Stargate Worlds

[This paragraph has been deleted due to a request to do so by Stargate Worlds, which alleges that I violated the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) by writing about it. This paragraph pertained to the game and beta testing, and its removal satisfies the NDA, in my opinion. I will, of course, squeal loudly if there’s any further trouble.]
If you’ve never heard of Stargate, you need to get out more. There was a movie first, and then following that there was a television show called Stargate: SG-1 that ran for 10 seasons. There’s still a spin-off of SG-1 called Stargate: Atlantis running on the Sci-Fi channel. Long story short, a stargate is a portal through which people can travel to other planets all over the galaxy. If you like science fiction, and you’ve never checked out the various Stargate incarnations, you really should.
The game, Stargate Worlds, is a MMORPG (which means “massively multiplayer online role-playing game”) like World of Warcraft or Everquest II. Personally, I think it might be too little too late. The wildly popular Stargate: SG-1 is gone, and from what I hear Stargate: Atlantis is dying a slow death. You have to strike while the iron is hot, and it definitely isn’t where this is concerned.
I’m interested, though. I doubt anything could get me away from World of Warcraft, but I loved the television shows. I figure I owe it to the franchise to at least check out the online game. Who knows? They might surprise me and blow my mind. But after the disappointment of Lord of The Rings Online, I’m not expecting an awful lot. It’s not enough to just establish a new gaming world in the context of a movie or television show. You have to bring something new to the table. LoTR Online was great if all you wanted to do was run around in Tolkien’s universe. But for an old time gamer, it was rather boring. Mostly because we’d all seen it before. It was the same old thing, but with new characters.
If I’m looking forward to anything, it’s the new World of Warcraft expansion, which is called Wrath of the Lich King. Not only are they raising the level cap to 80 and adding a lot of cool new abilities for existing classes, but they’re adding an entirely new class called the Death Knight. It sounds a lot like the Shadowknight from Everquest II. Which works for me. I’ve definitely missed my old Shadowknight, Mard.
We’ll see. I guess if truth be told, we spend too much time in online games as it is. Do I really need to check out Stargate Worlds? Do I really need to buy an expansion to World of Warcraft? I suppose there are worse addictions one can have. Crack. Alcohol. Politics. Redheads. Okay. So, here’s the deal. I’ll try it once. If I don’t like it, I’ll never do it again. How’s that?