MMO

2 posts

Guild Leader Today, Executive Tomorrow

Over the last eight months I’ve built an organization from the ground up, consisting of nearly 300 members spread all over the world. I’ve had to choose team leaders, assign and delegate tasks, recruit, deal with challenges posed by my superiors, make sure the people reporting to me get the resources they need to do their jobs, and manage interpersonal conflicts, all while completing my own goals and objectives.

If I put that on my resume as management experience, most recruiters and hiring managers would go “Wow, that’s pretty impressive.” The problem isn’t the job description. Rather, it’s the job title: Guild Leader. Continue reading →

How to Build an MMO in the Free-To-Play Era

For those of you that follow MMORPGs, you’ve probably noticed that the big trend among new games is the free-to-play model. For those of you that have actually played some of these games, you’ve probably noticed that free-to-play either becomes pay-to-play or pay-to-win pretty quickly. Although many developers are gamers themselves, they are also attempting to create a profitable product, and when those two instincts collide the business side inevitably wins. This creates friction with their user bases, and if left unresolved inevitably leads to the game failing.

I recently started playing Marvel Heroes, an MMO based in the Marvel universe, which uses a League of Legends-style Heroes system. The launch has not exactly been smooth, to say the least. So, speaking as a both a gamer, with insider knowledge of gamer psychology, as well as someone with a business background, I’m hoping to bridge the gap and explain how it’s possible to create a Free-To-Play game that convinces the gamer to spend money and make the game profitable. Continue reading →