Shakespeare Massively Multiplayer Online Game! Say thee what?

As I was doing some research on some Dungeons and Dragons 4th Ed licensing, I happenned upon this Wired article about some whack job that spent $250,000 on an Elizabethen MMOG. If I wasn't so damn tired right now I think I might have fallen out of my easy chair.

But wait. It gets better. The creator of the game says this about it.

It's no fun," Castronova says ruefully. "We failed to design a gripping
experience." The scholar says he has, however, gained a deeper
appreciation for the challenges of game design: "I always had respect
for the people who made World of Warcraft," he says. "But now it borders on worship."

It turns out that its not really even an MMOG. Its built on the Neverwinter Nights engine. It can handle about 16 people at a time maybe? I kept on thinking that it must have been an April Fool's joke, but it was published in March. 

How about we all just go see a great performance of Shakespeare instead? The bard's word was meant to be performed after all! My wife and I saw an awesome performace of Romeo and Juliet that my friend Gregg was in last year. We had a wonderful time with it. 

As for MMOG's based on a writer's work? Well they couldn't even get Lord of the Rings Online to be as well liked as World of Warcraft, and Age of Conan wasn't all it was cracked up to be for me either. Maybe books should just stay books.