The Return of the Bling

Way back in the youthful, optimistic days of March, I dared to dream of an MMO that would let me play as a hustler, a lawyer (hmm...maybe those two classes overlap), a pilot, an interior designer or even perchance, a hobo. The company making that promised MMO was 404Gaming and the title was Hip-Hop Legends. And yes, they said in an interview that the aforementioned professions would be playable.

Now, I gave 404Gaming a bit of a hard time in my initial post so I figured I would check back in the interests of fairness and write a long, apologetic piece as I marveled at the masterwork of online gaming they had constructed in the interim. Well, that day has not yet come.

The website is unchanged from my initial look. There are still no screenshots and the trailer sections still reads "E3...E3...E3" even though E3 is, well, over and no trailer was shown.

But, ah, there are some updates on the forums.

First off, they have made an important official announcement. That announcement? "404Gaming still exists." Apparently there was some controversy over this fact but, hey, since they're saying so, I'm going to take their word for it. In related news, I also exist.

But, on to more substantive matters. A preliminary faq has been released. Ambitious? I'd say so.

You were thinking of playing Dark & Light because there will be no shards or zones? Hey, Hip-Hop Legends has that feature too. Thinking of playing Mourning because you like permadeath? Why not play Hip-Hop Legends with optional permadeath! Randomly created or player created quests? Come on down! Bikes, cars, airplanes, boats? You know it! Graphics near "the top end of the MMORPG market?" Certainly. Mini-games? Sure, why not!

All this by "late 2005 or early 2006" even though there's nary a screenshot in sight.

But, I have faith. Yes, all joking aside, I'm pretty sure this game will be released. Why?

"We officially endorse IGE and the purchase/sale of in-game items for real world currency."

Bling. Bling.