The Digital Continuum: Single-player MMO

Injecting the single-player special sauce into MMOs is hardly a new idea. In fact Phantasy Star Online has done it more than once in the past. It's also been done in small amount, though. Nobody has taken the chance to go all out and merge the single-player and massively multiplayer styles of gaming together like a tasty digital version of peanut butter and chocolate.

My recent excursion into the Age of Conan closed beta has made me realize that I really enjoy having some singleplayer flavor in my massively multiplayer online games. There is definitely something to be said for a game that can give you the best of both worlds: solo story and grouping experiences.



Let me put it in another way. When recounting my exploits in the recently released GTA IV, I can have different types of amazing experiences from the offline mode versus the online multiplayer mode. I think that MMOs can harness this as well.

The recent purchase of Diablo3.com by Blizzard was perfect in its timing, as it got me thinking about what that game could be like. I really think that if Blizzard was going to make Diablo 3 at this point, it wouldn't be anything like the last two games. Diablo is dead, Baal is dead -- so what else can be done at this point?

A new world with new characters could be one thing. Maybe even a new storyline involving Diablo himself would be worth exploring. The big difference could be in the way the game is designed: as a single-player MMO.

It's simply, really. If you've ever played the first two Diablo games then you remember how much fun the single-player experience was. Just keep the singleplayer side of the game while throwing out the multiplayer aspect for more of an MMO experience. Blizzard could use an upgraded version of their Battle.net service to have players login to the play the single-player game (as to avoid cheating and such) and then if players wanted to they could jump into the MMO version of the game at one point or another. Of course, in Age of Conan you have to wait until you're level 20 to get into the full-blown MMO aspects of the game. I suppose a similar restriction would have to be put into place for Diablo 3.

All it really comes down to letting people choose the kind of experience they want from an RPG. Nobody has really done a full-on single-player RPG that dovetails into a complete persistent online RPG. There are all sorts of chances to blend together different gameplay experiences with a single-player MMO. You can have the traditional solo experience, play with a friend co-op style or even play the entire game like a big story-focused instance with five or more friends. Just imagine the kind of water cooler-style discussions you'd be able to have with friends about all your shared exploits. There are some very cool possibilities here.

Allowing people to play in the way they want with the people they want is what's most important about this idea, that's the single-player MMO at its core.

Source : Massively.com

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Age of Conan: Role Playing Server Rules

These are the rules we are considering for the Roleplaying-tagged servers for Age of Conan.

We are extremely interested in the feedback of our hardcore roleplayers on this issue and hope you will let us know your thoughts in this thread. Please note nothing is final. We're planning a meeting to talk out some of the issues we're already seeing, so now is the perfect time to give us your input.

Preliminary Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Roleplaying Server Rules



All names must fit within the universe of Hyboria. Sephiroths or Pikachus or names that are out of place with the setting are not permitted. This is in addition to our usual naming policy (for example, no copyrighted names).

No names (or obviously similar names) may be those used in the works of Robert E. Howard. Conan, Kohnan, Konan, Kohnan are all examples of names that are forbidden under this policy.

Please avoid Out of Character (OOC) chat as much as possible in the public channels. You are welcome to discuss whatever you like in your guild channels or in private messages. Examples of Out of Character chat include sports events, the weather, what you had for lunch, internet memes, catchphrases, and so on.

Please respect roleplayers. We recognize that not everyone is willing or able to maintain a persona at all times, and we welcome you to enjoy the atmosphere. However, please do not insult or harass the people in character, call them silly, or otherwise try to ruin their immersion.

Harassment and other behaviors covered in the rules of conduct are still covered on roleplaying servers. "I'm just roleplaying a homicidal maniac" is not an excuse for harassing, griefing, etc., other players. This extends to racism/nationalism as well. Roleplaying someone that hates Stygians/Aquilonians/Cimmerians is perfectly alright, however, real world racism is not acceptable.

Player-run events, guild meetings, and other roleplaying sessions may be present at anytime. Please do not interfere or harass players that are in character or running an event. We encourage you to join in and have a good time, but disrupting a wedding, guild meeting, etc. for non-roleplaying reasons may be cause for punishment.

Please keep in mind this is a mature setting for an M-rated game and the roleplay setting and environment may not be suitable for all players and temperaments. Likewise, while this is an M-rated game, please keep in mind that even in Hyboria, there are standards of conduct. Please keep overt and detailed adult conduct and chat in private channels.

In addition to the official rules provided by Funcom, the roleplaying community may have its own rules and customs. We encourage you to observe these as much as possible on your server of choice.

Source : WarCry

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Final Fantasy XI 2008 Edition hits stores May 28th

Square Enix has announced that they plan on releasing the 2008 edition of Final Fantasy XI at the end of this month on May 28th. The box will come with the original game plus every expansion released to date. That means players will get Final Fantasy XI, Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia, Treasures of Aht Urghan, and Wings of the Goddess all in one purchase.



This is nothing new from Square Enix, as they've done this the past couple of years. We would just like to thank them for keeping all the expansions purchasable in a single box, as it makes things a lot easier on newer players trying to get into the game -- or even returning players who've lost their original boxes.

[Update] May 28th is actually the release date for the EU version of Final Fantasy XI 2008 Edition. The US version of this bundle was released on April 15th, 2008.

Source : massively.com

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Age of Conan's raiding treadmill

Race to the level cap. If you're too slow, you lose. If your gear sucks, you lose MORE. The people who got there first have your number and know where you live. You finally struggle to max level -- but you need to raid to get the gear to continue. The game may be built around PvP, but you have to raid in order to get the gear to PvP. You need to raid to get the gear to do more raiding. Then comes the first expansion, and all your old gear is trash. Rinse and repeat. Thus goes the raiding treadmill. Invented by EverQuest and polished to a mirror-finish by World of Warcraft, the raiding treadmill is no stranger to MMOs.



Does it really have to happen again? To see all there is to see and partake in all that can be partook, must we jump on the treadmill and, Red Queen-like, run as fast as we can, just to stay in one place? In a recent blog post, Keen looks at the Age of Conan news that performing in the top echelons of PvP in the Border Kingdoms will depend on grinding out mini-games and doing a fair amount of raiding for the gear to compete. In the end, he decides to purchase the game, despite indications he will not be able to fully enjoy the game. Must modern games still reward fanatical devotion so highly? Is there a way in which casual and hardcore players can both enjoy all the game? We'll know in May if Age of Conan's PvE-gameplay can satisfy gamers who don't wish to climb upon the raiding treadmill. Source : Massively.com

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The lifecycle of an EverQuest 2 hotfix

EverQuest 2 Associate Producer Jennifer Gerull posted an entry on the official EQ2 developer's blog the other day, discussing the process involved in pushing out a hotfix to the game. Though she equates herself to 'George Jetson with longer hours', endlessly pushing buttons all day, it's an interesting look into Sony Online Entertainment's revision process.

As Gerull describes it, code fixes are pushed to an internal server, where the QA department can take a look at them. If the build of the game compiles nicely, it's reviewed by Quality Assurance to ensure the changes are working as intended. If the build doesn't compile nicely, some poor developer gets saddled with "a really ugly doll named 'BoB' that gets to sit on their desk until the next coder gets the "Breaker of the Build" title."

While most of the time the team waits patiently for QA to do its work, important hotfixes result in rushed phone calls and nervous waiting. Inelegantly applied solutions can have the QA team sending one or two of the items on the hotfix list back to the coding team, which in turn requires Jennifer to start a new internal update. She notes that each internal update is labeled with a letter, starting with A and working down. "A few times I've gotten all the way to L, M and N builds, but that is usually the exception rather than the rule on the number of iterations in one day. By the time we get to N, its usually time to go home and try again the next day." Make sure to read on for the full view of this process, and hints of future developer updates to come.

Source : Massively.com

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Stratics : Mythos Preview

Stratics has the latest preview of the free-to-play MMO, Mythos, currently in closed beta. Flagship Studios, developers of Hellgate: London, is also developing Mythos.

Overall, I found playing this MMO to be a great experience. This game is cute and I had a lot of fun. With playable quests, instanced dungeons, a complex skillset, an achievements list and more, Mythos has a surprising amount of content and customization for the free-to-play genre of MMOs. The gameplay will not only appeal to the casual gamer, but also to the cash-conscious one who is looking for a game that offers just as much as those big boy subscription titles without a huge sacrifice of quality or quantity. By : WarCry Network

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Stargate Worlds: Overview

Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment has partnered with MGM Interactive to adapt the popular Stargate television franchise into an online world. Powered by the Unreal 3.0 engine and staffed by MMO veterans from around the industry, Stargate Worlds allows players to experience this rich and varied universe in a new way.

The team set out to translate real world tactical combat into their MMO. While tactics will be closer to reality, the game is by no means a first-person shooter. It employs RPG mechanics. In MMOs, combat has developed a life of its own that only vaguely resembles reality. This is not the case for Stargate. Players must operate as a team, find cover and chose their spots. Their AI enemies will.

"The last thing we want to see in our world is a bunny-hopping Jaffa," Lead Designer Dan Elggren.

The initial release of Stargate Worlds concentrates primarily on the recently cancelled Stargate SG-1 television series. The show ran for a decade, and has become a favorite in sci-fi circles. Stargate: Atlantis, according to Cheyenne Mountain, is likely to be included in an expansion pack.

While tactical combat is the signature of this game, the team also promises to go the extra mile to capture some other elements of the TV series. For example, puzzles will be a large part of the gameplay experience, something not often done in mainstream MMORPGs. The team also hopes to include combat-alternatives, such as diplomacy. The TV series was never just about gun fights, and Stargate Worlds reflects that.

Players advance in SGW through a range of archetypes closely identifiable with characters from the original series. For example, the Archeologist would be similar to Daniel Jackson from SG-1.

Stargate Worlds remains in early development. No projected launch information is available at this time.

By : WarCry Network

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Lineage II: Choose Your Destiny This Summer

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In commemoration of the Hellbound update, eligible players will have the opportunity to swap their main class with one of their subclasses. Change your main class to one of your subclasses and enjoy playing Lineage II with a character that you love even more!

Participation & Duration Information

Those who wish to participate in the event can do so by submitting a request through the homepage. The requests made before each weekly scheduled maintenance will take effect at the following weekly scheduled maintenance.

Eligibility & Requirements

• Each character can swap his or her main class only once; however, the request can be canceled before it goes into effect, and resubmitted again.
• If you first request an account service (character gender change, character name change, or server transfer), you cannot request the main class change. Please resubmit your request on the following week after the account service goes into effect.
• Once you change a character's class, the change is final and cannot be reversed. Please submit your request carefully.

Eligible Character Levels

In order to participate in this event, your desired character's main class must be between levels 75 and 80, and the subclass level must be 75 or above.
Cross-Race Limitations

• Characters whose main class is a Warsmith, Maestro, Overlord, or Dominator are not eligible for this event.
• If you have both Elf and Dark Elf classes as your subclasses, you cannot request one of them to be your main class since both of them can't have the opposing race's class as a subclass.

Kamael Class Limitations

The Kamael race's Inspector and Judicator are subclass-only by design, so they cannot be changed into a main class. The Kamael have unique occupations that are directly tied to the character's gender, so when you change a Kamael character's class, the gender also changes automatically. For example: If your Kamael character is female and you choose to change your main class to a Berserker, your character's gender will change to male.

Hero Status Restrictions

A Hero character can submit the class-change request only after the Hero period has ended.

Inventory Restrictions

At the time of the class change implementation, if your character is carrying more than 80 items in its inventory, the change will fail. Please check your inventory before the regularly scheduled maintenance to ensure that your character is carrying no more than 80 items.

Other Limitations

• A character on the Public Test Server cannot participate in this event.
• You cannot participate in this event if your account or character has been banned.
• After you submit the class-change request, if your account is banned, the change will not take effect.

FAQ

Q: What's the purpose for having a main class/subclass change event?

A: The Hellbound update introduced a subclass level cap of 80, and a main class level cap of 85. This led to great disappointment among those players who had a greater attachment to their subclass and focused their efforts on developing that subclass. That's why we prepared this main class/subclass change event.

Q: What happens to a character's race/face/gender when the main class and the subclass are changed?

A: When the main and subclass are changed, the character's appearance follows the appearance of the main class. The gender remains the same. (All head styles are type A.) For example, for a female Elf character whose main class is Elder and subclass is Hawkeye, if you request the Hawkeye to become your main class, the main class changes into Hawkeye, the subclass changes into Elder, and the character's appearance changes into a human female character. This works a little differently for the Kamael since their classes are gender-specific. For Kamael, at the time of main/subclass change, the gender also changes into that of the main class.

Q: After changing my main class/subclass, can I revert back to my original state?

A: This offer is limited to one time only per character and you will not be able to revert back to your original state. Please remember this and make your decision very carefully. (You can cancel the request before it goes into effect.)

Q: After changing my main class/subclass, what happens to the subclass certified skills and certificates that I acquired?

A: When you change your main class/subclass, all previously acquired subclass certified skills are reset, and previously acquired certificates are removed. In addition, subclass certificates that were acquired during the certificate exchange event are also removed. You must reacquire the subclass certificates again after the main class/subclass change.

Q: Can I change my second and third sub-class into the main class as well?

A: A request is possible if the main class is between levels 75-80 and the subclass is above level 75, be it the first, second, or third subclass. In this case, the main class changes into the requested second or third sub-class.

Q: Can I participate in the event if my main class is a Warsmith, Maestro, Overlord, or Dominator?

A: Warsmith, Maestro, Overlord, and Dominator are, by design, classes that cannot be subclasses. As such, they cannot be changed into a subclass. If your character's main class is any of these classes, the request cannot be made.

Q: Can the Kamael's hidden subclasses Inspector and Judicator be changed into a character's main class?

A: Inspector and Judicator are designed to be subclasses only, so they cannot be changed into a character's main class.

Q: My main class is Human, my first subclass is Elven, and my second subclass is Dark Elven. In this case, is a request permitted?

A: Within the game, an Elf cannot have a Dark Elf subclass, and a Dark Elf cannot have an Elf subclass. If you have two or more subclasses, and if the one you wish to change into the main class is an Elf or a Dark Elf, the request cannot be made when an opposite race exists in the subclass. In the above example, if a third subclass is a Bounty Hunter, you can request it to become the main class. If one of the opposing race subclasses is deleted, it is possible to choose the remaining subclass as your main class.

Q: What happens to my Olympiad points?

A: Since your main class is changed, your Olympiad points are also reset. Please use up your Olympiad points before submitting the request.

Q: I submitted my request properly but the change hasn't occurred. What could be the reason?

A: If the request was submitted properly but the change didn't take place, this means that the requirements were met at the time of the request but not at the time of effect. Please see the following conditions, double check your character's condition, and submit your request again.

• The main class and subclass must be between levels 75-80, and you must not be in hero or hero waiting status.
• The character must have 80 or less items in the inventory. If you can hold more than 80 items, you must make sure that you have no more than 80 items in your inventory at the time of the class-change request.
• The accounts must not be banned.

Q: Before making the request, I made an account service request. Can I still participate in the event?

A: During a regularly scheduled maintenance, the account service and this main class/subclass change event effect occurs at the same time, so if both requests were permitted, the main class/subclass change would not properly take effect. An account that is already scheduled for an account service cannot submit a class-change event request until the corresponding week. Please keep this in mind, and after the account service takes effect, you may participate in event the following week.

Q: I am working on the quest "Repent Your Sins." Can I continue the quest after changing my main class/subclass?

A: The "Repent Your Sins" quest does not apply to both the main class and subclasses. If you change your main class/subclass, all the items related to the "Repent Your Sins" quest are removed, and you must start the quest over.

Event Schedule

The Choose Your Destiny event will be coming in summer 2008. We will announce more details, including exact dates and times, at a later time.

Sounds like a great opportunity!

LOTRO : Book 13 Preview

For players used to the more lush, wooded environments of Lord of the Rings Online, Book 13 may provide a rude awakening. The new zone, Forochel, lies further north than any of the previously accessible regions of Middle Earth, and it's every bit as hostile as you'd expect. Aaron Campbell, Live Producer for LotRO, was kind enough to guide me through the zone and showcase some of the highlights of Book 13 along the way. He explained that the harsh climate there wasn't just a product of its latitude. "[Forochel] is the remnants of the Great Cold that came out of Angmar and settled over the North, so there's a certain edge of corruption to it. It's not only cold, but an unnatural, supernatural cold."

Our tour of the icy wastes of Forochel began along the coast of the frigid Ice Bay. Not the best place for a dip, but the perfect opportunity for Campbell to point out the new environmental damage type that players will contend with as they travel throughout the zone. The cold not only lowers your morale, but places an additional debuff on you that grows more severe over time. This debuff makes it more difficult for you to resist future sources of cold damage, which many of the monsters around Forochel dish out. Fortunately, removing the debuff is as simple as finding a heat source, from a campfire to a nearby steam vent.

We traveled along the coastline until we reached a small fishing outpost controlled by a group of Gauredain. These lanky fellows weren't particularly keen on sharing their real estate with us, but after a few minutes of steel persuasion (aided by our crazy admin powers) we triumphantly reclaimed the hastily constructed hide canopies and bonfires for ourselves. But it was no use: before we could set up our hammocks and crack open a few brews, a group of nomadic Lossoth moved in and put us to work. The Lossoth are a hardy tribe of humans scattered across Forochel that aren't particularly friendly toward you when you first enter the zone. As you liberate their camps from hostile forces and complete quests for them, they gradually begin to realize that you're not there to kill them and entrust you with rare crafting recipes. My character, a Dwarf Guardian, was decked out in crafted Lossoth gear, a stylish Inuit-chic ensemble that grants some extra resistance to the cold.

One Lossoth fisherman politely requested that I do his work for him, and before I knew it I had my first fishing quest. Small problem: my inventory was so bloated with gear that a mere minnow could cause my pack to burst. Solution? Trash some rare and incomparable loot! Likely not a situation that players will encounter, but when you're already invincible, purples and blues lose some of their luster. With some extra space available, I moseyed over to the shoreline and made my first cast. The mechanics of fishing are simple: click the ability once to send out your line, wait for a nibble, then click the ability again to reel in your catch. My first victim was a rare giant goldfish, a modest haul but still rather satisfying for this novice angler.
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Campbell took this fishing quest as an opportunity to point out some improvements to the quest interface. In Book 13, the quest log will feature easy-to-read visuals that indicate the status of your fellowship members on your current quests. Beyond that, it will be possible for players to look for a fellowship for a specific quest through the quest log itself which should make it even easier to find a group while questing.

With my fishing itch sufficiently scratched (it doesn't take much), Campbell took me to the Lossoth capital, a giant hide dome peppered with bonfires and vendors. Outside the front entrance were four banners corresponding to the four Lossoth outposts in Forochel that are constantly assailed by the expansionist Gauredain; each banner shows whether the corresponding camp is occupied by the Gauredain or the Lossoth. Inside, players who have achieved a certain level of standing with the Lossoth will be able to purchase items and recipes to make their stay in Forochel a little more comfortable.

Campbell elaborated a bit on the challenges of building the Lossoth culture essentially from scratch: The LotRO dev team had little more than a paragraph in the appendix of the Lord of the Rings to work from. So how did they arrive at the appearance and attitude that made it into Book 13? Alex Toplansky, one of the content developers, explains: "Tolkien was really first and foremost a linguist, and he was almost a cultural anthropologist; he had a lot of awareness of a lot of the different European cultures and things going on in that part of the world.

"Without going too far into some of the little trips that we put in with them, there was definitely a little bit of influence from the Sami culture, which appears all throughout the northern Scandinavian band. They're a really interesting people with a lot of attempts to hold onto their heritage very much like a lot of Alaskan and Inuit peoples. We really got kind of carried away and swept into how they went about things. And we learned some really cool stuff that I think comes out in a lot of our content."

The Lossoth aren't without their humor, however. Outside the capital, we encountered a clumsy chap who appeared to be attempting to ice skate for the first time. I asked Campbell if players would every get the chance to skate in Middle Earth. "That's one hurdle we have not been able to climb yet. For the moment, ice skates and sleds are purely the domain of the Lossoth." In other words, it could be a while before you get to body check a Hobbit in a game of Middle Earth hockey. Someday...

We continued along a barren ice sheet populated by the local fauna: a domesticated mammoth, sabertooth cats, and even a few moose. The team argued about the last creature, and after a minute or two of fierce debate, determined that moose are actually members of the elk family. "Welcome to our world," one of the developers interjected with an audible eye-roll.

Moments later, I was told to look up and gaze at Forochel's version of aurora borealis. It was a surprisingly striking, soft purple glow that ebbed and flowed across the horizon. It's certainly far more dramatic than the Northern Lights that I've seen back home in Minnesota, but then again I was less drunk this time around so it's hard to make a direct comparison.
image

The ice sheet spilled into a sparse, taiga-like forest. Campbell explained part of their world-building philosophy for the zone: "We really didn't make excessive use of trees in Forochel. Instead a lot more of it is about ice, about vertical division of landscape, rocks, vistas and viewpoints, a lot more about the decorations items such as mammoths skulls that you'll find across the landscape, and then a few ruins out there as well, in keeping with the sort of ancient nature of the area." Before long we were back onto another ice sheet, this time with substantially more aggressive enemies.

A few wandering ice giants greeted us, and if we weren't all invulnerable they would have certainly brought the pain. Campbell demonstrated an effective tactic for less omnipotent characters to employ: pull the giants to a nearby steam vent and they become much more manageable. Why an ice creature vulnerable to any heat source would make its home near a steam vent is anyone's guess, but Campbell speculates, "Well, you know, they like their sauna." A few paces away, a new monster type floated docilely until I got close enough to aggro it: the Grim, a swirling ice spirit.

From there, Campbell teleported the group to a cavernous ice cave that will greet players as they enter the zone for the first time. This biome is sort of a proof of concept for the LotRO dev team going into the upcoming expansion. It was created using a new process that Campbell called "dual-height map technology," basically a streamlined method for creating large underground spaces. We journeyed through the tunnel, inhabited by a few solitary Grim, before reaching a small Lossoth staging area on the other side. It's a typical woodland biome, covered with a light layer of snow. But the rest of Forochel will expand on the idea of "unnatural, bitter cold," as Campbell puts it.

Speaking of the cold, Campbell gave me a brief demonstration of the new blizzard effects that the developers have added in Book 13. At first, the snowfall seemed rather unremarkable. But as the storm intensified, a more disorienting whiteout effect enveloped my character, making it difficult to even discern the outlines of nearby NPCs. This effect isn't unique to Forochel, either; existing zones like the Misty Mountains will also make use of this mechanic after Book 13 goes live.

Campbell and company then led me into a crystalline ice cavern where the epic questline will culminate. I was cautioned not to reveal too much to players, as there are a few big surprises for those who have been captivated by the story so far. Thankfully, I didn't have a clue what was going on! We followed a sinister bloke through a series of scripted encounters that ended in an open-air chamber with a polished-ice floor. Then things got serious. If we weren't all invulnerable, this is where I would have wiped the group numerous times while running around in circles and marveling at the gorgeous starry sky above us. "We like to pull out the extra stops for the epic quests," Campbell boasted.

Thoroughly exhausted from attempting to pretend like I knew what I was doing, Campbell took pity on me and teleported me to his apartment, where he showed me some of the new items available for display in player housing. Campbell's personal favorite? The Frost Antler head. "Because who can go without a good elk head on the wall?" Campbell added, "I would have said 'moose head,' but I've been corrected."
image

No system exists in a vacuum in LotRO, and the same is true for fishing. The developers are clearly taking a holistic approach to new game mechanics, making sure to weave them into other aspects of the game as they are introduced. "[We] try to extend out some of these systems, as we add in new content to the game, making sure we give that love back to housing, back to other systems in the game such as crafting and cooking," Campbell noted.

We closed the session by taking a look at the Orc Defiler, the new monster-play class that Book 13 will introduce. The Defiler has a lanky, hobbled appearance that is both sinister and a little pathetic. Their main skills are healing and reviving teammates and casting powerful curses on enemy combatants; they have a couple direct-damage attacks but the class was built from the ground up as a primary healer, a role that monster players have clamored for.

The Defiler sports a fetching skull helm with its own upgrade path: You start out wearing a deer skull, then move up to a bear skull, an auroch skull, and finally a drake skull. It's both a cool incentive for monster players wishing to gear out their characters and an indicator of your level of experience to foes. Every member of our party wore a different helm, and while we weren't likely to take anyone down with a group full of primary healers, at least we were guaranteed to stay topped-off during our brief foray into the Ettenmoors.

Source : WarCry Network

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NASA Wants its MMORPG Created for Free

"It seems that the educational MMORPG NASA's proposing will no longer have a budget of $3 million. Instead, any prospective development partner is being asked to create and maintain the MMORPG for free under a 'non-reimbursable Space Act Agreement'. It won't be a one-sided agreement, though. From NASA's RFP: 'In exchange for a collaborator's investment to create and manage a NASA-based MMO game for fun and to enhance STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics], NASA will consider negotiating brand placement, limited exclusivity and other opportunities.'"

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