MLN Reactions

[Blade]

Okay, so, we might not all play MLN anymore; however, the big question is why?

This is intended to indirectly answer that question.

What do you think MLN could use to be something to do? Is it more ranks? Better page setup? A different way of handling things?

Give your opinions here!

[The Truth]

The two things that bother me the most: it's incredibly laggy, and ranks 5 and 8 take forever. I've been rank 8 for more than a year, and I'm nowhere near being able to become rank 9.

[Blade]

It is laggy. However, I have a funny feeling that's partly Firefox's Plugin Container's fault.

But yeah; it is laggy, especially the private view. I think it's the way they made that page be handled, since it has to load everything into flash when it first loads. Which doesn't help loading times.

And those two ranks do take forever, unfortunately. They fixed one rank, but forgot about the other two problematic ones. =P Though, that is partly due to some of the MLN forums closing their shops due to people not seemingly being interested in keeping them running; the Superstock being a big example there.

[Legodac]

@ The Truth, 5 and 8 are hard but passable, just ask for help from those who are willing to give.

I still play MLN, I mean really, speaking honestly, when things slowed down here I went to MLN Team and found a younger MLN crowd, which I embraced and found that that simple interaction took us other places aswell.

I'm almost 50 and still find a game designed for kids appealling.

The following interaction is the key, when you say hello to someone who does not expect that, you discover a world that entertains both, no matter how old or young they are

[Canama]

I kind of gave up on MLN when I reached Rank 7. It took forever and I sort of stopped. Now that MLN has basically died completely, I have given up on ever advancing.

If anyone wants to click my Pet Rabbit Module and help me get to Rank 8, though, be my guest.

-Canama

[Trijhak]

I stopped because I got to Rank 10.

And then I lost interest because they didn't add anything. It was abandoned, as evidenced by the fact that one arcade game has not come out yet being revealed over two years ago. It's because LU is basically a much more interactive replacement of sorts.

Now, there wouldn't be much of a problem if they decide to reintroduce Club Pages in a new style. That are just for showing off and not ranks.

[Canama]

I stopped because I got to Rank 10.

And then I lost interest because they didn't add anything. It was abandoned, as evidenced by the fact that one arcade game has not come out yet being revealed over two years ago. It's because LU is basically a much more interactive replacement of sorts.

Now, there wouldn't be much of a problem if they decide to reintroduce Club Pages in a new style. That are just for showing off and not ranks.

Except LU is a replacement with a monthly fee, which is why I do not plan to play it.

-Canama

[Silver352]

I just started MLN a few days ago. Its entertaining, but seams as if it has not been updated in a LONG time.

But, hey, its free.   

[Jade]

I got to rank 10, then my account got hacked/deleted, so I made another one that is... Rank 4? Its been so long since I logged on, I forgot.

MLN really lost its appeal after the beta period, because of all the dupers who got access.

[Wantija$$$]

MLN was a good idea in the beginning. Although some ideas weren't executed the greatest. Like you guys stated before; it's very laggy, difficulty balance in the ranks, duppers ect. Also it was not a good succeder (sp?) to the club pages. They were fun, easy to show off creativity, modules that didn't require you to level up. The ranking system is alot less difficult to rank up in too.

Now as much as I'm bashing MLN, i still play it, only because it's free. I just don't have time and money for LU.

And if LEGO is going to make a new community flash game on their website, they shouldn't make the mascot ANYTHING like Echo, it gave me the wrong interpretation at first and I could've been a beta tester.

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[Intrepid]

You know these comments sound so much like the conversations regarding LEGO Universe. I think LEGO needs to stick to bricks.

[Legodac]

Cool words, and that's why I'm not in the Universe of virtual bricks

[Legodac]

MLN was a good idea in the beginning. Although some ideas weren't executed the greatest. Like you guys stated before; it's very laggy, difficulty balance in the ranks, duppers ect. Also it was not a good succeder (sp?) to the club pages. They were fun, easy to show off creativity, modules that didn't require you to level up. The ranking system is alot less difficult to rank up in too.

Now as much as I'm bashing MLN, i still play it, only because it's free. I just don't have time and money for LU.

And if LEGO is going to make a new community flash game on their website, they shouldn't make the mascot ANYTHING like Echo, it gave me the wrong interpretation at first and I could've been a beta tester.

I like this post too, ditto.

MlN in my opinion is the greatest game ever invented for the online community, I havn't said that quite right yet, but I will discover the deep dark secret one day.

[Wantija$$$]

Sorry if this is off topic, but does MLN have any compatibiliy with LU?

[The Truth]

Well, MLN had an LU theme a while ago. Players could befriend Friendly Felix, Numb Chuck, and Jack Knife, take on a quest from the Brickkeeper...
But most of the LU stuff was removed from MLN.

[Wantija$$$]

I mean, if you have a MLN account, does anything happen to your LU account?

[The Truth]

No. They use the same login info, but there's no link between them.

[MsRowdyRedhead]

There should be... all those plastic pellets should be worth something some where!

[Ddude The Insane]

Here's the problem with MLN, as I see it:

In the early days (like, when I joined =P) Lego updated the game fairly frequently. Yes, there was some lag, and some of the middle ranks were tedious (I was blessed with some generous friends when I was in Rank 5, so that one wasn't quite so bad for me), but it was fun because we could look forward to something new. (Except maybe new featured members. ) The Bionicle Quest in particular stands out in my memory.

A while ago, though, Lego seemingly abandoned MLN. They just seemed to stop caring, as if entire MLN team was just strike by lightning and nobody wanted to bother doing their job. I believe it was the arcade games that were the very last update for the games...when were those, a year ago? And we still don't even have a Top 10 List!!

Furthermore, there's the problem of duping. When I started out, I admit, I had a side account I would sometimes use if I needed clicks. Eventually a few members of the anti-duping commando team we have here at MLNO set me straight, and that ended.

But it wasn't just me. There were plenty of dupers out there clogging up the Top 10. Remember that nice, peaceful, time when CRX was always soundly at the top of the Top 10 Pages list? I just checked that list, he's not even on. A number of people on the Top 10 now came completely out of nowhere and somehow went soaring to the top in no time. This had not happened before. Clearly there was something different than before going on. Guess how that happened! Cheating.

Beyond that, it seems to me Lego isn't interested in advertising MLN anymore. I hazily remember a long time when My Lego Network had its own tab on the Lego.com page. Now it's not even on the page, I had to Google "MLN" just to find it.

In closing, my opinion is this: It's simply to late for MLN. There's just nothing really to be done to bring it back from the dead. The only chance that MLN has to stay alive is for Lego to redesign it. I don't think MLN itself can live on, but its spirit certainly can. Give me MLN 2.0, Lego, or give me death something less interesting but still sufficient!