Storyboard: A group effort

Eliot Lefebvre — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Events, in-game, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard

Roleplaying is like many other activities in MMOs -- it can't be done alone. That means that no matter how much of an antisocial player you might be for the rest of the game, you'll need a number of other people to make any roleplaying work. By extension, any longer storylines and character development require people working together with some level of consistency. You can technically have a character's development take place without the same audience, of course, but it won't mean as much to the late arrivals.

Put very simply, you want a coherent overarching sequence of events that you can point to for your characters. This is going to require some level of group coordination, and group RP events are a great excuse for roleplaying bonds to form anyway, so it's fully endorsed. For this week's Storyboard, we're going to take a look at running a group event in the smoothest way possible, ranging from a simple one-off night of adventure to a long guild-wide storyline that ends with time travel. (You know the story is really getting overwrought when the time travel makes things simpler, see.)

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Storyboard: A group effort originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Timing virtual world launches

Brenda Holloway — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Making money, Virtual worlds

When's the perfect time to launch your brand new virtual world? The one that will send kids hunting through their parent's wallets for money for new outfits for their virtual puppy. The one that will have people busily importing their five thousand-strong MySpace friends list into your Scooby-Doo-themed social networking site, The Haunted Amusement Park. Your Shiny Whiter Teeth virtual world that will launch aside your new toothpaste. It all depends on your target audience, says Electric Sheep's Giff Constable.

If you're going after the coveted pre-teen dollar, best to launch it just as the kids are getting out of school. Their parents will likely have their guard down and be more permissive. Though that won't work with college kids. Get them just after exams, but before the new semester. They'll be playing and getting their friends to play so when the new semester starts, your foot is in the door.

Adults aren't likely to play during the Summer (when their kids are hogging the computer, no doubt) -- grab them in the Spring or the Fall when the pressure of summer or the holiday season aren't on their minds. But if you're tying your virtual world to a toy or other consumer item, then the holiday season is your strong season, and you should launch in the Fall in order to make a big splash.

You can spend all the time you need on your virtual world, polish it to a high sheen, but if your intended audience is off doing something else ... you won't have the launch you want.

Timing virtual world launches originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 May 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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