<s>
MegaWars	B-Protocol
III	I-Protocol
was	O
a	O
massively	B-Application
multiplayer	I-Application
empire	B-Application
building	I-Application
game	O
written	O
by	O
Kesmai	B-Application
and	O
run	O
continuously	O
on	O
CompuServe	O
between	O
1984	O
and	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
modified	O
version	O
,	O
Stellar	O
Emperor	O
ran	O
for	O
much	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
period	O
on	O
GEnie	B-Language
,	O
also	O
ending	O
in	O
1999	O
when	O
that	O
service	O
was	O
shut	O
down	O
by	O
General	O
Electric	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
Stellar	O
Emperor	O
,	O
sporting	O
a	O
new	O
client-server	O
GUI	B-Application
,	O
was	O
run	O
for	O
a	O
short	O
period	O
on	O
Kesmai	B-Application
's	O
GameStorm	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1979	O
University	O
of	O
Virginia	O
4th	O
year	O
students	O
Kelton	O
Flinn	O
and	O
John	O
Taylor	O
started	O
work	O
on	O
a	O
game	O
for	O
the	O
Hewlett-Packard	O
HP	O
2000F	O
time	B-General_Concept
sharing	I-General_Concept
minicomputer	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Much	O
of	O
what	O
would	O
become	O
MegaWars	B-Protocol
III	I-Protocol
was	O
present	O
in	O
S	O
,	O
but	O
greatly	O
simplified	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1982	O
he	O
purchased	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
DECWAR	B-Application
and	O
turned	O
it	O
over	O
to	O
the	O
programmers	O
at	O
Kesmai	B-Application
,	O
who	O
wrote	O
many	O
of	O
CompuServe	O
's	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
completing	O
their	O
doctorates	O
,	O
Flinn	O
and	O
Taylor	O
started	O
Kesmai	B-Application
,	O
a	O
reference	O
to	O
their	O
first	O
commercial	O
product	O
,	O
Islands	B-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
Kesmai	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
version	O
,	O
MegaWars	B-Application
,	O
went	O
live	O
on	O
CompuServe	O
in	O
1983	O
and	O
ran	O
continuously	O
until	O
1998	O
,	O
although	O
there	O
were	O
a	O
few	O
times	O
where	O
they	O
closed	O
it	O
down	O
during	O
that	O
period	O
only	O
to	O
revive	O
it	O
after	O
receiving	O
complaints	O
from	O
the	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numerous	O
additions	O
were	O
made	O
during	O
its	O
run	O
,	O
notably	O
different	O
classes	O
of	O
ships	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
versions	O
looked	O
little	O
like	O
the	O
original	O
DECWAR	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
this	O
period	O
a	O
port	O
supporting	O
an	O
experimental	O
color	B-Device
computer	I-Device
terminal	O
being	O
built	O
by	O
Motorola	O
and	O
Radio	O
Shack	O
was	O
completed	O
as	O
MegaWars	B-Application
II	O
,	O
but	O
this	O
machine	O
was	O
sold	O
only	O
briefly	O
under	O
the	O
name	O
"	O
VideoTex	O
"	O
before	O
being	O
withdrawn	O
from	O
the	O
market	O
,	O
and	O
MegaWars	B-Application
II	O
was	O
never	O
completed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
experimental	O
terminal	O
would	O
later	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
the	O
TRS-80	B-Device
Color	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1985	O
Louden	O
left	O
CompuServe	O
to	O
form	O
GEnie	B-Language
at	O
General	O
Electric	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kesmai	B-Application
re-scrubbed	O
the	O
system	O
for	O
use	O
on	O
GEnie	B-Language
,	O
producing	O
Stellar	O
Warrior	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
MegaWars	B-Application
,	O
Stellar	O
Warrior	O
ran	O
for	O
years	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
finally	O
killed	O
when	O
GEnie	B-Language
was	O
shut	O
down	O
in	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Returning	O
to	O
S	O
,	O
CompuServe	O
asked	O
the	O
game	O
to	O
be	O
tied	O
to	O
MegaWars	B-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
a	O
big	O
hit	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
new	O
version	O
emerged	O
as	O
MegaWars	B-Protocol
III	I-Protocol
,	O
II	O
being	O
a	O
client-server	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
MegaWars	B-Application
which	O
was	O
not	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Louden	O
,	O
who	O
had	O
been	O
instrumental	O
in	O
setting	O
up	O
Kesmai	B-Application
on	O
CIS	O
,	O
convinced	O
General	O
Electric	O
to	O
start	O
a	O
similar	O
service	O
on	O
their	O
machines	O
,	O
naming	O
it	O
GEnie	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
the	O
Kesmai	B-Application
games	O
were	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
new	O
systems	O
,	O
although	O
with	O
minor	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
names	O
and	O
themes	O
in	O
keeping	O
with	O
the	O
new	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
GEnie	B-Language
,	O
MegaWars	B-Protocol
III	I-Protocol
became	O
Stellar	O
Emperor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
the	O
original	O
,	O
this	O
version	O
of	O
Stellar	O
Emperor	O
shut	O
down	O
in	O
1999	O
when	O
the	O
GEnie	B-Language
service	O
ended	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
saved	O
from	O
completely	O
disappearing	O
when	O
Kesmai	B-Application
opened	O
their	O
own	O
online	O
service	O
,	O
GameStorm	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
did	O
not	O
save	O
it	O
for	O
long	O
;	O
Electronic	O
Arts	O
purchased	O
Kesmai	B-Application
in	O
1999	O
,	O
and	O
shut	O
the	O
service	O
down	O
in	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
loss	O
of	O
MegaWars	B-Protocol
III	I-Protocol
has	O
let	O
to	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
efforts	O
to	O
revive	O
the	O
game	O
in	O
various	O
forms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MegaWars	B-Protocol
III	I-Protocol
,	O
The	O
Rebirth	O
is	O
a	O
browser-based	O
reincarnation	O
of	O
MegaWars	B-Protocol
III	I-Protocol
played	O
on	O
CompuServe	O
and	O
Stellar	O
Emperor	O
played	O
on	O
GEnie	B-Language
in	O
the	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rebirth	O
was	O
created	O
by	O
David	O
Baity	O
,	O
a	O
well-known	O
player	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
MegaWars	B-Protocol
III	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
MegaWars	B-Protocol
III	I-Protocol
is	O
played	O
through	O
the	O
terminal	O
,	O
using	O
either	O
a	O
command-line	O
interface	O
or	O
a	O
character-graphics	O
system	O
that	O
supported	O
a	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
smart	O
terminal	O
standards	O
.	O
</s>
