Dustbin; vendatron and the rampant rabbit - future Transformers? You decide...

Cambridge based MMORPG giant Jagex Games Studio has announced a competition for Transformers fans to name the Autobot and Decepticon factions in two of the games character classes. The company, responsible for the development of the new Transformers Universe MMORPG, announced today that they will be offering fans the unique opportunity to leave their mark on the Transformers franchise; handing naming duties for both the Autobot's and Decepticon's to a few lucky winners.

In polls running alongside Jagex’s activity at this year's New York’s Comic Con convention, fans will be given the chance to vote for the names of both the Autobot and Decepticon Transformer characters, in a previously unseen player classes within Transformers Universe.

According toJagex, there will be a variety of pre-assigned names to choose from. Fans will, however, have the chance to suggest their own recommendations. Voting will take place via the Transformers Universe Facebook, with the survey running between 4:00 PM BST (British Summer Time) on 13th October and 5:00 PM BST, 16th October. This will then coincide with voting from the Transformers Universe stand at the show.

After launching, community members will be given another opportunity to put forward names for a second class of Autobot and Decepticon's in a poll hosted by MMORPG.com a news portal dedicated to MMO gamers. Commenting, Managing Editor Bill Murphy said: “This is a truly exciting event for MMO and Transformers fans …we are really just ecstatic to be exclusively hosting one of the polls. Fan and player involvement at this stage of development is unprecedented and I think people will be floored to have a chance at influencing the names of two of the classes in this hugely anticipated game.” Whether voting from a list of names is something to get that excited about is yet to be seen.

Anyhow, voting on on MMORPG will run alongside Jagex's own, but finishes at 6pm - EDT  time - on the 16th October. Fans wishing to vote need only visit the site here.

Jagex Games Studio, one of the largest independent MMO game developer and publisher in the world,  has been expanding their development team and writing staff for its new flagship title. The company already has a large community of users for Rune Scape and War of Legends with more titles in the pipeline. Furthermore, through a demonstrable portfolio of sustained MMO communities, Hasbro may well have made a safe bet with Jagex.

However, with games such a Star Wars: The Old Republic launching this December there is sure to be will be stiff competition, so news of a Transformers MMO is likely to be well received.

Having come a long way since the days of being a child’s play thing, the Transformers franchise - according to the Wall Street Journal - made Hasbro a reported profit of over $58 million in the last year...a figure certainly helped by the frenetic, cinematic adaptations produced by Di Bonaventura Pictures. But are battling transforming robots with social issues a strong enough universe to sustain a successful community online? Ultimately, we must wait and see, but my inner child is certainly excited...

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