You could also ask Derek, I know he’s got plenty to say about launching a MMO game. Heh heh.
There were actually some “Consulting” firms that were at E3 (I think I ran into three or four) who are actually taking this into the business side of things.
I really can’t see anything different with what they are doing as opposed to what these start-ups are doing. An MMOG consulting firm IMNSHO is doomed to failure becuase developers will be working with their own teams during Alpha testing of the MMO game. They will branch out to beta one with anywhere from 25 to 100 testers and then increase size during beta two to up to 500 testers.
This is just to test the game to make sure they have something to showcase and to have the game actually work. Usually (and I’m not an expert!) the first groups of beta are freinds of freinds of the developers.
Also, developers ususally have very limited funds during startup development for their project, so evey penny can count if they don’t have a publisher.
Then we get to the whole publisher fiasco, usually the game is broken anways and not ready for release, but for the developers to contnue getting cash they need to meet their milestones, and this would be to just keep their employees paid, and the power on at the office, no?
In the end, why would they hire consultants to:
a) test their code
- When they wrote the code and would know how to fix it or learn of problems internally prior to an outsurced company providing detailed feedback in documentation
b) pay for it
- When you can get “Excellent” beta testers from the MMO community that have been doing it for ten years (going back to AOL/NwN). The MMO community is actually pretty small, when your ready to begin external testing there are only like 10 or 20 guilds that will be called up from the internet to come “beta test with some of their guys.”
They test it for free, or usually with comped accounts after release.
c) what would you offer different?
- Really? All you as a consultant can give is a “certification” that this game is ready or not ready for a release. The developers would already know this, while the publisher is saying “It goes in stores next week.”
My guys and I have done some consuting work, and it basically consisted of “take a look at these titles, tell us what ya think after playing them for a few hours” for some publishers. Today though, more and more publishers are going after brand name titles: ie. Matrix Online, Middle Earth Online, Dungeoans and Dragons Online, Marvel Superheroes Online, etc. (I’m sure there are a lot more literary titles I’m not naming) which are done and consulted by interal marketing, thus another reason an outside consultant would not be needed. “Let’s go after this title. Ok, now who we get to develop it. Lets look at hese three coampanies.” And I’m sure it comes down to bidding or rates or something else to that affect (effect?).
I amy actually be reading your “consulting” wrong. Do you mean PR Relations? I’ve noticed 22 MMO’s that have no idea how they are going to market their games to the players that would subscribe. Most of these developers who have self-published titles do not “Talk” to the community to get these players hooked and into playing the game.
These start-ups can’t just come out and say, “Heres our game come pay us each month to play.” They tank. No one even knows about the game. You never hear anything about the game, and it just dies because it was ignored. No fans, no player base, no word of mouth.
So, on the other side, I can see a huge need in the MMO market for someone to come along and do what Themis-Group does but better. Folks like the Aussie (OMPR) guys once they get a foot hold in the U.S. will shake things up and have a huge market to cater too.
One of the major questions I asked of the MMO games at E3 I saw, was “Who is doing your community relations for the fans. Have you already got someone in mind, or are you going to outsource.” They just had no idea.
MMO players, who pay each month want faces they can see visibly, they want to know about updates on their favorite sites and MUST be included on the “Who’s Who list” even if they talk negatively about the game. It’s better then not hearing “any talk” about the game becuase those who are most outspoken are those who most belive in the game.
Div
- Themis has signed a deal with Level Three, one of the top two broadband providers (they recently acquired Genuity, formerly BBN, one of the pioneers of the Arpanet, excuse me, Internet). Essentially, this allows Themis to offer MMG developers and publishers an all-in-one solution, including hosting, broadband provisioning, and customer and community support, freeing them to do what they know best–software development and marketing–while turning the things that make MMGs drastically different from conventional games–ongoing serverside support and community management–over to a partner. I think this is big deal, and wanted Themis to trumpet it to the winds, but they have a charmingly old-fashioned notion that results are more important than glitzy deals, and want to show results in successful implementation for an MMG before we go out for publicity… And I can’t really argue with the notion, given the nonsensical hype that surrounded so many dot-coms. Sure, let’s get an MMG partner to pick up the package before pointing out how much sense this makes. But it does make enormous sense–most MMGs fail at launch, either because client software is buggy, there’s inadequate support on the server side, or community support sucks. The Themis-Level Three coalition can’t do anything about buggy client software–that’s up to the developer–but it can, cost-effectively, ensure that there is adequate hardware and bandwidth on the backend to support any anticipated load (and throw more resources at the problem if there’s more than anticipated)–and it can ensure that players have a good experience out of the gate, and on an ongoing basis (the community management issue.)
Bad MMG launches are the thing of the past–if you partner with Themis.
Okay, that’s a little bit of corporate hype there, but I’m serious, really. I’m jazzed.
That’s generally the idea, though crappy software and bad developers won’t help you even with Themis onboard. While I think Themis stablized Anarchy Online (they signed up after the launch if I recall correctly), I don’t think Funcom is doing so hot with it, and are basically in near-survival mode.
If you play your cards right and hire very competent and motivated personnel, Themis can probably deliver itself into a very niche but lucrative market where others will have trouble succeeding. An organization like that and good MMOG’s will feed off each other’s successive energy and grow profit out of the ass. Sounds like a good idea to me, wish I was a part of it :)
— Alan
The problem I see is that in a couple of years the MMO market may have contracted to just a few big publishers. The smaller MMOs are the ones that need Themis the most. I doubt SOE or Microsoft or NCSoft needs Themis.
Most of the MMOs in development will probably crash and burn not because of poor support or poor community relations, but simply because they can’t match the efforts of the big publishers. You’re going to have EQ2 and other big games that look great and have tons of features that the current games don’t have. How will MMOs from small companies compete?
You’re also going to have a lot of MMOs up and running by the end of next year, so customers may be hard to come by too. It’s hard to see how the small MMOs will avoid being squeezed out of the market.
At this point, who gives a goddamn about MMORPGs? They’re all the exact same game. Even FPSes, a rather stagnant genre, has had more innovation.
I heard there were 15 Fantasy MMORPGS showing at E3 this year.
A friend of mine ICQed me and said he had an idea.
“Hey, we should do a fantasy MMORPG”…
I didn’t take up his offer.
Really? What’s the FPS equivalent of A Tale in the Desert? What FPS lets you build cities, form nations, and go to war against other players like Shadowbane?
It’s funny. FPS games have been the same more or less since Wolfenstein, yet hardly anyone complains.
That’s probably about right. There were over 20 MMOGs in all at the show. We’re seeing the end of a development cycle that started 2-4 years ago for a lot of these games. It’s the RTS craze all over again.
Depends on what you consider the fundamental gameplay of MMORPGs to be. I don’t know about Shadowbane, and ATITD is a wierd exception, but every other goddamn game out there is “stand there, hit a button every thirty seconds, and receive pellet. Oh yes, the game will require a time investment between 6 months and 1 year of solid play.” Replacing all the fantasy names and concepts with science fiction while leaving the gameplay unchanged doesn’t count, either. I’m looking at you, AO.
I complain about FPSes, thank you very much. I want destroyable buildings and terrain, and I want it now!
That’s kind of why I’m excited about City of Heros. 1) It’s not fantasy. While there was like one or two fantasy games showing that weren’t Tolkien/D&D knock offs, the overwhelming majority of them were. 2) No auto attack. You have to manage your physical attacks and powers to create combos. Since your powers level with you and never become useless, leveling gives you more choice in how you go about kicking ass.
As far as fantasy MMORPGs go, Ryzom has a pretty nifty setting and no elves. But they have a race of anime-inspired big eyed guys that kind of stick out from the rest of the world. But I liked the whole “no metals, no inorganics” idea of the world and having four races, one tied to each element is kind of different. It’s one of the few from the show I’ll keep an eye on.