Creativity is one of the features that has been lacking in the online-gaming industry for quite a duration now, some would even stretch so far as to say that before Age of Conan, the World of Warcraft was the last innovative MMOG. I probably wouldn't go so far as to say that, but I do feel that game developers are focusing more on the marketing aspects, which in turn leads to lack of an audience to market to. We've seen games come, and games go of all different styles. Some games are a huge success, while others, sometimes extremely similar, go down a path to failure. But why do some games remain hits long after release, while others dissipate shortly afterwards? In this article I will look at several factors that can lead a MMOG to success or failure depending upon how the developer and publisher approach them, and backup my reasoning with examples.

• The Features.

          I chose this first because in my eyes it's not only one of most important parts of a game, it's one of the most common parts to change.
When I find out about a new game from another source, one of the first things I look at on the website is

    First off, yes, another article about the same issue. Sorry for the similar articles, but you'll understand why later on. Think of it this way, it's another example of cloning since we all have the same topic. ;)

Clones.

    To start things off, what exactly do I mean when I speak of a clone in the sense of online gaming? I am talking about a game which is so eerily similar to another, you begin to think that the game was a concept stolen from the other online game. Such examples in the online gaming genre would be a very popular one; Maplestory, Ghost Online & Windslayer. People have the sense that Ghost Online and Windslayer, which will be mentioned as GO and WS from here on, are a stolen concept of Maplestory. To me, which one came first is not a concern. Why? I encourage the cloning of online games, because it gives one developer the opportunity to take an already successful concept, and correct the places where the previous game went wrong. Let's begin with MS and GO.
 
                   

                            What Maplestory Did Right:                                                     What Ghost Online Took:
     - A new visual style as well as online game sty

In my several years in the industry a lot of things have changed, from the companies to the games their market and develop, to the consumers to which they aim their products. The audience of online gaming is expanding in both directions, as now older audiences are being targeted with games such as 3Feel, but at the same time younger audiences are being aimed for with titles such as Hello Kitty Online. One thing that has not changed is the eternal hate for that oh-so dreaded 'grind' that people always complain about in online games. The one thing that can demolish a nearly perfect game, one with amazing graphics and fun controls all backed up by a great storyline and friendly community. But why do people dread the grind so much, and why do some people feel other games are 'more grindy' than others? Today, we'll take a look at what exactly a grind is and how it's portrayed in several different games.

Grinding - The repetition of an action in order to achieve a goal.

    What exactly does this definition for the grind in online games mean? It means constantly repeating something in order to reach your goal, of which the most common instance is repetitively pressing a button or cli