The ins and outs of running MMORPGS from a webmasters view

halfpin

I have been running text based MMORPGS for around 3 years now and heres some info on the pros and cons

As a webmaster the first thing you do is look for game engines or coders for the main core of the game. This in itself is a complete nightmare because of the amount of ripped off scripts which are availble to purchase for very little money. Trying to find a coder who is both up with the latest MMORPG trends and reliable is a task in itself.

Once you find the script you will more than likey be spending out a whole lot more money on security holes and design issues so buying a cheap script sometimes works out a lot more expensives in the long run.

Ok so you got your script or game engine so you have to look for hosting. Most MMORPGS use cron jobs which continually update players stats ect. If they are 1 min updates then most shared hosting will not let you use them so its best to go for at least a VPS (virtual private server) or a dedicated server.

Once the game is installed and you have sorted out all the script problems its time to spend yet more money on advertising/ backlinks ect.

When you start to get players you will find yet more problems with the script as the players advance in the game...yet more money to spendout for coders and design work.

Players will also be suggesting a whole range of ideas which they think would be good for the game , some are good some are not, so its best to judge for yourself becuase adding a new mod could affect the game in such a way that players can either cheat or chase them away. Its a very good idea to listen to what your players are saying, but dont let them persuade you into doing something you will later regret.

One of the hardest things about running MMORPGS is keeping your players playing because they will soon get bored if you do not constantly improve or add new player options into the game. So this again costs more money.

If the game gets popular you then have to spend out more money on hiring staff.

Most MMORPGS are free to play however its hard to get to the top without spending some money on the games. Players complain about this all the time but they do not see the expense of actually running the game and keeping it online.

This is not a pop at game players in any way just a little bit of what goes on when you run your own MMORPGS and hopefully it will give players a new perspective on why us webmasters cant run a game completly for free. There allways has to be a way to make at least what you spend out on the game. Its the same for this forum they have ways to make money back because a board of this size will eat up bandwith and cost them money.

The pros are if you run a succesfull game you will make money from it, if it all goes wrong you will loose a lot of money but hey thats how biz works

There is a lot more to running a game compared to what I have posted above but this might just you a small glimpse at whats its like to run MMORPGS

TheDoc

Its an itneresting read alright and thank you for posting, but youve your arguement doesnt sit with just MMO's, it applies to every indsutry in the world.

If your selling your wares for free, and its explicitly free, then you get yourself some leeway in terms of people being more understanding since its run by low levels of staff etc.

But if your designing a game that you intend to sell, for profit, then the above you have mentioned it literally, just obvious business expansion.

If you want to grow an entity then obviously there will be costs with that growth.

If I paid for a product that was lazy, poorly designed and coded, poor gameplay and just all round rubbish, I'm not really caring how much money was invested or how much man hours are put into it. I'm buying a product for money and if its not any good or its very poor then I'm just not going to be happy.

Granted I'm not aware of your titles but if we are discussing the game model of free to play but pay to win, then I personally find them always to be poorly constructed games, very little lfiespan and moneygrabbing schemes to be honest.

I would muchrather pay €15 a month to Blizzard for the experience I get playing WoW, then pay nothing for a game but then be forced to pay out money for things that are pretty critical in order for me to progress or actually acheive status.

League of Legends deploys the perfect free to play model. Its a very polished game thats played by alot of people and its fantasticly designed and always ebing tweaked and updated.
The gmae is 100% free, the things you buy are character skins, or buying heros to be constantly in your lineup.

So I dont need to spend money to be on an equal playing field, I can spend money if I wish to simply be more unique.

Paying for things in games so you can be on an even playing field is pretty poor and if I find out a game is like that its instantly just a no go for me, and I don't know anyone that is ever still interested when they notice this.

So again whilst I appreciate the post and the explanation of how business' work, I do not agree with the sentiment that its "ok" or "cool" or there should be "understanding" when it comes to companies/designers looking to milk money from players so that they can just stay on a level playing field.