Otherland MMO?

Anyone heard anything about it? It's schedule to be released this year. Oh wait, now that I checked it... Wikipedias info is outdated, it's now scheduled to be released 2011.

Here is some stuff I found:

• based (obviously) on the Otherland Sci-Fi novels by Tad Williams
• using a heavily modified Unreal 3 engine
• developed by the german company dtp entertainment (who created Drakensang, company has about 180 people) and a subcompany called "Real U" from Singapore (with about 80 more people)
• it's (obviousyl) a sci-fi MMO
• game has a narrative structure, while allowing players to experience their own stories within Otherland
• meet characters from the book
• game world is supposed to change dynamically during the course of the gameplay
• central topic of the game is "virtual reality"
• Tad Williams himself helps developing the game
• typical advertisement quotes of what websites say about the game, like "groundbreaking", "be anything you want", "otherland will have a major impact on the whole MMO genre"

 

I normally don't read sci-fi, but the otherland novels were really a great read. If you like stuff about virtual reality and weird worlds, then I can only recommend them.

For those who have not read the books but want to know what it's about:



(SPOILER WARNING DON'T READ ON IF YOU EVER WANT TO READ THE BOOKS):



The Otherland is in short the most sophisticated virtual reality ever created (the story takes place in 2050 or something like that). At it's highest moments it was powered by a mutant child which was deep frozen in a sattelite in earths orbit. The mutant is kinda insane accidently sending children who are in the internet in a coma, while on purpose killing people trying to enter the Otherland, preventing people from leaving the otherland etc.

The Otherland itself consists of different worlds which rich people who invested millions into the project imagined. In addition some parts of the Otherland got corrupted by some other mutant, and some parts were only under control of the mutant child.

I'm not sure how they're gonna be able to put that into an MMO. If the mutant child will have it's role, if you can access the Otherland freely or if, as in the book, it's heavily guarded by the mutant, and you can only enter or leave at it's insane will and hope it won't kill you. If the old dudes who invented the whole thing play a role in the game or how they will realize that. It seems that the users will start in the game in the "normal" virtual web, and not in the sophisticated Otherland. I guess players have access to it later.

I'm curious on how the game turns out. The crew seems to be reasonable large, the background of the game well written by Tad Williams. The company is able to create games with great graphics (ie Drakensang) so.... maybe it'll be great, maybe it'll be crap. But I guess it's about time we see soon more of it.