imgdc
Latest
Indie MMO Game Developer Conference coming to Vegas in April
Just as this year's gaming conference season is beginning to wind down, we start to receive news of next year's events already. Last Straw Productions has just announced the third annual Independent MMO Game Developers Conference will be held in Las Vegas, NV on April 17th through the 19th, 2009.This conference will feature more presentations and vendors than the previous years, plus new demo stations where the Indie developers can show off their latest projects. In addition, the imgdc.com website has been completely revamped with a new logo, layout, adviser and speaker blogs. Check out the website for more information on the upcoming event.
Behind the Curtain: Gone for good?
I've been thinking recently about loss. Having been incredibly lucky with my own brush with the possibility of losing my World of Warcraft characters, I got to thinking. Not only about what I would have done if things hadn't worked out for me, but about how loss works in MMOs today.Last week, Gabriel wrote a fantastic column about item decay in games past, present and future. I've been playing Diablo 2 again lately, for obvious reasons, and I had found myself thinking on the similarities and differences between the durability system in Diablo and WoW. I've said before that my MMO career started with Star Wars Galaxies, so I don't have the long-term experience many of the other writers here at Massively do. I've never had to worry about making corpse runs in Everquest, or had to concern myself with losing my items in Ultima Online. While Galaxies did have item decay, it wasn't set to a punishing degree – items did wear out eventually, but at a reasonable rate. When an item eventually gave out, you crafted yourself a replacement, or you picked one up from another player. By doing so, you knew you were contributing to the economy, so if you tried hard you could convince yourself that you were actually helping the game.
Exclusive: Richard Bartle on how he'd make World of Warcraft better
Or: The Grandfather of MUDs talks the Mother of all MMOsEarlier in the year this blogger had the chance to attend the Independent MMO Game Developer's Conference, the second annual event held in Minneapolis, MN. A number of luminaries in the field made an appearance, such as Scott Hartsman (former Senior Producer for EverQuest 2) and Brian Green (best known for his work on Meridian 59). Also in attendance was Dr. Richard Bartle, the much-admired co-developer of the original MUD1 online environment. Along with Roy Trubshaw, Mr. Bartle essentially pioneered the field of MUDs. As these games gave rise to MMOs as we know them today, we would most likely not be enjoying the Massively.com website without his efforts.Join us as we sit down for a conversation about the big kid on the block: World of Warcraft. Some time ago Dr. Bartle made the crack that he'd "shut down" Blizzard game in an effort to improve the industry. Though he was only making an elaborately illustrative joke at the time, he's gotten a lot of flack for it. Today we have the other side of that coin: what Blizzard could honestly do to make the game even better. Click on through below the cut for Dr. Richard Bartle's view on Karazahn, playing MMOs as a player, and his overall view on the near future of the genre's darlings.
The Rise of the Casual MMO
It's always a little odd to hear someone talk about gaming as 'hardcore' or 'casual' because it is, after all, still just game. When we log out of the game and turn off our computers, we've come to the same place no matter if we spent our time clearing Karazhan at record speed, or spent it in a tavern discussing the finer points of blood elf hair-styling over tankards of ale. When someone announces they are making a casual MMO, what do they mean by that? World of Warcraft was at one point described as a casual MMO, and perhaps compared to EverQuest or Dark Age of Camelot, it was. It set up a milestone for casual gaming, but gaming has moved on and now even WoW is considered too hardcore for many. How is it possible to define what a casual MMO is, when the definition keeps changing?
Casual vs. Hardcore lecture at IMGDC this weekend
It's the eternal debate: hardcore vs. casual. Which one are you? Game developers are at a pinnacle moment now where they need to decide which is their target audience. Many have made attempts at covering both sides of the coin, and even fewer have succeeded. But recently it's become more an issue of addressing this topic from a business point of view. According to indie developer Rebel Monkey's co-founder Nick Fortugno, web-based casual online games are where it's at. He cites such examples as Club Penguin, Pogo.com and (heaven forbid) Webkinz as expanding the idea of what an MMO can be. From a money-making standpoint, this would only make sense, but we just worry if it will siphon away from the hardcore market's capital funding.So at the Indie MMO Game Developer's Conference this weekend, Nick Fortugno will address this daunting issue at his lecture "What Your Mother and Your Ten-Year-Old Can Teach You". He will mainly explore the direction that our online games are taking, and the lessons casual games teach about reaching a broader audience. It will be held at 4 p.m. Central on Sunday, March 30, 2008, in the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Indie MMO game developers conference taking early registrations
After the success of IMGDC 1.0 (the Indie MMO Game developers conference) in Minneapolis in April, things are moving forward again for the 2008 session of IMGDC 2.0 at the end of March. The conference will take place in Minneapolis again, at the Minneapolis Convention Center from March 29-30. Early bird registration is available, with registration costing only a hundred dollars (US) until 15 November. Word is that the last conference was great, and I'm told that folks are really looking forward to attending this next one. There's a terrific lineup of speakers, and I'm wishing I could be there.
