Massively^™

Yesterday was the final day of ION 08, but that didn't mean there weren't some incredbly great panels to attend. "Taking Your Community From Pre-Launch to Live" was just one of these panels and to make things even better it included some previous speakers I quite enjoyed hearing from.

This time around the moderator was Steve Danuser (38 Studios) while Craig Dalrymple (Sony Online Entertainment) took a panelist seat along with Katie Postma (Firesky), Meghan Rodberg (Turbine) and Victor Wachter (Cryptic Studios). It's important to point out that all the panelist are in fact community managers, as opposed to Steve Danuser who is the lead content designer and director of community development for his company. However, Danuser was previously a community manager for EverQuest II.

We barely new ye, Marvel Universe Online, but already you're gone. In your wake you've left so many questions. What would the three-way tights fight have been like? What would your gameplay, world, and community have been like? Why did you leave us, after all the rumors and questions? Why is Jack Emmert so darn bitter? And most of all, what is your clone-brother Champions going to offer us?

What about your questions, Massively readers? Were you looking forward to swinging through NYC with Spidey or taking on the Sentinels side-by-side with the X-men? What kind of character would you have made? Who would you have allied yourself with? Have you turned back to the loving embrace of City of Heroes to assuage your angst? And, most of all ... are you still a true believer?

We were invited to check out Cartoon Network's upcoming kid-focused MMO FusionFall, and while clearly still in development, it shows a lot of potential. Developed in part by Korea's Grigon Entertainment, makers of Seal Online, QRing, and Gambledon, this is a title with a great deal of pedigree under the hood. Among the notable names on this project are Sam Lewis, former systems and content designer for Star Wars Galaxies; Robert Knopf, recently of Ultima Online; and Richard Weil, the community relations manager for many MMOs, including City of Heroes/Villains, Lineage I and II, Tabula Rasa, and Auto Assault.

With so many experienced and creative people behind it, FusionFall definitely stands to make a splash in the 8 - 14 year old demographic that Cartoon Network is shooting for. This isn't to say they don't have a few challenges ahead of them, however. We'll explore this, and show you the trailer, after the break.

When news broke about Champions Online, it was because Game Informer Online had revealed the cover to their newest issue. We've got our hands on that issue and after pouring over its contents several times over, we're prepared to imbue you -- our readers -- with as much information as possible. There's a lot to know and a lot to get excited about, not to mention something of a bombshell from Cryptic Studios about the outcome from the sale of the City of Heroes property.

Here's a question I haven't heard anyone ask. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Marvel Comics geek; I know what both MODOK and AIM stand for; I remember Wolverine from when he wore those silly little eye-wings and whiskers on his mask; heck, I recall Nick Fury heading up the Howling Commandos. So I was pretty excited to hear about the Marvel Universe MMO. I had fantasies of playing as my favorite character (Adam Warlock, in case anyone's interested) until I realized that the game couldn't possibly work that way.

Think on it for a second: how many players would want to be Gambit, or the Hulk, or the Punisher? If even just two people, then there's a problem with identity. Even if you were to get around the problem with a suffix, i.e., Punisher213, then the brand has been diluted, and it no longer means anything. So, how would this MMO have worked?

When the news hit that Cryptic Studios' next massively game would be Champions Online, a lot questions cropped up about what we could expect from the game. One of the biggest questions or the only question for some players -- is why? Jack Emmert explains in the first developer blog post on the new official CO website. In the end, it wasn't anything surprising that made Jack stand up and say, "Lets do Champions." It was something incredibly logical and a bit nostalgia-fueled as well, but in a good way.

Microsoft have made it big-time with what is largely a market-follower strategy. Let others take risks, open new markets, make mistakes and find solutions, and then use that experience to move in with a best-of-breed application. Granted, opinions may vary as to how successful the implementations are tactically, but it is sound business sense nonetheless.

However, this doesn't seem to be working quite so well in the MMO space. Mythica was canceled, True Fantasy Live Online, and Marvel Universe Online as well. Possibly others that we haven't heard about. And that's not counting MMO properties that they've sold off. The problem with the bandwagon business strategy is that MMOs take a fearsomely long time to assemble, and markets do change. Microsoft also hates being an also-ran. At the end of the day, Microsoft could produce a very credible MMO if they're willing to take the long-view.

What do you think? Can Microsoft suck it back long enough to take the long-view, or are they likely to keep canceling in the hope of hitting that one perfect product that hits the market at exactly the right moment?

In the last couple of weeks, a lot has changed in the future outlook for upcoming massively games over the next few years. Marvel Universe Online is officially canceled, but in its place rises Champions Online like a shining beacon for fans of the superhero MMO -- although there is always the chance that Marvel could continue to pursue MUO with another developer.

However, the change I'm most curious about involves the Star Wars IP, which according to rumors is definitely being developed, but not by Sony Online Entertainment or Bioware. If true, that changes a lot of things. It partly changes Bioware's upcoming massively game into something else entirely. However, the biggest change is that a Star Wars MMO is coming, but from somebody we haven't thought of yet. After the many woes of Star Wars Galaxies and the later success World of Warcraft has seen financially -- Lucas Arts wouldn't want this done in any way other than impeccably well.

So then, who have they chosen?

Eurogamer caught up with David Perry, former Shiny Entertainment big-wig and now localizer of many free MMOs for Acclaim to ask him, among other things, for his reaction to the recent news that Marvel Universe Online has been officially canned. Perry reacted with some surprise, pointing out Marvel is one of the biggest and most prolific mainstream intellectual properties on the market today, with all the money swirling around the box-office success of Spiderman, X-men, The Hulk, etc. He reasoned that if you take a team just as good as Blizzard and set them to work on a Marvel MMO, it'd be even bigger than WoW.

We take Perry's point, but there are a number of factors to consider with this story. First of all, there's a certain danger in developing an MMO for a console environment, especially at this stage in the system's life. The Xbox 360 launched in Fall of 2005, meaning it's probably closing in on the midway point in its life-cycle. In a genre where games like Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot are still making money, being halfway through a five year life cycle doesn't bode well for long-term profitability. And second, whose to say Shane Kim even related the full story? This whole affair could be far messier than we can tell at this juncture -- we may only find out what really happened with time.

Stop the presses! Eurogamer tackles the scoop by Game Informer magazine that Cryptic Studio's new MMO, to be developed for both PCs and consoles, will be another superhero game called Champions Online. Scoop indeed; the news isn't even up on Cryptic's site!

While it may seem strange to set up yet another superhero-themed MMO while City of Heroes/City of Villains is still getting lots of play, this could be Cryptic's way of reusing assets created for Marvel Universe Online. No word yet on whether the title has anything to do with the classic roleplaying game Champions, which is itself all about superheroes, but the addition of 'Online' to the name might be an indicator. We'll be going to GDC where Cryptic will probably announce this, so keep your ears on!

I have to confess, I had been holding out hope over the last couple months that the rumors circulating of Marvel Universe Online's imminent cancellation would prove to be unfounded. The very idea of a Marvel-endorsed super-hero game being developed by the guys at Cryptic to be released on the Xbox 360 platform was almost too much for my fanboy heart to handle. Alas, it was not to be. Steven Totilo of MTV's multiplayer blog sat down with Microsoft's Shane Kim to talk, among other things, about the cancellation.

Kim first confirmed that the cancellation rumor was true, and stressed that the decision to cease development was amicable on all sides. He cited the competitiveness of the MMO market as the primary reason for cancellation. Evidently, Microsoft felt that they couldn't make a sufficient profit to justify the costs of development using a traditional subscription-based model. He also said the game was too far along in development to switch to another business model, like an ad-supported or RMT model. Perhaps the only silver lining in this story is that Cryptic is now free to develop new IPs. Those, of course, will have to wait until Cryptic's media blackout ends.

These days, if you don't keep your head down, a rumor about Cryptic Studios is bound to hit you in the face. In fact, quite a few of them probably already have at this point. It all started with a letter to the community. After that plural hit, it wasn't just Marvel Universe Online that people were chattering about, but upcoming "projects" from Cryptic Studios as well. Ever since they managed to take one of my favorite things in the world -- superheroes -- and turn that world into a fun and successful massively game, I've loved the people at Cryptic.

So it was with plenty of excitement that I discovered Cryptic would be handling the Marvel Comics license for their next massively game. Unfortunately for all of us excited fans -- of Cryptic, Marvel or both -- the entire operation went into super-secret-silent mode. Aside from CoX news, (which came from a different team at Cryptic, now NCsoft NorCal) we haven't heard even a faint murmur of information. After a while, this leads to lots of speculation about whether or not Marvel Universe Online is canceled. So far, there still hasn't been any additional official information on the game and all we are left to is pure speculation.

What could be in the future for Cryptic Studios? Nobody knows except them, but that shouldn't stop anyone from guessing.

Put another checkmark in the evidence column for Star Trek Online not going to Cryptic Studios. Trekmovie.com reports that while Cryptic was in talks with Perpetual, they very likely were only trying to pick up new talent for their work on Marvel Universe Online, not looking to pick up a whole new license.

Of course, this doesn't confirm or deny anything-- Cryptic hasn't said they aren't doing it, and the truth is that there may not be someone chosen to do it yet. We're still in the rumors and speculation mode (and isn't it fun?). But the original report-- that the license is going to a developer in the Bay Area-- still stands.

Meanwhile, Star Trek fans have to keep holding their breath, and hoping that this game gets made by the right people to make it.

[Via CSG, who's right-- whoever's doing it, at least it's not Perpetual]

Almost all gaming sites this time of year weigh in with their predictions for what the new year will bring, but I particularly like what TenTonHammer has seen in their crystal ball. Plus, I just like saying "Ten Ton drops the Hammer." It's fun. Try it.

A few of their eight predictions hit close to home with me. In particular, their first prophecy regarding Jumpgate Evolution. I was a huge fan of NetDevil's now defunct MMO, Auto Assault. Not because their shop is only an hour north of me here in Colorado, or that I seemingly enjoy virtually everything NCsoft puts out, but because it was as close to a Mad Max movie as there was. I'm a post apocalyptic junkie. Sadly... it went the way of the Cuban Missile Crisis and died enigmatically. So I can't wait to see how they update their cult sci-fi game, and... well, see how it jumps out of the gate! Oy.

Next up, they forecast that Cryptic Studios will at long last release some information about Marvel Universe Online. If I was a gambler I might bet against this, but stranger things have happened. As an obsessed City of Heroes player (and confirmed alt-aholic), my love of the game grew from my passion for comic books. In particular, Marvel comic books. I want to see what the creators of my favorite spandex covered game can do with yet another spandex covered game that's different from the first one, and how are they going to get me to play that one just as much as this one. Confused? So is Britney, but she's doing fine. Sort of.

Anyway, be sure to check out Hammer's other prognostications and let us know what you think 2008 holds for this oh so massive industry!