Meridian 59 was the first 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Players create characters, and then advance in power by defeating monsters, completing quests, and collecting treasure. The alpha test of Meridian went online on December 15, 1995. It was commercially released on September 27, 1996. Several free, downloadable updates were released during the next 18 months: Vale of Sorrow, Revelation, Renaissance, Dark Auspices. The original servers were shut down in late 2000, however the game continues to run (as of May 2001) in Germany and Russia. Many later games such as Ultima Online, Asheron's Call, and especially Everquest borrow heavily from Meridian 59.