| abstract | - Starsiege: Tribes, more commonly known as simply Tribes, is a long-running series of multiplayer-focused First Person Shooters found mostly on PC, with a few exceptions. The original game bears the Starsiege title because it is in fact a sequel of sorts to that game and represents the continuation of the Earthsiege franchise as a whole. In the distant future, humanity has spread amongst the stars. Beyond the edge of space controlled by The Empire, in a region called the Wilderzone, are various tightly-knit Tribes, who live a harsh frontier existence but otherwise free of Imperial authority. The disparate tribes battle one other for control of planetary territory and resources using Powered Armor and advanced small arms. The first game in the series, Starsiege: Tribes, was developed by Starsiege developers Dynamix and released in November of 1998. It established itself as a unique multiplayer shooter with several key differences from its contemporaries, such as sprawling outdoor maps and movement centered around the use of a Jet Pack. Known for one of the great Good Bad Bugs of gaming, which allowed players to abuse the physics engine to "ski" down slopes, so pervasive that it was implemented as gameplay feature in every sequel to follow. The big damn sequel, Tribes 2, was released in March of 2001 and on Linux in April of that year. It was bigger, badder and came with its fair share of bugs, but it was loved all the same. It received a Play Station 2 port in the form of Tribes: Aerial Assault in 2002. Two years later, in October of 2004, developer Irrational Games released Tribes: Vengeance, a Prequel to the earlier games that featured a story-driven campaign in addition to the signature multiplayer. The first two games were released as Freeware to hype its release, but Executive Meddling and cessation of official support barely a year hence gave this installment a short lifespan. It was critically well-received, but never enjoyed the same fan support as the earlier titles. Many of the games have since had their offical master servers shut down: Starsiege: Tribes in July of 2007, Aerial Assault in November of 2008 and Tribes 2 in November 2009. However, Tribes 1 and 2 now have multiple community-run master servers, and continue to have strong player bases to this day. Aerial Assault, being a Play Station 2 game, was not so lucky. In October of 2010, it was announced that Hi-Rez Studios, creators of Global Agenda, were working on a new installment, this time an MMORPG called Tribes: Universe, and a traditional multiplayer FPS called Tribes: Ascend. Hi-Rez promises an experience much like the older games and have stated they are using Tribes 2 as a frame of reference. Key differences will be vastly expanded battlefields and player counts. Character progression is stated to be based around "diversifying options in combat" rather then making you "inherently stronger." At present, this installment is on hiatus while they work on... Tribes: Ascend is free to play with microtransaction character classes (Each class has some customization - like swapping out a SMG for a shotgun or a shield pack for a sensor jammer, but each class has a clearly defined role). Access is simple, all one needs to do is register an account and download the client. There are several game types, all of which revolve around conflicts between the Blood Eagle and Diamond Sword tribes.
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