Even a cursory look back on the last year in massively multiplayer online games reveals a number of titles that, despite their promise (and some promises), ultimately failed. Factor in the high costs of creating and publishing an MMO title these days and the mistakes still being made in the industry, and perhaps it's time for a primer on how not to lose money when making an MMO to be widely disseminated. Adam Martin over at T=Machine has written just that. In the first of a two-part series, Martin provides insightful analysis of some glaring mistakes made in the MMO industry, and how some of those pitfalls could have been avoided. He does so by looking at a few of 2008's troubled massively multiplayer titles, namely Hellgate: London, Tabula Rasa, and Age of Conan. It's an interesting read, even for those who are far less enthusiastic about the business decisions behind MMOs than about the games themselves.
