Meridian 59
Chess Tournament
The update - a change to the viewing perspective of the board when used by its player - was personally done by creator-developer 'Zaphod', which was also the last thing added to the M59 by him when it was first released commercially back in 1995!
The entries filled up quickly, with 16 players competing for 'Chess Champion', with some on standby. Players and the Chess Master, 'Essun', go over the games, which are summarized and reviewed daily in the Meridian 59 discord and on the chess website, 'lichess', as show in a link below.
Players are able to watch the chess games in-game even if they're not one of the competing players - any amount of spectators can view the board and see the matches in real-time! The games have been happening in a newer hangout for shady characters - the candle-lit Abandoned Tavern across the street from the most popular bar in the land, Familiars.
Due to the popularity of the event, another like it is expected to happen again in the future.
Thank you to 'Essun' for organizing the event, 'Zaphod' for the real-time updates to improve the Chess Board, and to all Meridian 59 players for their patronage and support.
Log in to Meridian and join the discord to get in on the conversation for the Chess Tournament and other upcoming events! We hope to see you in-game!
Have fun playing and may you suddenly feel a little tougher ~
A summation of the rules, prizes and a collection of currently posted game analysis' are below!
The following was originally posted by 'Essun' in the Meridian 59 Discord:
Rules:
Open chess tournament in celebration of recent update
- all players of all skill levels are welcome
- rounds to be played throughout the week when players are available
- only 1 entry per player
Knockout-style tournament:
- one game per round, die roll determines color choice
- no external assistance (i.e. chess analysis engines) allowed
- no stalling once the game begins
- no timer, but taking longer than 10 min to make a move will result in a loss
- no game is to exceed 50 moves, if no winner by move 50, the game is a draw
- no draws by agreement, all games will end either with a winner or forced draw
- in the event of a draw, players will play a 5-minute blitz game to determine the winner
- in the event of further draws, more blitz games will be played with -1 minute to the timer per game
Final Round will be 3 games played in front of an audience, time & location TBD
- 0.5 points per draw
- 1 point per win
- same rules outlined above apply if drawn after 3 games
Here's the updated prize pool for the Chess Tournament, now featuring the kind donations of Oujia, Beumac, and Mayhem.
:::PRIZES:::
1st Place:
:gift~1: A special gift.
:lightningbolt: A Profile Engraving,
♟️ An engraved & colored chess board,
:Prism: Your choice: a red 3-sided prism OR a unique chocolate colored 5-sided prism
:shilling: 300,000 shillings
=================
2nd Place:
:mace2: Engraved Black Colored Hammer w/ 2 effects:
Heavy and blunt, this hammer is a powerful weapon, capable of shattering flesh and bone. It is the favored weapon of the mining folk of Jasper. The craftsmanship of this hammer is admirable, obviously the result of hundreds of hours of work by expert hands. The words 'Crafted in Darkness' are delicately engraved on the edge. A swirling green 'GMT' is stamped into the pommel.
This hammer is in flawless condition.
:daemonmask: Daemon Skeleton Mask
:Prism: the prism the winner didn't choose
:shilling: 100,000 shillings
=================
3rd Place:
:skullmask: Skull Mask
:NecklaceofJala: Jala Necklace
:shilling: 25,000 shillings
=================
4th place:
:Rose: Rose
:shilling: 25,000 shillings
=================
5th-16th place:
:MaskAnt: :MaskMummy: :MaskShrunken: :masktroll: :MaskRoXeo: a random mask or toy!
Game Analysis:
Round 1, Match 1:
Rend vs Hektic
https://lichess.org/T6nAzfxp
"First match of the chess tournament happened tonight between @A guy named Phil (White) & @Hektic (Red). Hektic won the roll and bravely chose to play as red, giving Rend first move advantage as white.
It was a very close game between two evenly matched opponents and it seemed like either could win at any given moment, both were sweating! But in the end, Hektic prevailed as white resigned just as the game was entering its end game."
Round 1, Match 3:
Psilotripitaka vs Grok!
https://lichess.org/eNp5MITc
Game #3 between Psilotripitaka (White) & Grok! (Red) was probably the best game yet. They were very evenly matched and the game was incredibly close until near the very end when Psilo pulled slightly ahead. Very well played by both players.
Out of the opening and through much of the middle game, Grok had the upper hand, but one small misstep caused the table to turn.
Round 1, Match 4:
Ouija vs. Judge Dredd
https://lichess.org/Mo2E8G1R
Here's video of the 4th match of Round 1 Ouija vs. Judge Dredd. Lots of games happening tonight, so there's probably going to be a flood of these...
Round 2, Match 1:
IceWing vs Psilotripitaka
https://lichess.org/IDdy7VOd
Next, we had our first match of Round 2 between IceWing (White) and Psilotripitaka (Red) which was a game with a wildly swinging pendulum featuring our second checkmate of the tournament. Winning this game advanced IceWing to become our first semi-finalist. Congratulations!
Round 1, Match 5:
Old Boy vs Black Panther
https://lichess.org/5SSNyHk8
Then we returned to Round 1 and had match 5: Old Boy (White) vs Black Panther (Red) which was fairly one sided in white's favor, but BP has never been one to back down from a fight. Still was a very exciting match!
Round 1, Match 6:
Lonesome Traveller vs Grunk
Last game of the night was game 6 of Round 1 between Lonesome Traveller (White) and Grunk (Red) and this was another fairly one-sided but exciting one. Lonesome was less experienced by his own admission but still put up a good fight and found creative ways to get out of many of the corners he was backed into.
Round 1, Match 7:
Alzoneth vs Haven
https://lichess.org/XGoXiXFF
This afternoon, the 7th match of Round 1 between Alzoneth (White) and Haven (Red) took place and it was a very creative and fun one! Both players admitted to being inexperienced at chess and I'm glad the roster worked out that they got to play together because it was a great game and it seemed like both learned a lot from each other. Both made mistakes, but covered for them with creative tactics.
They both only made 3 moves between them the engine considers blunders and had very high accuracy ratings.
Golden Experience
Golden Advancement
Building Event
”You have improved in the art of…everything."
Hail Meridianites!
Beginning Friday Jun 30th at 11:00 AM US PST / 2:00 PM EST:
* A huge + 75% bonus to Advancement
Affects all schools of Magic as well as Weaponcraft!
(HitPoints are x2 since the Dec.2022 Patch!)
* Monsters will be more pervasive and appear more frequently...
Teamwork is encouraged - take advantage of cooperative building during this time for more experience!
* + 30% to the shilling economy!
Adventurers slaying monsters, returning lost Signet Rings, completing $ reward quests or even sweeping up messy rooms for NPC’s will also profit from + 25% increa$ed shillings!
* Death, 1/2 Off Special! Death penalties lowered by 50%
Don’t let death keep you down - reveal the Corpsenode and portal of life back if you want to avoid the worst of it!
Tip: To save your gear, throw it in the Vault in the Ports of Barloque. For rare or treasured items, see about getting an item 'bonded' by an advanced mage, or work towards becoming one yourself!
Learning XP, Lesser Penalties, More Monsters, $hilling Bonus Event runs until Wednesday July 5th at 11:00 AM US PST / 2:00 PM EST
Have fun, happy hunting, Be Kind
&
May you suddenly feel a little tougher.
Patch Notes - 6.21.2023
👆 Inventory sorting is here!
No more dropping and picking up to move items around in your inventory. You can now drag-and-drop items in your inventory. Organize and optimize to your heart's content!
🌒 The sun and moon return
The sun and moon play an important role in recognizing time of day and for years they’ve been missing from the universe. Perhaps by the magic of Qor? The curse has been broken and the sun and moon are back. Riija mages will be able to gauge the strength of their spells by looking at the moon’s height, and the Sun will dazzle you with its light.
☂️Umbrella is back
Shal’ille mages have been long-missing this powerful and curious spell, which has undergone several interpretations over the decades. Now, it will act as a personal defense-boosting enchantment, with added protection against the undead inhabitants of Meridian.
[2]Changelog
Client Updates
- Inventory items can now be sorted manually using a new drag-and-drop function.
- Fixed an issue with the sun and moon not appearing in hardware rendering.
- Fixed an issue in which objects would vanish along the edges of the game window.
- Fixed an issue with the stat bars "breaking" after system saves.
- Sped up the game framerate when the application window is in the background.
- Added new chat message colors: Cyan “c”, Yellow “y”, and Lime “g”
- Fixed a bug causing a player’s safety (preventing/allowing ‘innocent’ harm) to toggle under certain conditions.
Spell/Skill/Item Changes
- Kara’hol’s Curse can no longer be recast if already active.
- Added new condition descriptions for bows.
- Umbrella is now a self-enchantment and provides scaling protection from the undead.
- Potions now include their color in the description.
- Gauntlets can now be swapped without needing to first be unequipped.
- Fixed several issues with Second Wind (released back in January 2023).
New Player Experience Changes
- Players leaving Raza will be granted 200 vigor.
- New items have been added to Raza’s shops to provide more variety and utility.
General Bug Fixes and Improvements
- Prisms on the floor will no longer be removed during the game’s room cleanups.
- The Riija Sword is now excluded from the list of items that can be lost when falling from the Temple of Riija bridge.
- Guild allies above the rank of Initiate can now enter allied guild halls.
- Fixed an issue in which Jala casters could inadvertently leave behind a room enchantment that caused issues for others.
- Shrine allegiances and power levels will now be reproduced in the event that they or the overall state of the game needs to be recreated.
- Chess boards now show your pieces on the bottom.
- Improved the visibility of safety on/off messages.
- Fixed missing textures and texture alignment issues in a number of rooms.
- Misc game config cleanup.
Development Tool Changes
- Added a Visual Studio Code extension, Blakod Support, to the codebase to aid in the development of Blakod files. This extension can also be found in the Extensions Marketplace for VS Code.
- Updated room files to use floating point to resolve room editor crashes.
- Updated several of the room editor’s key bindings to match modern standards.
Included in this release are contributions from Toko, Si, Aesica, Ouija, and Diggie. Thank you for your contributions to the game.
See you in the game!
The Assassin Circle
This weekend's Assassin Game from Roq will feature a prize for the winner, runner-up and whoever gets the most kills!
To join, visit Roq in the Sewers of Barloque.
Read all of the instructions on his sign posts!
You may join with up to 2 characters per player ~ this will be checked before the game begins - if one of your kills is your own character, it won't be counted towards the "most kill" prize.
The game may last anywhere from 2 days to a WEEK depending on how active. I'll be manually adding players up to tomorrow to make sure everyone who's interested can get in there!
Have Fun, Be Kind & Happy Hunting, Assassin's!
Note: Below is the official post for this event as posted in Meridian 59 today by "Roq" the Master Assassin (in character)
May you suddenly feel a little tougher...
"A new Assassin's Circle shall be initiated shortly."
This weekend's Assassin Game will feature a prize for the winner, runner-up and whoever gets the most kills.
Do not pester me or anger me with delusions of grandeur, dramatics, and specil requests - this is, after all, just a 'game' - keep your spirit of sportsmanship above all.
The Assassin Game is not for Dueling, but for Manipulation. I will throw you from the game personally if I find your style is too agressive, or too lax. You must kill and return to the shadows to impress me.
To join, visit me now in the Sewers of Barloque.
You may join with up to 2 "Aliases" ~ you know of which I mean, so do not test me with silly questions.
This will be checked before the game begins: if you must "kill" one of your own aliases in the Circle, it will not count towards the special prize I'll be giving for the Assassin with the highest score.
Enjoy the game, my Assassins. Now, entertain me.
Roq the Dark Blade
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Meridian 59 Story...
**********
You open the door and walk through.
The dream always begins the same way. You hear a creak and shuffling behind you as the door closes. For some reason you feel paranoid of it being any louder. Were you being followed? It feels like you are. Your head still hurts and you don't want to open the little door and go back and chance it. The torch on your side still has some cloth left, the oil pungent, wafting up to meet your nostrils, the smell of the salty sea. That unforgettable smell from your past, the place you also live. You don't remember it's name.
You're almost there, the place you're supposed to be this time in the dream place you keep coming back to.
You don't remember how you knew where the door would be, but it was above you head this time. You hear rushing water somewhere nearby. Droplets come down from the ceiling, and there's water glistening on the dark brick walls. Your eyes can see just enough.
On the old sign barely visible in the darkness of the sewer tunnel Roq calls home, a scrawling script says, "An Assassin's Circle will be starting in relatively short order. I am currently accepting would-be assassins..."
You go to the figure as it floats from one end of the room to the other, dancing around you in the shadows that are so dark as to be blinding.
You have been here before.
"Blade", you whisper. You would speak louder if not for the choking darkness paralyzing your body.
Roq tells you, "Here is your blade."
Roq tells you, "Say 'blade' to get a weapon for the next game. Say 'quit' to hand your blade back in. Say 'advertise' to be told when a fight starts. Say 'no advertise' if you do not wish to be informed of current developments."
You slowly step out through the wall of shadow separating the mummified and cloaked figure with its glowing red eyes from the rest of the tunnel. A wall of complete blackness, your feet now entering the red and orange glow of the torches lining the moss and mud lined walls.
This tunnel is old, older than the city of Barloque, you can feel it, and smell it - the coldness hasn't been filled by the warmth of human breath. Other things breathe down here.
The torch light is welcome, but you hesitate as you reach for the iron latch on the floor, back to the large aqueduct connecting A Shadowy Corner to the Sewers of Barloque.
You forgot the rules.
You turn and there it is, centered before you, on of the signs, just like you remembered.
It reads, in thick black ink:
"rules of the game"
Then, smaller: "Are you a true assassin, able to use guile, stealth and deception over brute force? Do you have the stomach to stick a dagger between the shoulder blades of a friend, a guild mate, or a lover? Be warned, this game is only for the elite, and if you are not paranoid now, you will be.
I'd strongly advise you to read all five of the signs in these chambers. You not knowing the rules of the Assassin's Circle is not, ultimately, my problem...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Building Bonus
When: The Next 24 Hours
Why: Love
What: You
For the next 24 hours enjoy 100% boosted advancement and +25% shilling drops + faster monster spawns for all in Meridian 59, the best MMORPG and one of the greatest games of all time, with the best community of players, from hunters to killers to strange ones to roleplayers - my friends, my people, my sanctuary, my home away from homes.
Love to you all.
May you suddenly feel a little tougher.
### Mayhem
December 2022 Update
📐 Window resizing support is here.
The game window is now fully resizable, all the way up to full screen! Additionally, the height of the chat window can be resized by dragging. Requests for fullscreen support have come in over the years and it’s finally here thanks to collaboration between player Abjurer and Zaphod himself.
🔑 Rent a room in Ko’catan.
Always trying to make a buck, Moxal has opened up rooms in the Ko’catan Inn for rent. Rooms in the Ko’catan Inn also feature an exclusive local wall and floor texture. Take a trip to Moxal and ask about renting a room.
💚 Raza improvements.
A couple different issues had popped up in the Mausoleum, the most notable of which was blocking the pit area from resetting. These issues have now been resolved and new players can take full advantage of the pit.
Join the Discord here https://discord.gg/jrsdJ3rnmk
Advancement Changes
- Increased player gains received when part of a monster kill. An additional bonus is given to new players, so get out there and fight together!
Spell/Skill/Item Changes
- Added an audible cue when casting Light.
- Added messaging and a personal enchantment icon to Second Wind, making it more obvious when the skill’s effects are active.
- Updated Mark of Dishonor to allow for casting on monsters and temporarily halt aggression.
- Removed karma requirement from vampiric weapons.
Monster Changes
- Updated Orc Wizards audio cues for when they become aware of player presence and when they are vanquished.
- Added missing Dark Angel sound resources.
Client Updates
- Updated the splash screen to the original splash screen 🦉
- Fixed missing splash screen music 🎵
- Window can now be resized up to full screen, and the height of the chat window can be adjusted via dragging.
World Improvements
- Adds the ability to rent rooms from Moxal in the Ko'catan Inn.
- Fixed the Mausoleum so that monsters will no longer spawn infinitely under certain conditions.
- Fixed the Mausoleum so that monsters who manage to find their way behind the levers in the Mausoleum will no longer block the pit area from resetting.
- Fixed the lighting effect of several surfaces in the Royal Library of the Bourgeois Castle.
- Updated the Temple of Riija bridge so the occasional item loss due to falling “deaths” excludes important items like room keys and bonded equipment.
New Additions
- Administrators can now adjust the maximum number of days a player can pay advance rent for a room.
General Bug Fixes and Improvements
- Fixed an issue in which Nerudite Arrows would not shatter on impact.
- Fixed an issue in which Silver Arrows were not doing the intended double damage to undead.
- Increased the capacity of Metal Chests in guild halls.
- Increased the capability of Wooden Chests in guild halls.
- Fixed an issue in which new timers were being unnecessarily created when casting Create Weapon with a full inventory.
- Improved the appearance of in-game player names.
Included in this release are contributions from Abjurer, Doom Pig, Gar, Thorbenn, marcelkauf, marksturm, Broodhill, skittles1, Hektic, Ouija, Mayhem, Nagath, Zaphod, Zandramas, and Q. Hail contributors!
BLOOD FRENZY!!!
LIVE NOW!!! The entirety of Meridian has become a free-for-all PvP bloodbath!!!
You'll be given every weapon and item you need to cause chaos and keep the focus on the action!
Go now and strike down your enemy!!!
Halloween Eve October 30th, 8:00 PM PST / 11:00 PM EST ***ACTIVE***
### THE REIGN OF BLOOD FRENZY: The fabric of reality shakes as an evil presence attempts to penetrate the Meridian. The servants of Qor sing out in cacophonic glee as anarchy sweeps across the land. With no Guardian Angels present, anything goes as long as the sky boils red.
[Your character has been saved and will be restored after the Frenzy.]
### Your safety is now OFF: Be careful, you are now able to hurt those around you.
NOTE: Accounts can't be created during the event. The server will be restored to normal gameplay shortly after tonight's event, which will last 90-120 minutes (About 10pm Pacific US)