AWRPG 2

Roleplaying has been a very big part of my gaming life. As mentioned in previous postings, I have been in this since 9th grade starting with my first Dungeons and Dragons group. That same love of the RP world transferred over into my online experience. Shoot even before DnD, I hosted Rp events in chatrooms (yey ImaginNation....) and people loved it. Roleplaying hits its highest enjoyment for me when you can get your friends and even strangers to play along.

With that in mind, I want to introduce you a place dear to me  because it involved a very special community of roleplayers.  Go into the virtual world systems of Activeworlds (www.activeworlds.com) and you will find a universe unlike any other. Think of a theme and its there. Let's focus our attention to a world named AWRPG (Active Worlds Role Playing Game).

AWRPG started in March of 2003 by Poseidon. He created a roleplaying world where the users were able to play in a fantasy setting involving wars with the Gods and several cities. What made this place so addictive was the interaction between developers and players. There were quests to do, puzzles to solve, drama to be had, and there was jobs to fill. What place out there could a little player grow to become a key leader of a entire city filled with players?   At times the NPCs would be controlled by the devs talking, interacting with the players on a nonlinear scale. This made things unpredictable and very addictive. When was the last time a banker in World of Warcraft held a realtime conversation with you? What about a God answering your prayer?   It happened here in AWRPG.

Recently the creators of AWRPG allowed the citizens and players of activeworlds to experience for the first time in YEARS a behind the scenes look at the AW universe's oldest RPG. We took a tour in the test world of AWRPG 2, a test world that is invisible on the main grid.  Poseidon gave a personal tour to some of the major projects in store for the next game upgrade and left many of us speechless. With cityscape overhauls, new particle effects and added realism with the latest AW 5.1 physics patch, it truely left the fans wanting more.

City of Orda and a beautifully crafted Bridge

The City of Orda has been a constant problem for many years with players. With many attempts to reduce lag it became choatic in layout and very haphazard on framerate. With the new update in store most players on the tour were breathing a sigh of relief for the fact ...they can move!  The City of Order has ....Order!  Streets that flow and made sense. Beautiful views of the city's harbor which has been its pride for many years. The working bridge is artistically done with well oiled gears. Its no longer the blocky, almost hidden, eyesore of its previous editions.

The Great Palace nested high on the hill.

Although a work in progress, The layout is soothing with not as many hard lines.

Although Orda has its needed help. Another city strikes as home for this person. I am currently (until Pos or Allen smites me) the City Leader of the City of Neua. Neua is the city of Love and Enlightenment. It was meant as a place of nature but in its more recent incarnations had taken on a stoney feel where the trees and even its once proud ponds seemed closed in. My character for many years, in game, roleplayed her nausea being enclosed in tight spaces.  With the new update to the city, nature has been restored. Thanks to the builder named Digigurl, the city returns to its natural roots with sweeping waterfalls, sparking waters and a feeling of peace as if in a monestary.  Even in its mountain home, you feel you are in the elven community from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Even though AWRPG has no elves, I've always felt the Neuans acted very much like the high elves from peoples roleplaying games. They forgive the troubled, always quested for new forms of enlightenment and were the first to live life with a free spirit and open heart.   Thankfully now, thier city reflects it.

As you enter Neua you are greeted with this grand view

Gorgeous sparking waterfalls add to the serenity

I can see many people fishing here in peace

Although Kao'a (city of chaos) and Xi'a (city of mystery and magic) were not on the tour, I expect good changes there as well.

Last part of the tour took us to an underground quest area that will be in the new update. I was glad this was included in the tour because we saw the fluffy good places in AWRPG but we havent seen the brutality of it. Here we saw that not everything in there is nice.  New lava particle effects made the place feel hot. Ashes hung in the air. If it were real, you would be choking and seeing the same demise as the skeletons in the area. Allen Iverson is doing a fantastic job bringing the dungeon areas to life.

A picture cannot capture the intensity of the moving lava spray

Overall the tour was a really nice glimpse into whats to come. There is no set date on the release of the update since all that you are seeing here is done by volunteer builders within Activeworlds. Thats the beauty of AW!  People helping each other to create some very impressive creations in a virtual platform that is over 10 years old..... more I think. Alot of time and effort goes into each project and those involved could tell you that its the people you are working with that make the difference.


If you wish to join in the fun of Activeworlds, please visit this link http://www.activeworlds.com/   For less than 7 dollars a month you can be visiting not only AWRPG but over 800 virtual worlds in the AW universe. If you don't have the money, no problem!  As a tourist you can still visit many AW sponsored worlds. Some of them you can even build your own little place to play.

Come have fun with us! My citizen name is Tattiana in AW too!