An MMORPG to redefine the standard.

#1 At this point, nothing matters more with an MMORPG than SUBSCRIBERS. Devs can blather a features and storylines all day long, but until they have valid numbers, nothing else really matters. I recently wrote a short article that touched on this subject- I'll spare you the boredom of the entire article, and quote one paragraph:

Quote:Todays trend is to create an MMORPG (massively multi-player online role-playing game), which is all fine and well. But I am beginning to think the "Massively" part comes from the huge amount of resources that must be dumped into such an endeavor. Cyan recently dumped URU because they could not get enough players interested in the FREE beta... With MMORPGs, you must maintain enough subscriptions to keep the game going.

So if Cyan (creators of Myst and Riven) were not able to keep URU Live from tanking, what makes your vision any different? Rand Miller (co-founder of Cyan) wrote an open letter to the community which can be read here.

1) Where is your customer base coming from, and why should they play your game over the other MMORPGs that are available?

2) This requires quite a bit of startup/venture capital. What is your minimum projected cost requirements? For startup and maintainance.

3) How do you intend to keep customers coming back and what do you predict will be the "average" subscription length?

4) Where is the startup money coming from? How do you intend to maintain the servers, with employees to keep this endeavor going 24/7?

5) You'll need a large buffer to cover costs while you ramp up (after initial launch)- how much capital do you have and how long will it keep you afloat? You'll need at least several months of costs covered.

This isn't intended to be a downer, but rather a more realistic approach to game development. This doesn't even dive into game engine specifics, client/server issues, content creation, user account management, etc. I see a huge number of people that want to create the next great MMORPG, but I think they greatly misjudge the huge amount of resources involved. Besides, if you actually have those numbers, it would persuade far more developers to join the project.

Its a difficult task to create an MMORPG, but you state this particular game will "redefine the standard". Its great to have high goals, but if those goals aren't achievable milestones, are they really goals or just fantastic dreams?

What exactly would be YOUR role in all this?

#2 That was exactly the kind of input I was looking for. I realize that there is a lot to be done, and that a project like this is a massive undertaking that takes years. For now, I'm just trying to gather a group of people that would be interested in working on this project, as it will take a bit of time to get to the point where financial backing is required. The five questions you posted above are definitely something to be thought about, but at this point my focus is on the actual game. As of right now, it's just a "garage" idea, but if it gets to the point where it could actually be marketable, I intend on getting the financial backing to continue working on the project.

I understand that that it is a difficult task to create an MMORPG and that my goals are high. That will make a lot of people skeptical, but I have the full intention of taking this project as far as it can go.

Thanks for all the input, Randall.

#3 MMORPG is as much a game genre as it is a "service genre".

I am having a blast creating a single -> 256 (and up) player RPG. Multiplayer for our game is coming in an expansion pack. The multiplayer aspect is a keen interest of mine. The game code is all written with it in mind. However, most sales will be due to the single player experience.

We have licensed over 2.5 gigs of source art. The game + tools is a tremendous amount of code. There is a database backend being populated with script. GUI work, level creation, game design, network, on and on... I can't imagine throwing anything more massive around. This is a fulltime+ effort.

Besides, a monthly fee ups all expectations. Something indies can definately live without.

-J

#4 If you wanted to go to www.gamedev.net and search the design, lounge, writing, and help wanted forums, I'm sure you would find lots of good advice about how to make (and how not to make) an MMORPG, and interesting design ideas for RPGs.

What I personally think would be particularly cool is a MMOAG, you know, with lots of puzzles.

#5 You want to see a MMORPG game in action... check out Project Entropia. It has been in the works since 1999. You can make real money in it. MindARK is working on it and that is their only game they are doing. They are doing some things that are just fantastic... better be for $150,000 engine + $22,000 a year support per license. I'll stick with Torque. We got a project going that will be massive...just going to take a couple of years to complete it.

Just remember, Walt Disney had a dream. His dream brings millions of people every year to Disney world. $$$. MindARK has a goal and they are still working on it.

#6 Randall, great post. Good points about focusing on money. One thing you SERIOUSLY need to consider is dollars - how much can you get, and from where? Be realistic. Get firm commitments for amounts when possible.

Be aware that most successful MMOs are developed by studios that are funded by some outside source, usually to the tune of millions of dollars. ALSO keep in mind that by going indy, thinking indy, you do NOT have to spend millions to make it work.

Some suggestions:
- Go to newriders.com, order or get from your bookstore their "Developing Online Games", as well as a newer title by Richard Bartle. Both are cornerstone works for designers at this point.
- Learn a bit about everything. You'll need to know SOMEthing about every aspect of game design.
- Outsource! Practically everything can be outsourced, and it's often a huge moneysaver. There are thousands of starving computer artists you can hit up for bargain (and often still very good) art. Be advised that there may well be a *reason* they are starving though... ;) Generally better, but often more expensive, is to utilize a small studio (Bravetree folks seem very professional and have the edge that they KNOW Torque).
- Outsource 2! CSR depts can *in theory* be outsourced, but probably should not be. They are a large expense post-release. Billing, accounting, and employee compensation can and quite possibly should be outsourced easily though. Hardware location and hosting can be outsourced, although it IS preferable to own your servers if you can afford it (check www.butterfly.net if you cannot though). Lots of stuff can be done by someone else, often for less than it would cost to hire employees.
- Employees. If you want to build a game on this scale, you need them. You will not get commitment level needed from random people you meet on a msg board. People do not stay on task and produce quality work for free. Working closely with a couple of friends might be an option (although you risk those friendships, going into business together). Being co-located with the other workers is very, very helpful.
- Everything costs more than you think. Servers are pricey, art is expensive, bandwidth is not cheap, etc. Watch for little costs too - try to predict as much as you can.
- Design your entire spec doc before you draw one line of art or enter one line of code. Your spec doc should be something on the order of 50-200 pages long, depending on the complexity of your game. If it is under 50pp, figure out what you have forgotten to add.
- Attack a niche, target it with marketing, and direct EVERY element in your game to be appealing to that market. You will likely be a small MMO to start, so it is crucial you differentiate yourself from the big names somehow. Micro-sized copies of EQ fail. Always.
- Use the .com bust to your advantage! There are many, many servers out there available "on the cheap". They may be older systems, but they might work for you. For instance, Dell quad processor Xeon P3 500mHz machines are running around $1k or a bit more now. Not the greatest servers, but not bad if you are working with a smaller playerbase anyway. A good P4 quad Xeon will run you $30-50k or more, new.
- Money is key. This is going to cost money, even if you have a team of friends working for equity in the company. Don't set yourselfup to run out of money partway through. Plan ahead.

Hrm. Sorry this is a bit disjointed, I just tossed out ideas as I thought of 'em. Maybe I need to write an FAQ for MMO development on an indy scale. Would anyone be interested in something like that, you think?

#7

Quote:Maybe I need to write an FAQ for MMO development on an indy scale. Would anyone be interested in something like that, you think?

Could be helpful for all the people who have considered about creating a MMOG. I'm glad people have mention to look at the business side of things. Some people have a dream and want to jump in and start designing. I'm susceptible to this. Erik Bethke in his book Game Development and Production even mentions that you should look at the business context first. Since the business side of things for a MMOG can be quite different from other games, I would like to see advice on this from experienced developers out there. I would like to see how indies without a lot of funding can compete in the MMOG market.

#8 Maybe I should write a book on the subject of indy persistant world development. If we succeed. ;) Er, if we fail I'll at least put a public post-mortem here so people can see where we fell down.

I'll start tinkering up an FAQ in my "spare" time though. I'm mostly a businessman skill wise. The co-owner is an excellent programmer, so he's in charge of directing the efforts in that direction. All I have to do is get us hundreds of thousands of dollars, hardware at quarters on the dollar, and thousands of players who'd give their left arm to play our game. Anyone who tells you making a PW game is just about coding and art is handing you a load of... ;)

#9 Man, maybe I need to go back to MUD coding. :)

#10 "Money is key. This is going to cost money, even if you have a team of friends working for equity in the company. Don't set yourselfup to run out of money partway through. Plan ahead."

Truer words have never been typed. But where does that leave you, what's the *first* step?

Biz Plan! It's the first and last rule for a business reality check. You can dream all you want, write code, render a 3-D world like none other - but it's all moot without a well researched business and marketing plan.

With that said,the following URL is a good jumping off point and a wealth of information for start-up and established companies.

www.bplans.com/

Best Wishes,
Madame

"Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment."
Barry LePatner

#11 I believe that Ultima Online's business plan was originally created with the assumption that they'd only have about 25,000 subscribers. They were way over their projections. However, I think there are many MMO games right now that I believe have trouble hitting even that low mark. So its something to consider carefully,.

#12 Very true. I'd suggest that people who are looking to create persistent worlds look towards that low-end of the spectrum, and come up with plans to break even or make profits at around 5,000-10,000 subscribers, rather than looking towards six-figure populations. But also have a plan in case things go too well ;)

#13

Quote:But also have a plan in case things go too well ;)

Heh - I'd like to have those kinds of problems.

I was considering doing this once upon a time, and a buddy of mine drew up a break-even analysis. We had to guesstimate the values a bit, and try some tweaking here and there (spreadsheets are wonderful for that). I forget the final results, but we managed to come up with a reasonable business model with under 10,000 subscribers. But that was just to sustain an existing product. Recouping development costs was a whole 'nother ball of wax. Which is why we haven't gone for it.

Yet.

#14 "Recouping development costs was a whole 'nother ball of wax. Which is why we haven't gone for it."

So the lesson might be: Get the investors before you spend your own money. Of course it takes more than a spreadsheet that can be maipulated to show the finances in the best light. All investors know figures are inflated, 'specially with start-up companies.

It takes a a Biz Plan . Something that makes the average person WANT to be a part of your vision. Clear numbers backed up by research with a focus on what's in it for the investor.

Show why and how your game is going to meet the needs of the gamers who are always looking for the next best thing down the cyber-pike. How will you find them? What's your target market? How will you punch your name into the public eye? Why is your game better than the other guy/gal?

Our CFO nailed it down for me when he suggested I think of the biz plan as art, something that paints a picture of the grand scheme. A hard copy of your dreams that will take potential investors along for the ride.

It sure is an arduious undertaking, but I know after 4 weeks into the formation of the core of the company I would have made expensive mistakes without the work.

Wishing you good fortune with your project!

Madame
Queen of the House of Hibbs

She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965)

#15 Best bet for an indy PW (persistant world; these are often too small to really call "MMOs") developer is to work scalability into every possible aspect of the business plan.

- IF you get a great game going, are in mid/late beta, and have some "buzz" generating about the game, then you might get a publisher to agree to publish your release. This is the only way the game is going to be *really* big on launch. You need to get that box into stores. Lots of stores.

Best bet would be to research the Mythic/Vivendi deal and try for something similar. Too often developers want the Turbine/Microsoft or Wolfpack/UbiSoft type of deal, where the publisher pays for much/most of development, and hosts the servers, pays for bandwidth, etc. That sort of deal is RARE now, and very hard to acquire as a new publisher. Far easier to get a deal where you pay the development fees, buy servers, pay for bandwidth (i.e. take most of the risk) and all they do is print the game and get it in stores.

Give a lot to get that deal, if you need to. If you can swing it financially, earning even zero $s per box sold is worth it, to get that game in stores. Remember, your main income comes from subscription fees. You need players in the door more than anything else.

- If you do go after a publisher, be prepared for 20,000-25,000 gamers knocking on your door in the first week of release. Get the numbers of boxes that will be distributed, of course, but it is NOT uncommon for every game that hits stores to sell this much. DAOC sold over twice that in the first week. AC2 sold way more than that, and it was a poor game. Shadowbane sold over 50k right off, and it was a horrid game stability wise. Even Horizons sold around that mark, and it was underpublicized. Be able to handle those numbers before you even try getting a publisher.

- Be prepared for less. Without a publisher, you'll need to self-market, and self-distribute, which means generating your own ad buzz, and selling on the web. You're not going to make near as many initial sales, but you CAN succeed - and maybe once you have a nice base population, that next expansion will make it to the stores... ;)

- Best bet would be to build models of the business (employees needed, cash flow, expenses, revenues, etc.) for a wide variety of levels of initial growth. One problem with this industry is you cannot gauge success of a game well before release - the customers can be very fickle. And you MUST have plans set for whatever the sales levels turn out to be - whether that is 1000 initital subscribers, 2000, 5000, 10,000, or more. Do the math and the planning for a wide variety of levels of success.

- Look into hosting, if you think you might get big. Most games can run early betas off home machines and a DSL line. ;) Mid betas can be run off better but still cheap hardware, and maybe a T1. Before late/open beta, you will hopefully know if you have a publisher or not, and whether you can afford to buy the machines and bandwidth if you do. That can be a VERY expensive setup proposition. ;) Look into places like butterfly.net as potential hosting services for your servers ($10k setup fee, plus a monthly fee per player).