Portal:Doubloon Oceans/Selected article/1
The Viridian Ocean was the very first doubloon ocean to open and was brought online on February 18, 2005. It, along with Cobalt, became the first new ocean to be opened by Three Rings after the launch of Midnight, it's original ocean, in late 2003. The Viridian Ocean is one of the largest experiments undertaken by Three Rings in its almost 6 year history. It debuted the doubloon system, a revolutionary micro-payment system as opposed to the tried and true method of time based subscriptions that has always been so prevalent in MMORPG's. It was also a heavy financial risk for the new Three Rings company sinking the income they made from Midnight along with some new investments to design and create Viridian. In both respects, Viridian was a huge success. Despite the fact that the ocean and the new doubloon system were initially shunned by established players from Midnight, Viridian was able to attract its own brand of player and eventually grew in popularity and activity to a bustling ocean with an intricate economy and political map. Viridian was also a huge financial success, partially due to the popularity of the doubloon system, and it would be this seed money that would allow the company to expand its business and eventually open up the Sage, Hunter, and Opal oceans. Currently, Viridian has the highest population of any active ocean.
