   Why, do so many people want to create a MMORPG?
  I'm just curious, and have repeatedly seen requests for help on 'MMORPGS'.Metaphoric Opinion:You should learn to build houses before you build SKYSCRAPERS.What exactly influences these people, to attempt something so 'BIG'?TONS of free MMORPGS currently exist, they are making absolutely no money.These include fancy looking 3D games too.So, I would just like to know,Why do you think people are attempting these projects,And maybe hear from a few people who are attempting it themselves.What's the motivation behind it?  Please enlighten me.   
  Particularly because of WoW, MMORPGs are hot right now. Really hot. Everybody wants a piece of the action.Pretty simple, really.   ;  A lot of 'newbies' simply do not have the experience and insight to understand the monumental task that is required to create a MMORPG and just see it as something they would like to do. As to why its now the MMORPG craze there are potentially a number of reasons:1) They are having a great time playing them and have a lot of ideas to 'improve' or change it and simply think it's easier to create their own. (Note: this is similar to the FPS craze when Halo,CS, and HL were both extremely popular)2) They see the vast number of people playing it and the huge amount of money the successful companies are making and are hoping to jump on the money bandwagon.   ;  Hey, I'm one of the "newbies" who wants to create a MMORPG. Here's why I wanna make one:-they're popular, I play them so chances are a lot of people want to make one because:-playing them has given me ideas about what I would do different-also, i want to make some money and to me this looks like a way of doing it. Perhaps it's not the easiest, perhaps it's not the hardest, but I would like to do it.-i'm interested in them and it keeps me motivated to work on themThe last reason I think is more important than the rest, because anything that keeps me motivated to learn more is a good thing. When I first started learning programming and dreaming about my game I didn't know about the amount of work involved or any steps. I just knew that I was motivated and kept on going. Now i realise it's more work than I anticipated but as long as I keep learning and working all that knowledge I can use later anyway.If we were in an time of FPSes I probably would be working on something like that instead. So there you have it.Unfortunately with work keeping me busy 40hrs a week my project has kind of died. Work sucks.;  I think it has a lot to do with the ego boost that comes with being the supreme ruler of a community of hundreds or thousands.That, and when most people see Runescape, they think that they could do much better.   ;  I think they realize that the genre still has not come close to its potential.  Anyone who plays an MMORPG can easily think of ways it can be improved - much more so, I think, than other genres.Sadly some don't stop to consider *why* the games aren't better.   ;Quote:Original post by trojanmanA lot of 'newbies' simply do not have the experience and insight to understand the monumental task that is required to create a MMORPG and just see it as something they would like to do. The funny thing is that a lot of people probably could make a MMORPG. The issue is that most people seem to set the standard too high. You can't expect to have WoW-style graphics and quality that required a huge team to create. Perhaps the simplest MMORPG is a chat room in IRC where people roleplay through text.What I find interesting with MMORPGS/MUDs is that they are essentially sandboxes. Many of them have very loose rules. Play emerges from player interaction instead.;Quote:Original post by RanorWhat I find interesting with MMORPGS/MUDs is that they are essentially sandboxes. Many of them have very loose rules. Play emerges from player interaction instead.This is common misconception. MMORPG and MUDs are a completely different ballgame.While in the core they are very similar, that tiny annoying little bit of details comes from Massive.Massive doesn't mean x * 10. It means x^10. It's scalability that's the killer, and scalability in all issues, starting with code. Then network bandwidth, persistent storage, raw asset creation, interactions, ...A MUD you can run on cellphone. Even remotely interactive MMO implies a cluster, and all the challenges that come with distributed computing, as well as management issues related to that.This is why most of web-based "MMO"s create multi-player games, that are played in instances, shared by dozens of players. Those are doable. But shared world...Personally, for me it's about the very challenge of distributed computing. Trying to find a reasonable compromise between a development pipeline and algorithmic performance of the system.One could simply outsource development of MMO back-end to big iron enterprise companies, buy a data center of thousands of machines, and ran a database cluster. Perhaps use google's technology. But few have the money to do so.So the trick is finding a compromise. Simplest technique, through leverage of existing technologies, to provide a massively scalable solution (thousands of users, no more), while keeping development process accessible.MMOs aren't just about code. Or assets. Or management. But about the whole thing.   ;  I see one main reason why so many n00bs decide to tackle an MMO:They normally have no coding / game development experience, so all they know about game development is what they see in the game itself. Instead of seeing thousands of lines of code and all of the artwork made to create it, they just see the game; so it may at first sight seem feasible to attempt such a project because they just simply don't understand the amount of work and money involved. I guess they were too busy play WoW to take a look at the credits...   ;  Why do so many people care that other people want to create MMORPGs?Quote:You should learn to build houses before you build SKYSCRAPERS.If you want to build skyscrapers, and they are in absolutely no danger of falling and hurting anyone other than yourself, do whatever you please.Quote:What exactly influences these people, to attempt something so 'BIG'?What hinders these people, to limit themselves strictly to something so small?Quote:TONS of free MMORPGS currently exist, they are making absolutely no money.Money isn't everything. "The best things in life are free."Quote:Why do you think people are attempting these projects...To stop playing Devil's Advocate for a minute, I really don't care. They'll fail or they'll succeed - neither outcome affects me in the slightest. What I am getting tired of is the inane rehashing of this subject where someone with no commentary, no insight and no apparent development skill creates a thread to "discuss" why others are creating MMORPGs. Who cares? And who cares that you don't understand it?People emulate what they like. Their imaginations seize on the things they enjoy, and they dream of doing the same, stamping their own personality onto the outcome. For example, I like cars, and a dream of mine is to be able to design car bodies for a living - to be a modern coachbuilder. I'm considering going to graduate school for industrial design to this end (though it's looking more like I'll just go get an MBA, but you never know), and I hope to eventually obtain commissions to create experimental concepts for auto shows.That's as pie-in-the-sky as making an MMORPG, but that's my dream. So let the kids have their dreams, eh? It costs you nothing.   