Directional Pad

Firefly rises from the dead in MMORPG form

Wired News is reporting that a company called "Multiverse" has secured the rights to produce a MMORPG based on the Firefly license. For the uninitiated, Firefly was a short-lived TV series from Joss Whedon which happens to be one of the greatest works of science fiction ever. The Firefly story certainly has great potential for exploration in a media like this. The shows told a story of a complex world of an oppressive but glorious empire, 'outer worlds' of abject poverty, and any number of smugglers and criminals in between, perpetually trying to stay one step ahead of the law. This is the sort of setting that is ripe for both exploration and adventure. The potential for a game set in such a universe is great.

However, I'm afraid I have serious doubts. Besides my general doubts about a MMORPG's ability to focus on the grandeur and intrigue of its setting over its own, blatantly numeric game mechanics, I have more serious worries. My most serious concern is that the Wired article does not mention any involvement by Joss Whedon at all. In fact the article implies (but doesn't directly state) that this effort was initiated by "Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising". Given both the show's premature cancellation and Fox's well known artistic differences with Whedon over the show's style and direction, this doesn't bode well for the direction the game will take.

Also somewhat distressing is the fact that Multiverse has never actually created a game. They make a game engine not actual games, and as such they're going to be hiring a third party to do the actual development. In addition, since so far nothing of real interest has actualy been created with their engine. The best thing Wired could find to say about Metaverse, is that they were founded by some people from Netscape.

And, of course, that's all there is right now. It's announced, it has a lot of theoretical potential, but it will probably just be yet another bland uninspired MMORPG. Go ahead and call us cynical, but without Joss' involvement, the game probably won't get the Browncoat Seal of Approval, and without a solid userbase, an MMORPG can't succeed. We'll be keeping our eyes on this one, though, because if it miraculously ends up being done Right, it could be the best anything ever.

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