[MUD-Dev] Indie MMOG's

[ceo]

Samantha LeCraft wrote:
> "Sean Howard" <squidi at squidi.net> wrote:

>> What we need is indie MMOG development. Most game companies can't
>> support a side scrolling shooter, but indie developers with less
>> to lose and more heart to give keep the genre alive.

> We *have* indie MMO development.  Have you ever looked at the list
> of MMOs in development, and noted the number of titles and the
> number of companies you've never heard of?  There are hundreds, if
> not thousands, of indie MMOs in development right now.  Most will
> never see the light of day, because of lack of funds.  Those that
> do

Having spoken to quite a few of them, I would say that lack of funds
is far from their biggest cause of failure. Ignorance, naivety, and
complete lack of knowledge about how to develop any major game - let
alone an MMOG - are much larger barries on the way to their release
(let alone success).

> launch successfully will most likely not be the next big thing,
> because of lack of marketing, or because it's obvious to players
> that the game was built on a budget.

It would seem that marketing is not much of a problem for indie
MMOG's. I regularly find new ones with more than 20k subscribers (or
more than 100k non-subscribing players contributing revenue via
advertising) that do not do any marketing.

>> Perhaps streamlining the development process to the point where a
>> small team can make a MMOG is the best direction we can take
>> MMOGs at this stage.

> Heh, if you know of a way to streamline the development process
> down to six months and $100k, let me know.  My bank account would
> thank you.

I'd happily show you how, if you really had the time to listen and
the money to spend.

My free time is taken up by other things at the moment (like a book
contract) but for a while now I've been thinking of attempting to
create a modest MMOG single-handed. OK, so I'd be using a free
GrexEngine license, and wouldn't even dream of trying without such a
leg-up, but I'm pretty sure it's doable...

Adam M
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