Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted: Difference between revisions
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Prior to the launch of ''Horizons'' and the problems that followed, these events and others like them were intended to be ongoing in a continuous fashion. |
Prior to the launch of ''Horizons'' and the problems that followed, these events and others like them were intended to be ongoing in a continuous fashion. |
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== Content Updates== |
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The following major content updates have been released by the Virtrium development team. |
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:'''"The Crystalshaper 2013"''' (October 15, 2013)<ref name=2013-10-15a>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces "The Crystalshaper 2013" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = October 15, 2013 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=503 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref><ref name=2013-10-15b>{{cite press release |
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| title = Crystalshaper 2013 Landing Page |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = October 15, 2013 |
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| url = http://istaria.com/historyupdates/tell_me_about_the_istaria_updates_crystalshaper_2013.html |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"Spring Festival 2013"''' (May 29, 2013)<ref name=2013-05-29a>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces "Spring Festival 2013" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = May 29, 2013 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=503 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref><ref name=2013-05-29b>{{cite press release |
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| title = Spring 2013 Landing Page |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = May 29, 2013 |
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| url = http://istaria.com/historyupdates/tell_me_about_the_istaria_updates_spring_2013.html |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"Gnomekindle 2013"''' (February 2013)<ref name=2013-02-12a>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces The "Gnomekindle Event" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = February 2, 2013 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=483 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref><ref name=2013-02-12b>{{cite press release |
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| title = Gnomekindle Landing Page |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = February 2, 2013 |
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| url = http://istaria.com/tell_me_about_the_istaria_updates_gnomekindle.html |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"November Content Update"''' (November 12, 2012)<ref name=2012-11-12>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces The "November" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = November 12, 2012 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=465 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"Spring Update 2012"''' (April 10, 2012)<ref name=2012-04-10>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces The "Spring" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = April 10, 2012 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=431 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"November 2011"''' (November 29, 2011)<ref name=2011-11-29>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces The "November 2011" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = November 29, 2011 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=417 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"September 2011"''' (September 6, 2011)<ref name=2011-9-6>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces The "September" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = September 6, 2011 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=406 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"Dragon Rite of Passage"''' (June 22, 2010)<ref name=2010-06-22>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces The "Dragon Rite of Passage" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = June 22, 2010 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=366 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"Scourge of the Skulks"''' (February 10, 2010)<ref name=2010-02-10>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces The "Scourge of the Skulks" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = February 10, 2010 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=356 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"Dralnok's Doom"''' (July 1, 2009)<ref name=2009-07-01>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces The "Dralnok's Doom" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = July 1, 2009 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=340 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"Pax Istaria"''' (July 29, 2008)<ref name=2008-07-29>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces The "Pax Istaria" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = July 29, 2008 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=287 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"Tasty Treats"''' (March 24, 2008)<ref name=2008-03-24>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces The "Tasty Treats Update" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = March 24, 2008 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=261 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"Gnomekindle 2007"''' (December 12, 2007)<ref name=2007-12-12>{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces "Gnomekindle 2007" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = December 12, 2007 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=242 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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:'''"Hammer's Rest"''' (October 16, 2007)<ref name=2007-10-16>0{{cite press release |
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| title = Virtrium LLC Announces "Hammer's Rest" Content Update |
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| publisher = Virtrium LLC |
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| date = October 16, 2007 |
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| url = http://community.istaria.com/news/?id=231 |
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| accessdate = }}</ref> |
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==Reception== |
==Reception== |
Revision as of 16:53, 28 October 2013
![]() | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines for products and services. (March 2012) |
Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted (formerly Horizons: Empire of Istaria[1]) | |
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Developer(s) | Virtrium LLC |
Designer(s) | (current) Rick Simmons, Jason Murdick, Heather Rothwell (at launch) Shawn Carnes, Paul Peterson |
Engine | Intrinsic Alchemy Mantrid Engine[2] |
Platform(s) | PC |
Release | December 9, 2003 |
Genre(s) | MMORPG |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Virtrium and originally released by Artifact Entertainment as Horizons: Empire of Istaria[1]) in Europe on December 5, 2003 and in North America on December 9, 2003. Tulga Games, LLC acquired the game and all related assets on January 25, 2005 and sold them to EI Interactive July 2006.[4] On July 18, 2007 the latest company to own Istaria, Virtrium LLC (Vi) acquired the rights to the game.[5][6]
Set in a fairly traditional sword and sorcery world, the game allows players to be adventurers, crafters, or both, and features a struggle between the "living races" (including the players), and "the Withered Aegis", an army of the undead seeking to destroy all life.
Istaria is unique among MMORPG games in that players may choose a dragon for their avatar. Istaria allows players to build non-instanced player communities with either multi-level underground dragon chambers or ground level communities.
Gameplay
Istaria uses the race/class/level paradigm common to many role-playing games, as well as similar mechanics as other massively multiplayer online games. Playable races include Dragons in addition to the more conventional biped Human, Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, and Half-giant races. Other races are less familiar, but typical of fantasy games: Dryads, Satyrs, Fiends, Saris (a cat-like anthropomorphic humanoid), and Sslik (an asexual non-anthropomorphic reptilian humanoid).[7]
Development
The core concepts behind Horizons before release were as follows: to create a zoneless,[8] constantly changing environment in which players would cooperate to hold back a seemingly unstoppable enemy: the Withered Aegis.[9][10] This enemy would consist of a few individuals from the Living Races (races that the Players belong to) in an unholy alliance with groups of Devils and Demons from another existence called the Realm of Blight. The twisted Blighted magic would include necromancy, the ability to create zombies from corpses and even reanimate skeletal remains into fierce warriors. Due to the co-op nature of the game The Aegis would be entirely AI controlled.[11] According to David Bowman in 2002, "Horizons will not ship with player versus player conflict. Rather Artifact has chosen to put its full attention to making the player versus environment gameplay the best it can be."[12]
This enemy was originally supposed to be dynamic in nature,[13] launching automatic attacks on player held positions and blighting (capturing) the ground with its evil magic. This proved to be difficult to implement properly in practice, and the battlefront was eventually scaled back into static regions of Player and Blight held areas. However, in the years after Horizons launched "World Events" would be held that would allow players to make a permanent mark on the world. While not as cost effective to maintain as an automated system, this allowed Artifact, and Tulga, to keep their promise of a changing, interactive world.[14]
Plot events
When first launched, the Horizons staff established an event-driven storyline. These events revealed the lore and history of Istaria and occasionally led to the discovery of new, different events.
Originally the game was slated to have weekly events, but since September 2004 they were drastically reduced in number due to staffing and financial issues at Artifact and, later, Tulga. Some of the events included digging tunnels and building bridges to access new areas, and the freeing of an entire race from magically maintained slavery to the Withered Aegis. Both the Satyr and Dryad races became player accessible through such large scale, server wide events.[14]
Prior to the launch of Horizons and the problems that followed, these events and others like them were intended to be ongoing in a continuous fashion.
Content Updates
The following major content updates have been released by the Virtrium development team.
- "November Content Update" (November 12, 2012)[21]
- "Spring Update 2012" (April 10, 2012)[22]
- "November 2011" (November 29, 2011)[23]
- "September 2011" (September 6, 2011)[24]
- "Dragon Rite of Passage" (June 22, 2010)[25]
- "Scourge of the Skulks" (February 10, 2010)[26]
- "Dralnok's Doom" (July 1, 2009)[27]
- "Pax Istaria" (July 29, 2008)[28]
- "Tasty Treats" (March 24, 2008)[29]
- "Gnomekindle 2007" (December 12, 2007)[30]
- "Hammer's Rest" (October 16, 2007)[31]
Reception
Istaria suffered from several problems in the first years after launch. Many of these are acknowledged by both the current and former management of the various companies that have owned Istaria. Rick Simmons, the owner of Istaria, has stated that his team is working to rectify these issues as quickly as possible.[32] Issues, both resolved and otherwise, are as follows:
- Lag: Istaria suffers from a number of performance issues affecting both the client and the servers. These performance problems are often, and sometimes incorrectly, categorized by players as "lag". According to David Bowman, former Creative Director of Artifact and President of Tulga Games, "The client combat systems were slow and jerky... while there were many reasons to like the game, most players couldn't get to them past these problems."[33]
- Lack of land availability: After several years of stagnation, Istaria no longer had land available for new players to purchase. However, a recent "Plot Reclamation" project has made available many areas which had previously been owned by players who are no longer subscribed.[34]
- Lack of content: Several games currently on the market have many times the number of quests to complete, monsters to fight, items to obtain, and areas to explore than what Istaria can offer. David Bowman: "There was not sufficient enjoyable content for the players, with some promised content systems not making it into the launch."[33]
- Outdated look: Istaria is now several years old, and it no longer has cutting edge graphics.
- Slow pace of development: Virtrium, the company that now owns Istaria, is a small development company staffed mostly by part-time employees and volunteers. This leads to a slower pace of development than what gamers have come to expect from the market leaders. Rick Simmons: "We have a small team of people involved right now; it's not like we're a huge company, after all." "... even though we have a small team, we've been able to do a lot of things in a very short period of time."
See also
References
- ^ a b "Virtrium LLC Changes Name Of Game Product Horizons To Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. April 14, 2008.
- ^ MMO Development Platform - www.virtrium.com
- ^ Hardware and System Requirements - community.istaria.com
- ^ MMORPG.com - Horizons sold to Entertainment Interactive
- ^ Interview - Rick Simmons - MMORPG.com
- ^ Interview - Rick Simmons - Gamersinfo.net
- ^ "Races". Virtrium LLC. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ – February 3, 2003 RPGVault Interview with David Bowman
- ^ – September 1, 2003 RPGVault Interview with David Bowman
- ^ – October 28, 2002 RPGVault Interview with David Bowman
- ^ – October 14, 2002 RPGVault Interview with David Bowman
- ^ – June 11, 2002 RPGVault Interview with David Bowman at E3 2002
- ^ – November 11, 2002 RPGVault Interview with David Bowman
- ^ a b - June 22, 2006 RPGnet Interview with David Bowman
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces "The Crystalshaper 2013" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. October 15, 2013.
- ^ "Crystalshaper 2013 Landing Page" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. October 15, 2013.
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces "Spring Festival 2013" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. May 29, 2013.
- ^ "Spring 2013 Landing Page" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. May 29, 2013.
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces The "Gnomekindle Event" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. February 2, 2013.
- ^ "Gnomekindle Landing Page" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. February 2, 2013.
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces The "November" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. November 12, 2012.
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces The "Spring" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. April 10, 2012.
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces The "November 2011" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. November 29, 2011.
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces The "September" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. September 6, 2011.
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces The "Dragon Rite of Passage" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. June 22, 2010.
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces The "Scourge of the Skulks" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. February 10, 2010.
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces The "Dralnok's Doom" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. July 1, 2009.
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces The "Pax Istaria" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. July 29, 2008.
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces The "Tasty Treats Update" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. March 24, 2008.
- ^ "Virtrium LLC Announces "Gnomekindle 2007" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. December 12, 2007.
- ^ 0"Virtrium LLC Announces "Hammer's Rest" Content Update" (Press release). Virtrium LLC. October 16, 2007.
- ^ – October 04, 2007 RPGVault Interview with Rick Simmons
- ^ a b – September 05, 2005 RPGVault Interview with David Bowman
- ^ - September 30, 2008 Istaria Community News