Tad Williams on Otherland online

Tad Williams has been one of my all time favourite authors since I fell in love with his Otherland series. Since then the Offspring has become a fan as well, so I guess you could say it’s a family affair. :)

Something else we share in our family is a love of gaming and MMO’s [massively multiplayer online games]. Little wonder then that we have all been waiting for Otherland the MMO.

Otherland online is an mmo that has been in development for something like six years, and is based on Tad William’s Otherland series. But the connection doesn’t end there. Tad Williams has been actively involved in the development of the game, and it has his seal of approval, so ….

You guessed it, I asked Tad Williams about Otherland online during Supanova [here in Melbourne], and his eyes lit up.

Although Tad is more interested in the social side of Otherland online than in the traditional mmo aspects, we found common ground in the Lambda Mall. For those who have not read Otherland, Lambda Mall is the equivalent of a future Second Life on steroids. It is a place where people go to have fun, shop, and interact with each other. All this interaction happens via avatars that are as basic, or as spectacular as people can afford.

In the Lambda Mall of the Otherland mmo, gamers will be able to hang out with their friends, shop, and generally have fun because for the first time in an mmo, they will actually have things to do in this social hub.

In recent years, I’ve been a fairly solitary gamer because I simply don’t have the time to interact with other gamers during group events like dungeons, or raids. And I do miss that interaction, so I have been following the development cycle of Otherland online with a fair degree of impatience.

That impatience turned to concern when I read of problems with the company developing the game. Naturally I voiced that concern to Tad Williams and he was quick to reassure me that this was just a temporary glitch. Phew!

I’m paraphrasing Tad here but the good news is that Otherland online will be completed in either the US or Canada. Discussions and negotiations regarding this move should be finished within a month and then the beta testing will go on.

At this point, no-one can provide a firm launch date, but both Tad and I have our fingers crossed for the end of 2013.

Needless to say, I can hardly wait. Oh, and did I mention that Tad Williams is incredibly approachable and nice? Well he is. :)