Gamasutra Reports on Indie MMOs
You know, I thought about doing an indie MMO once. Well, beyond a MUD, which I *DID* do at one point (very small, few visitors, wrote and discarded tons of custom code...). It kinda began as a gripe session with a fellow game programmer about everything EverQuest did wrong, and how we could do SO much better (given *ahem* time and budget).

Eventually I did Void War instead, and decided to focus more on single player games (for now) with Rampant Games. That, and as the later generations of MMORPGs started to appear, I realized that those gripes were already being taken care of by bigger, better-funded companies. Though I had some ideas, I really couldn't think of something I really wanted to do in that space to make a difference.

But other indies have taken up the banner, and done a stellar job of it so far. And it's only getting better. In particular, I'm blown away by Josh Ritter and Minions of Mirth, which was very much an indie answer to EverQuest. Not that this carries so much weight in a post-World of Warcraft world, but it's still amazing what can be done with a limited budget and team. But really deep fantasy RPGs aren't everything. The indies have had some great success stories, from Kingdom of Loathing to Runescape, Adventure Quest, A Tale in the Desert, Yo Ho Ho Puzzle Pirates, and more.

And they are getting organized, going after the niches that are not attractive to the big publishers.

This year several enterprising folks set up the "2007 Indie MMO Developer's Conference." Gamasutra.com has the report here:

MMOs Go Indie: The Indie MMO Game Developers Conference 2007 Report

I really liked this bit from Josh Williams' address:

He ended the session with advice to the game makers in attendance. Scope, he suggested was a vital consideration. “Think small,” he implored. “Be willing to scrap ideas.”

Williams suggested tackling a job suited to a team of two or three people working for six months. “If you think you can do it in six months, then you have a good chance of getting it done in a year.”

“Dream tight. Dream small. And dream niche too,” he told the audience. He closed his pep talk with the call to action, “Let's get some sh** done!”

Amen!


(Vaguely) related MMO stuff...
* How to Develop an MMORPG With No Team and Limited Budget
* How to FUBAR an MMO Launch
* More Indie Opportunities

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Labels: Biz, Indie Evangelism

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