While game players may not relish this comparison,
there are many parallels between production of, and
audience development and retention for, television soap
operas and MMOGs. Along with intense fan loyalty, a
reluctance to switch from their original product, and
marketing that is viral in nature with fans of the genre
communicating with other fans, content creation is also
of a magnitude larger than other comparable programming
in the field. Soap operas need five one-hour scripts
ready for shooting per week, and in one month of
broadcast equal the content created for a typical
hour-long TV show in a full season. Similarly while
typical games need enough content to fill forty hours
of a gamer’s life, MMOGs need to entertain for four to
six months. It is this ongoing and, indeed,
"massive" need for content creation that effects
virtually every aspect of virtually every job in MMOG
development.
As with any area of game development, it takes more
than programmers, artists and designers to make a game.
It takes producers, QA, business development, among many
other, but massively multiplayer online game development
differs from "box" development in three other key areas:
Architecture and development environment/press, support
services, and unique skills sought (such as those
database-related).
At the end of the day, however, no matter what your
area of expertise, hiring managers are looking for
people who work hard, but efficiently, communicate well
and who will operate as part of a team. They also want
those people who are motivated and whom they can trust.
Yes, there are specific technical skills you must
possess and tools you must use, but, as in all game
development, it are these non-technical qualities that
may prove to be among your most important skills if you
want to make MMOGs.
RESOURCES
By its very ongoing nature, MMOG development is
constantly evolving. While there are loads of sites
devoted to MMOGs, few are dedicated to developer issues.
However, there are a number of books currently on the
market, and coming later this year that should provide a
wealth of information. Plus, just remember to keep
checking current job postings even if you’re not looking
for a job right now, it’s wise to stay abreast of
current skill requirements.
Developing Online Games: An Insider's Guide
(New Riders)
by Jessica Mulligan and Bridgette Patrovsky
(March 2003)
Online Game Interactivity Theory (Charles
River Media)
by Markus Friedl
(October 2002)
Practical Grid Computing for Massively Multiplayer
Games (Charles River Media)
by David Levine, Mark Wirt, Barry Whitebook
(September 2004)
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Marc Mencher
A specialist in game industry careers, Marc Mencher
has helped thousands of job seekers land jobs with the
hottest gaming companies. Before joining
GameRecruiter.com he worked for game companies such as
Spectrum Holobyte, Microprose and 3DO. Marc served as
President of the International Game Developers Network,
then as an advising board member for the following year.
He has spoken and held roundtables at several Game
Developers Conferences, is a regular speaker at
International Game Developers Association (IGDA) events
around the country, was a featured panelist at E3 2002,
and will serve as a panel moderator at E3 2004. In
addition to representing the game industry’s hottest
talent, Marc also volunteers his time as a career coach
for graduates from Full Sail Real World Education,
helping them land their first game industry jobs. His
articles have been featured in GIGnews, Gamasutra, and
GameWEEK. Currently, he is working with the IGDA on
chapter development and Games-Florida, a non-profit
organization formed with the intent of nurturing and
expanding the interactive multi-media industry in the
state of Florida. He has also served as a Technical
Advisor and Executive Producer for several recently
released PC games.
Christopher Klug
Christopher Klug has worked in the entertainment
field for 25 years. While he has designed games in many
genres, the common thread has remained high quality
work. Over one dozen games Klug designed or for which he
served as Creative Director have won or been nominated
for key industry awards awards. Combining experience as
a writer, designer and visual artist with intimate
knowledge of MMORPG development as well as PC, N64 and
PlayStation design, Klug brings a unique, focused blend
of talent and creativity to computer and console games.
Klug’s game credits include: Earth & Beyond, Deep
Space 9: Dominion Wars, Aidyn Chronicles: First Mage,
Duke Nukem: Time to Kill, James Bond 007 (RPG), just
to name a few. Now at Carnegie Mellon University, Klug
serves on the faculty their Entertainment Technology
Center’s game design and development program.
Glen Van Datta
Glen received his bachelor's degree in Electrical
Engineering at Washington State University in 1985. He
worked in real time embedded systems research at Boeing
for 9 years, specializing in robotics and image
processing. Before leaving Boeing, he was a lead
engineer on the Boeing 777 primary flight computer. Glen
left Boeing in 1995 to co-found RTIME, Inc. RTIME
received numerous DARPA contracts relating to Internet
simulations and built a commercial networking SDK used
by over 45 titles. In August 2000, RTIME was acquired by
SCEA and was renamed SCE-RT(tm) with Glen as the
Director. SCE-RT(tm) provides an extensive networking
SDK. SCE-RT is currently used in over 60 production and
develop titles for SCEA world wide.
