Red Dragon sent me a brief email a while back, and I only just took note of it now:

Hello,

This simple message is to inform you that my blog, The Gate of Sosaria, is closed. I met a lot of problems; the game is very slow and almost unplayable. And with all the problems with Electronic Arts that have befallen certain projects, I will not continue mine.

Normally, I’d feel the need to remark upon the fact that this project has been shuttered in part over fear of a reaction from Electronic Arts. This is, as often as not, a baseless and silly excuse (c.f. Dawn of Virtue, Ultima 1: A Legend is Reborn). However, in the case of The Gate of Sosaria specifically, it should be noted that Red Dragon was making use of a number of art assets Ultima 7, so the possibility did exist that he could run afoul of EA’s legal department…at least if he had ever released a demo of the game which used those assets anywhere.

But since the engine was “slow” and the game “unplayable”, per his claims above, that never came to be an issue.

So…this is certainly sad news, overall. Although it does explain why The Gate of Sosaria’s website has gone dark in recent weeks.