So, someone managed to reverse-engineer the software for the old The Sierra Network/The Imagination Network and has got a server running for all to enjoy. Delightful is the word I would use. However, at the moment, there are so few players, it’s difficult to get any games going. It gets boring stomping through the Yserbius by yourself.
I’ve tried to get a little group going on Tuesdays from 9PM to Midnight, Pacific Standard Time. Come and join us (me) if you are so inclined to play Boogers and/or Red Baron.
Oh, how awesome. I hope someone does something similar with other old, defunct gaming networks. (And I wouldn’t mind reviving a fair number of BBS door games, also. I think there’s spots where you can play a couple of the more popular ones, but a large central repository would be aces.)
I did not get into this until much later, namely because while working at Computer City got me free access to Prodigy, it did not get me free access to AOL or anything else, and when you are working at Computer City, you can’t afford much beyond free.
That said, I’d love to play around with this some quiet night and see if I can get into Shadows of Yserbius again.
I had friends who played Yserbius and had a good time. If I remember right they stopped playing when the ability to hexedit characters became common knowledge.
I remember listening to customers and workers talk about Yserbius at the local EB.
OK. This is weird. Last night I was cleaning out the closet in my office and found two unopened Sierra Network boxes – the ones they sent you for free when you ordered games from the Sierra catalog. It brought back a flood of happy memories.
And now this morning I see news of a revival? When I haven’t thought about TSN or INN in like five years? This universe, man, it’s a nutty place.
Wow! I went broke as a kid playing INN. We had no local access number so I would run up huge long distance bills calling in because I loved playing Yserbius and Red Baron online. I remember my mom shaking a phone bill at me with over $50 in charges to that number. Had to have been 11 or 12 at the time. Man, those were some good times.
That’s how I earned my compuserve beating, except it was a local number and the bill ended up over $400. In the late 80s it cost like $12/hour at 1200 baud. I remember my mom chasing me around the house waving a wooden spoon. Good times, good times.