Lego Universe is a massively multiplayer online game developed by NetDevil. The game was released on October 26, 2010, with an early opening (October 8, 2010) for LEGO "Founders",[5] which consisted of users who pre-ordered the game. It is globally distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.[6] Its release was delayed from original estimates of 2009,[7] late November 2008,[8] and mid-2008.[9] It will initially be available in English and German, with three different servers available at launch.[10]
Plot
LEGO Universe takes place in an alternate universe populated by LEGOminifigures. Many years ago, a team of minifigures went on a great journey to seek the last essence of pureimagination. Having found it on the mysterious planet Crux, the mentally questionable leader of the expedition, Baron Typhonus, used the imagination to accidentally create a giant, chaotic spider to demonstrate the power of imagination. However, the creature backfired on Baron, so took him into the source of pure imagination, creating a dark force known as the Maelstrom. This being/amalgamation of dark imagination is able to turn otherwise innocent minifigures and creatures into Stromlings.
After the creation of the Maelstrom, the remaining explorers, hoping to protect imagination from exctinction, founded the Nexus Force, an organization devoted to the protection of any remaining traces of imagination. After the formation of the group, however, the leaders were unable to agree on the best method of defeating the Maelstrom. Thus, the Nexus Force was divided into three Factions, each with a unique speciality: building (the Assembly), battling (the Sentinels) and exploring (the Venture League). The three explorers then recruited the Baron's former assistant, Vanda Darkflame, to lead a fourth Faction: the Paradox, devoted to Maelstrom research, using the Maelstrom power against itself.
Once the Nexus Force was established, a place of headquarters was required to organize the many minifigures that joined the organization. Doc Overbuild oversaw the construction of the Nexus Tower, the base of the Nexus Force. The Nexus Tower was also meant to protect the last piece of pure imagination, as well as to serve as a beacon of unity and hope for the future of imagination.
Now, great plans are in place to push back the power of the Maelstrom, and restore harmony to the Universe.[11] Players will join together to help the residents of LEGO Universe battle the Maelstrom and its army of dark creatures.
Characters
Early Characters
These characters were revealed on the LEGO Universe website.
Professor Brickkeeper - An inventor who runs the Creation Lab of the LEGO Universe website.[12]
M.u.T.t. (Motorized Universal Technology Terrier) - Professor Brickkeeper's robot dog. He is intentionally designed to be at real life LEGO scale.[13]
Bob - The plain minifigure seen walking around the log-in screen, and within the Venture Explorer.
Buron - The dragon found in an exclusive VIP video.
My LEGO Network
These characters have been revealed through My LEGO Network on the LEGO website, though only Numb Chuck and Captain Jack Knife can actually be found in-game.
Captain Jack Knife - The pirate leader of the Black Seas Barracuda, his ship is stuck on land and has not been out to sea for a long time. He is known to trade, drink root beer, and rely too much on his band of pirates.[14] He can be found at the Pirate Camp in Gnarled Forest.
Numb Chuck - A ninja leader whose interests include sparring, reading, and karaoke. He often sleeps when nothing exciting is going on.[15] He can be found at the top of the Giant Tree in Forbidden Valley.
Friendly Felix - A one-man band. A retired explorer, he lives in a public garden, regularly performing songs based on his adventuring days.[16]
As these characters are only part of the promotion they are not necessarily going to appear in the game (with the exception of the Maelstrom).
Baron Typhonus - A Lego explorer of long ago, now a scholar and tycoon. After finally finding the Last Essence of Pure Imagination, he fell in, creating the Maelstrom.
Doctor Overbuild - A colleague of Baron Typhonus who joined him on his quest. He is the leader of the Assembly faction.
Duke Exeter - The famous warriorknight. He knows the location of an ancient structure on Gallant 5 that has significance with the imagination. He is the leader of the Sentinels faction.
Hael Storm - A space pirate who is leading the explorers to Duke Exeter. He is the leader of the Venture League faction.
Vanda Darkflame - The former assistant of The Baron who was left behind to carry on his work. Later recruited by the explorers to lead the Paradox Faction.
The Maelstorm - The dark force of imagination that formed when Baron Typhonus fell into the last essence of pure imagination. It infects creatures and people to turn them into Stromlings.
Stromling - Paradox researchers corrupted by the Maelstrom.
Stromling Pirate - Pirates overtaken by the dark energy of the Maelstrom and turned into Stromlings. File:Darkling Pirate.JPGA Stromling Pirate.
Dark Admiral - Ambitious Stromling Pirates, obsessed with the dark possibilities of imagination.
Dark Spiderling - Research subjects that escaped from captivity.
Maelstrom Ape - Corrupted by the Maelstrom in the Gnarled Forest and recreated in the Dark Menace's own image.
Maelstrom Mech - Security robots at the Paradox refinery in Avant Gardens who became overwhelmed by Maelstrom energy and reprogrammed to attack.
Spider Boss - Created by Baron Typhonus, using the Imagination Nexus.
Dark Ronin - Statues corrupted by the Maelstrom and turned into "living" samurai ghosts.
Dark Horsemen - Floating, ghost-like samurai Maelstrom riding skeletal horses in certain places around Forbidden Valley.
Gameplay
The gameplay of LEGO Universe is similar to that of Lego Star Wars: The Video Game and Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. Its character creator allows even more character customization than those available in previous LEGO games. You can select a unique style for your minifigure, as well as a temporary and a custom name. New parts for customizing can be unlocked, bought, and earned as you progress throughout the game. There will not be any experience points or character leveling; instead, statistics will be determined by a character's equipment. Weapons, which can be bought from NPCs, dropped after defeating enemies, and earned from quests, will determine your attack strength, attack speed, special abilities, imagination levels, shield levels, etc.
Building and Stats
While playing, there are three major statistic bars: health, imagination, and shields. The health bar shows the player's current health. If a player loses all of their health, they become broken (or "Smashed") and must be rebuilt. Imagination is required to quick build models.[17][18][19] The shield bar shows your ability to resist attack.
The game offers many different opportunities to build with LEGO bricks. There are three building modes found in-game:
Quick Building, where you automatically construct a predetermined model by interacting with it
Modular Building, where you choose from a selection of modular collections of bricks to arrange into full models, such as rockets or cars
Custom Building (or "Free Building"), where you have complete creative control of the model[20] Players will have the option of making their creation smashable or not, by using a certain "Behavior".
All players in the game will have their own private "properties" to build whatever they wish with their bricks and models. Before editing a property, the player must first clear it of the Maelstrom and reach the trapped imagination orb.
Once the Maelstrom has been eliminated from the property, pre-built models can be placed inside the building area, and minfigs can enter "Brick Mode", which allows them to build their own models piece-by-piece. In addition, players can put "behaviors" (earned from completing missions within the property) on their creations to give them the ability to move and interact.[21]
All creative aspects of the game that can be seen by the general public must first undergo moderation before they are made visible. Once a creation has been completed and added, it is sent to the moderation server, where it is changed from multiple brick objects to a single gameplay object. This allows the creation to be interactive and move about the world. While it is on the server, it is also moderated, and sent back to the property upon approval.[19] The exact duration of time this can amount to varies depending on both the model and the amount of other models awaiting moderation.[19]
It has been confirmed that there will be several worlds, both at launch and later during the game, between which the player navigates via a custom, modular built rocket.[23]
A list of the currently available worlds are as follows:
• The Venture Explorer: The Venture Explorer (sometimes called the “Tutorial World”) is the very first world you encounter in LEGO Universe. It serves as a starting place for the story line of the game, and also introduces you to some of the essential gameplay elements. It is here that you acquire the Thinking Hat (also known as the “Imagination Hat” or the “Thinking Cap”) as well as the models necessary to build your very own rocket. The ability to store imagination is also given by Bob, an NPC found within this world. You can only visit the Venture Explorer once. There are no pets on this world.
• Avant Gardens: Avant Gardens is the second world you will encounter. It is the location in which you will obtain your first weapon and shield item; it is also the first location in which you encounter your first Maelstrom Beings. The main areas include the Sentinel Base, the Avant Gardens Launchpad, the Spider Cave, the Monument Base, the Monument, and the Marketplace. Primary enemies include Stromlings (previously known as “Darklings”), Stromling Mechs, Spiderlings, and the Spider Boss. From Avant Gardens, you can travel to either Nimbus Station or the Block Yard property. Pets include the Triceratops, the Doberman, and the Buffalo (Bison).
• Nimbus Station: Nimbus Station is really a gateway to the other worlds found in LEGO Universe. There are no Maelstrom Beings within this world. It is here that you can join a Faction, or learn to race. The main areas include the Nimbus Launchpad, the Nimbus Plaza, Red Blocks, the Brick Annex (also called “The Assembly Area”), the Race Place (leads you to the Vertigo Loop race track), the Nexus Gate, and the LEGO Club Door. From Nimbus Station, you can travel to the Nimbus Property, Gnarled Forest, Forbidden Valley, Starbase 3001 (“World Builder League”, previously known as “LUPs World”), Pet Cove, the Nexus Tower (“Nexus Starship”?), Avant Gardens, and Club Station Alpha. Pets include the Skunk and the Robot Dog.
• LEGO Club Station Alpha: LEGO Club Station Alpha (previously known as “Club LEGO”, “LEGO CLUBhouse” and “LEGO Club Area”) is an area accessible only by those who obtained a LEGO Club membership code with the September issue of the LEGO Club Magazine. Inside, you can purchase special members-only items, and watch members-only videos. There are no Maelstrom Beings within this world. From Club Station Alpha, you can travel to Nimbus Station, Gnarled Forest, Forbidden Valley, and Avant Gardens. There are no pets on this world.
• Gnarled Forest: Gnarled Forest is a jungle/pirate themed world, filled with new enemies and challenging battles. The main areas include the Gnarled Forest Launchpad, the Ravine, the Secret Turtle Waterfall, the Gnarled Forest Raceway, Brig Rock, Maelstrom Trench, Elephant Escarpment, the Woods, the Pirate Cave, and the Pirate Camp. Primary enemies include the Stromling Pirate, Stromling Admiral, and the Stromling Ape. From Gnarled Forest, you can only travel to Nimbus Station and the Chanty Shantey Property. Pets include the Crocodile, the Crab, the Tortoise, the Warthog, and the Elephant.
• Forbidden Valley: Forbidden Valley is a ninja themed world; it is the biggest and darkest world. The main areas include the Forbidden Valley Launchpad, Ravencloud Gate, the Mntis Shrine, the Great Tree, Cavalry Hill, Forbidden Passage, the Maelstrom Refinery, and the Dragon Den. Primary enemies include the Dark Ronin, Maelstrom Cavalry, and Maelstrom Dragons. From Forbidden Valley, you can only travel to Nimbus Station and the Raven Bluff Property. Pets include the Red and Green Dragons, the Mantis, the Goat, and the Panda.
• Pet Cove: Pet Cove is where you learn how to tame pets, and the location of the first pets you’ll tame, unless you decide to tame your first pet from a different world. The main areas include the Pet Cove Launchpad, the pet taming area, and the Lighthouse. There are no Maelstrom Beings within this world. From Pet Cove, you can only travel to Nimbus Station. Pets include the Dog (Terrier), the Cat, and the Bunny.
• Starbase 3001: Starbase 3001 is a world you can access from Nimbus Station in Brick Annex near the Pet Cove launch pad. To reach Starbase, you must use a teleporter, instead of a launchpad. When you first enter, you get a mission to talk to a minifigure in the center of the base. There are no enemies or pets in this world. From Starbase 3001, you can travel to Nimbus Station, Moonbase, Portabello, and Deep freeze and possibly a few additional worlds. In the middle, there is a floating circle (that you cannot walk through) that showcases models made by LUPs and by fans in the creation lab, it is somewhat like the old showcase system in Alpha Testing. Also, there is a model vendor, and many screens around his shop showing the various LUP worlds.
• Moonbase: Moonbase is a new world that first debuted at BrickCon 2010 along with a Deep Freeze. Moonbase is a world created by the World Builder League (LUP) Team, the American-based Alpha-Team.[24] It is centered on a classic space set theme, with a storyline that is slightly detached from that of other worlds. The main enemies are the Piratron (unrealeased) and Grabbles, but Maelstrom are not planned to be included any time soon. The "gravity" levels of Moonbase is half that of other worlds. It is also interesting to note that the terrain of the world hails from slightly modified terrain maps of Mars.[24]
The creators of Moonbase have setup a support site to gather ideas from fans at www.moonbase.lu.
• Deep Freeze
Deep Freeze is a world covered in snow, created by the Canadian-based LUP team. When you first arrive, you find Dee the Chickadee, a little chickadee that was chased away from his home by Maelstrom Beavers. When you beat the Maelstrom Beavers, you have to go to Chester the Moose, he tells you to smash ice blocks to get 4 snowshoes, when you do that, he wants you to smash snowmen to get carrots for him.
• Portabello
This world is a fantasy themed world created by the European-based LUP team, Brickazon. There are 3 missions. The first mission is that you must smash five snail shells to get your first rocket section. In the second one, you have to smash five bug boxes to feed a frog. In the third, you must climb a mountain find the star key and release the star fly's. The enemies on this world are known as "The Dark Ones"; there is also a single bumble bee.
Unreleased Worlds
• The Nexus Tower
The Nexus Tower, accessible via spaceship (which is, in turn, accessible from a launchpad behind the Nexus Gate in Nimbus Station) serves as a base for the Nexus Force. This world has not been reachable to date, although those who ventured behind the Nexus Gate witnessed a message mentioning a rocket launchpad apparently soon to come. Further details remain unknown.
• Robot City
Robot City is probably one of the worlds most likely to be released soon. Judging by some in-game pictures scavenged out of the game files, this world appears to be a normal city, with modern skyscrapers and other such buildings around; a park-like center is also visible in one of the pictures. This world was seen amongst Starbase, Moonbase, and Deep Freeze at BrickCon 2010, though no additional details have surfaced from the event. It was created by the World Builder League team, Deer Bite.
Franchise-themed Worlds
In an article about the game (that can be found in the March 2010 issue of Game Informer), the editors asked NetDevil if licensed franchises, such as Star Wars or Harry Potter, would be featured in LEGO Universe. The team only stated: "Not at launch". While there has been no confirmation as far as whether or not licensed worlds will be added later on, it remains a possibility.
Racing
Players are able to create their own racecars for their minifigures to participate in themed races in the different worlds; two racetracks will initially be found in Nimbus Station and Gnarled Forest. There are over a hundred customizable parts to choose from, with which you can build your own custom racer using Modular Building. There is also a leaderboard displaying the top racers.[25]
Pets
Throughout the worlds of LEGO Universe, various pets are available for taming. Each player must learn to tame pets from Coalessa on Pet Cove, a world devoted to pets that is accessible from the launchpad in the Brick Annex. (The Brick Annex is located in Nimbus Station.)
A pet is tamed by interacting with the pet. The player enters a building minigame in which a model is presented, and the player must decide which LEGO bricks are used in the model. If the player correctly identifies the bricks found within the model, the pet then becomes tamed. Once tamed, pets will be able to activate special jump pads (known as "pet bouncers" in the game), as well as dig up treasure for players, though the latter requires the player to complete a special mission. Nineteen pets will be available for taming at launch; the complete list includes: terriers, cats, bunnies, Doberman Pinschers, triceratops, robot-dogs, skunks, crabs, tortoises, crocodiles, warthogs, pandas, green dragons, red dragons, praying mantises, elephants, goats, and bison.[26] A lion pet is also available, but it can only be tamed after all other types of pets have been tamed.
Player Interaction
LEGO Universe will be cooperatively played with others to accomplish in-game tasks.[27] Each player's account will be linked to their My Lego Network account, where awards, equipment and player achievements will be showcased.[23] The currency of the game consists of coins (previously known as Plastic) which can be used to buy LEGO bricks for use on your property, along with items sold by vendors or other players.[28] The game will have both quests and achievements.[19]
Player Association
In the game, LEGO Universe players individually will be able to link with other players either as Friends or Best Friends. Friends can be anybody a player meets in the game, while Best Friends are for connecting with people he/she knows in real life. A player can add a Friend at any time, so long as the other player is online to accept the Friend Request. However, adding a player as a Best Friend requires both players' parents to authenticate that they are who they say they are - as of the Beta Test phase, this meant entering highly personal information, such as your SSID or your Drivers' License Number.
There is also another feature, in which players will be able to build teams to overcome obstacles in order to win prizes and status on the LEGO Universe leaderboards.[29]
Teams
Players can also create their own teams in the game with the "team" button. Any player can create their own team and invite other real players to the team that they have created.
Teams have not been released yet.
Competitions
There will be two types of competitions: Player vs. Environment and Player vs. Player. Player vs. Environment will allow the player to battle creatures and explore the environment, while Player vs. Player will put a player against yourself or others in intense games of skill.[30] There will also be certain quests that require many people to cooperate in order to complete.[19]
Communication
Players will be able to communicate using two different chat methods: the Chat Minus system, which only allows words that are specifically approved in LEGO Universe and the Chat Plus system, which allows much more freedom. Friends can only use Chat Minus, while Best Friends will be able to use Chat Plus to share more content and discussion.[29]
Trading
A limited amount of trading can be found in LEGO Universe. Most items, however, are "Linked"; this prevents them from being traded to other members, usually to keep others from eradicating the need of missions to gain items. Players can trade items and coins, so long as the items remain un-linked.
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 Lego bricks, a Lego city populated with sets from numerous different themes, and a short theatrical battle between an eye-patched Lego minifigure and a "Darkling".
In January 2010, six new gameplay videos, an interview, and another trailer were shown at CES 2010 and released on the internet.[31] A theatrical-style trailer depicting the background story was revealed at the E3 Gaming Expo.[32]
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.[11]
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 minifigs enter the universe. The missions are released at an approximate rate of one every week when the site is updated. When the promotion started, it had a timer ending on April 2, 2010, at 12:00am midnight, GMT, which is April 1 at 8:00pm ET. On March 27, the timer reset to June 2, 2010, at 12:00am GMT, or June 1 at 8:00pm ET.[33]
E3 2010
On June 15–17, 2010, the LEGO Universe Team hosted an event at the 2010 E3 Gaming Expo, where attendees could play in the Beta. It was during this event that the global distributor of LEGO Universe was announced, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, along with the official release date.[6]
Testing
Alpha
Beginning December 8, 2009, members of the Lego Kids Inner Circle that had been members before December 7 were invited to test the game before the beta started.[34] Before this, the only people that 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.
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.[35]
The February issue of the Lego Universe newsletter, released soon after, also contained a link to the Beta sign up page for Lego Universe, wherein subscribers were able to sign up for a chance to be in the Beta Test for PC only. (Though a Mac version was released later on during testing.) Members of My LEGO Network on Lego.com also received a message inviting them to the Beta sign ups. In March, the Lego Universe website featured a link on an article directly to the Beta sign ups.[36] Lego Universe Beta invites were sent out to the first round of non-Alpha Testers on March 10; the Beta Test then ended on September 26 at 7:59 PM EDT (September 29 at 1:00 PM EDT, on the German Server )to prepare for the "Founders" Launch on October 8.
Purchase
Pre-Order
The game is currently available for order on the Lego Universe web page, though the option to pre-order was once available (the pre-order period ended on September 27.) The cost of the pre-order DVD was $39.99 USD (£29.99), the same price as the normal order. The pre-order came with the DVD, an exclusive LEGO Universe Astronaut minifigure, a code card that gave your minifigure exclusive in-game astronaut items, and a free 30-day subscription to the game. People who pre-ordered the game were told that they would get early access starting October 12, 2010, which was the latest date the game was expected to ship. However, in a letter shipped with the pre-order, it was revealed that "Founders" would be able to get access on October 8, 2010 instead, if their game arrived in time.[37]
LEGO Universe became available for normal order on September 27, though the website has not been fully updated to state that the Pre-order period has ended. The Normal Order ships with only the LEGO Universe DVD and one month of free game time. A download option will supposedly be available later.
Cost
The standard subscription options for LEGO Universe are as follows:[38]
LEGO Universe is based on a subscription known as "Game-Time". A player can 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 buys a subscription, the Game Time refill code is sent periodically based on the subscription that was purchased, using a process known as auto-renewal. Game Time can also be purchased in the form of non-renewed game cards. These game cards are now available in some areas, and have been seen at Wal-Mart and Target.
