Lego Universe
This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2012) |
Lego Universe | |
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OS X | |
Release |
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Genre(s) | Massively multiplayer online |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Lego Universe is a
Story
Plot
Lego Universe took place in an
Factions
The game consisted of four factions, only one of which a player could join. Each Faction had three specialties that had 3 different ranks and gear. There were two valiant weapons per faction which could be bought at the Nexus Tower. The Sentinels were combat based, using heavy weapons and armor. Their specialties included Knight, Samurai, and Space Ranger. The Venture League was based on exploring, utilizing combinations of light weapons and fast attacks. Their specialties included Daredevil, Buccaneer, and Adventurer. The Assembly focused on building and creating, using gear that builds weapons. Their specialties included Engineer, Summoner, and Inventor. The Paradox relied on studying the Maelstrom, and using it against itself, mainly using ranged attacks. Their specialties included Space Marauder, Sorcerer, and Shinobi.
Worlds
Venture Explorer
After creating a minifigure, players came to the Venture Explorer. It acted as a tutorial for any newcomers, teaching the basics of running, jumping, and smashing. Ultimately, players built a rocket and headed off to Avant Gardens with help from Sky Lane. Also, members were able to participate in a "Return to the Venture Explorer" with difficult enemies such as Hammer Stromlings, Corrupted Sentries, Hammerhurl Stromlings, and Elite Dark Spiderlings; though this was not part of any tutorial.
Avant Gardens
This is the second world players would visit. It introduces newcomers to the basic mission scenarios and gets them prepared for what they will soon come to face. In addition to the storyline missions, there were side missions and bonus activities such as survival and foot races. Players with memberships saw this as the first zone to see tamable pets in. The Maelstrom minions here are easy, such as the Stromling, Stromling Mech, and the Dark Spiderling, born from the Block Yard's boss, the Spider Queen. The mini-game here is Avant Garden Survival. Here you must survive against Stromlings, Dark Spiderlings, Stromling Mechs, and other enemies more difficult to destroy. Avant Gardens is where you can tame the pets such as Doberman, Triceratops, and Buffalo. The two properties where you can build your creations in Avant Gardens are Block Yard and Avant Grove.
Nimbus Station
Nimbus Station acted as the Hub for members and was the third world players will visit. Here, you could access most of the other worlds. After the seventh mission, you must select one of the 4 factions (The Assembly, the Sentinels, the Venture League or Paradox.) Here you could enter yourself in a race against other minifigures in the Vertigo Loop racetrack. You could also participate in the Battle of Nimbus Station, an event similar to survival in Avant Gardens but incorporating a wave system and taking place in Nimbus Station's past, fighting off stronger enemies. Members enjoyed many numerous of features in Nimbus Station, including more pet choices. Also there was a rocket pad to Frostburgh [valid December - February 2010 / 11] near Christmas, the portal to Starbase 3001, and the Lego Club Door [near Red Blocks]. The properties here are Nimbus Rock and Nimbus Isle. The Pets here are Robot Dog and Skunk Pets. There were no enemies on Nimbus Station, except those in the Battle of Nimbus Station.
Pet Cove
Pet Cove was the key to everything about Pets. It was primarily a hub for players with memberships to learn how to tame Pets and do stunts with their Pets. Obviously, this would be the zone where a large variety of Pets will be available.
Gnarled Forest
Gnarled Forest was a pirate infested forest-styled zone in which players could experience the shift from beginning features to regular features. Minifigures would learn many new abilities here and unlock many new weapons. This is the first zone that introduces players to guns. The pets that you could get in this world were a tortoise, a boar, a crocodile, an elephant, and a hermit crab.
Forbidden Valley
Forbidden Valley was unlocked at the same time as Gnarled Forest. It was the first world themed on ninjas, and was primarily rocky, dark, and barren, with many drop-offs and cliffs. The central area of the Forbidden Valley was a huge tree which was a sort of safe zone. It included a mini-game in which the player could fight three dragons. It also introduced several new enemies, such as the Dark Ronin and a type of Dark Ronin which rode a skeleton horse.
Nexus Tower
Nexus Tower was the hub of everything informational in terms of factions. Here one could accept missions from the faction leader and interact with other things within Nexus Tower. The last piece of the Imagination Nexus is kept here. Like Nimbus Station, Nexus Tower contained no enemies.
Crux Prime
Crux Prime was the largest of the planetary fragments created in Crux's explosion. Here can you meet many enemies you have met before but in stronger form along with bosses of all varieties (such as Stromling Invaders), and also a myriad of Ninjago Skeletons, straight from the Ninjago Monastery, attempting to mine Maelstrom Crystals. There are only 7 characters that the player can interact with in Crux Prime. Enemies also included the 'leaders' of types of enemy (e.g. Butterscorch, the dragon leader). All leader enemies show up in a slightly different colour from other Crux Prime invaders. The only tameable pet here was the Skeleton Dragon which was tamable as part of the main story line on Crux Prime.
Ninjago Monastery
The Ninjago Monastery was a new Lego Universe world added to the game within a new build of the game on September 20, 2011. It featured more expansively than Crux Prime the Lego theme
Gameplay
Lego Universe brought players from around the world together to build and fight against the Maelstrom and its minions. The player assumed the role of a Lego minifigure and travelled to various themed worlds, each with different enemies and challenges. Players could collect and earn gear that might be worn and fought with to aid them in achieving a wide range of set goals. Also, players could have Specialties, each one with their unique gear. In addition, minifigures could gain ranks which allow them to use more advanced gear.[9]
The accessible full worlds were the pirate-themed Gnarled Forest, faction-oriented Nimbus Station, green and festive Avant Gardens, high-tech Nexus Tower, Maelstrom based Crux Prime, Ninjago's world Ninjago Monastery and the ninja-based Forbidden Valley. Custom-built rocket ships were used by players to travel between these worlds.[10] Three racetracks are found on these worlds that allow players to race against each other with custom race cars.[11]
Throughout the game players could collect Lego pieces that can be used to freely build models on their personal properties. Properties could be set to only allow in certain friends or to give access to anybody in the game.[12]
Promotion
Trailers
The original trailer, leaked around early 2008, showed early concepts of the game. These include character customization using the traditional Lego method, a workshop where a car is created from
Bradford Rant
In November 2009, a website for the fictional "Bradford-Rant Institute for Cosmic Kinesis" was linked on the Lego Universe web page. The institute was supposedly tracking seven Lego "Pods", which landed in various parts of the United States and Europe. Fans could track and find these pods, all of which landed between November 2009 and early January 2010. Once a pod was found, its data was put up on the Bradford-Rant page. After all of the Pods were found, a new trailer for Lego Universe and the tagline for the game, "Answer the Call: Save Imagination," was released.[15]
The Great Minifig Mission
In January 2010, the Bradford Rant promotion then was turned over to "The Great Minifig Mission" promotion in which Lego account holders complete missions in order to help
E3 2010
On June 15–17, 2010, the Lego Universe Team hosted an event at the
Testing
Alpha
Beginning December 8, 2009, members of the Lego Kids Inner Circle who had been members before December 7 were invited to test the game before the beta started.[17] Before this, the only people who could play the game were Lego employees and their friends and families. The game was in a very early state; only a few worlds were ready for testing, and the parts that were playable had several glitches. As time went on, glitches were fixed, and more worlds were opened. Several concepts tested in the Alpha test did not make it into the Beta and were scrapped.[citation needed]
Beta
In January 2010, Lego announced that, at the Consumer Electronics Show, there would be a demonstration and sign-ups for beta testing.
The link to the closed beta signup page was originally leaked on an LU Producer's Twitter page, allowing some people to sign up for the game before anyone else.
Purchase
Lego Universe was based on a subscription known as "Game-Time". A player could choose from one, six, and twelve month subscriptions (the six and twelve-month subscription times rendering special in-game bonuses when bought). Once a user bought a subscription, the Game Time refill code was sent periodically based on the subscription that was purchased, using a process known as auto-renewal. Game Time could also be purchased in the form of non-renewed game cards.
Normal order
Lego Universe became available for normal order on October 27, 2010. The Normal Order shipped with only the Lego Universe DVD and one month of free game time, though promotions did occasionally arise which provided additional exclusive items. The game was also available for download online, through services such as Steam.
Free-to-Play
Aside from the normal membership packages the game also offered a free to play option with certain limitations, such as there being only two worlds available for free play, one being Venture Explorer — a tutorial world — and the other Avant Gardens. You could take part in the fight against the Spider Queen and have temporary gear which involves armour and weapons for each Faction. There was a button that asked players if they wanted to become a full member, where they would gain access to every location in the Universe, alongside more missions & achievements. Free to play required the user to enter a Lego ID & password and create a character with limited name options, whereas members could create their own made-up names. They were also limited on having a maximum 10,000 coins to buy items and food. They did have access to Block Yard where they could build their own creations. They were not allowed to trade with other minifigures, or have more than five friends on their friends list.
Many players thought it was challenging to increase in level after completing the main story line, nevertheless many players participated in the free-to-play option. The idea for free-to-play came from a fan from the "ask Max" section of the website.[citation needed]
Game server shutdown
On Monday, January 30, 2012, precisely at midnight, the Lego Universe servers shut down, and the game is no longer available to play. Jesper Vilstrup, Vice President of Lego Universe, stated, "Unfortunately, we have not been able to build a satisfactory revenue model in our target group, and therefore, have decided to close the game."[7] For the last month of Lego Universe, players with membership were offered a month of play at no cost as a 'Thank you' from the Lego Universe Team.[20] A newly titled 'Lego Minifigures Online' MMORPG was released on June 29, 2015, as a successor game until its closure on September 30, 2016.[21]
The Lego Universe
After the closure of the game, Lego Universe found a new virtual home at The Lego Universe. Despite its discontinuation, dedicated fans and enthusiasts continue to engage with the game's universe, fostering a vibrant online community. The website serves as a central hub where players can reminisce about their experiences, share user-generated content, and connect with like-minded individuals. Through this platform, the legacy of Lego Universe lives on, showcasing the enduring appeal and creativity of the beloved virtual world.
Restoration projects
Following the game's closure, some fans began projects to revive the game through emulation. The most notable project is Darkflame Universe, which has had talks with the LEGO Group.[22] On October 3, 2021, Darkflame Universe announced that they will be abandoning their private hosting of a server and going open source later in the year, due to being unable to reach a legal agreement with the LEGO Group regarding public online play. On December 5, 2021, Darkflame Universe went open source.[23]
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
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GameRankings | 72.44%[25] |
Metacritic | 70/100[24] |
Lego Universe received a Metacritic score of 70/100[24] and a GameRankings score of 72.44%.[25]
References
Notes
- TransGaming Technologies
Footnotes
- ^ E3 LEGO Universe, Game Industry, archived from the original on July 27, 2011.
- ^ a b "At E3", Universe, Lego, archived from the original on June 17, 2010, retrieved June 17, 2010.
- ^ "A Visit to NetDevil". Kotaku. September 29, 2008. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
- ^ "The Lego Group announces Lego Universe as official title for branded MMOG". Lego. June 7, 2007. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
- ^ "Lego MMO Screens and Info". Loot Ninja. June 1, 2007. Archived from the original on May 16, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
- ^ "Help — Top questions", Universe, Lego, archived from the original on January 30, 2012, retrieved July 19, 2010.
- ^ a b Zam, archived from the original on September 21, 2013.
- ^ "LEGO Universe : The Massively Multiplayer Online Game - LEGO Universe". thelegouniverse.com. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
- ^ "What is Lego Universe?". Lego. Retrieved September 2, 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Worlds". Lego. Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
- ^ "Playing in Lego Universe". Lego. Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
- ^ "Building". Lego. Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
- ^ "New CES 2010 videos". Game trailers. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
- ^ LEGO Universe E3 Trailer, G4TV, archived from the original on July 8, 2012
- ^ "Reveal the Mystery at Bradford-Rant". Bradford-Rant. Archived from the original on November 15, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
- ^ "Universe". Lego. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
- ^ CES 2010: LEGO Universe Demo, Part 1 - Alpha testing mentioned at 2:28
- ^ "LEGO Universe Beta Sign Up Page Leaked on Twitter" (Press release). Javamint. February 4, 2010. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ "LEGO Universe Welcomes Adventurers at CES 2010 with Hands-On Demos and Beta Sign Ups" (Press release). Lego. January 5, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
- ^ "Game server shutdown: Free last month play" (Press release). Lego. January 11, 2011. Archived from the original on November 10, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
- ^ "LEGO Minifigures Online". Archived from the original on August 3, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
- ^ "Lego Universe Emulator Enters Talks with LEGO to Legitimize Project". October 30, 2020.
- ^ @darkflameuniv (October 3, 2021). "Hello Explorers! Today, we're excited..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b "LEGO Universe Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
- ^ a b "LEGO Universe GameRankings". GameRankings. Retrieved February 8, 2014.