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Win Lottery > Design MMO > ??? > Profit!
If you won $27 million in the lottery, what would you do with it? Buy a new car? A new house? Maybe invest in the stock market? Psh, yeah right. You'd make an MMO and you know it, you filthy liars. As it happens, that's the idea of Ellwood Bartlett, who recently hit the big time with a rather sizeable lottery jackpot. Now he's taking to Kickstarter to build interest for his ideas. What ideas? Glad you asked. Bartlett wants to create an MMO where each server is its own unique world. For example, Bartlett says that "one will be a mostly water and all avatars will have underwater breathing. Another will be a volcanic world and your avatar will have a high resistance to fire." Players would be able to travel between servers in order to tackle "universal quests" and to participate in PvP. The goals are lofty, but one question remains: Why would a multi-millionaire take his ideas to Kickstarter? In short, he wants to gauge interest before he commits to the huge investment of time and money that is the development of an MMO. So far, he says, he has gotten "tons of positive feedback as well as negative." One way or another, it should be interesting to see how this one pans out.
CNN observes the migration habits of the elusive wild gamer
We all know that one guy who flits between MMOs with the same attention span as an ADD goldfish on cocaine. Heck, we've probably been there ourselves a few times. Well, CNN's Geek Out blog has decided to take a look at the migratory patterns of the MMO gamer in his natural habitat, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. With the recent release of Star Wars: The Old Republic, gamers everywhere are deciding whether or not to migrate. The author of the piece takes a look at the comparative subscription numbers of major players in the MMO game, and speaks to Warner Bros. Entertainment's Jim Drewry and Adam Mersky regarding how the folks behind Lord of the Rings Online deal with MMO migration. It's really a rather interesting look into the culture, so click on through the link below to give it a read.
Mobile Miscellany: week of January 23, 2012
This week may not have been incredibly packed with news in the mobile world, but it was still easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of January 23, 2012:
MIT developing educational MMO funded by Gates Foundation
Is gaming the answer to the math- and science-related apathy plaguing American school kids? Some folks at MIT think so, and a new press blurb outlines how the institute is developing an MMO designed to further science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. "In contrast to the way that (STEM) is currently taught in secondary schools –- which often results in students becoming disengaged and disinterested in the subjects at an early age –- educational games like the one to be developed give students the chance to explore STEM topics in a way that deepens their knowledge while also developing 21st-century skills," the release says. The title is being developed in collaboration with Filament Games, and MIT's Eric Klopfer says that it will be a powerful educational tool. "This genre of games is uniquely suited to teaching the nature of science inquiry," he explains, "because they provide collaborative, self-directed learning situations. Players take on the roles of scientists, engineers and mathematicians to explore and explain a robust virtual world." The project is being financed by a $3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Mobile Miscellany: week of January 16, 2012
This week may not have been incredibly packed with news in the mobile world, but it was still easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of January 16, 2012:
Raph Koster: Immersion is not a core game virtue
Yeah, you read that right, virtual world fans. One of the more celebrated sandbox MMORPG developers is apparently throwing in the towel when it comes to immersion. Raph Koster wrote what can only be termed a lament on his personal blog today, saying that "immersion does not make a lot of sense in a mobile, interruptable world." Koster characterizes immersion as a style whose time has come and gone, and he concludes that games are no longer for dreamers due to their far-reaching popularity. "I mourn the gradual loss of deep immersion and the trappings of geekery that I love," Koster writes. "I see the ways in which the worlds I once dove into headlong have become incredibly expensive endeavors, movies-with-button-presses far more invested in telling me their story, rather than letting me tell my own." Whether you agree with him or not, it's a sobering read coming from one of the chief creative forces behind Star Wars Galaxies and Ultima Online.
The SOPAbox: Defeating online piracy by destroying the internet
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Unless you've been living under a rock, chances are you've heard of SOPA and PIPA. The Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act are two radical pieces of copyright legislation currently being pushed through the US government. Although the stated intent of the new legislation is to provide companies with additional tools with which to combat piracy, the bill's loose wording has raised some serious alarm bells. Opponents to the proposed law say it would give corporations the ability to shut down any almost any website under the guise of protecting copyright infringement. Gamers will be affected worst of all, as the loose wording of the law makes any website with user-submitted content potentially vulnerable to a shut down order. That could include YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, any blog with a comment section, or even any online game with a chat system. Perhaps the scariest part is that you'll be affected even if you're not in the US, as one of the new law's enforcement mechanisms is to remove a site from the DNS records, a move that assumes the US has jurisdiction over the global Domain Name System. AOL is among many huge companies strongly opposing SOPA, and so naturally Massively opposes it too. In this week's massive two-page Soapbox, I make the case for why you should be worried about SOPA, and I suggest what can be done to tackle piracy in the games industry. Comments can be left on page two.
Multiverse shuts down: Firefly, Buffy MMOs officially dead
It may be 2012, but 2011 isn't finished claiming its victims just yet. As discovered by Ten Ton Hammer, the team behind the Multiverse development platform has officially pulled the plug due to lack of funding. If that name doesn't ring a bell, we're sure you've heard of the two IPs most closely associated with it. Multiverse was slated to be the engine powering both the Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer MMOs, but as of December 7, 2011, fans will have to look elsewhere for their Whedonverse fix. There is always Firefly Universe Online, but due to the unauthorized nature of the project and the lack of updates, we're not holding our breath.
Mobile Miscellany: week of December 12, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of December 12, 2011:
Vindicia CEO: MMOs are launching with the wrong business model
Chances are you've never heard of Gene Hoffman, CEO of Vindicia (which may or may not ring a bell, either). MMO companies have heard of him, though, as he's something of a veteran when it comes to online content distribution and payment models. His industry experience dates back to the founding of eMusic, a subscription-based digital music retailer that popped up in 1998. Now he advises companies regarding online business models, distribution, and monetization, and he casts a critical eye on the MMO industry and its slow march toward more flexible payment schemes. "Look, some of these MMOs are launching and they're really bad," he tells GamesIndustry.biz. "You don't want to say that too loudly to them, but seriously, these guys need to do a lot more content before they launch. So why not price it that way?"
Fable developer Lionhead seeking experienced MMO programmer
Is the world of Albion coming to an MMO near you? That's up for speculation thanks to a job advertisement on Microsoft's career board. The software giant, which owns Fable developer Lionhead Studios, is seeking a programmer "who enjoys playing MMO games and has significant experience with the workings of a massive online multiplayer environment." Further requirements include "a minimum of one shipped MMO as a network programmer." Lionhead shipped Fable III in October of 2010, and the company is rumored to be developing a "controller-based" Fable IV in 2013, according to Eurogamer. When contacted by Eurogamer, Lionhead had this to say in an official statement: "Thanks for checking in with us! We're happy to tell you all about what we're working on. Just apply, get hired, and we promise to spill our guts!"
Game of Thrones producer digs Kingdom of Loathing
Chalk this one up to eagle-eyed nerds with too much free time on their hands, but apparently Game of Thrones producer D.B. Weiss is a fan of online RPGs. The Wonderland blog snapped a pic of the writer and HBO show-runner wearing a Kingdom of Loathing t-shirt during a recent promotional reel for the fantasy drama's second season (which is currently in production). Kingdom of Loathing is a browser-based quasi-MMO that launched in 2003 and is known for its acerbic wit, pop culture references, and stick-figure graphics. You can see Weiss's t-shirt -- as well as the rest of the GoT season two trailer -- on HBO's website, and don't forget to check out the Kingdom of Loathing site while you're at it.
Mobile Miscellany: week of December 5, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of December 5, 2011: C Spire announced this week that it's launching the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. The device is currently available for purchase for $50 with a two-year commitment and after a $50 mail-in rebate. [AndroidCentral] Images and specs of Philips' first Android device, the W920, surfaced this week, and its spec sheet doesn't look very good: Froyo, a 1GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 CPU, 512MB of RAM, a 4.3-inch WVGA display, a 5MP camera, 10.5mm thin frame and it has a 1,280mAh battery. The fun part is the rumored price tag: £400 ($627). [LandofDroid] Ting is a new Sprint MVNO that'll launch mid-2012. It'll be prepaid and use a bump-up and bump-down model for pricing -- in other words, going over your minutes will just bump you into the next higher plan, while using fewer minutes can bump you to a lower plan. [Cnet] Another prepaid provider in the news this week is PrepaYd Wireless, which launched this week. It offers a "Y Pay More" plan that will give you unlimited talk, text and 3G data for $40 per month. If you don't need data, you can get all-you-can-eat talk and text for $35. Much like Ting, PrepaYd Wireless utilizes the Sprint network. [MobileTechNews] If you use a BlackBerry OS 7 device on AT&T, the carrier is offering you two free months of BBM Music. Normally you need to pay $5 a month to store 50 songs. [Crackberry] While we're on the subject of BlackBerry phones, Twitter for BlackBerry just got updated to version 2.1 and now offers multi-account support. In addition to being able to view up to five accounts in the same feed, it also includes the ability to tweet one thing to more than one account simultaneously. [BlackBerry] Pandora and Windows Phone may never mix well, but at least the radio service can be enjoyed now through an unofficial Pandora app called MetroRadio. It's free, and is finally available in the Windows Phone Marketplace. [WPCentral]
Mobile Miscellany: week of November 28, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of November 28, 2011: Last week, the FCC announced that it had approved AT&T's request to purchase 700MHz spectrum from Qualcomm -- previously used to support MediaFLO service -- but it hasn't finalized the process yet. So, the company recently met with the FCC to ask if the deal can be sped up. [Phone Scoop] The Nokia Lumia 800 is rumored to finally be available at O2 beginning December 9th. [Unwired View] Nokia also announced the X2-02, a Series 40 dual-SIM handset geared towards music. It comes with an audio processing feature that brings clear sound, dedicated music keys and a feature that lets you play recordings directly from the FM radio. It also offers a 2.2-inch QVGA display, dedicated Facebook and Twitter clients, 2MP camera and 9.7 hour talk time. Sadly, the phone doesn't come with 3G included, and no markets or launch dates were announced, but it'll be priced around €60 before subsidy. [Unwired View] Cincinnati Bell added the HTC Radar 4G to its lineup this week and is available for free to new customers with a two-year commitment and after a $100 mail-in rebate; existing customers eligible for an upgrade can get it for $100 on contract and after $50 mail-in rebate. [BusinessWire] Samsung just released SDK 1.0 for the S Pen, also known as the stylus for the Galaxy Note. As to be expected, the kit will aid developers in writing apps that will take advantage of the pen. [Android Police]
Nexon's Min Kim on the 'Free2pocalypse'
Nexon bigwig Min Kim recently checked in with Gamasutra for a brief interview regarding the state of the company's global free-to-play initiative. In short, business is booming, and while MapleStory was viewed as an oddity when it launched with a F2P model eight years ago, it's now much closer to the norm. "A lot of people laughed at the business model, and now a lot of companies are starting to try to understand it or experiment with it. We've been calling it 'the free2pocalypse.' Every company is looking at it; the market is just way larger," Kim explains. He also talks a bit about Nexon's new Live Games division, which consolidates the company's operations, marketing, and communications groups into a single entity under his direction. Finally, Kim explains the logic behind the decision to remove Nexon's name from its uber-successful retail store game cards. In a nutshell, the benefits of unifying the virtual item currencies across a diverse selection of games outweighed the name recognition afforded by the Nexon banner.
Video series chronicles the evolution of MUDs to MMOs
If you're looking for a reasonably short video primer on the history of MMOs, look no further than a series of clips recently uploaded to YouTube. According to some genre heavyweights, though, you shouldn't take all the info presented at face value. Former sandbox (and current social games) developer Raph Koster weighs in on the clips at his personal blog, and he offers up a laundry list of "oddities, errors, and omissions." MUD pioneer Richard Bartle shows up in Koster's comment thread, and he's even more direct. "I wonder why so few of those who make this kind of documentary actually ask the people they're talking about whether what they're saying about them is factually correct? It's not like we're dead or anything," Bartle muses. Why watch the vids, then? Mainly for the exposure to pre-2004 MMORPGs, according to Koster. The clips are "worth a look, even if only to get a rare glimpse of actual video footage from some of the older games that many folks today don't even know existed," he says. Check out all three installments after the break.
Academic talks MMO legalese and virtual property rights
Virtual item ownership has been a hot topic in MMO circles for a number of years now. Every so often, an academic will publish a paper regarding the legal and societal implications of trading real currency for fake goods, and the latest such academic is Rutgers University law professor Greg Lastowka. Lastowka examines a number of high-profile virtual goods disputes (including one that ended with the real-world stabbing death of a virtual thief who sold a rare sword after "borrowing" it from a friend). The piece also provides some interesting food for thought in the form of nightmare legal scenarios run amok (nerf patch lawsuits and legal action for server shutdowns are just two examples). You can read the full article text at Gamasutra.
Mobile Miscellany: week of November 21, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of November 21, 2011: Bell Canada is getting a couple new LG devices: the entry-level LG Eclypse, coming December 2nd, is a QWERTY device with Gingerbread [PocketNow], and the high-end LG Optimus LTE, which offers a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, HD display, 1,830mAh battery, 8MP rear camera and 1.3MP front-facing cam, is available now. The Optimus LTE is available for $150 with a three-year commitment. [AndroidCentral] MetroPCS announced the availability of the HTC Wildfire S sometime this week. You'll be able to grab one for $180 with no contract attached. [Unwired View] T-Mobile is getting its Galaxy S II in white, so why not the Skyrocket on AT&T? A few press images of the device's new hue have leaked out. [PocketNow] Verizon's message app just got a refresh which now offers support for SMS / MMS syncing between your phone and tablet. Both devices have to be attached to the same WiFi network, however. [AndroidCentral] Verizon's rolling out LTE to another selection of cities on December 15. [PhoneScoop] User Agent Profiles outed the Sony Ericsson Arc HD (previously known as the Nozomi), amongst other unknown devices. [Android Community] It appears that the BlackBerry Bold 9900 may be coming to T-Mobile, according to leaked marketing materials. [PocketNow] Cincinnati Bell just launched the BlackBerry Torch 9810 for $200 with a two-year commitment and after $50 mail-in rebate. [BusinessWire]
Mobile Miscellany: week of November 14, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of November 14, 2011: Sony Ericsson has teamed up with Ingram Micro, a distributor that ships phones to Amazon, Buy.com, Best Buy and Newegg, to expand the distribution of its Android lineup in the US. The deal will include a healthy chunk of the Xperia series, including the arc S. [PRNewswire] Like the Motorola Defy+ but it's just not tough enough? Check out the limited-edition JCB version of the rugged device, which adds a hardcore JCB case, a special app with handyman tools and a two-year extended warranty. And it can be yours through Clove on December 6th for £219. [TechDigest] Verizon introduced the LG Extrovert, a prepaid device with a slide-out four-row QWERTY, 2.8-inch WQVGA (400 x 240) touchscreen display, 2MP camera and expandable storage. It, however, lacks 3G data. It's all yours on Verizon's prepaid site for $110. [PhoneArena] Speaking of Big Red, the rugged Casio Gz'One Ravine 2 was launched this week, and can be yours for $150 with a two-year contract. [PhoneScoop] The BlackBerry Bold 9790, announced this week, is confirmed to show up in the UK on Vodafone and O2, likely sometime in January. [Unwired View] SFR is selling the ZTE Tania, but it appears to be sold as a carrier-branded Windows Phone. You can purchase it without a contract for €269, or with a two-year commitment for €9.99. [MobileTechWorld] Twitter for Windows Phone just got updated to be compatible with Mango. It's meant to offer a smoother experience, but doesn't bring any new features with it. [WMPowerUser] Fandango debuted a new paperless ticket system, in concert with Regal-owned theaters, which can send a scannable bar code to your phone when you want to go see a movie. The ticket-takers then simply scan the code and you're all ready to root on Team Edward in the latest Twilight movie. Just don't forget the popcorn. [Yahoo!]
Valve's Steam forum security compromised
Valve is the latest gaming company to suffer a security breach during the hackathon that is the year 2011. What's that got to do with MMOs, you say? Well, the company's Steam digital download service offers access to a ton of our favorite virtual worlds, and it has thus far seemed relatively secure. Kotaku reports that the Steam forums were hacked last night, with the paper trail leading to a cracker website known as Fknowned.com. The gentlemen in question are of course denying all responsibility for the mischief, and thus far Valve has offered no comment on the situation. It's worth noting that the Steam forum account info is separate from the actual Steam service account info, but it's also likely that some users employ identical sets of credentials. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.
