Ever since Bungie announced that they would step away from Halo, the series that made them a household name among Xbox owners, gamers have been eagerly awaiting the developer’s next project. Though they didn’t state specifically what they are working on, Bungie’s lead network developer David Aldridge confirmed during a panel at GDC 2011 that the title is a “massively multiplayer action game.”

Quick to make connections between Bungie’s proclivity for shooters and their love for operatic space dramas, some began to speculate that this next project would function as a World of Warcraft competitor set in space. That rumor continued for some time before GDC, where at an event about Halo: Reach’s networking, Aldridge came right out to say that the new game is not WoW in space.

Interestingly, Aldridge never denied that the game would be set in space. With an obvious affinity for telling extraterrestrial stories, it would almost feel like a perfect transition for Bungie if their next game was set in a world that is very reminiscent of Halo. Of course, a space setting is not a requirement for this new Bungie franchise to be successful, but it is an element that a lot of gamers might hope to see.

What we definitely do hope to see from this Bungie developed MMO is the developer's signature AI that constantly forces the player to evaluate each scenario — no matter how many times they have experienced it. Beyond that, many gamers will likely be satisfied with practically anything Bungie dishes out, provided it’s up to the developer's traditionally high standards.

Without saying you think it is going to be WoW in space, what are some elements that you would like to see in Bungie’s massively multiplayer action game? Is there anything the developers at Bungie could create that you wouldn’t be interested in trying? What platform(s) do you think the game will be released for, and if there are more than one, how will cross-platform play be addressed?

Source: IGN