mmo-industry
Latest
Behind the scenes at Sony's network operations center
If keeping just one computer running and up-to-date is a hassle, imagine keeping six to seven thousand of them going, 24/7, with any unexpected downtime sure to draw the anger of extremely vocal gamers. That's the challenge faced every day by SOE's Director of Technology Operations, Mark Rizzo. Rizzo cut his teeth running the back-end for MMO legend Ultima Online. Back then, he and his team were building things by hand and learning as they went. Now, things are a lot more complicated. With eight games already and more coming online all the time, handling all the users and simultaneous transactions is more like working in the data center for a stock exchange rather than your typical web-hosting service.Says Rizzo, "We did an April Fools' prank in one of the games and we had to have some server code updated to pull the prank off. Change management allowed us to know who approved it, and know where it's from, and where it's going." It's said that if you like sausage or law, you should never see it being made. This peek behind the curtain at the code and hardware that keeps swords flashing and spells weaving just deepens our appreciation of this difficult task.[Via Slashdot]
MapleStory reaps over $29 million in U.S. virtual item sales
2007 proved to be a good year for Nexon in the United States, particularly with its free-to-play MapleStory. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports that the although the game has 85 million users worldwide, only 5.9 million of them are U.S. players. Given the relatively small percentage of its player base located in the United States, it's surprising that MapleStory made an absolute killing on in-world transactions in 2007; the WSJ reports that 'Nexon's U.S. revenue last year more than tripled to $29.3 million from $8.5 million the prior year.'Jeremy Liew provides some additional commentary on the Nexon windfall over at Lightspeed: "With $30m in US sales and 6m US registered users, assuming a 20% "active player" rate and 10% "buyer rate", that implies an ARPU of $20/mth which sounds about right and is consistent with number we've seen from games in Asia. It sounds like the US will be following very similar models of virtual goods monetization that we've seen in Asia." It's interesting that the predominantly Asian business model of legitimized RMT is already gaining some degree of acceptance in the United States, albeit a slow acceptance. Via PlayNoEvil
Lum the Mad weighs in on the MMO industry's future
Scott Jennings has been known as 'Lum the Mad' for years now, posting regularly to a website of the same name in the murky mists of the MMO genre's past. Though "The Rantings of Lum the Mad" was a collaborative effort, Mr. Jennings well-known efforts on the site led to a lengthy stint with Mythic Entertainment. Since 2006 he's been working with NCsoft in Austin on an as-yet-unannounced massively multiplayer game. The folks at Ten Ton Hammer caught up with Lum at this month's ION conference. There, they asked a few questions about what he's working on, as well as some broader queries about the industry as a whole. If you've ever followed Mr. Jenning's writing on his current Broken Toys site, you're probably already aware he's got some great ideas about where the genre should be going.Scott confirmed that the title he's working on is a typical fantasy MMO. But, he notes, it's a collaborative effort between a number of veterans of the genre. On the industry as a whole, the MMO commentator is fairly firm: World of Warcraft has set a standard that must be met. Anything that doesn't "will fail and deserve[s] to fail." Beyond that, Lum and the site discuss open world PvP, the sticky wicket of investment money, and the daunting challenge of MUDflation. Says Jennings, "There are ways to give players more tools in their toolbox that don't completely blow the ability spectrum out of wack. It's one of those things that's very upward focused, and that's why you need tons and tons of testing cause it's the quickest way to kill your game."
How will Blizzard respond to Age of Conan's amazing launch?
It must seem a little like deja vu to the Blizzard bigwigs back in Irvine. A fantasy-based MMORPG with some good buzz in beta, a smooth launch, and a sudden rush of players several times more than were expected, requiring dozens of new servers? Wasn't that us, four years ago? But four years is forever in Internet time, and in that time, Blizzard has enjoyed popularity entirely unseen in the MMO genre, anywhere in the world. Now, though, a young upstart is looking a lot like the fresh-faced game that swept us all away all those years ago. What's Blizzard going to do to reassure its stockholders that it still has an iron grip on its 10.7 million players? How will they keep the kids on the farm when they've seen the big city?Kanthalos at MMOre Insight wonders if Age of Conan could ever have gotten enough breathing room to launch so well if Blizzard had just released more expansions, faster. Would so many people have flocked to AoC's world of Hyboria if they'd been busily carving up Northrend? Would they be rolling up Dark Templars if Blizzard had given them Death Knights by now? Tobold agrees, and wonders how many people AoC will retain once Warhammer Online and Wrath of the Lich King are released. Has World of Warcraft's slow release cycle had you looking for new games to try? Are you still excited about WotLK? If you did start playing another MMO, what would Blizzard have to do to win you back? Start talking about WoW 2? World of Diablo? A complete revamp of the low level game? Or should Blizzard just sit back and let things play out, confident that when the dust settles, they'll still be #1 and as strong as ever?
Mutating the MMO
Over at Eurogamer.net, Rob Fahey has been taking a hard look at some of the conventions of MMOs and considering how recent innovations in non-MMO games development could act as a wake-up call. Using Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as a focus point, Rob points out the parallels between that game and conventional MMOs - a persistent player character, experience gained through tasks and through defeating adversaries, new weapons acquired, new abilities unlocked. Evidently, core gameplay elements characteristic of MMOs can be transplanted into different gaming contexts without making the new entity into a traditional MMO, and also while leaving some of the arguably less desirable elements behind, such as the grind. Rob recognises this evolution as much more important than it has so far been given credit for. Designers and fans have debated how to break the MMO model out of its entrenched conventions: CoD4 has (Rob argues) already done exactly that, while nobody was looking.
Linden Lab hiring, Web-development and operations
Linden Lab is looking for Web developers at all of their offices, particularly at Brighton, Mountain View, and Seattle, as well as remote (telecommute) staff for Operations from all over the world, though particularly from Singapore and Australia. If you're interested in working for Linden Lab and can pony-up with the sort of strong skills they're looking for, you should check out their job pages. From what we've been told, Linden Lab pays below market-rates for staff, but prefers top-class people who love their work and would rather have job-satisfaction.
Petition for the black bar of censorship in Age of Conan
Apparently people already want the black bars slapped on the chests of the fine ladies of Hyboria, as 1UP got wind of a petition being crafted to add a nudity toggle to Age of Conan.Now, obviously everyone anticipated that the nudity would be a hot button issue - the developers already added an option to turn off nipples in the game. The source post in the forums though does add a decent option - simply a switch to give ladies bras for players who would like to play the game without the nudity.1UP, however, went a step further and created some pretty funny ways of blocking out nudity in AoC. If you haven't dropped by yet, you should check it out. They have a considerable amount of fun with a simple black bar.[Via 1UP]
Has the MMO industry been irresponsible with children?
Frustration and disappointment was squarely behind the creation of the kid-friendly online space Club Penguin. Co-founder and general manager Lane Merrifield was sick and tired of the MMO industry's "cynicism" when it came to children. Merrifield and his partners went forward with the gamespace as a side project, a world unsupported by VC money or expectations.GamesIndustry.biz sat down for a chat with the man, and delved into the context behind one of the most successful kid-oriented titles on the market. In his words, he'd be "silly" not to be surprised by the game's runaway success and the purchase by Disney. The human element, he offers, has been critical to their success. "Merrifield also thinks that there is an over-reliance on technology that ignores the human element, which is why they've decided to devote two-thirds of the company's staff to positions such as safety moderators and customer service. 'We know the limits of technology, even though I would put our filtering software up against anybody's, especially because of that human element - we're adding 500 to 1000 words every day to the filters, simply because of slang that works its way into the language.'"
Do you want some marketing with your open beta?
Many more developers are answering that question with a enthusiastic, "Yes, moar marketing plz." Why shouldn't they, when a open beta is a great way to let people get a hands on with your game before it comes out. If your open beta is in fairly solid shape for most people's systems, the good word-of-mouth will pay off. That pre-launch buzz is going to net you more sales, and isn't that what you want in the long run?But this whole controversy isn't getting started up because no one realized that open beta could also be spun as marketing. No, this controversy is being started up because many of Funcom's actions regarding the Age of Conan open beta were blatant marketing strategies. Yet, all of us were scratching our heads when a bomb finally dropped -- the open beta used a prior version of the AoC client?
Is there life in MMOs after the fantasy genre?
Most of the AAA subscription MMOs are set in the fantasy genre. Many of the in-development titles are set in the fantasy genre. The most popular massive game in the US is a fantasy title. So when is the industry going to get over this hangup on orcs and elves? Is there even an MMO industry without the fantasy setting? Those are the questions asked by Oli Welsh today at the GamesIndustry.biz site. Welsh returns to the conclusion many have reached when examining buzz, marketing, sales figures, and new games: players are just as 'risk-adverse' as publishers are when it comes to new game settings.As we at Massively have done in the past, the author goes on to hope for a future with a little more bravery in tackling genre tropes. He lauds Cryptic's adherence to the four-color comic book world, and offers high hopes for 'real life' titles like All Points Bulletin or The Agency. Ultimately, he says, it may just be the case that a developer needs to take the Diku-mud style of game perfected by SOE and Blizzard and transpose that sensibility to another genre. Though Tabula Rasa and the modern incarnation of Star Wars Galaxies approaches that style, there really isn't a good, working "EverQuest with lasers" out there. Perhaps the likes of Red 5 or Carbine will ride up on an armored hoverbike to offers us a new and (possibly) better way.
SOE's John Smedley weighs in on Gods and Heroes, lessons from Vanguard
GamesIndustry.biz continues its week of MMO-related features, discussing the role of partnerships in the business. Sony Online Entertainment has obviously had a number of notable relationships, and company president John Smedley offered up some time to comment on their history with business partnerships. As has often been the trend in recent years, Mr. Smedley talked heavily about the lessons the company has learned through hard knocks and rough launches. One of the reoccuring themes in GI's discussion with the CEO is what can be taken away from Vanguard's horrible launch early last year.Smedley makes no bones about that situation, saying that the company was being "run into the ground", but also noting that the game is now doing very well. He also spends some time talking about their relationship with Perpetual Entertainment and their stillborn collaboration Gods and Heroes. "Behind the scenes ... they were putting on a brave face to customers, but we were giving them advice all the time - which was ignored. At some point you get to this point in development ... in fact with Perpetual that was a direct result of the learnings we got from Vanguard - at one point they wanted to try and put the thing out early, and we said 'Look, we're not interested - we don't care if we lose money, but if you put this thing out there, users are going to hate it, and it's going to be a bad release.'" Also check out the interview for more on the in-development Indian title Ramayan, the changing MMO marketplace, and SOE's role in the future of the genre.
Codemasters plans to bring MMO development in-house
Well-known European games publisher Codemasters has announced that they plan to move some MMO development in-house. The company currently acts as publisher for a number of Western massively multiplayer games, such as Lord of the Rings Online and Jumpgate Evolution. It also acts as an EU partner for the Korean games and RF OnlineArchlord. Today vice president of Codemasters Online Gaming David Solari has informed GamesIndustry.biz that in-house development was 'always a part of the plan.'In a lengthy interview with the site, Solari notes that entering the PC MMO marketplace is a daunting task - but they feel they're prepared. The numerous games they've licensed will give them an edge, and has given them a great sense of where the industry is going. His concluding statement is especially interesting, given recent comments by Bobby Kotick in the growing tit-for-tat war between EA and Activision/Blizzard. "I don't think you can compete with Warcraft. In two or three year's there will be something else that will be able to compete with Warcraft but nobody will be able to tell you what that is now. Chucking money at something isn't the answer."
Pumping Irony gets philosophical on patchers
Patchers. The upside and downside to online gaming. Sure, they bring you oodles of new content, but they can also result in wait times before you get in to play you favorite game. But did you ever stop to think about the difference in patchers across the genre? The subtle difference that's exhibited in each company's updating program, like logging in before downloading your update, or the amount of updates in a game?Pumping Irony did. That's why they sat down and looked at the patching process amongst different games and began to get philosophical on your favorite (or most hated) launching device. Is requiring a player to log in helping you with your download times? Or is it just another barrier to keep you waiting longer before you get in to play, which may offset companies getting subscribers back into action? These questions and more are described within, and it's certainly worth the read for any MMO junkie.
EA-Land shutting down
Electronic Arts' new baby, EA-Land, is apparently not going ahead, with news coming down a few hours ago that this replacement for The Sims Online is going to be closing. The Sims Online closed and merged into the new EA-Land world in February this year, but it appears that whatever targets EA management might have set for the project weren't met, and it is now going to go away, closing around Midnight on the last day of July, this year.
Show me the money! Virtual worlds bring home the bucks
The first quarter of 2008 has seen 184.1 million US dollars invested in 23 virtual worlds according to a study done by the trade-media company Virtual Worlds management. That's a fair swag of cash. Of that 84 million, [doctor evil] one hundred million dollars [/doctor evil] went to Asia's 9you to integrate a variety of existing casual games into its new virtual worlds product, GTown.
Association of Virtual Worlds publishes Blue Book
The Blue Book: A Consumer Guide to Virtual Worlds is a 41 page, freely downloadable booklet that neatly summarizes virtual worlds and MMOs with a simple lookup guide that summarizes each world or game with a paragraph, and handy codes so you can tell types and age-groups at a glance. Over 250 virtual worlds are listed, alphabetically, with links to their web-sites, and there's some useful general online tips and a guide to some basic jargon for those new to virtual worlds and MMOGs. 'This book was designed to open up the metaverse and show you the exciting possibilities just a click away on your own computer,' adds Dave Elchoness, Executive Director. 'You'll find a wide variety of virtual spaces, environments, and playgrounds from the very sophisticated, to the quick and simple, just waiting for you to explore.' Broaden your horizons. There's more out there than you might think.
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?
Linden Lab needs help
Linden Lab put out a renewed call today for Production Operations developers and systems engineers in Australia, Singapore, the United States, and United Kingdom. It is hardly surprising considering the numerous difficulties during the day on the Second Life grid. Some of it seems to be related to the new code rollouts, some to configuration oversights, some to network problems, some to general failures to scale. Whatever the causes, Linden Lab is looking for staff to help identify and correct failures quickly, around-the-world, around-the-clock. We're not sure if these constitute additional staff, or if they're replacements for engineers who have been killed-in-action by the amassed telepathic ire of Second Life users.
Kids are the focus at VW08
Businesses have tried marketing to adults in Second Life. It's not working out for them. Instead, adults are gravitating toward casual games, while it's children who have shown themselves to be most receptive to marketing in virtual worlds. Such is the feeling at the Virtual Worlds 2008 conference in New York City, where aside from a single booth promoting Linden Lab's Second Life Grid, the place seemed like a toy fair. Barbie Girls Online, Nickelodeon, Neopets and Dino Kids are getting the big buzz at VW08. Teen-oriented sites like MTV's vLES are mature by comparison.Electric Sheep's Giff Constable says over the last three years, while he feels more people know what avatars are, he doesn't know any people over the time who have gotten one of their own. Part of that may be just what your definition of avatar is -- if it's meant to be an avatar on Second Life, that's one thing. An avatar in a social space like Facebook, perhaps something else.
Two little words
We're still waiting on answers to our queries to Linden Lab in the wake of their altered trademark policies. We're assured that we might get some sometime soon. In the meantime we thought you might just be interested in seeing the list of extra words that Linden Lab have trademark applications in for, and that you might suddenly start to see Brand Center regulations and usage guidelines on.
