IGDA Persistent Worlds White Paper Released

Elonka writes "The Online Games SIG of the IGDA has released the latest in a series of White Papers on the online computer gaming industry. The 2004 Persistent Worlds White Paper (80-page, 457K pdf) had several contributors from across the industry, and gives general "developer to developer" advice, covering everything from a quick overview of major products, to design considerations on multiplayer gameplay and dealing with online communities, to technical considerations, to some stats about the international marketplace, including the rapidly-growing Asian market. Editors included Daniel James of Three Rings Design, makers of Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates, and Gordon Walton, VP and Executive Producer at Sony Online and presenter of the Ten Reasons You Don't Want to Make a Massively Multiplayer Game talk at the 2003 Game Developers Conference."

Comments

Re:Gordon Walton.. Customers come first

[grazier]

Except that:

"'Is there any upside here? NO,' Walton grunts. It's simply a necessary (and frustrating) expense."

Is in reference to having to retain lawyers to fight the lawsuits that are filed against the company. It is NOT in reference to customer service.

more charts for those that like charts

[bartash]

There's a great chart on page 8 of TFA which shows the number of subscribers to the major MMORPGs. I was curious and found the source of the charts, it's Bruce Sterling Woodcock's site and there's a newer version of the chart I liked here, and there are lots more.

Re:Gordon Walton.. Customers come first

[drew]

this might be insightful except for the fact that he took quotes from two separate reasons and put them next to each other. He does go on to say after the first quote that supporting the customer is essential to success with a subscription based model.

then he goes on to the next reason, which is that you need to retain a lot of good lawyers to run a mmog. it discusses lawsuits in small claims courts from players regarding hacking, cheating, etc. as well as the commonly disputed issue of who owns all of the virtual stuff. in the game.

in short, retaining lawyers is a necessary (and frustrating) expense, not supporting the customer...