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

I've spent a long time in the online gaming industry, playing games ranging from Warcraft all the way up to the present games such as Requiem. Hours of devotion have gone into several companies for volunteer work, and countless nights spent grinding away at the levels have been used. I've journeyed through hundreds of different online worlds, and interacted with thousands of others who shared my passion for the game. I've played games at 5 fps, just because they looked great and my crappy computer wasn't going to stop me. I've played legit to the top of the ranks, and I've played on some private servers just for fun. I've blogged about games for almost a year now, going on and off of the job and changing sites a handful of times. But throughout all my interactions in the industry, only a few games have really stood out at me. These game are the most revolutionary games that have brought the industry to a new milestone, raising the bar up again for the rest of the industry to follow along with. No, I am not talking about your typical 'revolutionary' games such as the World of Warcraft. I am talking about a handful of games that have exceeded in the industry by a large margin compare

What is the best subscription model?


    Ever since World of Warcraft hit the industry, we've seen a lot of new types of subscriptions in the online gaming industry. Some companies have decided to try and compete with World of Warcraft in the 'Pay to Play' model for online games, while others have avoided this model and gone to the more popular 'Free to Play' model. Some have even created a mixture, where users can either play for free or pay for more options, maps, skills, and other advantages. But out of all the models in the gaming industry, which one is the best for gamers?

    A lot of people have been discussing the cost of a game that is supposedly 'Free to Play', since the entire theory behind it is getting money off of a cash shop. Some games avoid having to provide completely unfair items in the cash shop to earn money by placing advertisements in-game and on their website, which brings in another source of income for the company. People say that the 'Free to Play' model, referred to as F2P from here-on, is actually more expensive than games that require you to pay a monthly fee.

    But is this actually true? Are F2P games really more expensive than P2P games? I will take a

   World of Warcraft - Bad For The MMOG Industry?



    People like to find something and blame it for anything that goes wrong, or that goes badly. If you do bad in school, you blame it on the teacher. If you forget something, you blame your parent's for not reminding you. And lately it seems that MMOG enthusiasts are the exact same way, blaming WoW on failures in the industry including dropped project. Recently the Marvel MMOG project was even shut down because they didn't think it would be successful with the P2P model they originally wanted it to have because of World of Warcraft, saying it dominated the industry and provided little room for other games in that model type. Now everyone is moving on to F2P models, trying to revolutionize those with new innovations. But has the vast success of World of Warcraft actually hurt the industry, or has it actually been a blessing in disguise?


    First off, most people are mis-led by the numbers. Having a friend who compiles MMOG information and analyzes it to see which models are most successful, and which games are most popular, I understand the numbers that are actually being compared. First off, most people gasp in amazement when the

2008 - A Look Ahead
Note: This is a follow up to my last blog post entitled "Was '07 really a bad year for MMOGs?" located here.

   
    I've seen a lot of talk lately on game forums and other gaming blogs about what we have to look forward to in the upcoming year. After my last article giving the rundown of the previous year in the MMOG world, I figured it would be nice to do a follow up and answer some questions about the upcoming year and what it looks like as of now. Ever since World of Warcraft raised the bar in the industry, there has been a lack of creativity from game developers, who have tried to use the World of Warcraft success to their advantage instead of making a truly unique game of their own. The best example to date was this previous year, where instead of creating a new game developers just imported generic MMOGs from overseas, a lot of which were duplicates of other games such as Maplestory or even World of Warcraft. Will 2008 be any better? What do we have to look forward to?
Florensia.
    Florensia is aimed to be released into the CB phase within the first quarter of 2008. The game is a unique game that follows along the lines of Pirates of the Caribbea

Was 2007 really a bad year for MMOGs?

   Over the past month or so there has been a lot of people writing about how last year was such a terrible year in the MMOG industry. But are these people really looking at the whole picture, reviewing the entire year and all of its ups and downs, or are they just making random assumptions because they were disappointed with the lack of originality in MMOGs this year? I plan to look into last year, and give you my reasoning behind my judgment on the overview of the year.

    A lot has happened this year in the MMOG world. From new game expansions such as The Burning Crusade and Eye of the North, to entirely new imported games, straight out of the generic MMOG factory, such as Holic, Fiesta, and all of the abominations that Ijji released. We also had terrible news such as the delays of WAR and Age of Conan, two highly anticipated MMOGs. We've had more clones come out, and all of them seem to be centered around the oldest milestone for MMOGs, Diablo 2. I mean, take a look at Mythos, Dungeon Runners, and so many other MMOGs that came out in '07 alone, and a large percentage of them were clones of another MMO. But behind it all, Diablo 2 clones ru

Lately, I have seen a lot of controversy over what is considered to be an MMOG. Now, I figured I would just throw in my two cents because I have experience with all types of games in the extremely large genre of MMOG. First off, I would like to point out what the acronym MMOG actually stands for, for the few people that don't know;

Massive(ly)
Multiplayer
Online
Game

You can also make the category more specific and turn it into MMORPG, MMOFPS, and a lot more. But they are all part of the MMOG group, as the common factor is the massively multiplayer online part, and of course the game part is implied. The part where people start to get confused is how is the acronym grouped? What I mean by this is that some people will say that a MMOG must be massive, multiplayer, online, and a game (Duh!).

Then there are people that think more specifically. That a MMOG must be massively multiplayer, multiplayer online, etc.

This is what it all comes down to. The acronym of massively multiplayer online games is a definite, but then there's the controversy over how to determine the reasoning behind the definitions.

Why does it even matter? Well, the whole point is really in the massively multiplayer part.