Colwyn
12-01-2006, 08:07 AM
MMOG Nation: The Future of Ryzom on GameSetWatch (http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/11/mmog_nation_the_future_of_ryzo.php)
The problem here is that a Massive game is nothing like a stand-alone piece of rendering software. Not only is the price of the project considerably more, but there are number of other elements to take into account as well. Simply looking at the price could be enough to stop people in their tracks. The FRC is hoping to raise 100,000 € ... and I'm going to hazard a guess that that is something like a 'down payment' on the game, and not a final pricetag. Beyond the cost of the software, Massive games require serious hardware to run them. With an open source game there's no true need for a central set of closed servers; the game could be run off of some spare hardware and the gameworld only shared with your close friends. Just the same, it will probably be in the FRC's best interests to keep some standard hardware running, and that can get very expensive very quickly.
The final (and perhaps stickiest) issue is the element of player privacy. The goings-on of your average player may not raise eyebrows, but some people take Massive games very seriously, and use them for many of the same things other folks use the 'real' world for. A retail game's disinterested overseers have only good reasons to ignore most of what goes on in their game, as long as it doesn't effect game balance or harm another player. With an open sourced game run by enthusiasts, what's to stop the internet from seeing logs of your cybersex encounters posted from here to the horizon, with your real name attached?
The problem here is that a Massive game is nothing like a stand-alone piece of rendering software. Not only is the price of the project considerably more, but there are number of other elements to take into account as well. Simply looking at the price could be enough to stop people in their tracks. The FRC is hoping to raise 100,000 € ... and I'm going to hazard a guess that that is something like a 'down payment' on the game, and not a final pricetag. Beyond the cost of the software, Massive games require serious hardware to run them. With an open source game there's no true need for a central set of closed servers; the game could be run off of some spare hardware and the gameworld only shared with your close friends. Just the same, it will probably be in the FRC's best interests to keep some standard hardware running, and that can get very expensive very quickly.
The final (and perhaps stickiest) issue is the element of player privacy. The goings-on of your average player may not raise eyebrows, but some people take Massive games very seriously, and use them for many of the same things other folks use the 'real' world for. A retail game's disinterested overseers have only good reasons to ignore most of what goes on in their game, as long as it doesn't effect game balance or harm another player. With an open sourced game run by enthusiasts, what's to stop the internet from seeing logs of your cybersex encounters posted from here to the horizon, with your real name attached?