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General: Richard Aihoshi: Browser Based MMOs
Dana
Member Posts: 2,415
Many MMOs have thrown the traditional client aside and work right in the web browser. This week, Richard looks at this trend in this edition of Richard Aihoshi's Free Zone. Check back each Monday for more columns from Richard, where he focuses in on the free-to-play genre.
It's difficult to gauge how large the browser MMOG segment is at this time, but I have no doubt it's substantial. In part, I suspect this is because, as with F2P in general, North America currently trails the global market. This means less information floating around for people like me to find. Another reason is that when companies anywhere do release numbers, they typically talk about registered users, a practice I truly dislike since the figures are far less meaningful than others such as concurrent or active users would be.
That said, I've heard from very credible sources that popular international titles generate revenues well in excess of a millions dollars per month. Such amounts pale in comparison to World of Warcraft, but they don't look bad at all beside moderately popular subscription offerings. This is especially true when we consider the cost of development, both pre-launch and ongoing, is undoubtedly far lower. Operating expenses might be too.
Read his full article here.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Comments
I do not play browser games. Not my thing..but a Star Wars browser game would probably bring Lucas a shiteload more millions in cash on a monthly basis. It could even be set up like gaia online or maple story. Call it "Clone Wars Online"...since he already kidified that part of the IP. Seriously...people would be cash shopping their asses off to customize their characters, Uncle Owen-esque huts/moisture-farm,spaceships and droids. Come on now...how many people would pay for there little cartoony jedi to have a purple light saber. It'll make more money than SWG does...or did ever.
I think there is a ton of potential for this in the coming years. Having played a couple first person shooters that are based in the browser (Quake Live and Fallen Empires: Legions) I was quite impressed with how well it all works. Obviously an MMO is a much larger undertaking, but considering the engine itself is usually just a browser plug-in, the technology is already more or less here. I personally won't play a browser based MMO until the graphics and stuff are at least on par with some of the older MMO's such as Star Wars Galaxies, but I'm looking forward to it.
I've also found it odd that more MMO games haven't been extended onto the web. Even if you can't have the whole game in the browser, it would be nice to pull up your guild chat while having lunch at work, or even pulling up a crafting screen in the browser so you could grind out some goods while sitting on the sofa with your netbook or using someone else's computer that you can't install the full client on.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
I don't play browser based MMOs simply because I have a gamer hardware, it might not be top-of-the-line, but it still allows me to play MMOs with decent graphical quality. The hardware cost for maximum quality gaming may be high, but if you accept lower quality (well, if your budget doesn't allow it you don't really have an option there other than going console gaming) the cost gets as low as generic computers, with the addition of a video card that is usually the only thing that doesn't allow someone purchasing a generic computer nowadays from experiencing decent graphical gaming.
One thing to mention is that if the OnLive platform truly works as they say (I remain highly skeptical), there'll be a revolution in the entry-fee for any kind of gamer, even the "poor" one to allow them to play games with far better graphical qualities, and since MMOs already suffer from the existence of latency, it's not much of a difference MMO gamers will feel. This will be initially restricted to USA players.
It's interesting you bring up in your article F2P MMOs as "extended trials" or "free to trial" games as you usually give an unrealistic biased image of the F2P MMOs.
Graphical quality can still be very high without requiring a powerful computer to render it, with Aion and Guild Wars as examples - their graphic quality is excelent for a MMO, yet it can be achieved by fairly lower-end computers. I remember playing Guild Wars on a 800 MHz Duron with a Geforce FX5700 card in their first public event ever - the E3 for Everyone event, around 3~4 years ago. It just requires investment in the graphical department, not only for good graphics but also for their optimization. These are usually both graphical qualities a F2P MMO budget does not focus on.
I can imagine PopCap making MMOs...
I completely agree that the companies should focus more on mass market, especially for those hurting for money to survive; but, I also hope that with greater revenue, that the gamers who enjoy the more complex, the more graphic intensive will have a very good MMO to play as well, which I'm not sure will always be the case (though there will likely be at least 1 or 2).
Years of the classical MMO, the non-player friendly, time-intensive game are dying off, and opening for the more social-focused, easy-to-play MMO. Its a good trend...but it seems to also be trashing on those who want to work with graphics and testing boundries. I hope for balance in the future and a 'schooling' of more casual gamers to have a cleaner fit within the community...
I like the idea of boosting the casual, having more F2P and browser based, but I have the feeling deep down the way those are going about it will destroy the harder, more complex, more intensive MMO in the process (on the short term). It just seems to me the industry by making MMOs more casual are focusing solely on making them younger-focused & childish in complexity, to open up the audience & alienating the elder generations in the process
(again, I hope more more balance in the future)*.
* Note this isnt a 100% across all MMOs going more casual; But, on average I think the assumption can be justified - or worst case I'm wrong, lol
i remenber years ago one MMO, don't know the name, was set up so you have the Big Game for your pc but there was a functional lite game for cell phones. It was sort of liek the PSP/PS3 bridge. That would be quite inovative to bring back.
Earth Eternal is probably going to be the first real MMO that is browser based, but the technology is definitely out there for a full 3D browser based MMO (and I mean thousands of players in one world).
I'm just going to wait now for the rabid SWG vets to come on and flame you for even hinting that SWG wasn't good
Any true SWG vet that realizes why they loved the game will tell you it was the freedom the game allowed, and the community that freedom created. The game itself was a train wreck and if it wasn't for the sandbox nature of it, and the interesting community all those different combat and non-combat classes created, the game wouldn't even have any old fans still talking about how much fun they had 5-6 years ago.
There is a reason pre-NGE has rabid fans even though it is considered a failure by most people. I have yet to see a single modern MMO recreate the deep, interdependent community SWG had. That's what we miss more than anything.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
Mafia Wars in facebook has 4 million players daily. there are tons of browser RPG styled games on facebook. castle ages, vampire wars, dragon wars.....
some are text only, some have flash 3D missions.
Any true SWG vet that realizes why they loved the game will tell you it was the freedom the game allowed, and the community that freedom created. The game itself was a train wreck and if it wasn't for the sandbox nature of it, and the interesting community all those different combat and non-combat classes created, the game wouldn't even have any old fans still talking about how much fun they had 5-6 years ago.
There is a reason pre-NGE has rabid fans even though it is considered a failure by most people. I have yet to see a single modern MMO recreate the deep, interdependent community SWG had. That's what we miss more than anything.
The problem is the "rabid fans" were the only ones that remeber it fondly. The game only rose to about 300k subs then fell from there. If Pre-NGE was so grand and engrossing, why did it not take off like WOW? I fall in your group of Pre-NGE lovers of a game that totally engrossed me. However, there are just not that many of us. The dominate casual market found it too buggy, complex, unfriendly to thier lifestyle. Thats why it was changed to better match WOW and try to capture some of those players. It failed, and there was no going back once that genie was out of the bottle.
I play one called Pardus at www.pardus.at it quite a good little game, and I know people play it from all round the world. got a good F2P package, and a good subscription package. It a good little game to play, specially if all you are doing in some MMORPG for a while is camping some bloody point.
I agree with most of Richard's article except where he asks when are the major game developers going to catch on to the browser-cased market. I think they are starting to catch on. SOE's Free Realms is doing very well. Wizards 101 has won awards and is also doing well. Both of these games are browser based. Yes, they are targetted towards a younger audience, but I think both of these titles show how well a browser can run a game. This should only imporve as browser technology improves.
I think the big game developers are watching this market very closely.
Kingdom of Loathing boasts one of the best communities and some of the funniest writing I've found in 25+ years of gaming. Sure, it's stick figure art, but that's part of the joke. I've been playing for almost four years, and I'm not bored yet.
I agree that the popularity of these games is on the rise, and one reason is that the low design and investment requirements allow smart niche games like KoL to exist and thrive. Here's to more.
The Wathombe Principle: In every group, there is at least one outsider. --Chad Oliver, Ph.D., 1928-1993. Rest in peace, friend.
Free Realms is not browser based. It has a client that has to be installed and it downloads more as you progress. The only thing it uses the browser for is to login and to see your items/achievements/etc. without logging into the full game.
I don't know about the tech on browser based games, so a few questions.
It seems to me that you should be able to reach single player quality of art with browser based. Is that possible?
I'd also like to know if there's any restrictions with browser based production, such as world interactions like pulling levers and opening chests.
Another question is, wouldn't a browser based game remove some cheats based on reading downloads? I mean, if the browser isn't sending you info that a stealther is behind you, would anyone be able to build a prog to detect "hidden"?
Once upon a time....
Any true SWG vet that realizes why they loved the game will tell you it was the freedom the game allowed, and the community that freedom created. The game itself was a train wreck and if it wasn't for the sandbox nature of it, and the interesting community all those different combat and non-combat classes created, the game wouldn't even have any old fans still talking about how much fun they had 5-6 years ago.
There is a reason pre-NGE has rabid fans even though it is considered a failure by most people. I have yet to see a single modern MMO recreate the deep, interdependent community SWG had. That's what we miss more than anything.
My friends and I totally agree with you. SWG with all it's faults, was a true MMO and fun to play.
With all the FTP games being made to attract the masses, I can only hope developers continue to make PTP games for veteran gamers who prefer a more involved, immersive, good story MMO. Perhaps it won't bring in the number of players the publishers want, but the core players are still there. The PTP will still make money, although the development will be more expensive.
Once again, not really sure what the point is here. There are *lots* of free dungeon crawl type games and other MUD derivatives out there already. One good reason why I don't see any major studio sinking real money into a brower game is that there are already so many similar free options out there. No one is going to pay for commodore 64 level graphics over the existant text/pong level ones with the same gameplay.
In so far as there is money in this sort of game, it will be done on the F2P/microtransaction model that Richard loves to promote so much. I'm sure there already are or soon will be very low requirement browser persistant world games that you can play on Iphones and blackberries etc as well as ultra low end PCs. (Although it is worth remembering that ultra low end PCs probably can't handle the browser alone anyways lol!)
Personally, I couldn't care less. I'm willing to pay for and demand far better than browser games for my home PC entertainment.
I find some of the browser based MMOs have great communities. Currently playing Ikariam, and I'm finding there is a lot of direct player to player interaction to be had there. For example, so far in the past few days:
- got into an escalated pillaging war with two players of another alliance, resulting in a third member of their alliance bringing in backup to take ships and men at my main city.
- set up an embassy which allowed me to create an alliance and invite a friend into it. It also allowed me to send a few peace treaty requests to neighboring cities.
- found a nearby city was run by a fellow poster from the ACFriends forum so I shot him a message and began trading with them for some needed resources
- followed the heated war between two large alliances on the diplomacy board for our server - a battle waged both on the forums and ingame, and it looks like it's getting costly.
It's a simple game with enough options to keep it interesting. Micromanagement of the cities is kept to a fun level and doesn't get into ridiculous minutia.
Evony, Tribal Wars, Pardus, Omega Days (I think this one is down now though) are all great browser games that can run on even the cheapest of netbooks, costing nothing at all to play but having a few extra perks for coughing up a few coins here and there.
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
An interesting article, particularly the bit about an older title being a 'game for gamers.'
Perhaps it was just a turn of phrase, but for some reason it really depressed me, as it implies that newer games aren't made for gamers (or at least, the successful ones likely won't be).
I think that browser games CAN BE GOOD. The question is: will they? Will the game developers try to learn from their previous mistakes like making the gaming interesrting? Thats the problem with F2P MMORPGs, you start them, have a little fun, and then you get bored......
And what about the graphics? Maybe people will play it without alot of graphics like Richard said, but the graphics still CAN help.
One of the major problems too are the internet speed. Playing a laggy browser games doesn't sound fun at all....
i think there needs to be some progression and understanding in the F2P market. They need to understand that if they want people to buy things from their games, they need to make them fun and not boring. Maybe the browser games can give them a chance to invest more to the game and less to the graphics.
Richard Rules!!!!
"The Fork Of Truth"
Come to the dark side, we have cookies...
The biggest markets I see for browser based games (and it's a HUGE market)
Is little kids, housewives, and anyone with a computer at work, heh.
How many people sneak in a few flash games at work when the boss isn't looking. How do they get by with this? Easy, because the firewall doesn't block it and they don't have to download anything, thus being able to play it without having admin rights to the computer.
Web based/cloud computing is going to make tons of money as the field develops. Perhaps much more than most traditional subscription MMO's and even F2P mmo's.
cloud based stuff...nothing to install, play in a browser...you can play at home, on your cell phone, your laptop, your work computer, any random computer with internet access....
How could that NOT be huge??
Another great article, next time Richard will be telling us why we should all be playing MUD’s. They are cheap online games to make; any PC, even one that’s twenty years old can run them and it is all about the gameplay. <rolls eyes>
Why does Richard want everything to appeal to the lowest common denominator? The only winner here is the company who rakes the money in.
He thinks playing games which have inferior graphics, communities, depth of play style etc are some how as good as subscription based MMOs.
In life try to be the best, want the best and play the best. Don’t learn to accept second best or in this case play something that’s a generation behind in computing terms.
Have a look at Fusion Fall, it is a kids MMO, but it does a very good job of demonstrating what you can achieve with a browser based game.
In theory, the only limitations on what you can do with a browser lauched engine, is what you can stream to a user's computer and what that computer can hold in memory.
It is not different to how other MMOs work, it is merely holding the whole engine in the memory of your system rather than running it from your hard drive, therefore the limitations are largely visual or audio, mechanically it is has no limitations.
"Graphics don't make a game."
WRONG.
Is called VIDEO games for a reason.
------
Also, almost everything commented on teh article happend already.. in 2007.. Web Games are really old news.
Yes, it is. You could play ForumWARz, It play somewhat like a "hacker emulator", is very smooth and history based. But Is limited to a few "points" every hour or something, and the history is not finished (or whats not finished wen I played it), another problem is that is somewhat META.
Note: I pre-trolled U!.
I could imagine more browser type games because of accessibility. When I am visiting a relative who has *a* computer, I am happy if I can get it to surf okay. Or imagine iPhone/iTouch type of handhelds, even PSP or so if you just want to jump into something while not at home. Although the latter media will make it pretty restricted - how many will play on the iPhone for 200+ h a MMO? I have problems with blood circulation on my iTouch after any type of casual game after 20 mins or more...