As far as game endings go, it’s hard to beat that of beleaguered MMO “Tabula Rasa,” which flopped badly enough that the developers made it free to all comers late last year.

Last week, word trickled out that publisher NCSoft would essentially end the game by having the game’s alien armies, known as the Bane, overwhelm humanity in a final crushing onslaught. Active players were urged to log in and batten down the hatches in preparation for the attack. If the hordes of Bane proved unstoppable, as they apparently did, humanity would unleash a massive, doomsday weapon that would obliterate all life, human and Bane alike.

That sure beats flipping a switch at midnight, eh?

You’ve got to hand it to NCSoft for coming up with a novel ending for a game that obviously wasn’t generating any revenue. It’s cool to see a publisher care, and, though I don’t play MMOs myself, there was a small, naive part of me that hoped humanity could hold out even a tiny bit longer than the server’s scheduled shut-off time. Even one minute would have felt like a victory.