Dungeon Runners
| Dungeon Runners | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | NCSOFT |
| Publisher(s) | NCSOFT |
| Designer(s) | Stephen Nichols, Mark Tucker |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | May 24, 2007 |
| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Dungeon Runners was a medieval fantasy, often satirical MMORPG developed and published by NCSOFT. It featured gameplay similar to the Diablo series of games.
Development on the title first began in 2001 as Trade Wars: Dark Millennium. The game was based on the early computer game series of the same name and originally featured a science-fiction setting. It later became Exarch in 2002 and was scrapped for some time until it resurfaced in 2005 with its third and current development team as Dungeon Runners.
Dungeon Runners entered the closed Beta phase in May 2006, and a game trailer was exhibited at the 2006 E3 convention. Open Beta began in December 2006, and Beta accounts could be acquired via an invitation from an existing player or through the NCsoft website. On May 24, 2007, the game officially went live.
Much of the original art was conceived by comic-book artist Joe "Mad" Madureira.
On August 13, 2008, the parent company, NCSoft in Korea, decided to cut 21 members of its staff in Austin, TX due to the company's overall decreasing profits. Out of the 18 member team which developed Dungeon Runners, only three of the original developers remained.
Free gameplay was unlimited (no playfield or activity is closed to free players), but an optional USD $4.99 monthly membership fee granted access to additional features that greatly enhance gameplay. Additionally, users could purchase the game for $19.99. The boxed game came with 6 months of membership as well as a "Bling Gnome". Although described as an MMORPG, the game world was almost entirely uniquely instanced for each party of players.
Dungeon Runners implemented a classless system (see Classes, below) and offered regular updates through patches. One of the most acclaimed patches was the update coined "The Heave" that introduced the first player summon "Chill Bill", and a new high level dungeon. This update patch was very well received by the gaming community and was considered by many to be one of the game's best updates.
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