Silverlode Interactive Releases SAGA Company: Silverlode Interactive Product: SAGA The Saga begins... From now on it's a persistent world. With over 1000 online quests at launch, SAGA boasts many of the features that made MMOs successful: auction houses, guilds, raiding, looted treasure, gear upgrades, collaborative party questing... Combined with the RTS features of city-building, resource management and grand-scale massive warfare, SAGA has changed the landscape of RTS gaming. Originally built by industry veteran Dallan Christensen (Lead Programmer of Starcraft: Brood War), the SAGA world is a traditional fantasy setting: Elves, Orcs, Dragons, Dwarves and Giants are the characters in a story that develops through the quest threads and will lead to new expansions and new features as SAGA grows. "Players are ready for massive online warfare where every battle really counts, because your empire is fully persistent; it doesn't vanish after every battle" says SAGA creator Jason Faller. Since Silverlode opened Beta to the public in July of 2007, SAGA has been balanced and rebalanced to suit both casual and hardcore gamers, who can fairly compete head-to-head in this highly tactical strategy game. SAGA has no subscription fee; the purchase price is $19.95, which includes a persistent account with up to five nations (characters). The game trailer can be found at http://www.gametrailers.com/player/31166.html Sign up to play SAGA now at www.playsaga.com. Editor’s Note: Silverlode Interactive has released a free version of SAGA on schedule, as promised. The free version of SAGA will allow players to access the game without purchase and without credit card, in the same realms on the same servers with the paying SAGA players. Certain features will be locked, but otherwise players are welcome to join their friends online and participate in online massive strategy warfare without shelling out a penny. Thousands of players are queued up and waiting for the free version to get a look at SAGA before purchasing, and will be admitted online to join the thousands of players who already have the fully registered version. Some features are locked, such as the online auction house, official rated battles, and the ability to create and join guilds, but otherwise the free client is identical to the full version. The free version will even allow players to do cooperative party quests alongside the full version players, a feature which is unique to SAGA as an RTS with MMO-style strategy questing. Free accounts may be upgraded to the full version for $19.95. Upgrading the account unlocks all the features disabled in the free version, and does not reset a player’s nations, troops or remove any of the items acquired through questing. -J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer Related Links: SAGA Official Home Page SAGA Game Trailer