Why doesn't the MMO-C community create an MMO?

[SuperMechatronGamer]

So I know lots of people on here are tired of WoW and SW:TOR and other MMOs. In fact, much time and energy is spent on critiquing games and discussing ways to improve them. Now this makes me wonder. Why doesn't this community make an MMO?

I know there are everything from coders, to artists, to story writers, to business people, to marketing people, to community managers, to investors and so on and so forth on these forums. The talent and knowledge on here is immense. Some of the ideas and suggestions posted are great, and clearly not all of the posters are 12. Also, due to the high level of knowledge on MMOs here, the expertise level is even higher. Gamers do make the best games.

Now I know that this has never been done before, and I know that this sounds pretty crazy, but crazy things work sometimes. I mean the original developers of WoW were simply disgruntled EQ players, and look what they were able to do. I'm not saying I personally have the knowledge, expertise or time to organize such a project. But it does seem like an interesting idea. If the MMO Champion community knows about anything, it's MMOs.

What are your thoughts on this MMO-C?

[Bionotics]

I made an RPG on RPG Maker 2000 once.

[Mitsumata]

It is even harder than you probably think it is. That requires starting a business that I am sure Curse could do but they wouldn't hire their forum users for just being that. They need people with degrees and experience. They need investment and startup costs. Etc. Etc.

[jibbyjackjoe]

I like it. I have no computer programing skills, but I bet I can do something.

[Moogie423]

I'd love to see a fan created MMO. Just one problem with it becoming a reality. I've talked with many designers, and most have the same thing to say about games they've created, they spent so much time and energy making the game a reality, they know everything there is about that game, that they just can't motivate themselves to play said game. Gamers think they'd make great developers, but developers don't make great gamers unless they're payed a great deal to play it as well.

[crackleslap]

good idea, but it just wouldn't be possible at all. The MMO-C community is spread across the entire globe and we most definitely wont have enough funding to create a successful game (i may be wrong?) Unless the game we create is all hypothetical

[Maharishi]

I made an RPG on RPG Maker 2000 once.

+1

OT: I do some game development in my free time with a group of 8 friends who all went to college together and it's still a pain in the ass to keep coordinated and motivated. It's really hard to create a product with people when you don't have large amounts of time to spend with each other in a productive environment.

[SuperMechatronGamer]

+1

OT: I do some game development in my free time with a group of 8 friends who all went to college together and it's still a pain in the ass to keep coordinated and motivated. It's really hard to create a product with people when you don't have large amounts of time to spend with each other in a productive environment.

Yeah, I guess the idea is a stretch but it's not IMPOSSIBLE. Coordination and funding would probably be the biggest problems.

It just seems like real successes/industry revolutions come from the grassroots and not the top.

[Dendrek]

I must be more cynical than I realize because when I saw this thread's title, I assumed it was intended to be ironic: a criticism of MMO-Champion posters who think they know better than professional big-budget game developers on how to make a proper MMO.

I was expecting something along the lines of:

"These forums are full of ridicule for games like WoW and SWTOR (among other, much less successful games). The forum's posters know how to balance games better than the developers do. They would produce better art, better encounters, better graphics and richer environments in less time and with no bugs than every one of these game makers. It's obvious that the forums are full of people capable of these feats because they un-modestly proclaim it all the time. So isn't it about time we put our money where our mouths are. Why not put the theory to the test? If it's so easy, make one."

Is there such thing as reverse irony? Maybe double irony? Because this thread certainly achieved that for me.

On Topic: It's a nice goal, but to produce an MMO takes an incredible amount of funding, creativity, time and technical expertise. A community like this might be able to create a 2D MMO, but to create a full 3D MMO that rivals WoW (or any of the currently active MMOs available) requires more resources than they have available.

[ita]

Why? Because we are not a collective, we live in separate countries and most have jobs or school already. To make a MMO you need to be able to dump in millions first and even if someone here had that money and will do to it, there are better places to hire people than on the forums where you know nothing about peoples skill or if they are even fit for the job.

Besides, being able to criticize well doesn't mean you should be able to do better. That's just a stupid excuse. I know nothing about construction either but when a building collapses for no apparent reasons, I have every right to say it was shoddily build.

[eriseis]

He he, does bring in a perspective to the infamous "why doesn't Blizz do XYZ?" "why did Blizz do XYZ?" "why cant ABC to 123"?

[Snow White]

Because we're all waiting for GW2. :P

[Ferrn]

Two words: time + money
Would be so awesome though

[Nilan]

Because we'd end up adjusting class balance every 15 minutes when someone whined on the forum that x class can outcrit him

[Maelle]

You would have like 5000 chiefs, 5 indians and 2 dudes actually doing all the work xD

[Ryve]

I'll put it out there that, having read the forums, if a lot of the people here had their way, any MMO that was designed would be designed for elitists with no social lives whatsoever. The bare minimum 30 hours raiding for progression on this MMO would seem like nothing compared to the 70 hours of mat farming. New players would get sick of being abused when they asked which way to the castle with the blue dragon.

And I suspect there would be constant clipping issues as horse mounts got taller and taller in line with the demands of the players.

Case in point, if a lot of the demands of people on this forum were met it'd be a terrible game that few would ever play, and with no casual players to lord their achievements/gear over, the "hardcore" players would get bored and all threaten to leave for Star Wars.

[holyforce]

I can write a simple game in an hour, then another 15 minutes of debug time, now x1000 that debug time for a mmo and the same for dev time, its just not possible with a hand full of good coders.

[Bobsagget]

Unless the mmo we're making is a hypothetical one, I doubt it can happen

[Fuzzzie]

So I know lots of people on here are tired of WoW and SW:TOR and other MMOs. In fact, much time and energy is spent on critiquing games and discussing ways to improve them. Now this makes me wonder. Why doesn't this community make an MMO?

I know there are everything from coders, to artists, to story writers, to business people, to marketing people, to community managers, to investors and so on and so forth on these forums. The talent and knowledge on here is immense. Some of the ideas and suggestions posted are great, and clearly not all of the posters are 12. Also, due to the high level of knowledge on MMOs here, the expertise level is even higher. Gamers do make the best games.

Now I know that this has never been done before, and I know that this sounds pretty crazy, but crazy things work sometimes. I mean the original developers of WoW were simply disgruntled EQ players, and look what they were able to do. I'm not saying I personally have the knowledge, expertise or time to organize such a project. But it does seem like an interesting idea. If the MMO Champion community knows about anything, it's MMOs.

What are your thoughts on this MMO-C?

I like the idea, although there is a major issue. The community can hardly ever agree on anything. Also, creating an MMO takes years and years from top programmers, artists, etc working closely together. A forum would not be the best place to facilitate it's creation.

[shadet]

The first thing that sprang to my mind when I read this is making an Open Source MMO.

Not even sure if it's been done but it could be fun. Set up some kind of voting system for changes, set up a github system so all the programmers can fork the code and submit their own changes to the game. Could be great fun if you can get some good programmers on board and some good artists and some math geeks. I could see it happening.

Whether those people exist on MMO-C and can devote the time to something would be a different matter!