Q: Which now-defunct MMORPG once boasted an open world, single server, single shard structure and was supposed to be the fantasy game that did away with multiple servers and zones in a game?
Answer
Mutable Realms' ambitious project Wish boasted not only doing away with multiple servers, but implementing a "levelling system" (and I use the phrase lightly) that we had never really seen before. Unfortunately, with its sudden cancellation in January of 2005, we never had the opportunity to see just what they could bring to the table.
HIDE Answer
Q: Back in February of this year, Cryptic Studios launched its major title for the year, Star Trek Online. They didn't always hold the license for the immensely popular science fiction IP, but obtained it. From who and when?
Answer
Two years previous to the launch of Cryptic's STO, in January of 2008, Perpetual Entertainment announced that it was no longer developing Star Trek Online and that the license and game content had been transferred to a developer that turned out to be Cryptic.
HIDE Answer
Q: What game, when it was cancelled in February of 2008, blamed an overly competitive subscription-based MMO market, but had a rumor circulating that it was due to a conflict between the developing studio and the company which held the license?
Answer
I know you're probably getting sick of this being an answer in my quizzes already! Marvel Universe Online, when cancelled, the head of Microsoft Games Studios, Shane Kim, did in fact blame an overly competitive market stating that while one current MMO was successful "everything else wouldn't meet our level or definition of commercial success". The rumor, which was reported by Game Informer, was provided by an anonymous source who stated that Microsoft and Marvel had had disagreements involving the license.
HIDE Answer
Q: Imperator Online, a proposed skill-based advancement MMO set in an alternate reality where the Roman Empire never fell, and instead managed to persevere well into the space age, was a victim of priority and was cancelled in 2005. Why?
Answer
Before they were BioWare Mythic or EA Mythic, Mythic Entertainment had planned to develop and release Imperator Online. However, they shut down production in 2005 to make way for the big licensed game that we all know and love, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.
HIDE Answer
Q: Microsoft Game Studios announced a cancellation of an MMO on February 4th, 2004 and claimed it was due to the competitive MMO market and a desire not to "spread ourselves out over multiple MMORPG projects". However, the title had been involved in a lawsuit only a short time before. What was the cancelled game, and, for bonus points, what was the lawsuit?
Answer
The cancelled game was Mythica, a proposed Norse Mythology based game in which you got to play as, of all things, a demi-god! In December 2003, Microsoft was sued for trademark infringement and unfair competition by Mythic Entertainment. Mythic claimed in the lawsuit that the terms "Mythic" and "Mythica" were so close as to cause consumer confusion, thus infringing on Mythic's trademark. Three months after the cancellation, Mythic announced that the case was settled and that MGS agreed to not use the title, as a game or trademark.
HIDE Answer
Q: In 2004, Ultima X: Odyssey was cancelled. UXO is not the only UO title to have seen the axe in the development stages. Just three years before that another UO title saw the end of its life in the development stages. What was it? And for the fun of it, why was it cancelled?
Answer
Ultima Worlds Online: Origin (Ultima Online 2) was cancelled in 2001 and was to be the first sequel to 1997's Ultima Online. The reasoning given for the cancellation of the title, was in order to provide additional support for the original title. There were also fears that a UO2 might split the player base of UO, when UO itself was still moving forward with great success.
HIDE Answer
Q: Star Trek Online was not Perpetual Entertainment's only cancellation. In fact, in order to make way for Star Trek Online in 2007, Perpetual Entertainment had placed this title on "indefinite hold". What was the game? Hint? The game was acquired and is back in development as of earlier this year.
Answer
Heatwave Interactive announced in February of this year that they had acquired the rights to Perpetual Entertainment's Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, a Roman mythology-based MMORPG. No official announced release date has been given.
HIDE Answer
