MMORPG Idea
Author
Hello,
I hope I am posting in the right forum as I hate it when people do that to me.
I have, what I think is a good idea for a potentially extremely expandable and profitable video game. Being a young entrepreneur I am looking into creating a development team for the prototype of this game. I humbly ask for the guidance of this community.
The Game:
Without divulging too much information, I would like to explain the functions of the game. It will be a client to central server based 3d MMO RPG. There would need to be an auto update system as well as an easy way to setup new servers for new worlds. There would be several intricate world systems that I would need programmers to complete. The prototype needs dynamic character models and basic buildings and terrain structures.
My plans:
To gather together a team of developers on a very low budget, spending for only the necessities such as advanced programming tasks. I would like to have a functional prototype in 6-8 months which I would then apply for a small business loan which will partially compensate existing developers for the portion of work completed as well as continue the paid development of the game for another 10-12 months. After such development the game will launch online for paid monthly subscriptions.
Your advice:
Where should I look for developers and who should I stray away from?
What would be the proper kind of payment system, by the project, by the hour, etc?
Is my timeline too short? What will be the main challenges to get the prototype off the ground? Is the market too competitive for a new MMO RPG idea to succeed?
If anyone is willing to chat with me online about this please PM me.
Regards,
The Digerati
This should be in Help Wanted forum.
Other than that:
People who are capable of producing a prototype in 6-8 months will not work for free. Those who will, will not produce a working prototype.
Saying "intricate world systems" is a very bad sign. Intricate systems means too complex, over-designed or mal-designed. No world system that succeeded was intricate. They were all straight-forward.
3D+MMO+RPG reduces your chances of success drastically. Among all the success stories about indie developed 3D MMORPGs, only Runescape comes to mind right now. All of the biggest MMOs in the western markets are not 3D, they are generally also not RPGs. Reason for this is that budgets for 3D MMORPGs are around $10 million for cheap ones, with 3-5 years development time.
You don't have anything to offer. Be happy with those that choose to sign up.
That depends on your funds. Do you have enough funds up-front to pay salaries of 3-8 people for 20 months, before you get any kind of funds?
Probably. Most such projects take 3-5 years by game development studios of 30-50 people, with people with years of experience in the industry.
Getting it off the ground. Once you're that far, you've got the major problem solved. Most game projects never get that far.
No. Now is the perfect time. Of course that means the market is flooded with MMOs. So many try, few succeed.
First you'll need a solid and verified business plan, along with basic design documents and project plan.
The profitability will of course be determined after the game has launched and started getting income, which means in 24 months. Until then, it's only an idea, just like hundred others.
To be blunt. Starting a business and investing money into this is bad idea, unless you have someone who will lead this project, and has adequate development, management, financial and MMOG experience. Without that, you'll hit the ground hard and fast, especially if you invest money into it.
All successful indie MMOG (not 3D, not RPG) projects were made by one or two people, veterans in software development or game industry, who worked without pay until they launched. After they launched, they obtained some funding to keep the game alive for 6-18 months, then it started bringing in first profit.
I'd suggest you look at these stories, see how much it takes to bring out even the simplest ideas, and what all you'll be facing.
Other than that:
People who are capable of producing a prototype in 6-8 months will not work for free. Those who will, will not produce a working prototype.
Saying "intricate world systems" is a very bad sign. Intricate systems means too complex, over-designed or mal-designed. No world system that succeeded was intricate. They were all straight-forward.
3D+MMO+RPG reduces your chances of success drastically. Among all the success stories about indie developed 3D MMORPGs, only Runescape comes to mind right now. All of the biggest MMOs in the western markets are not 3D, they are generally also not RPGs. Reason for this is that budgets for 3D MMORPGs are around $10 million for cheap ones, with 3-5 years development time.
Quote:Where should I look for developers and who should I stray away from?
You don't have anything to offer. Be happy with those that choose to sign up.
Quote:What would be the proper kind of payment system, by the project, by the hour, etc?
That depends on your funds. Do you have enough funds up-front to pay salaries of 3-8 people for 20 months, before you get any kind of funds?
Quote:Is my timeline too short?
Probably. Most such projects take 3-5 years by game development studios of 30-50 people, with people with years of experience in the industry.
Quote:What will be the main challenges to get the prototype off the ground?
Getting it off the ground. Once you're that far, you've got the major problem solved. Most game projects never get that far.
Quote:Is the market too competitive for a new MMO RPG idea to succeed?
No. Now is the perfect time. Of course that means the market is flooded with MMOs. So many try, few succeed.
Quote:I have, what I think is a good idea for a potentially extremely expandable and profitable video game. Being a young entrepreneur I am looking into creating a development team for the prototype of this game. I humbly ask for the guidance of this community.
First you'll need a solid and verified business plan, along with basic design documents and project plan.
The profitability will of course be determined after the game has launched and started getting income, which means in 24 months. Until then, it's only an idea, just like hundred others.
To be blunt. Starting a business and investing money into this is bad idea, unless you have someone who will lead this project, and has adequate development, management, financial and MMOG experience. Without that, you'll hit the ground hard and fast, especially if you invest money into it.
All successful indie MMOG (not 3D, not RPG) projects were made by one or two people, veterans in software development or game industry, who worked without pay until they launched. After they launched, they obtained some funding to keep the game alive for 6-18 months, then it started bringing in first profit.
I'd suggest you look at these stories, see how much it takes to bring out even the simplest ideas, and what all you'll be facing.
Author
Thank you for your advice Antheus.
To clarify some points:
By intricate world systems I used the wrong word choice. I mean more of unique; simple, but not really done yet. The types of things you wished was in a certain scenario but no one has done.
Funding I guess would be my primary issue from the get go. I have a few friends doing game design as a career path and or hobby. My initial idea was to get together a large but segmented team of young hobby to semi-pro programmers and designers that would take small individual tasks of the game. With little to offer besides a chunk of the return of profits, these developers would be doing this as a part time project. I am assuming this idea is far fetched and will be very hard to execute.
I also guess I have underestimated the cost of game development. In my eyes game companies work too hard to perfect the game for a magnificent launch. I would instead launch the game early to the public and apply monthly updates along to the subscription base. Starting out free to grow a user base and then implementing a payment system for most of the online game. The expandability of my game idea would make it easy to launch early and keep players hooked for a long time without investing months to years in story lines and levels.
To clarify some points:
By intricate world systems I used the wrong word choice. I mean more of unique; simple, but not really done yet. The types of things you wished was in a certain scenario but no one has done.
Funding I guess would be my primary issue from the get go. I have a few friends doing game design as a career path and or hobby. My initial idea was to get together a large but segmented team of young hobby to semi-pro programmers and designers that would take small individual tasks of the game. With little to offer besides a chunk of the return of profits, these developers would be doing this as a part time project. I am assuming this idea is far fetched and will be very hard to execute.
I also guess I have underestimated the cost of game development. In my eyes game companies work too hard to perfect the game for a magnificent launch. I would instead launch the game early to the public and apply monthly updates along to the subscription base. Starting out free to grow a user base and then implementing a payment system for most of the online game. The expandability of my game idea would make it easy to launch early and keep players hooked for a long time without investing months to years in story lines and levels.
Quote:I also guess I have underestimated the cost of game development. In my eyes game companies work too hard to perfect the game for a magnificent launch. I would instead launch the game early to the public and apply monthly updates along to the subscription base.
They worked that hard to get even something playable out, and they ran out of funds. The only MMORPGs that could afford polish and playtesting were WoW, GW and recently, LOTRO (counting AAA titles only). Every other title launched incomplete, or before it was ready.
So games launched with incomplete textures, missing sounds, missing higher-level content, buggy, unstable, with no balance or gameplay testing.
Most of today's AAA MMORPG titles launched like this. Look at Vanguard - $50 million or so investment by Microsoft, tanked.
If you're going into this by hiring other people, paying the salaries, expenses, investing your money, make really sure, and I mean really sure, that you know what you're going into. Including the commercial history of all the big and small time MMOGs, starting with those with 1000 subscribers.
If you were able to produce this by yourself, or without commercial involvement, things would be much simpler and less riskier, since you'd have much less to lose.
The comparison to AAA titles may seem unfair, but keep in mind, that those involved professional teams, experienced, qualified, with all equipment, team dynamics, and funding from the start. And there, things tend to mostly go wrong.
It's just such a complex task.
*sigh*
First off you said you had an idea. Where is the idea? You didn't state an idea. You just asked for help.
Secondly: Don't waste your time being secretive about your project. From the looks of it there is nothing original about your project. I know it may seem that way to you since you're excited about it, but when you really look at it objectively there is probably nothing new.
If there is, being secretive about it will only slow you down.
There aren't any lurkers out there praying on other people's ideas. Not in this industry. The real value of a project comes from the effort invested and the resources spent on it. The ideas are nothing. Ideas are a dime a quintillion.
Being open about your ideas will allow constructive and creative feedback and help you shape and evolve your idea into a more mature form. In all likelihood (though you may not admit this to yourself) you know beneath the level of consciousness that your idea is unsound and don't want to really post it because either it's so poorly fleshed out that it wouldn't really convert itself to an explanation at all or would be ripped to shreds by an objective analysis of its feasibility.
GameDev is supposed to be about sharing and evaluating ideas and freely flowing feedback and support. Not about dropping hints that you're hiding a great secret that you'd be willing to share with people willing to help. Most of the people here are too smart to fall for a trick like that. And anyone here who could actually give you real help would *definitely* be too smart for that.
First off you said you had an idea. Where is the idea? You didn't state an idea. You just asked for help.
Secondly: Don't waste your time being secretive about your project. From the looks of it there is nothing original about your project. I know it may seem that way to you since you're excited about it, but when you really look at it objectively there is probably nothing new.
If there is, being secretive about it will only slow you down.
There aren't any lurkers out there praying on other people's ideas. Not in this industry. The real value of a project comes from the effort invested and the resources spent on it. The ideas are nothing. Ideas are a dime a quintillion.
Being open about your ideas will allow constructive and creative feedback and help you shape and evolve your idea into a more mature form. In all likelihood (though you may not admit this to yourself) you know beneath the level of consciousness that your idea is unsound and don't want to really post it because either it's so poorly fleshed out that it wouldn't really convert itself to an explanation at all or would be ripped to shreds by an objective analysis of its feasibility.
GameDev is supposed to be about sharing and evaluating ideas and freely flowing feedback and support. Not about dropping hints that you're hiding a great secret that you'd be willing to share with people willing to help. Most of the people here are too smart to fall for a trick like that. And anyone here who could actually give you real help would *definitely* be too smart for that.
Quote:
Where should I look for developers and who should I stray away from?
The real question is, how do you get developers to be interested at all in your project, since you don't have funds right now to pay them(waiting 6-8 months to get a loan doesn't count). How to you get them to be interested in this and abandon their own personal projects?(we don't just sit around and wait for "idea guys",you know). I'm a programmer and I have zero interest in this project, since you haven't showed anything. You just said "I have a great idea, but I won't tell you about it unless you personally contact me and work for me". Well. I have no intention to contact you because there's nothing there to gain my interest in the first place. I prefer to work on my own projects. I've heard the "I have a great idea" mantra a thousand times. You should be able to realize that.
i don't want to burst your bubble, but this is not a very good idea at all.
Firstly the fact that it's an MMO. These are big, expensive projects. the fact it's 3d will compound problems since your art requirements leap up a ton (from 2d isometric).
I really really doubt any bank would fund you, it's just far too over ambitious. How are you going to pay an art/programming/QA team? Will you self publish over the internet (direct2drive or steam or something?) or will you go to a publisher? How will you cover the startup costs of servers, server admin, GMs, etc? How will you handle financial transactions between yourself and your players?
I urge you to start simpler. Maybe a simple client-client game? build it up till you have a few players connecting p2p to a small online multiplayer enviroment (could even serve as a prototype for your game!). then you can (maybe, just maybe, if your games a big hit) start venturing into the scarey world of MMOs.
Firstly the fact that it's an MMO. These are big, expensive projects. the fact it's 3d will compound problems since your art requirements leap up a ton (from 2d isometric).
I really really doubt any bank would fund you, it's just far too over ambitious. How are you going to pay an art/programming/QA team? Will you self publish over the internet (direct2drive or steam or something?) or will you go to a publisher? How will you cover the startup costs of servers, server admin, GMs, etc? How will you handle financial transactions between yourself and your players?
I urge you to start simpler. Maybe a simple client-client game? build it up till you have a few players connecting p2p to a small online multiplayer enviroment (could even serve as a prototype for your game!). then you can (maybe, just maybe, if your games a big hit) start venturing into the scarey world of MMOs.
Author
I thank you all for your critism. I understand the concept about being open about your game idea, however I am a very cautious person. This is also why I am starting out here trying to find out everything it will take to accomplish something of a game. Understanding the giant risks that could ruin the plan before it even gets started, I have decided to be more open.
I have been talking to one of my friends that does modeling and levels. He said there would be some good potential; but you probably dont care. So after I have the time to summarize my idea to post, I will provide the concept in whole for the forums. Probably sometime this weekend; so please bare with me.
PvP for this scenario wouldnt really work. Once the game is functional enough to have a server, client, and characters that can complete functions it would be available to anybody that wants to beta test. Even if theres zero textures, unique models, or elaborate missions people would have the chance from the very start to understand the game objective, give their input and mold the future of the concept.
I would like to say that I am more of a webmaster than a game developer at heart. I came from a very heavy game enthusiast past, doing a gaming website, tounaments, and a video team. I feel that my unique view of organization in games and websites would provide a better startup experience to a game development. I understand that you still have no reason to believe I have something going, but I greatly appreciate the considerations.
Again, after I get the time to provide my entire idea in one simplified post, you all can hopefully tell me if I should really stop now or continue down the shakey path of game development.
Thank you
Regards,
The Digerati
I have been talking to one of my friends that does modeling and levels. He said there would be some good potential; but you probably dont care. So after I have the time to summarize my idea to post, I will provide the concept in whole for the forums. Probably sometime this weekend; so please bare with me.
PvP for this scenario wouldnt really work. Once the game is functional enough to have a server, client, and characters that can complete functions it would be available to anybody that wants to beta test. Even if theres zero textures, unique models, or elaborate missions people would have the chance from the very start to understand the game objective, give their input and mold the future of the concept.
I would like to say that I am more of a webmaster than a game developer at heart. I came from a very heavy game enthusiast past, doing a gaming website, tounaments, and a video team. I feel that my unique view of organization in games and websites would provide a better startup experience to a game development. I understand that you still have no reason to believe I have something going, but I greatly appreciate the considerations.
Again, after I get the time to provide my entire idea in one simplified post, you all can hopefully tell me if I should really stop now or continue down the shakey path of game development.
Thank you
Regards,
The Digerati
The questions you are asking here are absurdly premature. You should be asking questions like, "how are games made?", "how much time, resources, and money does it take to make a game?", "how does the game industry work?", and "how do game companies make money?". And you also need to ask yourself, "where exactly do I want to go?", "how exactly do I get there?", and "what are my chances of success?".
I would be willing to bet that:
This lack of experience is a huge handicap. You need to figure out how to overcome it.
Don't get me wrong. Plenty of people start out with nothing more than their enthusiasm. Some of them succeed. Good luck.
[Edited by - JohnBolton on June 8, 2007 6:42:08 PM]
I would be willing to bet that:
- You have never been in charge of the development of a game, or even worked on a game.
- You have never applied for a business loan.
- You have never started a company or even run a company (with employees other than yourself).
This lack of experience is a huge handicap. You need to figure out how to overcome it.
Don't get me wrong. Plenty of people start out with nothing more than their enthusiasm. Some of them succeed. Good luck.
[Edited by - JohnBolton on June 8, 2007 6:42:08 PM]
Wow, such negativity. I think that if you are inspired, go for it. Although you have to be cautious. I think what a lot of these people are saying is that if you really don't know what you are getting into, it is a larger project than you are probably thinking. Also, with a business loan, you can get into real financial trouble very quickly. Make sure you know enough about programming and the scope of what you are doing to make smart decisions. But besides that, have a blast I hope you succeed.
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
