[MUD-Dev] Indie MMOG's

[ceo]

Rob C wrote:

> I have to agree with the comment that proper funding is the first
> and foremost problem facing most small development shops. Speaking
> from the experience of one of these smaller studios, if you can't

Was it working only on MMOG's though? I'm not making claims about
the mainstream games industry; the financials of the three main
business models for an MMOG give indie developers a much better
chance than those of a mainstream game.

Hence funding is much less of an issue IMHO.

[out of order quoting to make the response more cogent]

> Without the money needed to bring all the pieces together and to
> hire the people with the experience to bring the project across
> the finish line, most great ideas will die on the garage floor.

Without the team...
Without the game-design...
Without the ability to deliver...
Without the project-management...
Without the salesman...
Without the ...

The money may be the first hurdle that causes a team to go bankrupt
(especially one that was going to fail anyway because it had already
failed the other hurdles!). That doesn't automatically mean it's the
most important nor the hardest to solve.  [/out of order quoting]

> keep the lights on then your in the same boat as a screenwriter
> shopping their movie around, someone may pick up your idea but you
> wont be the one to make it.

Failure to get funding is often symptomatic of having already failed
in other areas. It's not that getting funding is hard, it's that
it's just the first point at which the management notice that
they've failed elsewhere, because it's the first time some external
force puts a brake on their progress in response to the underlying
failures (which could be ignored up until that point).

Unfortunately, you often need to know some pretty special investors
for them to be honest enough with you to explain their REAL reason
for rejecting your request for funding. This pervading lack of
honesty and openness is one of the primary reasons for VC's to be so
widely villified in general, although I was under the impression
that games publishers weren't so badly afflicted (they could hardly
be any *worse*!)

> Blaming bad management for the funding running out before
> development was finished seems like simple finger pointing, don't
> get me wrong, it may be the reason but it seems that a little more
> investigation would be in order before throwing around damming
> accusations.

What alternative was there than to say nothing? I thought I was
pretty clear that I wasn't making accusations, rather that I was
suggesting alternative explanations?

Adam M
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