Thread:LegoMan25/@comment-3444778-20120330215131


 * The date January 30, 2012 will forever live in infamy in the hearts and minds of true fans. What died was not just a game; it was a legacy. I still remember the first time I learned about LEGO Universe. I was intrigued and awed, and was instilled with a kind of feeling I can still recall, but haven’t truly felt since. People may still be found talking about the “Beta feel” in reference to that stage of LEGO Universe development, where there was an indescribable feeling that defined the game. It was almost like the “holiday spirit” that is referenced throughout popular culture during the said time of year, only the “LEGO Universe spirit” was new, exciting, mysterious, and nothing I or countless others had felt before nor will likely feel again. It was part of the mystique of the game, and it has been unparalleled since. Since the closing of the BETA stage, LEGO Universe has grown and matured, and it is easy to see how both the released and unreleased content is a testament to the incredible work put forth by the dedicated developers of LEGO Universe. And as this might seem like an exaggerated description of a video game written by someone who worships it, anyone who has really delved into the content would know exactly the sense of which I speak. It is possible that I am wrong, but not the thousands upon thousands of other players who could attest to the above. I have played many other games, but LEGO Universe has bested them all in quality of gameplay, amount of fun, and for other MMOGs, LEGO Universe has been safest and had the most excellent community.


 * Therefore, this message is being written to inform you of my interests in purchasing the LEGO Universe franchise, licenses to use all technologies involved in development of the game, and rights to use all released and unreleased material to open the game once more as a nonprofit online game. I would also like to request an appraisal of the franchise and the technologies involved. This way, I will be able to get an estimate of the funds required. I am sending this letter on behalf of the LEGO Universe Wiki, a small portion of the community dedicated to recording and preserving the game, along with keeping a handful of fans together after the community was disbanded. We are considering acquisition of the franchise because it is so valuable as a work of the developers who toiled over the game for six years. Their hard work has paid off, and the product that resulted is too incredible to let go of easily. One can spend hours gaping at the concept art drawn for the game. It pains me, along with countless others, to try to think of all of the potential the game held. Secondly, the community is overwhelmed with the loss of the game, as any quick look at the official LEGO Universe Message Boards can show. It is astounding what some of these hardcore fans will do to help bring back the game. After sharing this plan with the community, and trying not to get their hopes up too much, the general attitude is that purchasing the franchise isn’t probable, but in the case that the efforts are successful, they will be willing to help indefinitely. This letter is being sent to try to make the impossible a reality. The community is willing and ready to help, as a series of competitions and challenges we conducted have shown. There are countless very good ideas that we have thought up, and although we realize that not all will be able to be put into place, trying our best to further develop the game is a course of action we are very serious about taking.


 * Our plan is to essentially raise money through various effective yet undisclosed methods to purchase the franchise and technology, then run the game over the internet. The functionality will be essentially the same, with the files available for free download and installation, and client connection to one or more global servers. We also have sources to provide these dedicated servers, and ideas about how to set up a new secure account system by which users will log on to the game to replace use of their LEGO IDs. We have many builders who are very talented, as some of the building zones in the game had shown before closure. We also have people for the more technical side of development, who although may not have the same level of expertise as the previous developers, can learn what they don’t know. We will do our utmost to match the quality of safety and moderation that preceded us, and will likely change little if anything in that regard. However, we will try to focus more on targeting the age group that the game actually attracted, which represents generally 10-17 year olds. This way, we can maintain the safe environment that encourages users of all ages to play, yet not making the content too immature or little-kid-centered. For example, a spooky zone (best portrayed by Netdevil’s own Monarch’s Tomb concepts) might be added, which is a bit more mature than the peaceful and playful Pet Cove, but we will indefinitely steer away from anything gory or unsuitable for younger audiences. All content developed will not be released until it approaches or matches the quality of the work put forth by Netdevil; anything that does not meet the requirements should be revised until it does, as the community values the quality of the content as much as the original developers did.


 * Lastly comes the issue of copyrights and trademarks. After thoroughly reading your Fair Play page, it is imminent that use of the official LEGO logo in the LEGO Universe logo will no longer be legal, so any guidelines on how to fix this problem would be most helpful. Having a screen come up before the front end (log-in screen) describing our use of LEGO, the brick and knob configuration, the LEGO elements, minifigures, and the other copyrighted aspects of the game by sole permission of The LEGO Group was another idea that we had. Plastering it over the bottom of every page on the website and on the ToS/EULA would also be steps we’d be easily willing to take to make the operation legal, so guidelines for the details concerning that issue would be helpful as well.


 * In closing, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope this is given as much thought as the LEGO Universe Wiki has put into it; this is a very serious endeavor, and we await a reply with great anticipation. Thank you.

Sincerely,



Aka “maestro35”, “ShermanTheMythran” active moderator on the LEGO Universe Wiki 