I just wonder if SOE is allocating enough resources to the game to make this possible. From what I've been told, roughly two dozen of the 80 ex-Monolith devs have been extended job offers at SOE. They'll be working out of the developer's Bellevue, Washington office, and from the sounds of it, they'll have help from existing SOE developers. Now, I've never worked on an MMO before, but that number doesn't sound incredibly beefy to me, especially given just how much work seems to go into staging those live events. Speaking of which, remember the "Live Events Team" that Warner Bros. hired to head-up the live events? It turns out that they weren't actually full-time employees of the company, and as such, their status in light of the SOE takeover is still up in the air. I hope that the publisher's plans account for the inclusion of something like that. As I said, I'm far from a Richard Garriott, but I would think that the Live Events Team was at least somewhat instrumental in making MxO's episodic content as compelling as it was.

In any case, the whole MxO deal was only one-half of the big story. The upcoming DC Comics MMO -- the 2007-slated, potential-laden probable blockbuster about which details are distressing sketchy -- is the other, and arguably the more significant half of the drama. The game is set to release on PC, PS3, and PSP (PSP!), and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if it were to become SOE's primary focus once its release date nears. There sure are enough movies based on DC properties in the works. The most exciting bit of news regarding the game is the fact that it will be multiplatform. Now, before you chide me for my enthusiasm, I too remember that, once upon a time, Star Wars Galaxies was slated for PC, and all major consoles. We all know what happened to that. But I firmly believe that things have changed, both in the MMO space and in regards to how important online gaming is to consoles. What could be more enticing a killer app for Sony's inevitable PS3 online service than a fast-paced accessible MMO built around a major mainstream property? The answer: Halo 3. And that ain't gonna happen.

"You were supposed to turn into an Ice SHIPPING CRATE, you dumb nub!!"

The PSP bit is basically a doozy for me as well. I would kill to give WoW even the most basic PSP functionality -- like, say, letting me check my auctions and buy equipment from it -- but from what I'm told, the DC Comics game will likely go much further than that. That kind of cross-platform functionality is apparently informing the design of future SOE MMOs, and I couldn't be happier. It's about time.

It will be interesting to see how all this pans out, to say the least. I hope MxO thrives. I don't really care that much about the Matrix universe, to be honest, but that game seems to the only one really trying to do something interesting, narrative-wise, in the MMO-space. Let them blaze those trails for the benefit of all, I say.