[MUD-Dev] MMORPGs & MUDs

[Matt Mihaly]

On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Derek Licciardi wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Matt Mihaly
 
>> What you're saying is like saying "All movies cost 50-100 million
>> to make."
 
> I agree with you to some degree that the use of an implied "all"
> is probably not a good choice.  Certainly most MMORPGs that hope
> to compete with AO, DAoC, EQ, ... are going cost at least as much
> as their predecessors to produce.  Rising costs over three years,
> a maturing feature set, increased customer demand most certainly
> force this to happen.

Sure, if you want to compete directly with the biggest of the big,
then I agree.
 
> The trend has certainly been in the upward direction.  Now, if you
> can get a next generation MMORPG done for less money than what is
> currently out there, then you have a SIGNIFICANT business plan and
> if you let it go without acting upon it.....  We digress though.
> My point was that the financials of a Niche MMORPG were not
> possible, given the costs, the current market, etc.  Certainly, if
> you can significantly lower the costs you can find a smaller
> market that might be a niche market.  Facts for me have shown a
> different picture, when you plan on 24x7 customer support, a
> datacenter capable of handling the game, and the actual
> development of the game.  I define massively multiplayer as the
> number of players I need to justify the cost structure of the
> project I am working on.  That number happens to float around
> 100,000 subscriptions for a project of 8 - 10 million dollars.

I'm not sure what you mean by next generation, exactly. If you mean
next generation graphically and whatnot, then again, I agree. Next
generation design, however, is unlikely to come from a MUD on the
scale you're talking about though.

--matt

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