Time of Defiance

Did You Know?

• The game's world continues to alter when players are logged out.
• All in-game enemies consist of other players, who must be repelled by force or prevented from attacking through diplomatic intervention.
• The objective is to colonise as many islands as possible to mine resources such as coal, stone, and metal.

Setting

Time of Defiance takes place on the world Nespanona, which was once home to a race called the Nespans one million years ago. The Nespans understood that all physics was a side effect of actions at the quantum level, enabling them to perform feats that seemed impossible. They were interested in interstellar travel and could teleport small objects such as people. A scientist attempting to teleport larger objects for starships made a mathematical mistake that began shrinking the entire planet's core. Though this process would take years, the resulting gravitational changes fractured the planet's crust. The Nespans attached thousands of anti-gravity engines to the underside of the crust, buying time to evacuate. As the crust collapsed, the anti-gravity engines held parts of it in place, creating floating islands above an ocean formed when the watery moon was pulled into the core.

The remaining inhabitants lack the Nespans' technology, with the most advanced relics being Quantam Foam Gates controlled by the Eighth House. The Eighth House is a neutral organization that acts as a marketplace, selling rare ships and resources in exchange for Crystal Moss. It is engaged in a war with the Shadoo and appears to encourage the Cog tribes to fight over the Northern Continent. The Cog are a clannish race with moderately primitive technology; each Cog belongs to a specific clan dominated by the Eighth House. Their ships run on coal. The Cog are also at war with the Shadoo, but only the Eighth House fights that war, and few Cog have seen a real Shadoo. The Shadoo are a more technologically advanced and philosophical race, and their ships can only be acquired through the Eighth House. No Shadoo are encountered in the game, and they are represented only by looted ships.