will not be rushed into premature rollouts and we will respect the unique culture of each of our shards. We will commence updates and patches this fall.


Stratics: Amadan was hired onto the team of EI, does this mean we will be seeing new in game GM events shortly? If so, what rolls will the new Advocates play in the events?

Danu: We're already doing some smaller, fun little events with our current GMs. Obviously Jim/Amadan's experience will be very valuable in the development of these and future events. The largest change in events will come with our world expansion patch, which will include storyline evolving quests and events.

The notion of Advocates ties in closely with the Guild structure and our true virtual world notion, we want each of our shards to have its own civilization and grow its own history with player driven outcomes integrated deeply within the storyline. We are still evolving the role of Advocates, but the GMs will lead events and we will seek Guild involvement. We are also considering in game events along the lines of a "track meet" type of inter-guild competition.


Stratics: Of the former employees of Horizons, other than Amadan how many more are you going to hire, if any? Or are you planning on creating a new development team for Horizons?

Danu: We have hired three former Horizons team members now. We're going to look at all competent people to fill the roles in the team we are establishing. In general, we're trying to build a great team of individuals who are committed to Horizons for the long haul. We have a very optimistic and positive company culture. We are looking for talented individuals with a positive attitude to help fill out our team.


Stratics: Tulga had hired Peter Beagle to write new quest writing. Does EI have any plans to hire Peter Beagle to continue his writing of new quest and content, or do you plan on going in a new direction?

Danu: Obviously Peter is extremely talented and we're fans of his work. We're actively engaged in the consideration of the storyline future for Istaria and will be talking further with Peter and others in this process.


Stratics: Most of our European players are all worried about what is to become of Unity. Can you give us any information on talks with GN and the Unity shard?

Danu: Sure, we are very hopeful that Unity will be preserved as a Shard with its own unique history and culture. We have aggressively communicated with GN and have offered them a new opportunity to move forward and hope to hear from them soon. There is a lot of pre-E I history that they need to work through, so we will be patient.


Stratics: On the revamps to Confectioner's and Tier's that were being worked on before the purchase of Horizons by EI. Does EI plan on going forward with these revamps on the Confectioner's and Tier's, or does EI plan on keeping it how it currently is for the foreseeable future?

Danu: We are currently talking to our players and will be revamping the confectioner asap. We will obviously be basing many of our changes based on input we receive from our intrepid Confectioners. This is one of our goals for our first patches. The Tier challenges are important, and we are discussing this internally.


Stratics: Testing was underway (and the cavern finished) for an underground dungeon setting. One of the last things David did was bring people to see it. Will that be used at some point or was the work on that lost in buyout?

Danu: I believe David toured the location called the Blighted Labyrinth, this is in our current build but not yet available for play. Even with our friends at Stratics we are not going to share all of our secrets, but we currently have some exciting plans growing underground.


Stratics: Will the current servers and hardware need to physically change locations at some point in time? Or do you plan on keeping them where they are currently at?

Danu: We plan to keep the current servers in place at their current facility for the foreseeable future and add new shards in additional data center locations. In fact, we are working on having a new production server up today.


Stratics: Are any plans to increase the level cap (last discussed was 120) and opening up land to the east?

Danu: We haven't completed specific plans on level caps at this time. However, we definitely plan on having new real estate available to players sooner than anticipated. Suffice it to say we think the Elder players will be very happy with the roles and activities we will have to offer them in the future.


Stratics: What new things are being planned to keep players that are maxed out interested in Horizons?

Danu: Well, as I've mentioned, we think new tier content, revamped loot, new real estate, and content will really appeal to our Elder players. But the essence of an MMORPG as opposed to an RPG, must grow from the community and is best actualized when the community activity is building the storyline. The elder players with varied skills will need to lead their younger vassals in order to be a future force in the shaping of Istaria. So, we have accepted the challenge to create a storyline full of events and quests, that will keep all players riveted in their gaming chairs and fixated on being a part of a Guild which shapes the future of Istaria and defines its civilization.

Stratics: Again Stratics would like to thank Danu for taking the time out for a interview.

Interviewed by Horizons Stratics Managing Editor - BreeOge.

Petit résumé

Les patchs et mises à jour reprendront cet automne (sur les serveurs US) le temps que l'équipe EII prenne la mesure du jeu et les décisions sur ce qui doit être fait en priorité
- de gros changements sont à venir au niveau de l'expansion de l'univers et des quêtes viendront avec ainsi que des évènements
- Peter Beagle devrait toujours être consulté par EI pour l'écriture d'évènements
- Game Network a été contacté par EI, la balle serait aujourd'hui dans le camp de la société européenne qui gère Unity
- Les donjons sont toujours d'actualité mais EI ne veut pas en dire trop à ce sujet
- La refonte de la classe Confectioner est d'actualité et le tier VI est l'objet de débat en interne
- Ré-évaluation d'une partie des loots et quelques zones nouvelles
- Une bien plus grosse prise en compte des joueurs pour l'évolution du monde d'Istaria, a priori la communauté sera maitre de l'évolution du monde (à voir comment celà va etre implanté)

[Gortack]

Et encore une annonce ^^ Fin d'Unity pour transfert vers un serveur américain directement géré par EI

En attendant Unity est gratos, je suis entrain de patcher Horizons là pour voir ce qu'il en est réellement (et les comptes existent toujours, meme si comme moi vous étiez sur Wind)

 

Dear players,

this is an open message from Game Network, Digital Bros and EI Interactive, to all past and present European Community members.

As you all know the life of Horizons: Empire of Istaria hasn’t been easy since the day of its launch with a number of different problems that it had to face throughout the years, sometimes causing distress and issues for everyone. As you also know these problems were even further amplified for European users playing on Earth, Ice and Wind before and now on the merged shard of Unity, but we can assure you that nothing has been done with any intention to disrespect or damage you all. Game Network had no ability to control what was happening behind the scenes either with Artifact Entertainment or with Tulga Games. The most Game Network could do was sit by and hope for the best while forced to accept unpleasant situations in a painful silence to avoid possible legal consequences.

Throughout these tough times, Game Network has made every effort to improve the situation knowing that the community is one of the most important things for an MMO game and this is doubly true for Horizons: Empire of Istaria. Game Network has suffered huge financial losses through this process and considering the situation the company is not ready to commit further to the project.

This situation leaves Game Network with no further option than to discontinue the Unity shard Horizons service.

However the Unity shard will remain open for free indefinitely to everyone while we try to manage a painless closure. For all those players that still have active subscriptions, and especially subscriptions that will go further than the closing date (TBA), possible alternative solutions will be evaluated and will be communicated through a private e-mail from Game Network next week.

Game Network and EI Interactive wish to provide a smooth and costless transition for all of Unity’s players, including, upon your request, a pass of all your in-game information to EI Interactive. In an effort to maintain the community that you’ve spent years building, on the European shards, EI will be launching a new NA shard to be known as “Unitas”. Game Network and EI Interactive will work closely together to ensure that all European players who want to transfer to the new shard are able to do so as easily as possible.

For any further information you can contact us at horizons-support@game-network.net or info@eiinteractive.com, we will keep you updated throughout the process and post more news in the next days.

With our best Regards,

Game Network and Digital Bros
E I Interactive

Voilà l'annonce en question.
En attendant la mise en place et le transfert (partiel ou total) de la base de donnée de Unity vers Unitas (le futur serveur pour européens), vous pouvez vous réinscrire gratuitement au jeu, et jouer tout aussi gratuitement ....
Les comptes en activité pourront ainsi faire la demande pour passer d'un serveur à l'autre.

[Gortack]

Bon, ben j'ai été faire un coucou à Kakashi sur Istaria... Sinon, ben je crois que vous allez devoir me supporter encore sur Norrath mouarf 

[Kashou]

Oui s'était simpa de te revoir après tout se temps  :icon_mrgreen:.
Et je suis en train de vous préparer une petite série de screen que seul les haut lvl peuvent prendre sans craindre de se faire kill dans la seconde  .

[Cybele]

Se réinscrire sur Hz ??
On peut réactiver son ancien compte ?

Je crois que je vais aller y refaire un saut ... Ne serait ce que par nostalgie et pour faier un coucou a mes amis dragon qui y sont encore et toujours !

[Youffie]

J'ai jamais joué à Horizons... Mais il me semble pour en avoir entendu parler que de très bonnes idées émanent de ce MMO... Secouer la pulpe et ressorter vos souvenirs pour nous décrire ce monde inconnu de beaucoup je pense  :icon_mrgreen:

Et en plus je vous occupe, elle est pas belle la vie (laissez vous aller à un brin de nostalgie)