the life and times of endenizen » ryzom

The free (as in pigeons) software movement, which has spawned such hits as Firefox and Linux, is taking aim at the massively multiplayer online gaming (or MMOG) world. Sure there have been open-source projects in the past to try and come up with a slick MMOG engine but this time it’s something different. This time, the community is coming together to purchase a complete game and release it for free to the world. And quite a community it is…

In 2002, a similar feat was suggested (and attained) in the case of the 3d-modeling software Blender. In less than two months, €100,000 was raised as a one-time payment to the creditors overseeing the newly bankrupt company. Blender turned from shareware to completely free and is now available with the full source code. It continues to be developed and maintained by the Blender Foundation and has seen many comparisons to costly alternatives such as 3ds Max and Cinema 4D.

Fast forward to 2006 and we find a company called Nevrax stuck in bankruptcy proceedings while their wildly popular game Saga of Ryzom continues uninterrupted (for now). Multiple companies have made takeover bids and the community has gathered together to make a bid of their own. The initial bid was €100,000 but a new pledge (of $60,000) by the Free Software Foundation pushes the goal up to €200,000. The bids from the other companies (and the companies themselves) are unknown but Nevrax insists that the game will go on, no matter who ends up owning it.

And what a way to go on, to be bought by the community and released for free to everyone. I, for one, made a pledge and maybe you will too.

Do it for the kids – http://www.ryzom.org/