Allright, I've been lurking on this list for a while now but this thread
compells me to throw my two cents in.

While I'm yet unpublished, I've been working on my own contemporary world
setting over the past couple of years, and I have to say that when I'm
considering adding a new element to things or wondering how things are going to
play out, I consider how I would do it if I was creating an MMORPG.

While I disagree on the point of City of Heroes being an amaising MMO. (In my
opinion it doesn't capture the feel of a comic book hero setting at all, though
the character generation is the best I've encountered so far.) I also disagree
to the point that the serenades would end up being static and predictable.
Immortal's serenades were designed to be subtle in their effects but had
permutations beyond the effect. If the world were programmed well enough to
emulate those permutations, you would eliminate the campy feel that traditional
role-players dread in modern computer games.

Now my question is, if Immortal were designed to be an MMORPG, how would it be
set up world-setting-wise? I honestly don't think it could be done, MMO's by
there very nature have to be static settings with a steady timeline. The fun I
had when I played immortal, was the globe-trotting, and moving amongst the
mortals unnoticed as I unlocked my past and tried to rationalise the past
decisions I made. Can an MMO do this?

If one of you could throw a plausable setting on the table that would both work
as an MMO and encompass most of what Immortal is, then I'd be glad to hear it.

Swordancer