Developing Online Games: An Insiders Guide (Nrg-Programming)

ISBN: 1592730000
EAN: 2147483647

Year: 2003
Pages: 230

Authors: Jessica Mulligan, Bridgette Patrovsky

BUY ON AMAZON

Main Page
Table of content
Copyright
Read What People Are Saying About This Book:
About the Authors
About the Technical Reviewers
Acknowledgments
Tell Us What You Think
Foreword
Introduction
Part I: Executive Considerations
Chapter 1. The Market
Do We Enter the Market?
Basic Considerations
How and Which Niche?
Market Analysis: Who Are These People, Anyway?
Chapter 2. Planning and Budgeting
Cost of Entry
Budgeting and Return on Investment (ROI) Factors
Talent Pool: Management and Hiring Issues
Differentiation Between Product and Service
Budgeting the Development and Launch
Chapter 3. Project ManagementManager
Project Plans
Yes, It Really Will Take at Least 23 Years to Complete
Why Production Slips Happen
Project Realities
Chapter 4. Marketing and Distribution Concerns: Retail Box, Download, or Both?
Downloading: Not (Yet) a Viable Option
Buying Shelf Space
The AOL Model: Do You Need to Actually Sell the Client?
Chapter 5. Calculating and Expanding the Profit Margins: The Cost of Doing Business
Some Numbers
Add-On Profits
Part II: Design and Development Considerations
Chapter 6. Basic Design and Development Issues
Practicalities and Advice
Design
Chapter 7. Digging Deeper into Development and Design Issues
Technical Considerations
Where to Start?
Building the Right Tools
Host Hardware and Bandwidth
Player Hardware and Software
Customer Support: Dude, Where s My Tools?
Chapter 8. Getting into the Design
Acquisition and Retention Features
The Themis Group Player Satisfaction Matrix
The Critical New Player Experience
It s the Socialization, Stupid
The Importance of (the Other Guy s) Storytelling
World-Building: Just What Is Content, Anyway?
Chapter 9. Other Design and Development Issues
Console: Oh, Brave New World
One Problem: The Designers
Development Issues
Balancing Creativity with a Schedule
The Test Process
The Freeze: Closing the Loop to Launch
Ramping Up Player Support
Part III: Launching and Managing a Game
Chapter 10. Launch Day
Launch Philosophy
The Importance of a Technically Stable Launch
Who s in Charge on Launch Day?
Disaster Control
If Disaster Happens
Chapter 11. Managing a Game Post-Launch
Barbarians, Tribesmen, and Citizens
Transitioning from the Development Team to the Live Team
Managing the Expectations of the Players
Player Relations: The In-Game GMs
The Service Philosophy: Acquiring and Retaining Subscribers
Security: Keeping Honest People Honest
Community Relations: Processes
Chapter 12. The Live Development Team
Live Development Team Responsibilities
The Publishing Process
The Publishing Plan
Patch Creation and Publishing Schedules
The Live Test Server
How Often Should You Publish?
Critical Bugs and Exploits
Bug-Fixing Versus Nerfing
Planning and Implementing Major Expansions
Implementing an Expansion
Part IV: Articles from the Experts
Chapter 13. Microsoft s UltraCorps : Why This Turn-Based Game Failed
Turned-Based Conquest Games Are Not Mass-Market
Too Easy to Exploit the Game Design
Constant Bugs and Hacks Destroyed the Game s Credibility
Lack of Publicity and Marketing by Microsoft
Failure to Refresh the Game Often Enough
The Zone s Sysops Were AWOL
Chapter 14. Anarchy Online Post-Mortem
The Foreplay
The First TrimesterDevelopment of the Bone Structure (The Technology)
The Second Trimester: The Heartbeat of the Auto Content Generator System
The Last TrimesterGetting Ready to Be Born
The Birth: The Launch
Post-Launch: Infancy and Toddler Years
Chapter 15. Glory and Shame: Powerful Psychology in Multiplayer Online Games
Buzzword Snow
A Unique Audience
A Unique Medium
The Power of Shame
The Problem with Glory
Pure Meritocracy: The Ultimate Glory Game
Cumulative Character Games: The Devoted All Go to Heaven
Achievement Versus Development
Summary: Development over Achievement
Chapter 16. Case Study: Online Game Lifecycles
Achieving Mass Market Status
The Current Top Four MMOGs Worldwide as of December 2002
Chapter 17. Fighting Player Burnout in Massively Multiplayer Games
The Exponential Curve of Death
More Content?
Play Less, Please
Conclusion
Chapter 18. Post-Mortem: Mythic s Dark Age of Camelot
The Community
The Beta Starts
Server Backend Configuration
The Business Arrangement
Lessons Learned
Chapter 19. Managing Deviant Behavior in Online Worlds
What Are Some Kinds of Undesirable Behavior?
Why Undesirable Behavior Is a Complex Problem
Why Do People Engage in Abusive or Undesirable Behavior?
Establishing a Code of Conduct
Detection
Verification
Corrective Action and Remedies
Encouraging Desirable Behavior
Chapter 20. The Lighter Side of Meridian 59 s History
Prologue
The Timeline
Part V: Appendices and Glossary
Appendix A. Executive Considerations Checklist
Appendix B. Bios of Interviewees
Jeffrey Anderson
Richard A. Garriott
Gaute Godager
Scott Hawkins
Thomas Howalt
Daniel Savant Manachi
Kathy Schoback
Damion Schubert
Jack D. Smith
Gordon Walton
Appendix C. The Bartle Quotient Survey Questions and Some Results
The Bartle Test
Bartle Survey Results for Five Leading Games
Appendix D. Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players Who Suit MUDs
2002 Introduction to the Article by Dr. Bartle
Abstract
Preface
A Simple Taxonomy
Interest Graph
Changing the Player Type Balance
The Social Versus Game-Like Debate
Player Interactions
Dynamics
Overbalancing a Mud
Summary
References
Appendix E. Online World Timeline
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Sources
Appendix F. Glossary
Index
Index A
Index B
Index C
Index D
Index E
Index F
Index G
Index H
Index I
Index J
Index K
Index L
Index M
Index N
Index O
Index P
Index Q
Index R
Index S
Index T
Index U
Index V
Index W
Index X