Isolationism

According to an article in Wired Magazine, the short-lived but well-loved TV series Firefly is making a comeback—as a Massively Online Multiplayer Universe, as it turns out.

While this could prove to be an interesting TV/movie-cum-video game translation (without any of the “B-b-b-b-but I want to be a Jedi nowwwwww!” whines that the Star Wars MMO incited from its fanboy audience) of one of my favourite Sci-Fi stories, I can’t help but think that no matter how closely Mr. Whedon works with the team (which probably won’t be very closely at all), the massively multi-player format isn’t quite right for the franchise—After all, Joss’ genius isn’t about amazingly nerdy tech at all (there’s virtually none in the series; even Serenity herself is an old bucket of bolts to her crew), worlds of wonder (unless you consider Arizona or Nevada exotic), or incredible visuals (well, OK—I concede that briefly seeing Kaylee in the buff was pretty incredible), which are all things that video games can pull off relatively well. I believe Firefly’s success is (or rather, was) based on the development of rich and engaging characters in new and/or unusual circumstances.

Sadly, I don’t think Firefly will be able to pull those qualities off as a MMORPG. The only kind of rich characters I’ve read about anyone finding in MMO games are the gold farmers, which isn’t what I had in mind.