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What Happened to AncientSites?
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Featured April 19 , 2004
AnicentWorlds is an online
community by the creators of
AncientSites. What ever happened
to AncientSites?
 The dream was that thousands of people interested in Ancient History could roam the streets of long forgotten cities and, in a sense, get into the mentality of our ancient forbearers through a combination of historical research and discussion, social activities, and roleplay and other games. After several years of construction and growth, the site fell prey to the same fate as many Internet companies or "dotcoms." The same resources that the dotcom boom generated, the dotcom bust took away, forcing AncientSites to close its doors and fold as a economic entity. And a Dream it Was! There was a magic to AncientSites that was undeniable. Not only did publications dealing with Ancient History, such as Archaeology Magazine, recognize this - but also main stream publications such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The dream had become somewhat of a phenomenon. One question asked often of the founders was how can this community survive as a business? How can this thing sustain itself? Although revenues from subscription and advertising helped, the costs of running the site far out-stripped the income. The dream had become dependent on an economic anomoly for its existence. The Dream Did Not Die When the site closed it doors that fateful day, March 30, 2001, many citizens were cast out into the world to find their own way. Many good sites were formed by the wandering souls themselves. Sites such as HistoryWalker, AncientTimes, and PanHistoria were formed by AncientSites members teaming up to recreate some aspects of the world they lost. It is a testament to the need for the dream and to the perserverance of the people. And the Dream Lives On Nor did the dream die in the hearts of the founders of AncientSites. As CyberSites, the company that had formed to create educational games and developed AS, was going through dissolution, the founders were able to purchase the database of personas, as well as the rights to the graphics and the game SPQR. It took one year to write all of the software that is running AncientWorlds now. We have recreated many of the features of AncientSites and added some new ones. The real potential of the site has yet to be realized in the sense that many of the original ideas and designs of the site are once again on the drawing boards of the founders. We find ourselves in a post boom world where the costs of developing and maintaining a site such as this are a fraction of what they were 2 years ago. And so, with a strategy of sustaining the site through time based on member subscriptions, we move upward and outward into the great future that AncientSites should have had, and that, with the help of all the members, AncientWorlds will have! Read more about the history of AncientWorlds! |
AncientWorlds
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