"Let me put it bluntly, if a game is not ready for retail when the money runs out find another investor or shut the doors."
And I bet you'd find lots of willing investors on this premise! Your pitch could go something like this....
"Ya I'm making the world's greatest MMORPG, but I need $20-$40 million or more to do it, and it may take 3 years or more, and if it isn't perfect by then I could need another year or two, or longer, and another $20-$40 million or more, and if you don't give it to me I'll try to find another investor, but if I can't we'll just shut the whole thing down and take our losses."
Who could turn down an offer like that?
If you can't afford to fund the development yourself, you're going to have to work within time constraints, just like every other business. Very few game developers have the kind of money it takes to make a good MMORPG, so they typically rely on publishers and outside investors, who, quite naturally, set conditions. I doubt this will change anytime soon, unless games suddenly get a whole lot cheaper to make.
Never mind the critics - everyone knows the game got rave reviews. I'd still be interested in hearing which MMORPG you think is better than WoW. I've played a lot of them, and as far as I'm concerned the only one that even comes close is EQ2.
"would it be possible for the game companies to actually LOWER the prices of the games because of the new source of revenue?"
PlanetSide, including expansions, can be purchased for $20 on Direct2Drive. This isn't solely due to the introduction of ads, but it is still a pretty good deal by MMOG standards.
This has always puzzled me about the Battlefield series. They all have substandard server browsers, yet the one in Neverwinter Nights, which is also powered by GameSpy, has favorites, history, friend tracking, and even chat. Is GameSpy the problem, or is EA/DICE the problem?
"There are very few magazines addressing their needs, no one is interested."
I cover "casual" Web games from time to time, but, while hordes of people play them, relatively few have any desire to read about them. Once they've found Pogo or Yahoo Games, what do they need a magazine for? Are they going to follow the development of the next version of Bookworm the way MMORPG players followed the development of World of Warcraft? I don't think so. Are they going to read a review of Bookworm, or simply play it for themselves? It's not like it's going to cost them anything or even require a large download. I'm doubtful that a publication which concentrated exclusively on this sort of gaming would be very successful, unless maybe it was supported by a site like Pogo.
Interesting - I wonder if it's my location. I consistently get 150+ kb/s from Fileplanet (Gamer's Hell also seems good), while with bittorrent, the download starts at about that speed, but then it gets slower and slower as the download goes on, often dropping to less than 50 kb/s.
From an interview on GameSpy: http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/531/53102 7p1.html
"DOOM 3 multiplayer is based around 4 players; however, internally it is not limited to that. Mod teams will be able to support more."
4 players? Won't be wasting much time on that unless someone makes an awesome multiplayer mod for it. The only thing that made Doom 2 fun was multiplayer on a LAN, but going back to 4 players with some games now supporting 150 is out of the question for me.
There will always be failures in an overcrowded market, but for those that get it right, MMOGs can still be very lucrative under the subscriber model. Although people love to hate it, SWG has been very successful and reached a quarter million players much quicker than EQ did, and continues to grow. FFXI and City of Heros are also doing well, and WoW stands a chance of breaking all previous records. I still think MMORPGs have a bright future, but developers will have to think creatively to avoid becoming casualties in what is, at the moment, a sort of gold rush.
>>Asian-specific changes such as "a 'WASD' control scheme (no more mouse clicking movement)", a new experience curve ("players can now reach level 20 much more easily but as players reach the higher levels, it gets much more difficult"), and a general "newbie experience overhaul."
Sounds to me like just what the non-Asian version of the game needs. I mean, no WASD - what were they thinking? They should also make it cheaper and easier to build a city, so people don't get frustrated and quit when it gets burnt down.
Dave
http://internetgames.about.com
Slashdot Mirror
"Let me put it bluntly, if a game is not ready for retail when the money runs out find another investor or shut the doors."
And I bet you'd find lots of willing investors on this premise! Your pitch could go something like this....
"Ya I'm making the world's greatest MMORPG, but I need $20-$40 million or more to do it, and it may take 3 years or more, and if it isn't perfect by then I could need another year or two, or longer, and another $20-$40 million or more, and if you don't give it to me I'll try to find another investor, but if I can't we'll just shut the whole thing down and take our losses."
Who could turn down an offer like that?
If you can't afford to fund the development yourself, you're going to have to work within time constraints, just like every other business. Very few game developers have the kind of money it takes to make a good MMORPG, so they typically rely on publishers and outside investors, who, quite naturally, set conditions. I doubt this will change anytime soon, unless games suddenly get a whole lot cheaper to make.
Never mind the critics - everyone knows the game got rave reviews. I'd still be interested in hearing which MMORPG you think is better than WoW. I've played a lot of them, and as far as I'm concerned the only one that even comes close is EQ2.
PlanetSide, including expansions, can be purchased for $20 on Direct2Drive. This isn't solely due to the introduction of ads, but it is still a pretty good deal by MMOG standards.
This has always puzzled me about the Battlefield series. They all have substandard server browsers, yet the one in Neverwinter Nights, which is also powered by GameSpy, has favorites, history, friend tracking, and even chat. Is GameSpy the problem, or is EA/DICE the problem?
I cover "casual" Web games from time to time, but, while hordes of people play them, relatively few have any desire to read about them. Once they've found Pogo or Yahoo Games, what do they need a magazine for? Are they going to follow the development of the next version of Bookworm the way MMORPG players followed the development of World of Warcraft? I don't think so. Are they going to read a review of Bookworm, or simply play it for themselves? It's not like it's going to cost them anything or even require a large download. I'm doubtful that a publication which concentrated exclusively on this sort of gaming would be very successful, unless maybe it was supported by a site like Pogo.
Second Life: Educational Possibilities/ SLPresentationOutline.htm
http://www2.kumc.edu/netlearning/SLEDUCAUSESW2005
It's likely one of the easiest and most affordable options.
Hmm, that could be the problem. I'll check it out the next time I try a bittorrent. Thanks!
Interesting - I wonder if it's my location. I consistently get 150+ kb/s from Fileplanet (Gamer's Hell also seems good), while with bittorrent, the download starts at about that speed, but then it gets slower and slower as the download goes on, often dropping to less than 50 kb/s.
I've used both, and I still find Fileplanet faster, even with the wait.
From an interview on GameSpy:2 7p1.html
http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/531/5310
"DOOM 3 multiplayer is based around 4 players; however, internally it is not limited to that. Mod teams will be able to support more."
4 players? Won't be wasting much time on that unless someone makes an awesome multiplayer mod for it. The only thing that made Doom 2 fun was multiplayer on a LAN, but going back to 4 players with some games now supporting 150 is out of the question for me.
There will always be failures in an overcrowded market, but for those that get it right, MMOGs can still be very lucrative under the subscriber model. Although people love to hate it, SWG has been very successful and reached a quarter million players much quicker than EQ did, and continues to grow. FFXI and City of Heros are also doing well, and WoW stands a chance of breaking all previous records. I still think MMORPGs have a bright future, but developers will have to think creatively to avoid becoming casualties in what is, at the moment, a sort of gold rush.
>>Asian-specific changes such as "a 'WASD' control scheme (no more mouse clicking movement)", a new experience curve ("players can now reach level 20 much more easily but as players reach the higher levels, it gets much more difficult"), and a general "newbie experience overhaul." Sounds to me like just what the non-Asian version of the game needs. I mean, no WASD - what were they thinking? They should also make it cheaper and easier to build a city, so people don't get frustrated and quit when it gets burnt down. Dave http://internetgames.about.com