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Building the Sports MMO Genre

Posted by Soulskill on from the +1-knuckleball-of-sneakiness dept.

Kheldon writes to point out an interview with David Chang of GamesCampus about the up-and-coming sports MMO genre. He also talks about their efforts to bring older demographics into gaming. Quoting: "One of the things about the baseball game in particular that's so great is that there is a leveling component, not just to the team, but also to players. So you're exactly right in terms of the persistence. We want people to not just play a baseball game, but ... to grow their team and their players over time. So, there are things where if you win a game, that's how you gain experience points. If you win against a higher level opponent, you get more experience points; if you bottom feed and you take advantage of lower-level players, you don't get as much, and so on. There are a lot of MMO-type concepts in the game. If you're talking about individual players, if you hit a lot of homeruns, or if you steal a lot of bases, your power or your stealing stat will increase over each season."

3 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. I am clearly missing something by digitalderbs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I know sports games are popular, but MMOs require a lot of time and devotion. If you care enough about a sport to play it with others online and devote months or years of your life playing it, why not pick up a ball a play the real thing outside, with friends?

    1. Re:I am clearly missing something by azaris · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I know sports games are popular, but MMOs require a lot of time and devotion. If you care enough about a sport to play it with others online and devote months or years of your life playing it, why not pick up a ball a play the real thing outside, with friends?

      Because playing a sports game is not the same as playing the sport. Many people like sports that in reality they have no physical ability or coordination for.

    2. Re:I am clearly missing something by EvilIdler · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Same reason as with anything: Because you can't. 4'6" and dreaming of pro football? Forget it :)
      Hulk-sized and want to be a jockey? Hah! Wheelchair-bound? Steeplechase is not for you.

      An online world where you can pick from a number of sports are excellent then. Plus, it might even be A NICE DIVERSION, WHICH IS THE BLOODY REASON PEOPLE PLAY ANY , computer or not!