Tribes: Vengeance is almost done. It's been quite a trip. Video game development takes a long time. It's been nearly three years since we first got the call from the Sierra guys with a simple question: "Hey, what do you guys think of Tribes?"

Frankly, I was suprised they were thinking of Irrational for this game. After all, wasn't Tribes a multiplayer, team-oriented shooter? What about Freedom Force, System Shock 2 and Thief made them think we were the team of choice for this project? "Well," they said, "we really want this game to have a story..."

The biggest challenge for us was the fact that we were making two games. One of which (the single player) we had a fair amount of experience with. The other, (the multiplayer) we had a lot to learn. And to school ourselves, we turned to three solutions. First, we had a team at Sierra (Thrax, Menzo, Marweas) that lived, breathed, and quite likely eat Tribes. Second, we expanded the team to include people like Michael Johnston to make sure we were on the right track. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, we listened to the community.

Let me just say this: The Tribes community is freaking nuts. I've never seen such a passionate, intense, vocal and dedicated group of fans. It has been an honor and pleasure to come into this fully formed community and try to make something that looks, sounds, plays and _feels_ right to them. It has been challenging, confusing, frustrating, perplexing, and incredibly rewarding. We've done our level best. The game is nearly there. But that's not the end. Because Tribes has, and always will, belong to the community. That's what Tribes: Vengeance is more moddable and flexible than any other Tribes game. We wait to see what you think of what we've done, and perhaps more importantly, how you are going to top us.