I have received a few emails and questions regarding the new Ashen Dust, usually around the lines of, "What will it be like?", "When will I get to play it?". So I thought I would write a small status update and give more detailed information as it becomes available.

At this time, Ashen Dust MUD 2 is along the lines of an alpha development stage. The source code, after much consideration, was written in C. Unique and written from scratch, the code incorporates many new and enhanced programming concepts for improved performance and security. The gameplay has been written to still encompass the "Diku" and "Ashen" feel that many players require for comfort. Still in its early development stages, Ashen Dust 2 already displays much progress. As of Feb 2010, the server and account systems as well as fundamental character systems and zones have already been placed.

The goal behind Ashen Dust 2 was to be able to provide an immersive social environment that goes beyond the traditional hack n slash gameplay. With our goals in mind, we wish to provide a simple yet detailed environment that provides economic, political and environmental factors. The choice of your game style is left to the player, be it in-depth role-playing, player killing, questing or merely socializing. The goal of Ashen 2 is not to see how many players we can bring to play, but how many good friends we can make along the way. The goal is to provide a game play that meets the needs of many and not the needs of one. The game should provide many different choices for players to choose from, be it slow-strategic game play to moderate or fast paced leveling.

What features to expect? Expect a largely detailed and explorable world. Anywhere between 10 million and 50 million "rooms", the game will harness more of a free-roaming exploration and NPC interaction. Multiple racial factions each with unique race-class combinations. Unique character skill proficiencies. Various character adventures, quests, and puzzles. Controlled battleground instances and scenarios. Endless rewards, equipment, items and achievements.

When to expect it? Unfortunately due to the limited development time of our programmers and the massive amount of content, organization and resources. The estimated beta release will be sometime in 2012. Until then, while progress is being made we will release newly updated content for preview.