October 2003
- Scripting Languages and Magic gbtmud
- Scripting Languages and Magic Edward Glowacki
- Scripting Languages and Magic Freeman, Jeff
- Scripting Languages and Magic Patrick Dughi
- Scripting Languages and Magic Sheela Caur'Lir
- Scripting Languages and Magic Patrick Dughi
- Scripting Languages and Magic Smith, David {Lynchburg}
- Scripting Languages and Magic Jonathon Duerig
- Scripting Languages and Magic J C Lawrence
- Scripting Languages and Magic Richard A. Bartle
- Scripting Languages and Magic eric
- Scripting Languages and Magic Matthew Estes
- Scripting Languages and Magic Ben Chambers
- Scripting Languages and Magic J C Lawrence
- Scripting Languages and Magic Nathan F. Yospe
- Scripting Languages and Magic Smith, David {Lynchburg}
- Scripting Languages and Magic J C Lawrence
- Scripting Languages and Magic Edward Glowacki
- Scripting Languages and Magic Freeman, Jeff
- Scripting Languages and Magic Crosbie Fitch
- Scripting Languages and Magic Sheela Caur'Lir
- Scripting Languages and Magic Crosbie Fitch
- Scripting Languages and Magic Sheela Caur'Lir
- Scripting Languages and Magic Nathan F. Yospe
- Scripting Languages and Magic Marian Griffith
- Scripting Languages and Magic McDonald, Stephen
- Scripting Languages and Magic Sheela Caur'Lir
- Scripting Languages and Magic Mats Lidstrom
- Scripting Languages and Magic Sheela Caur'Lir
- Scripting Languages and Magic Eric Merritt
- Scripting Languages and Magic gbtmud
- Scripting Languages and Magic gbtmud
- Scripting Languages and Magic Jo Dillon
- Scripting Languages and Magic Kwon J. Ekstrom
- Scripting Languages and Magic Steven Metke
- Scripting Languages and Magic Alex Chacha
- Scripting Languages and Magic Jason Murdick
- Scripting Languages and Magic J C Lawrence
- Scripting Languages and Magic Nicolai Hansen
- Scripting Languages and Magic Sheela Caur'Lir
- Scripting Languages and Magic Adam Burr
- Budget (was size) Michael Sellers
- Graphics engine choice (size) Derek Licciardi
- Graphics engine choice (size) Paolo Piselli
- Graphics engine choice (size) Sheela Caur'Lir
- R: size Ghilardi Filippo
- [TECH] TCP fundamental throughput limits? ceo
- [TECH] TCP fundamental throughput limits? Jeremy Noetzelman
- [TECH] TCP fundamental throughput limits? Sheela Caur'Lir
- [TECH] TCP fundamental throughput limits? Miroslav Silovic
- [TECH] TCP fundamental throughput limits? Jeremy Noetzelman
- [list] Scripting Languages and Magic Scion Altera
- [list] Scripting Languages and Magic Talanithus HTML
- SSH Encryption on data stream Craig H Fry
- SSH Encryption on data stream squid
- SSH Encryption on data stream Mike Shaver
- SSH Encryption on data stream Brian Hook
- SSH Encryption on data stream Amanda Walker
- SSH Encryption on data stream Christopher Allen
- SSH Encryption on data stream Christopher Allen
- SSH Encryption on data stream Mike Shaver
- SSH Encryption on data stream ceo
- SSH Encryption on data stream F. Randall Farmer
- SSH Encryption on data stream J C Lawrence
- SSH Encryption on data stream Amanda Walker
- SSH Encryption on data stream Felix A. Croes
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 30 Lee Sheldon
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 30 Matt Mihaly
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 30 Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 30 Lee Sheldon
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 30 Matt Mihaly
- Web vs. Java client Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
- Web vs. Java client Torgny Bjers
- Web vs. Java client ceo
- Web vs. Java client Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
- Web vs. Java client Elia Morling
- Web vs. Java client Christopher Allen
- Web vs. Java client Baar - Lord of the Seven Suns
- Web vs. Java client Christopher Allen
- Web vs. Java client Kwon J. Ekstrom
- Web vs. Java client Christopher Kohnert
- Web vs. Java client Christopher Allen
- Web vs. Java client ceo@grexengine.com
- Web vs. Java client Baar - Lord of the Seven Suns
- Web vs. Java client Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
- Web vs. Java client Matt Mihaly
- Web vs. Java client Christopher Allen
- Web vs. Java client Jeff Fuller
- Web vs. Java client(?) Joshua Judson Rosen
- Web vs. Java client(?) Eric Merritt
- Web vs. Java client Eric Merritt
- Web vs. Java client Mike Shaver
- Web vs. Java client Jeff Fuller
- Web vs. Java client Mike Shaver
- Web vs. Java client Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
- Web vs. Java client Matt Mihaly
- Web vs. Java client Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
- Web vs. Java client Ben Greear
- Web vs. Java client Jeff Fuller
- Web vs. Java client Ben Greear
- Web vs. Java client Kevin Reid
- Web vs. Java client Joshua Judson Rosen
- Web vs. Java client Jeff Fuller
- Web vs. Java client Adam Burr
- Web vs. Java client Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Web vs. Java client Kwon J. Ekstrom
- Web vs. Java client Matt Mihaly
- Web vs. Java client Matt Mihaly
- MudDev FAQ - part 2 Marian Griffith
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Richard Brown
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Eric Lee {GAMES}
Richard Brown wrote:
> We know very little about MMORPG but believe it or not we decided
> to do one. I am the one supposed to "get it started".
> Now the question: what am I going to do with my rich friend's
> money in the next six month? What should I buy, who should I hire,
> what do I tell them to do, and the most important: what should we
> try to accomplish?
That depends a lot on what your goal is. Is this a for-fun
experimental project or a for-profit company you're trying to start?
(I assume the latter?)
If you're indeed trying to make a profit on an MMP game then the
first thing you need to know is that the market is _way_
over-saturated right now and the odds of anyone being financially
successful without the backing of a major company are low. That's
not to say it's impossible; I just wouldn't encourage your rich
friend to think of this as a good investment strategy. The risk is
extremely high, especially if you don't already have experience in
the industry. When I say "extremely high", I mean somewhere between
speculating on penny stocks and buying lottery tickets.
If you want to build a for-profit company, then the first thing you
need to do is learn what it takes to build and ship an MMP game from
a business and management perspective. I found _Developing Online
Games_ by Jessica Mulligan and Bridgette Patrovsky to be full of
useful information. The chapters on budgeting and profit margins
are particularly eye-opening. Building and (more importantly)
running an MMP game is far more complex and expensive than most
people realize. Be sure you know everything that you'll have to
deal with; running dev, design, and art teams, distribution,
datacenters, advertising, billing, customer support, updates, etc.
The second thing you'll need to do is learn about MMP design; what's
worked in the past, what hasn't worked, and what's coming in the
near future. There are lots of books and resources devoted to this
topic. _Designing Virtual Worlds_ by Richard Bartle is just one
possible choice.
Take $500 and go buy yourself a copy of the top ten MMPs and play
them all. Do research on each of them and discover what players
like and don't like about each of them. If your financial backing
is limited (less than, say, $15 million) then you most likely won't
be able to compete head to head with the big titles (EQ, DAoC,
Lineage, etc.). You'll need to come up with a clever twist on
standard MMP design that will create a small but loyal niche market.
There are several small companies that have been successful here.
Personally, I recommend not spending any time or money on software
until you have a budget, a business plan, and solid game design
worked out to a reasonable level of detail. Probably the biggest
mistake people make is to "get something working" before knowing
what the heck they're trying to build. Doing the design isn't as
sexy as fiddling around with rendering engines but your design
dictates everything else. Know what you want to build before you
build it. If you don't hammer out your design first, I guarantee
you'll end up rewriting your entire codebase at least twice.
Good luck!
Eric - MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Michael Sellers
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Peter Tyson
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Edward Glowacki
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Oliver Smith
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Dave Rickey
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Michael Sellers
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Jeff Thompson
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Sheela Caur'Lir
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Derek Licciardi
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Lee Sheldon
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game ceo
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Lee Sheldon
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Patricia Pizer
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Lee Sheldon
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Patricia Pizer
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Oliver Smith
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Oliver Smith
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Lee Sheldon
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Koster, Raph
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Lee Sheldon
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Sheela Caur'Lir
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Damion Schubert
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Eric Lee {GAMES}
- Open Source Rules Engine Craig H Fry
- Open Source Rules Engine Emil Eifrem
- [NEWS] The Latest in TV Reality Michael Tresca
- [NEWS] The Latest in TV Reality Dave Rickey