LEGO MMOG Named and Given a Launch Window

Kotaku has the press release expanding on details for LEGO Universe, the block-based Massively Multiplayer Game announced earlier this year. The title is slated for a Q4 release next year. There isn't any concrete discussion of gameplay yet, but the general description does sound promising: "The full-featured MMOG will be complete with character advancement, expansive social and community features, and will provide a child-safe alternative to other MMOGs on the market. As a player, you'll be able to customize your mini-figs and interact in the universe as any character you choose, providing unique opportunities for players to expand and explore with their creations."

Re:Here is a thought

[Null Nihils]

Child appropriate? I tell you what is child appropriate: Being outside, building models, playing in the sand, riding your bike.

Or how about playing with actual LEGO blocks, and using some imagination?

Still, an MMOG has to be more creative than another freaking toy-brand-based television cartoon.

Re:Child safe? How?

[MicklePickle]

Mod parent up please. This is exactly the issue with 'safe' online MMPOGs. Every parent's level of what's "safe for their child" varies greatly. None of the MMPOGs I've seen give parents ANY ability to limit what their child sees or does. It's a case of some parents having to sit there and watch what happens.

Case in point: my 8 year old daughter likes these MMPOGs, which is fine I had no issue with it. Until I walked in one day and found my daughter talking to someone, (probably a "child" IE read 50 year old pedo), on IMVU. The other "child" had just said "Want to Cyber sex?". WTF? Where's the parental control? I searched on IMVU - none.

So, it's banned in our house until they come up with a way to give parents the ability to limit what goes on, or ensure that children are safe.

The thing is what works for one parent won't for others, and I BET anything that someone will respond to this post saying "What's wrong with that?". Well, yeah you might want to let your daughter do that, but I don't, and MMPOGs don't provide any ability to limit what goes on or provide parents with the ability to.

What I'd like to see is a way of gradually limiting what the player can do. All the way from full access to just logging in. Trouble is, (as the parent post said), there will always be a way around it.

Re:For the love of god...

[daranz]

One advantage virtual Lego has over the real ones is price: few people are going to build huge cities of Lego in their homes - with games, you're limited by hardware only, and one brick costs the same as 50000.

Another thing is interacativity. In real life, children have to pretend they're Lego people. In game, they control Lego dudes themselves, and interact with the environment through them.

Re:For the love of god...

[adona1]

Honestly, could this get any nerdier? A massively multiplayer game based on playing with Lego for god's sake? I assume a Star Wars theme will be included somehow

You want nerdier? I'll see your Star Wars, and raise you a Firefly [reasonablyclever.com]. Lego Mal shoots first!

Microserfs anyone..?

[Anonymous Coward]

It was Douglas Coupland book where he describes a Lego based game, although I don't remember if it was an MMO or not. But the concept, if I remember correctly, revolved around being able to create your own little worlds, much like Lego.

Re:For the love of god...

[SQLGuru]

Actually, the promise of a LEGO MMO sounds intriguing. Most MMO worlds (not counting the sandbox-y types such as SecondLife) are limited to one genre. LEGO has such a rich collection of models that you can dedicate whole areas (in other words quests and activities) to each one with enough content to go for quite a while.

Even if you only start with one or two worlds think about this:
LEGO Sports (soccer, basketball, etc.)
LEGO Town (airport, mall, cops, etc.)
LEGO Space
LEGO Western Town
LEGO Castle
LEGO Star Wars
LEGO Circus
LEGO Comics (DC and Marvel)
LEGO Aqua
LEGO Harry Potter

The list goes on.....and on.

Layne

An MMO? Ew.

[morari]

I'd like to see a regular action RPG, maybe along the lines of Lego Star Wars. Have a character creation system similar to "The Original Trilogy", but not just limited to Star Wars pieces. Furthermore, I'd like to see a simple level editor like the downloadable Lego Builder game. Perhaps you could even make your own vehicles like that? The sad truth is that ACTUAL Lego products aren't doing well nowadays because it's almost all licensed Harry Potter, Star Wars and Spider-man crap. I would buy a game in a heartbeat that could recapture my childhood of building entire room-sized cities out of Legos, each character with their own distinct personality and place within the story. Maybe I was in the minority when it came to looking at Lego in such a grand way though. But hey, nothing ever got cooler than infiltrating the vampire castle to steal Excalibur only to be bitten and infected yourself and having to fight alongside those bloodsuckers against Anubis, the Mummy and a horde of shambling skeletons. Of course, after that the cyborg pirates would always come out of the shadows...

Re:An MMO? Ew.

[ThePsion5]

If they combine this to with second-life style property ownership, and make it free, I'm in. I want a lego fortress. With railguns, of course.