Most online gamers would sell their grandmother to get a hold of their favorite massively multiplayer (MM) title. The addictive multiplayer genre has continually been at the height of gaming popularity since the introduction of multiuser dungeons and networked personal computers. Today, MM titles such as Verant's awe-inspiring EverQuest are remaking the addictive virtual worlds with cutting-edge visuals and role-playing adventures, attracting a new breed of online gamer. Whether we like it or not, MMs are the Internet's answer to addictive drugs and are reshaping the way we play online.

Ultima Online (UO), in my humble opinion, was the game that gave the MM genre a widespread, online presence. And although UO played an important part in gaming history, some believed that it did not evolve from multiuser dungeons to deliver a truly advanced virtual world. With this perception, a group of developers decided to create their own player-focused online world, thus enhancing the online gaming experience. The result was the WorldForge Project.

Born in 1998, WorldForge officially started with an announcement on Slashdot (see Resources for a link). Avinash Gupta headed what was then called the Altima Project and dreamed of creating an online game not just for Linux, but for the entire PC community. Bryce Harrington picked up the reins early on when Gupta departed due to lack of time for the project, and he has led the talented WorldForge developers and artists to release their first online multiplayer game, Acorn.