Prologue

M59 benefited mostly from being in the right place at the right time. It had most of its network code done, in order to be a Bulletin Board System (BBS) door game, at the same time that the ability to use the Internet escaped the college campuses and entered the homes of thousands of Americans. As a result, we were able to get to market very, very quickly. Perhaps too quickly, as we never achieved nearly the success that UO recognized.

Possibly the most interesting thing about reading this timeline is that many of the odd problems, scenarios, and conflicts that are now thought of as being unique to UO and EverQuest ( EQ ) have been around for a very long time. Now that I've worked with former members of Simutronics ( Dragon Realms , Gemstone ) and Kesmai ( Legends of Kesmai , Air Warrior ), I know that these problems are somewhat endemic to the industry. Perhaps realizing this, we can think of better global solutions instead of band -aids.

Getting M59 to ship and supporting it selflessly for two years in the role of lead designer is probably the greatest and most satisfying achievement of my life. It also gave me the majority of the knowledge, experience, and maturity that I brought to take on leadership of Origin's Ultima project. And while I may not agree with every decision that management ever made (a common enough event in any industry and company), I do feel enormously thankful to the 3DO company for taking the risk to buy a fledgling company and invest so much into making it happen.

As for the game, I do not lament Meridian's death but praise its life. Meridian had a great ride for something that started in a garage and had the muscle of EA, Sony, and Microsoft waiting to crush it like a grape.