In October 2010, Lego Universe became the MMO that should have been amazing. It's Lego, simple as that, and Lego games are well-respected and always, always fun. It had a bumpy start – being delayed multiple times from its original release date of mid-2008 – and in the end the old fella just couldn't keep up with all the other MMOs. The creators have taken it behind the barn and shot it through the face.
Universe actually went free to play last year, not always a good sign but sometimes enough to revive a failing MMO, but the developers did it in such a ridiculous fashion that it couldn't have helped the game at all. Limited access to armour and weapons, only one world to explore (outside of the tutorial), the inability to talk with other players – basically they wanted you to cough up your hard earned and didn't much care in offering a free experience.
Those who enjoyed the game also said the developers refused to fix certain issues and bugs that the game had. Either way, the servers were shut down at midnight this morning/last night. The developers said they were unable to "build a satisfactory revenue model in our target group."
