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Building a Universe of Bricks

A Live Preview of LEGO Universe from NetDevil

By Cody “Micajah” Bye

Growing up, LEGO products were always at my fingertips, whether they were the oversized Duplo bricks or the intricately detailed Bionicle products that have been released in recent years. Akin to 3D puzzles, LEGOs were a constant source of joy, frustration, and relief as my brothers and I pieced together the building blocks with our little fingers, our father or mother watching over our shoulder to insure the product was going together correctly. We mostly had the mid-range toys, the larger pirate ships and Star Wars vehicles were simply to immense and expensive to put into our farmhouse.

A shot of the 12-foot LEGO brick.

Upon entering my teenage years, LEGO sets became a thing of the past, as girls, sports, and video games took prevalence. I never stopped loving LEGO sets, I merely didn’t have time to construct the massive projects that would have drawn my attention. For all intents and purposes, I had forgotten about the LEGOs I had once spent my time erecting. With my visit to NetDevil, however, my attitude has changed. A spark of nostalgia has caught in my mind and its settling in there for the long haul.

The visit to NetDevil studios was an amazingly engrossing experience, with LEGO Universe (along with Jumpgate Evolution) being at the forefront of the entire event. At the entrance to the studio, a 12-foot LEGO block stood as a pillar, guarding the entrance to the developers work area. The NetDevil logo was everywhere, presented entirely in LEGO blocks. As all the press, friends, and family gathered to hear about NetDevil’s current projects, the LEGO Universe teaser video generated the largest amount of cheers.

Before the video was shown and the events of the night took place, several members of the press sat down with NetDevil’s producer for LEGO Universe, Ryan Seabury, and barraged him with questions. Although he wasn’t able to answer a majority of these questions, he did give some hints about the direction of LEGO Universe and what kind of MMOG the licensed title will be.

Ryan Seabury answering our LEGO questions.

At the outset, it’s pertinent to point out that LEGO Universe will be a MMOG – a massively multiplayer online GAME – and not just a virtual world. NetDevil is working hard to bring gameplay elements into the world and they don’t want people simply existing in a world of LEGOs. Seabury specifically stated that this was a fact because he did not want people assuming that they would simply be wandering around a LEGO environment. “LEGO knows their brand and we know gaming,” Seabury stated. “We sent them our ideas for an online LEGO game, and they were happy with what they saw.”

With that in mind, when asked the question whether LEGO minis will be included in the game (the small LEGO people with smiling faces), the answer was a definite “Yes”. A player’s in-game character will be a fully customizable mini-figure, an example of which can be seen on the LEGO Universe teaser video. “In some of the cross-over IP stuff, like LEGO Star Wars, I think they did the minis right because they were no longer these rigid plastic men anymore. The minis came to life and could really convey emotion, even being serious at times. There’s a lot of value in that.”

“We also know that people are coming from that LEGO Star Wars experience and that’s what they expect,” Seabury continued. “And the mini figures, to me, are iconic LEGO. When you see the mini figure – that’s LEGO.”