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Comments from a first timer:
Latest entry is 58.4 months old
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keybounce
|  posted 2005-01-12 22:07:11 (CST)
Recently I played the demo for the first time. I have some initial comments.
First, the default controls -- w, s, left, right -- seem really strange and oddball. I'd like to be able to see a different mapping -- instead of "command to a single key", how about "key to a single command". This would allow (for example) both w/s and up/down to act the same. Or allow page up/down to act as view up/down, at the same time that the 4 arrows are all "look modifiers" seperate from the a/s/d/w movement controls.
Second, the viewable area is far too tiny, especially vertically. I feel that I have blinders on -- I have to aim my vision down to see the ground in front of me, or the stuff on the floor of the room I'm in.
Alternatively, how about letting me look around (turning my head) without having to turn my body (change my movement direction)? Maybe have a "This spot is directly in front of you" dot that moves left as you look right, and you walk/run towards that (along with keys for "turn body to where I'm looking" and "turn head to where I'm walking".)
Third, the speed at which the keyboard moves the vision is horrendously slow. Mouselook is a must (which is bad for keyboard heavy players). In fact, the turning radius of someone just using the keyboard -- even when "always run" is turned off -- is horrible. I'd like to see a "speed up turn" option, that could be set to "on by default", with another key for slowing it down.
Similarly, instead of "always run", how about "run by default", with shift acting as the "walk" key. Or letting "caps lock" act as a run toggle.
After a lot of playing with the standard controlls, and trying to move the normal movement/turning to the arrow keys, having trouble, always needing to switch to mouselook, look around, back to keyboard, etc, I finally realized how the controls were laid out.
The default controlls assume that w/s are for forward/back, and the mouse is used to keep looking around/turn. Yet that isn't stated anywhere, and I think that a lot of people will be turned off by layout problems long before they realize that.
I didn't check to see if clicking on something will allow you to examine it when mouselook is activated (I hope it does).
The next problem that I saw: attack rate is controlled by how fast I click on my mouse button. That's bad. That's the same sort of flaw that Diablo had, and the same thing that Dungeon Seige got right -- if I'm attacking someone with a weapon, I'll attack at my attacking speed without having to bang on my mouse button, without "how much I attack based on how much I clobber my UI".
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Psychochild
[Stats] [View]
| posted 2004-11-15 09:06:08 (CST), discovered 2005-01-12 22:07:11 (CST), 58.4 months old
quote:
Originally posted by keybounce
Recently I played the demo for the first time. I have some initial comments.
Thanks for your comments! In general we prefer comments to be sent to us via gmail so we can give personal responses, but I'll respond to some of your issues on here just the same.
quote:
First, the default controls -- w, s, left, right -- seem really strange and oddball.
Meridian 59 focuses on fast action PvP. Therefore, we figure most fans are going to come from FPS games. The A and D keys act as strafe keys and mouselook is usually used for turning control, which is the standard setup for modern FPS games.
Unfortunately, not everyone is going to appreciate the controls, so we offer the option to set your own controls. You can access the configuration program by choosing "Game > Configuration" options in the menu bar at the top of the screen. This is explained in the first sign you see in the tutorial town of Raza.
We had a lot of discussion about the default controls and what they should be. Personally, I use ESDF to move around and use the W and R keys for turning. I prefer those keys, but other people prefer their own. Again, we couldn't make everyone happy, so we picked some reasonable defaults based on what we thought players would appreciate and went with them.
quote:
Second, the viewable area is far too tiny, especially vertically. I feel that I have blinders on -- I have to aim my vision down to see the ground in front of me, or the stuff on the floor of the room I'm in.
This is a restriction of the engine. Some of the things in M59 were designed assuming the defined view angles. In order to maintain fairness in PvP, everyone has the same view angle. Engaging mouselook will help you move around faster and easier.
quote:
Alternatively, how about letting me look around (turning my head) without having to turn my body (change my movement direction)?
You can do that with the strafe keys. Moving with A allows you to move one direction while looking sideways. Pressing W and A together allows you to move at an angle.
quote:
Similarly, instead of "always run", how about "run by default", with shift acting as the "walk" key.
That is, indeed, how the game currently works. You can choose to walk (or turn slower) by holding down the shift key if you have "always run" on by default. If you do not have "always run" on, you can press shift to run (or turn faster). Note that walking uses less vigor.
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The next problem that I saw: attack rate is controlled by how fast I click on my mouse button.
This is incorrect. You can hold down the attack key and you will attack at the allowed rate of attack. The rate of attack is determined on the server side to prevent cheating, not the client side. So, hammering on your attack button will not allow you to attack any faster.
Hope this clarifies some issues. Thanks for the feedback.
Have fun,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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Child's Play charity event:
Latest entry is 58.4 months old
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Psychochild
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| posted 2004-11-02 22:52:09 (CST), discovered 2005-01-12 22:07:11 (CST), 58.4 months old
Just wanted to chat about a worthwhile charity event. Penny Arcade is having their annual "Child's Play" charity event. Basically, it's a chance for people to buy toys for children in hospitals. The holiday season is a terrible time to be sick, let alone stuck in a hospital. So, this is a great way to boost some spirts and show that gamers aren't all self-absorbed.
You can find more information at: http://www.childsplaycharity.org/ Give a little if you have some money hanging around.
Have fun,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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Good Day!:
Latest entry is 58.4 months old
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joshua8050
| posted 2005-01-12 22:07:10 (CST)
I am new here and just wanted to say hello to the community. I plan on spending a lot of time around and would love to get to know some of you and help out where I can 
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Q
[Stats] [View]
| posted 2004-11-11 00:53:04 (CST), discovered 2005-01-12 22:07:10 (CST), 58.4 months old
You might notice things can be a bit slow on the forums here. That's because we have so many in game communication features that there isn't really much reason to communicate out of game. Every Adventurer's Hall in game has a "News Globe" that works like a message board, web forum type thing. That's the easiest way for the entire community within a server to communicate to everyone. We also have in game mail system that allows you to send mail to a character name. There are also easy systems for chatting with the entire server, a single person, a user-defined group of people, everyone in your area, or by yelling to those around the area you're in.
Welcome to Meridian 59 and enjoy! =)
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Good morning!:
Latest entry is 58.4 months old
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HydroMedia
| posted 2005-01-12 22:07:10 (CST)
Been lurking and finally decided to join and say hi.
So Hello!
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Q
[Stats] [View]
| posted 2004-12-30 14:22:05 (CST), discovered 2005-01-12 22:07:10 (CST), 58.4 months old
Welcome!
You'll find that we don't have too much activity on these message boards. This is because we have such a great set of communication tools built right into the game. Among them is a message board system called "News Globes" which means people don't have to go out of game to this website to have forum like discussions.
If you haven't already go ahead and sign up for the game and check it out for yourself!
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Hmm...:
Latest entry is 60.9 months old
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sono
| posted 2004-10-27 12:20:17 (CST)
A friend of mine is an old player of this game, and told me to check this out since i have a broad background in, ah, stuff like this, so to say..
I made an account on skotos. We will see how it turns out.
I must say the slope to create a new account around here is really much to high. You definitely need a simple new user process with a timed or restricted trial, even if it is only for a week. Noone slams in their CC number and pays $10 on "first contact".
Consider contacting www.bibit.com this company to improve your payment process, also.. Most european customers do not own or wish to own a credit card.
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Psychochild
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| FAQ
posted 2004-10-25 00:32:08 (CST), discovered 2004-10-27 12:20:17 (CST), 60.9 months old
Some questions we should put into the FAQ.
First, Skotos is a company that licenses Meridian 59 for use on their network. If you have problems logging on, then you should send an email to ce@skotos.net with your concern.
Second, you can pay for Meridian 59 with cash if you use PayByCash.com. You can visit their site for more information: http://www.paybycash.com/meridian59/. You do not need a credit card to enjoy Meridian 59.
Third, we do not offer a free trial because of the nature of the game. Meridian 59 focuses on Player vs. Player interaction with a focus on player skill and fast advancement. A free trial would be an invitation for people to grief our paying customers.
In addition, people routinely pay a lot more for entertainment. People routinely "slam" down more money to watch a movie they've never seen before for only a few hours entertainment at most. Also, playing most other "massively multiplayer" games costs you at least $20 or maybe up to $50 to buy a box before you can play the game. Meridian 59 only requires a $10.95 payment for a month. All things considered, it's a pretty good deal.
Finally, not every game is interested in just attracting the widest audience possible. Sometimes it's better to have smarter players instead of simply having more customers. It improves the game for everyone.
See you in the game, assuming you can stop being distracted by shiny things on MTV. 
Have fun,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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Great to know this still exists:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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Fyrn
| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST)
I remember Meridian 59 was my first ever massive multiplayer experience. It only lasted for about 20 minutes back in the day, because we had no flatrate, and it was rather confusing But nevertheless - great to know that the real legends never die.
__________________
Fyrn of Massive Multiplayer Hell
http://www.mmhell.com/
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Psychochild
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| Come play!
posted 2004-08-18 01:11:48 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST), 61.3 months old
The game is still around, and improving. We're planning on launching a signficant client upgrade in the next week, so it's a great time to start playing.
Have fun!
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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Any way to switch servers?:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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Malkith0
| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST)
Since I've done a search and came up with nothing, I'd like to ask something: I recently re-subscribed, and I've been playing on server 102. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any way to possibly switch over to 101, since 102 seems like a ghost town, to me.
So, is there any way I could create a whole new account, short of just making a new one?
And while I'm at it: Is there any way I can delete characters?
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Psychochild
[Stats] [View]
| posted 2004-08-18 01:10:47 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST), 61.3 months old
No, there is no way to switch servers short of signing up for an new account. However, we have been busy working on the new graphical client, which we expect will draw back a good number of people. I would expect 102 to be a little busier starting next week. Of course, be careful what you wish for....
Also, you can delete characters with the "suicide" command in the game. Just type it into the text command line when you are logged on with the character you want to delete.
Have fun,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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Aim Stat?:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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Berkut
| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST)
I have read that since the NDS re-launch the Aim stat affects more than just fire/archery. Can someone enlighten me as to exactly what is affected? Is Aim=1 still a bad thing if I'm not planning on using a bow?
Thanks..
--Berkut
Server 200: Sacred Haven
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Psychochild
[Stats] [View]
| A bit of a late reply
posted 2004-06-07 05:56:46 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST), 61.3 months old
Sorry for the late reply.
Aim increases damage with Bows as Might increases damage with melee weapons. I wouldn't recommend skimping on Aim if you are going to use a bow.
Have fun,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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Where's the new engine?:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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SanTropez1971
| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST)
I used to play this game and I am going to get my buddie Rykhas on board. He said he is waiting for the new engine though. Just checking.
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Psychochild
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| posted 2004-05-18 08:58:43 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST), 61.3 months old
As always, it's still being worked on. I showed off a very recent version of the client to some press people at E3 and got favorable responses. Hopefully we can do a good advertising and press push when we get the new client going.
Not to sound too cliche, but it'll be done when it's done.
Take care,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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WinXP:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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Tominator
| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST)
Hi
i have the sacred haven version from Skotos..get an error messege when trying to run client..
should it run on xp?
tom
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Psychochild
[Stats] [View]
| Yes, it should
posted 2004-09-28 21:42:48 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST), 61.3 months old
Send details about your error to help@neardeathstudios.com. We can help you figure out the problem.
Have fun,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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Reactivated:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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Latimar
| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST)
How long should I expect before my account is no longer disabled? I reactivated around 9 hours ago now.
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Psychochild
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| Welcome back
posted 2004-06-13 09:47:49 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST), 61.3 months old
Welcome back, Lat.
It should happen quickly. If you're still having troubles, send a polite email to Meridian59Billing@paybycash.com to make sure things went through. CC help@neardeathstudios on that email as well so that we can look into it.
Hav fun,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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Psychochild
[Stats] [View]
| posted 2004-06-14 11:19:49 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST), 61.3 months old
Characters are still there for the most part. Only if you had your account terminated for Terms of Service violation will your characters be gone.
Note that some things that require maintenance, such as guilds and rentable rooms, will not be there.
Have fun,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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my m59 experience:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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Aerasol
| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST)
i remember buying army men at k-mart (i bought army men II when it came out as well...) and getting home and putting in my drive. the first thing i see is the army men auto start menu- and what's this? a small add in the corner for meridian 59. i remember installing it emmidiatly after i installed army men- the opening had that warrior holding the sward- with the theme music goin in the back ground- well, those were the good old days- i got into playing it- and after all the 3do servers were shut down i resorted to playing on different underground servers- i remember, however, the last of these underground servers (to my knowlegde it was the last anyway) went down in the summer of 2002- eversince my passion for m59 has grown due to the fact that i know i will never be able to play it again- but only sit and watch the conversations of those who can- it tortures me- a real m59 player could understand this feeling- and that is my experience of m59- thus closing the chapter of enjoyment forever in my life
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Psychochild
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| The servers are still running!
posted 2004-03-31 09:17:47 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:53 (CST), 61.3 months old
While some people will say you can never go home, the servers are still running. You can sign up for an account and find some old friends.
Take care,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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New client update!:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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Psychochild
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| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST), 61.3 months old
Hello!
The time has finally come: The new client is here!
We will be updating the servers tonight for the new client. This will happen at about 10 PM Pacific (1 AM Eastern) tonight on servers 101 and 102. The server will be down for approximately 1-2 hours while the patch is being applied.
In preparation of the new client, you will need to download a new executable (meridian.exe) to properly download the client. This file can be found at http://www.meridian59.com/download/...ly-08-25-04.zip and must be unzipped and put into your Meridian 59 client directory. You will overwrite the existing meridian.exe file with this new file. After this, you will be able to connect to the patched servers and download the new patch. Note that this file will NOT work with the server before it has been patched.
Be aware that the full patch is approximately 21 MB in size. It is broken into smaller chunks of no greater than 5 MB for downloading. We realize this is a large download for people still on dialup; you can run the download overnight if necessary.
Full patch notes and information will be provided on the in-game globes after the patch has been installed.
We are very excited about the new update, and hope that you will enjoy the patch as well.
Have fun,
The Meridian 59 team
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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So... If I subscribe right now, am I gonna be able to play?:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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Hxcobd
| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST)
Cuz I keep reading about how the "client isn't completed" and stuff, but I'm not going to pay for a game that I can't even download or play.....
However, the graphical update coming soon, and the current game, look pretty amazing!
I WANT TO PLAY!
__________________
New to M59!
*No character yet*
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Psychochild
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| Sorry for the confusion!
posted 2004-04-30 09:48:37 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST), 61.3 months old
notKythe is right. The references to the client not being ready are for the upgraded client. But, all the great gameplay is already available if you want to play now. The new client is just a facelift for the game, which has been around for over 7 years now.
Take care,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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Is this game still running?:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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Sinner
| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST)
I played the game many years back as a beta version and again a few months after it became commerial. Is this a pay service? Is the same game as 3do studios put out a few years ago?
Nick
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Psychochild
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| Yes, and yes.
posted 2004-03-04 10:46:36 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST), 61.3 months old
Yep. This is the very same game. And it's currently running.
The game has changed in appearance a bit since you last played it, but it's still the same game at the core. The game offers the best PvP combat you'll see in an online RPG.
Many of the original developers of the game have supported us in buying the game from 3DO and relaunching it. The game has been going strong for 2 years now under our care, and is getting better with things like new rendering engine with dynamic lighting.
Hope to see you in the game soon.
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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Psychochild
[Stats] [View]
| posted 2004-04-08 04:59:36 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST), 61.3 months old
Yes, characters stay around. For now. We might do a purge in the near future, though.
No, you cannot transfer characters. If you wish to play on 101, you will have to start a new account. 102 isn't that bad. There's some really interesting politics and guild wars that bubble up now and then. Just get in there and make friends.
Make sure to send your email to help@neardeathstudios.com. Make sure to send it from the email account we have on record.
Take care,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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Account login trouble:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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coffebean18
| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST)
Yesterday I started to make myself my very first M59 account and I had to quit at the payment page (I had to leave, but it appeared to me that I could log in later and finish it).
Today I got on my computer to finish it and it wont let me log on. After I enter my username and password it just loads the page and takes me back to the login page but the username and password boxes are blank. No message about incorrect password or username. I tried it again a few times and still nothing. So I figured I would try to just pick a new username and password and start over. Same thing...not sure what the problem is.
I've just recently heard about M59 and I would really like give it a try. Oh yeah, how big is the file you have to download to get the game client after you register? I'm on a 56k modem and the larger files take quite a while to download so I would like to be prepared for it if its going to take a long time.
Is the game actually active right now? How many people are the servers at any given time?
Thanks in advance, hope to be in the M59 world soon.
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Psychochild
[Stats] [View]
| Try downloading the segmented
posted 2004-04-20 23:04:35 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST), 61.3 months old
Try downloading the segmented download. Just download one bit and see if that can be unzipped.
It's likely that the download stopped early and the file isn't complete. See if you have the same problem with the smaller, 10 MB files.
Send email to help@neardeathstudios.com if you need more assistance.
Take care,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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Need to ask something:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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genocide
| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST)
Hi, would any admin care to answer my question please?
If i created a new character in 101 now, and the beta testing is over, would the characters all be restarted again or would it be brought over to the new servers? Also would i be able to apply to be a beta tester? I'm an old meridian player from old 101 servers.
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Psychochild
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| posted 2004-03-01 03:40:34 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST), 61.3 months old
Server 101 is a live commercial server. Your characters created on that server will not be deleted while your account is active.
The beta server is a separate server from 101. We manipulate characters and give them boosts that would be quite unfair on a "normal" server. Therefore, characters created on the beta server will not be transferrable.
Hope this answers your questions.
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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I envy you all:
Latest entry is 61.3 months old
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pulse62
| posted 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST)
I see you all here, being it 3 years since you got your game back, and your all still ecstatic. You only had to wait for your game for one year. I however, will probably never get to see Legends of Kesmai return to the world ever again.
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Psychochild
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| Very unfortunately
posted 2004-04-08 23:39:35 (CST), discovered 2004-10-15 20:07:52 (CST), 61.3 months old
It's very unfortunate that EA closed down all the old Kesmai games. I never got a chance to play IoK/LoK, myself and it saddens me that I will probably never get the opportunity.
However, you can't live in the doldrums all the time. Why not try a new game?  Obviously, Meridian 59 will never be permanently closed. The owners of the game (including myself) value it too highly to ever close it down.
Anyway, take care,
__________________
Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Co-founder, Near Death Studios
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