New LEGO MMO in development

[Cerator]

As I've just read on Gamasutra that a new Lego MMO based on the MiniFig franchise is in development!

Let's hope that it will be a bigger success than Lego Universe!

[CMP]

On the minifig franchise? Odd, but interesting. Hope it'll be a bigger success than LU.

[CM4Sci]

I thought LU was shut down because the sales were bad. Why are they doing it again?

-Sci

[just2good]

They're probably going to put codes to unlock stuff in each CMF pack once the game comes out and spike up the price of each pack.

[Cerator]

They're probably going to put codes to unlock stuff in each CMF pack once the game comes out and spike up the price of each pack.

Well, that at least sounds interesting! (apart from increasing the price)

If they do it well (similar to what UDE and now Cryptozoic did and do with the World of Warcraft trading card game), the video game could spark interest for the minifigs (because the gamers want the codes) and the other way round (because the minifig buyers have the codes and might want to try them in the game).

[purpleparadox]

Dang...I was hoping the characters would be customizable to the point where I could give them flesh skin. If it's based on the CMF franchise I doubt that'll happen. Whenever I buy a CMF I switch it to flesh tones...so this game probably won't be for me. Oh well.

[Lyichir]

Hmm... I'm not sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, LEGO Universe turned out to be a major bust. But on the other hand, perhaps they can avoid that type of failure this time around by using lessons they learned from LEGO Universe. I'll have to wait and see, I suppose.

[Aanchir]

I'm glad to see that TLG has not given up on this gaming model just because of LEGO Universe's failure... that implies that they are aware of the reasons LEGO Universe was unsuccessful and will avoid them this time around.

I'm not too much of a gamer in general and have never had the patience to even dabble in MMOs, but still I recognize there are a lot of people who do enjoy that type of gameplay, and there's no reason TLG shouldn't take advantage of that if they can maintain their core values while doing so.

[Bricknave]

I think LEGO made the right decision in having a very prominent product tie-in.

I have a feeling this game would have a "Pay-to-Win" way of getting revenue in which basic content is free, but players have to buy Collectifigs in order to get special in-game gear.

I hope there would be building like in Universe, but maybe involve building in the gameplay more (such as being able to use a MOC to fight enemies.) I'm not expecting it because of the focus on Minifigures rather than LEGO in general, but it would still be nice.

[Flipz]

I'm glad to see that TLG has not given up on this gaming model just because of LEGO Universe's failure... that implies that they are aware of the reasons LEGO Universe was unsuccessful and will avoid them this time around.

I'm not too much of a gamer in general and have never had the patience to even dabble in MMOs, but still I recognize there are a lot of people who do enjoy that type of gameplay, and there's no reason TLG shouldn't take advantage of that if they can maintain their core values while doing so.

LU failed because of internal politics at TLG. Were there problems? Yes, lots of them. But the game wasn't given time to work them out, and the way it was shut down (out of the blue, with no warning to the people who worked on the game) was handled VERY poorly.

I personally am hoping that people who played LU get SOME sort of exra bonus in this game.

[ScaryScarecrow]

I am excited. I enjoyed LU.

The only thing I fear is that because it's based off the Collectible Minifigs, that Minifigs won't be customizable, but instead you play as set designs. If it goes the way I think would work best, is that the Collectible Minifigs would have codes in them (Though, TRU would probably start selling them for $10 each) and you would unlock their costumes and accessories. Completely customization, no advantages over everyone else.That way, it's not exactly P2W, but lots of kids will still buy minifigs for the codes in order to gain popularity (Like how people in WOW buy the cards just for useless companions).

Of course, that would mean people would scalp the minifigs twice as much to get double the profit after awhile: sell the minifig to those who want an old minifig, sell the code to the people who want now unavailable items. Hmm.

And, I also agree that the people who played LU get something. Maybe an item or a closed beta pass.

[Scubacarrot]

This is pretty cool news, what especially gets me excited is that an actual experienced (in MMO's), and fairly okay developer is working on this.

Funcom is known for Age of Conan (which was not so great, to be honest), Anarchy Online (a very old game, but which was very popular and is still running) and the upcoming MMO The Secret World (which looks interesting).

Keep in mind that there are other kinds of MMO's than MMORPG's, like LU was, so this might be something completely different.

Here is some things what I think should be in the game, to allow it to be succesful:

-Free Building (in the world maybe): It's LEGO, building is the most important thing, I think no Lego games have captured that, really. They could go as far as do something like Minecraft, but with Lego, it would be popular as hell. It could work like Minecraft, where you gather bricks, or you could buy bricks in a store with in game currency (studs?) I think TLG was perhaps biting their tongue a little bit when Minecraft became so succesful, A similair game but with Lego would have blown Minecraft out of the water.

-No subscription Fee. Lego's prime demographic, and the players of Lego games are kids. Most kids are not able to pay a subscription fee of around 12 euro's each month. Hell, even I am not willing to do that. In order to be succesful, they should have it be a one-time purchase, or perhaps even free-to-play. There are loads of free to play games that are succesful.

-Micro Transactions. People don't like them, but if they want to move away from the subscription fee, which I sincerely hope, they will have no choice if they want to keep it running. I think what people suggested earlier in this thread, about codes in the CMF packets is a great idea, and I hope it just gives the player all items to be used for looks in game. With not everyone having a use/desire to own CMF's, I would say there could be a shop that allows you to buy different (visual)items for real money. If building is going to be big, which I somehow doubt, there could also be brick packs and stuff like that.

I was not very enthoused by LU, played a little bit of the Beta, then stopped. I am pretty positive about this however, mostly because it looks like just a license was sold, and TLG itself might not have to do very much with it themselves(as was different with LU?) and that it was sold to a respectable developer that knows what it's doing.

[ACWWgal2011]

I thought LU was shut down because the sales were bad. Why are they doing it again?

-Sci

It was shut down due to lack of earnings from the "target group" which is normally just kids. Problem is that not just kids played. I'm 23(started playing shortly after the free mode was put into play) and i LOVED it. I'll admit i didn't do P2P but i had a legit reason. During the time it was in FP mode, i only had one span of time i wasnt tied up in exploring other games(never did P2P except toon town but the 3 month card i got was a gift). I wanted a LU card but we were about to take a rare out of state trip and it's my only chance to go to the lego store.

I was going to put a one month card on my christmas list but i found out the site was being shut down. lego lost my respect right then and there. Out of all the online games i play(ed), it was the only game i really loved. I was able to be left ALONE and do stuff solo. I HATE group stuff online which is part of the reason i'm not going for another month of Toontown.

However, there's only 1 thing about the new lego MMO game that makes no sense to me. The articles i'm seeing say the major MF focus will come from the CMF line. Why is the major focus on the CMF's????? It's a pretty big gamble when the series could be meeting it's end anytime now. Seems like it'd be better to do OVERALL minifigures.

I would be WAY more excited to be able to remake my lego figure i used in LU. I designed a lego girl that on the outside looked like a plain jane but on the inside wasn't afraid to take charge and kick some bad guy back ends!

[Aanchir]

It was shut down due to lack of earnings from the "target group" which is normally just kids. Problem is that not just kids played. I'm 23(started playing shortly after the free mode was put into play) and i LOVED it. I'll admit i didn't do P2P but i had a legit reason. During the time it was in FP mode, i only had one span of time i wasnt tied up in exploring other games(never did P2P except toon town but the 3 month card i got was a gift). I wanted a LU card but we were about to take a rare out of state trip and it's my only chance to go to the lego store.

I was going to put a one month card on my christmas list but i found out the site was being shut down. lego lost my respect right then and there. Out of all the online games i play(ed), it was the only game i really loved. I was able to be left ALONE and do stuff solo. I HATE group stuff online which is part of the reason i'm not going for another month of Toontown.

However, there's only 1 thing about the new lego MMO game that makes no sense to me. The articles i'm seeing say the major MF focus will come from the CMF line. Why is the major focus on the CMF's????? It's a pretty big gamble when the series could be meeting it's end anytime now. Seems like it'd be better to do OVERALL minifigures.

I would be WAY more excited to be able to remake my lego figure i used in LU. I designed a lego girl that on the outside looked like a plain jane but on the inside wasn't afraid to take charge and kick some bad guy back ends!

Not just kids played LU, it's true, but to be honest the target group was the group TLG was counting on to make the product sustainable. If TLG could have brought in enough money from adult fans to keep LU running there's no reason to think they wouldn't have, but frankly too few people (kids and adults alike) were paying the subscription for the full gameplay experience. And unlike non-MMO video game titles, it can cost a lot to keep an MMO on store shelves since there's the inherent expectation of staggered content updates, plus the need to constantly maintain the servers the game operates on.

And what do you mean by "the series could be meeting its end anytime now"? At Bricks Cascade in early June it was announced that the series was planned for at least six more waves. Chances are it will be extended even further than that unless sales plummet. And given how successful they have been, there's no reason to think they would get rid of the theme unless they introduced something similar to replace it, in which case they could just re-imagine the new MMO around that.

While they certainly won't carry over every feature from LU, I think we can expect that the new MMO will allow the same level of character customization, since that's typically been a creative hallmark of LEGO games, and I can't think of any reason TLG would want to take a step backwards in the sophistication of LU's customization options. So even if you can't remake your exact character from LEGO Universe, I'm hopeful that you'd be able to create a character who was just as pleasing to your personal tastes.

[ACWWgal2011]

And what do you mean by "the series could be meeting its end anytime now"? At Bricks Cascade in early June it was announced that the series was planned for at least six more waves. Chances are it will be extended even further than that unless sales plummet. And given how successful they have been, there's no reason to think they would get rid of the theme unless they introduced something similar to replace it, in which case they could just re-imagine the new MMO around that.

The problem with the series is that the variety of figures in sets are getting kinda boring. And while there is a "plan" for 6 more series, plans can change. Even if 6 more are planned, unless the rate of release changes, that'd still mean only about 2 more years worth of figure releases and then the saga is over unless more would be planned after that.

There are lego fans AND video game fans and if it comes down to lego CMF's or video games, video games will win some over way more then the figures. That's my case.

I know that the figures opens a world of creativity, but after 7 series(less then 2 years), i'm completely bored of the series and definatly can't be the only one. The 3-4 series a year isn't fun anymore and there's pretty much no enjoyment from the figures i do have.

If lego would of released the figures slower from the start(think 2 or 3 series a year instead of 3-4), i could see the series having a much better lasting power and i wouldn't be bored with it. Lego series 5 came and went in less then 3 months(at least 2-3 weeks it was in storage between full price and discount) at a walmart we go to and series 6 came and went so fast that i couldn't find any at 2 targets, a toys r us, 2 walmarts, and a B&N. I know i can use BL, which i did for the main, but when it came to finding an extra series 6 space girl, i wanted to go instore.

[Lyichir]

The problem with the series is that the variety of figures in sets are getting kinda boring. And while there is a "plan" for 6 more series, plans can change. Even if 6 more are planned, unless the rate of release changes, that'd still mean only about 2 more years worth of figure releases and then the saga is over unless more would be planned after that.

There are lego fans AND video game fans and if it comes down to lego CMF's or video games, video games will win some over way more then the figures. That's my case.

I know that the figures opens a world of creativity, but after 7 series(less then 2 years), i'm completely bored of the series and definatly can't be the only one. The 3-4 series a year isn't fun anymore and there's pretty much no enjoyment from the figures i do have.

If lego would of released the figures slower from the start(think 2 or 3 series a year instead of 3-4), i could see the series having a much better lasting power and i wouldn't be bored with it. Lego series 5 came and went in less then 3 months(at least 2-3 weeks it was in storage between full price and discount) at a walmart we go to and series 6 came and went so fast that i couldn't find any at 2 targets, a toys r us, 2 walmarts, and a B&N. I know i can use BL, which i did for the main, but when it came to finding an extra series 6 space girl, i wanted to go instore.

Believe it or not, by being tired of the Collectable Minifigures I think you are in the minority. For every LEGO fan who suffers Collectable Minifig fatigue like you, there are LEGO fans who collected every series yet are still excited for each successive line, and fans who missed out on earlier series, making new series feel just as fresh and new as the originals. From all indications the theme is still massively successful, so even if LEGO loses a couple of disgruntled fans as time wears on, the market will continue to be replenished with new fans in addition to the fans who never left.

Personally, I'm not sure how well tying the game in with a line of products will work in the long run. But since some of LU's biggest failings were that it failed to generate revenue with a subscription-based model, and that new fans of the game did not always supplement it with the physical products that made LEGO what they are, I think this is a novel way of earning the audience they lost or failed to create in a big way. And since the company responsible for this new MMO seems to be fairly innovative, yet well-established, I think things are looking up for the future of LEGO MMOs.