Diablo II is an action role-playing hack-and-slash computer video game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2000 for Microsoft Windows, Classic Mac OS, and macOS. The game, with its dark fantasy and horror themes, was conceptualized and designed by David Brevik and Erich Schaefer, who, with Max Schaefer, acted as project leads on the game. The producers were Matthew Householder and Bill Roper.
EverQuest is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows PCs. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North America, and by Ubisoft in Europe in April 2000. A dedicated version for macOS was released in June 2003, which operated for ten years before being shut down in November 2013. In June 2000, Verant Interactive was absorbed into Sony Online Entertainment, who took over full development and publishing duties of the title. Later, in February 2015, SOE's parent corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment, sold the studio to investment company Inception Acquisitions and was rebranded as Daybreak Game Company, which continues to develop and publish EverQuest.
Hexen II is a dark fantasy first-person shooter (FPS) video game developed by Raven Software from 1996 to 1997, then published by id Software and distributed by Activision. It is the third game in the Hexen/Heretic series, and the last in the Serpent Riders trilogy. It was later made available on Steam on August 3, 2007. Using a modified Quake engine, it features single-player and multiplayer game modes, as well as four character classes to choose from, each with different abilities. These include the "offensive" Paladin, the "defensive" Crusader, the spell-casting Necromancer, and the stealthy Assassin.
Necromancy is a practice of magic involving communication with the dead – either by summoning their spirits as apparitions, visions or raising them bodily – for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events, discover hidden knowledge, to bring someone back from the dead, or to use the dead as a weapon. Sometimes referred to as "Death Magic", the term may also sometimes be used in a more general sense to refer to black magic or witchcraft.
Ultima Online (UO) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released on September 24, 1997 by Origin Systems.
Asheron's Call (AC) was a fantasy MMORPG for Microsoft Windows PCs, developed and published by Turbine Entertainment Software. Though it was developed by the Turbine team, it was published as a Microsoft title until 2004. The game was set on the island continent of Dereth and several surrounding smaller islands and archipelagos on the fictional planet of Auberean. The game was played in a large seamless 3D virtual world which could host thousands of players' characters at a time.
Dark Age of Camelot is a 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game, released in October, 2001 in North America and in Europe in January 2002. The game combines Arthurian lore, Norse mythology and Irish Celtic legends with high fantasy. It is set in the period after King Arthur's death and his kingdom has split into three parts which are in a constant state of war with each other. Dark Age of Camelot includes both player versus environment (PvE) and realm versus realm (RvR) combat. The game is in large part an adaptation of a previous Mythic Entertainment game called Darkness Falls: The Crusade (1999), a text based game.
Ancient Anguish, abbreviated AA, is a fantasy-themed MUD, a text-based online role-playing game. Founded in 1991 by Balz "Zor" Meierhans and Olivier "Drake" Maquelin, it opened to the public on February 2, 1992. It is free-to-play, but has been supported by player donations since 1994.
Nox is an action role-playing game developed by Westwood Pacific and published by Electronic Arts in 2000 for Microsoft Windows. It details the story of Jack, a young man from Earth who is pulled into a high fantasy parallel universe and has to defeat the evil sorceress Hecubah and her army of Necromancers to return home. Depending on the player's choice of character class at the beginning of the game, the game follows three largely different linear storylines, each leading to its unique ending. In the multiplayer, players can compete against each other in various game modes such as deathmatch and capture the flag, while the freely downloadable expansion pack NoxQuest added a cooperative multiplayer mode. The game was generally well received by critics and the media.
The Paladin is a staple character class found in computer and pen and paper role-playing games. The template may have been introduced through the eponymous character class from Dungeons & Dragons. The broad concept is that of a "Holy Warrior", combining aspects of both Warrior and Cleric.
Ultima Online: The Second Age was the first expansion for the Ultima Online MMORPG. The expansion added several features to the game, including a new region called the Lost Lands, new creatures, and support for player-built cities.
Dungeon Siege II is an action role-playing video game, the sequel to 2002's Dungeon Siege. It was developed by Gas Powered Games and released on August 16, 2005. The story is a continuation of the Dungeon Siege storyline. An expansion Broken World was released in 2006.
Crusaders of Might and Magic is a third-person action/RPG video game developed and published by 3DO's Austin, Texas studio (PlayStation) and Redwood Shores studio (PC). Different versions of the game were released for both Microsoft Windows and the PlayStation. The protagonist Drake was voiced by veteran voice actor Kevin Conroy.
Two Worlds is a 2007 high fantasy action role-playing game developed by Reality Pump and published by TopWare Interactive in Europe and by SouthPeak Games in North America for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. A sequel, Two Worlds II, was released in Europe in 2010 and in North America in 2011.
In role-playing games, a Shaman is a character class that is generally portrayed as using spirit-based magical abilities that involve healing and enhancing the combat abilities of fellow players, and damaging and diminishing the combat abilities of enemies. A Shaman generally wears mid-level or chainmail armor, and wields spears and clubs.
Dragon Saga called Dragonica pre-2010, is a free-to-play 3D side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Barunson Interactive and Gravity Interactive. Development has been ongoing since March 2006. Operation of Dragon Saga is relegated to different publishers for their respective regions. Whilst being free-to-play, the game also includes a cash shop that allows for unique customization of player's characters. The game's commercial launch was on June 2009 in China and October 2009 in Europe and October 2010 in North America. Characters created during the Open Beta testing were carried over to the commercial release.
Diablo is an action role-playing hack and slash dungeon crawler video game series developed by Blizzard North and continued by Blizzard Entertainment after the north studio shutdown in 2005. The series is made up of three core games: Diablo, Diablo II, and Diablo III. Expansions include the third-party published Hellfire, which follows the first game, Lord of Destruction, published by Blizzard and released after the second game, and Reaper of Souls, which follows the third game. Additional content is provided through story elements explored in other media forms. Diablo IV was announced at BlizzCon 2019.
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is an expansion pack for the hack and slash action role-playing game Diablo II. Unlike the original Diablo's expansion pack, Diablo: Hellfire, it is a first-party expansion developed by Blizzard North.
Diablo III is a hack-and-slash action role-playing game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment as the third installment in the Diablo franchise. It was released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in May 2012, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September 2013, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in August 2014, and the Nintendo Switch in November 2018. Players choose to play as one of seven character classes – Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer, Witch Doctor, or Wizard – and are tasked with defeating the Lord of Terror, Diablo, as in previous games in the series.
Jade Dynasty was a free-to-play MMORPG game created by Perfect World. Jade Dynasty recently released its seventh major expansion, Jade Dynasty: Dance of the Gevrin, increasing the number of factions to 17. It is based on a popular Chinese internet novel Zhu Xian. On May 1, 2018, it was announced that all game servers would be shut down on June 5, 2018. Ever since the shutdown of 'Official', there have been many appearances of private servers trying to recreate what was once quite a popular Chinese MMORPG.
