Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands was a multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of Dark Sun. The Dark Sun universe is a harsh desert world called Athas, where magic has drained the land of life, and survival is a constant struggle. This setting is famous for its post-apocalyptic themes, where powerful psionic abilities, gladiatorial combat, and resource scarcity dominate life.
Released in 1996 by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI), Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands was one of the early attempts at creating a multiplayer online RPG in the mid-1990s, predating other popular MMORPGs such as Ultima Online and EverQuest.
Features
- Setting: Athas, a world of deserts, where survival is difficult, and magic is corruptive.
- Classes and Races: The game featured the same sort of classes and races found in the Dark Sun tabletop setting, including gladiators, psionicists, and defilers (a type of magic user), as well as races such as elves, half-giants, and thri-kreen (mantis-like humanoids).
- Gameplay: It had classic role-playing elements such as quests, exploration, combat, and character progression. The gameplay was quite similar to the other games.
- Multiplayer: Players could interact with each other, form groups, and fight monsters together.
Though Crimson Sands was innovative for its time, it faced limitations due to early internet infrastructure and relatively primitive multiplayer technology compared to modern standards.
Despite its ambitious scope, the game had a relatively short lifespan and is not as widely remembered as other early MMORPGs.