Looking for tips on how (where on the Internet preferably for free, methodology / approach, ...) to put a browser-based MMORPG development team together to create a game prototype.

Some details worth mentioning:

1. I have been working for over half a decade on the design (both business model, game design and technological aspects) of a space based (think EVE Online) MMORPG.

2. I have developed some alpha stage pieces that focus on game mechanics and are not graphically impressive.

3. I do not have enough capital to just fund people myself, so I am looking for enthusiasts who would want to participate in this as a "hobby" project (yet closed-source; I do know about NDAs and such).

4. The most appealing and likely to succeed type of funding would be crowd funding, which, for this type of project, requires a team and at least an alpha stage working prototype.

The technologies / programming knowledge that will be required for this prototype stage project are mainly WebGL and WebSockets.

So my question is, where can I find people like who'd want to participate in a "hobby" project which can become a fully funded game development project? I suppose game development departments at universities might be a good starting point - but how to approach these... calling or emailing and if the latter then who to write (head of department, individual professors, ...?) and what to say?

Or even better, are there any popular and free forums to post such a project at?

And what would any of you suggest how should I approach people, how should I introduce the project and myself? I'm asking because this is intended to become a mainstream commercial MMORPG, so I can't give out too much info, which might put off some people, so maybe someone has any tips on what to reveal and what not to, and how to go about in doing so.

You could put a business plan together and get seed funding to make a prototype to use to get the next round of funding.

Since people like to get paid to do work on other people's MMORPG ideas, and it's going to be hard to get people to do it for free.

You could put a business plan together and get seed funding to make a prototype to use to get the next round of funding.

Since people like to get paid to do work on other people's MMORPG ideas, and it's going to be hard to get people to do it for free.

That... is interesting info, yet went completely past what my question was. However, considering you mentioned "seed funding", could you elaborate perhaps a bit on that - how does it work (is it private individual funding, crowd funding, ...; what do I / the team / the project give in return; what are the legal implications if there are any, in terms of personal liabilities to deliver and such) and where would you go to (on the Internet and / or in real life / in person) to attract such funding?

Thank you for the current input and advance thanks for future input!

do a search of "kickstarter" on gamasutra. There are a number of kickstarter post mortems. jeff Pobst gave a good here in Seattle at PAX Dev. :

).

Note that Hidden Path ended up having to get additional funding from a VC (Venture Capital) to finish their game.

There are definitely legal implications-- if you take people's money (eg via kickstarter) and then never make your product, you will be in trouble.

Read up on Kickstarter--their web site is the best place to start.

Of course 'private funding' is another option. Family, friends are often the best places for that.

It can take a LOT of money to make a game. A quarter Million sounds like a lot, but that's only a few months time for a team of 7...it goes fast. So make sure you don't bite off more than you can comfortably chew. There are many stories of kickstarters that needed to go back for more money--sometimes much more..

Note that if you are taking people's money, making and selling something, you are in business, and need to get your business ducks in a row just as much as you need your art done and code written. That includes having documents for anyone participating in your project to sign, with a clear understanding of what they do or do not get for working on it.

One last note-- you're describing something somewhere between a hobby project and a professional project. You should really try to figure out which you want it to be. If it's a 'hobby' project for some of the other people, be prepared to have their part be low on their personal priority list. You may get lucky and find someone who 'gets' your vision and works a lot on it. But more likely, they will have a lot of other stuff going on in their lives (things that they get paid for), and if they are making no money and doing it "when they can" you may find your progress is quite slow.

Good luck!

do a search of "kickstarter" on gamasutra. There are a number of kickstarter post mortems. jeff Pobst gave a good here in Seattle at PAX Dev. :

).

Note that Hidden Path ended up having to get additional funding from a VC (Venture Capital) to finish their game.

There are definitely legal implications-- if you take people's money (eg via kickstarter) and then never make your product, you will be in trouble.

Read up on Kickstarter--their web site is the best place to start.

Of course 'private funding' is another option. Family, friends are often the best places for that.

It can take a LOT of money to make a game. A quarter Million sounds like a lot, but that's only a few months time for a team of 7...it goes fast. So make sure you don't bite off more than you can comfortably chew. There are many stories of kickstarters that needed to go back for more money--sometimes much more..

Note that if you are taking people's money, making and selling something, you are in business, and need to get your business ducks in a row just as much as you need your art done and code written. That includes having documents for anyone participating in your project to sign, with a clear understanding of what they do or do not get for working on it.

One last note-- you're describing something somewhere between a hobby project and a professional project. You should really try to figure out which you want it to be. If it's a 'hobby' project for some of the other people, be prepared to have their part be low on their personal priority list. You may get lucky and find someone who 'gets' your vision and works a lot on it. But more likely, they will have a lot of other stuff going on in their lives (things that they get paid for), and if they are making no money and doing it "when they can" you may find your progress is quite slow.

Good luck!

Hi Brian - and thank you for your input. Yet again (and I hate to sound like a complainer, and it's not entirely a complaint because I still got some info out of it and you did put quite some effort into your message) - you're completely past of what my original post asked.

But considering what you said, that is probably important input for a lot of people, however I am very familiar with Kickstarter, its process, legal implications and such but also video game project specific issues, as the ones you have mentioned. I could provide input related to your concerns and my planning to avoid those pitfalls, but you have not asked for that and if someone is interested then feel free to ask and I would be happy to explain then.

So all in all, thank you for your efforts in what you wrote, I am still in need of getting some more input on my original question - how / where specifically to find project / team members AKA where and how (what approach / method would you suggest) would it be most sensible to advertise for my project to acquire respectively qualified HRs.

So all in all, thank you for your efforts in what you wrote, I am still in need of getting some more input on my original question - how / where specifically to find project / team members AKA where and how (what approach / method would you suggest) would it be most sensible to advertise for my project to acquire respectively qualified HRs.

Short answer: nowhere. Consider exactly what it is you are asking. An MMO-anything is quite technically challenging. There are middleware options (BigWorld, etc...) that might make it easier but which require financial investment and also will still require a solid and experienced technical base. You admit you have no experience (admitting to only having done a few alpha-stage pieces is essentially admitting to having no experience), have no knowledge of the technical constraints, no knowledge necessary to put together an actual workable budget, design (a few years spent tinkering on a design just doesn't cut it, not without relevant professional experience; or, at least, having finished a good size project) or business plan. You have no money with which to hire qualified people to fill these glaring experience gaps, and are instead hoping for the good will of the "crowd" to pony up the cash for you to hire, assuming that people are just going to throw money at a team led by someone so inexperienced who has nothing under his belt to show that he can make good on his promise. It's just not really a workable situation.

Start smaller. An MMO just should not be attempted as your first finished project.

@Brian Schmidt - I did watch the YouTube vid, it was quite informative starting mid-way to the end, so thank you for that.

So to make things more clear, I will summarize:

I have everything (including a business plan, development plan, technologies know-how and general business and specifically experience in creating video games, as part of my several decades of professional experience working in the IT industry and my education) that is required to start with turning this idea for a MMORPG into a commercial (and according to the figures commercially successful) product, minus the funds, some things to take care of on the business side and the required "talent" / HR.

I am looking for information (tips, ideas, ...) on how to address the HR issue, specifically where to post on the Internet to advertise the opportunity to an as large as possible (yet suitable) audience, preferably free of charge. To add that "talent" to the project is important so that a prototype can be produced to attract funding.

There are some online communities where you can do this sort of thing, but if we take a look at a few of them...

• GameDev.net "Job Offers" or "Contract Projects". Listings aren't free, but are pretty cheap.
• DevMaster "Recruitment Requests" forum. Be sure to read their recruiting rules first; unfortunately they appear to rule out your project for that forum.
• The Game Programming Wiki "Announcements" forum.

...they generally aren't free, don't allow a non-paying project of the type you describe, or get little-to-no activity.

You could possibly try your idea of recruiting from a university, but you probably won't find much advice on it given most uni-based teams are formed from within the university or involve work-placement or internships with an established business. I would suggest approaching department heads or professors to secure permission, and then finding out if you can address a group of students (perhaps before or after a lecture) and/or post notices on any notice boards.

If you want to attract a team of qualified and capable developers to work on an MMO you'll almost certainly need to pay them. You might find less qualified developers who can dedicate some efforts to your project, but you'll need to cast a wide net across lots of developer communities and/or pay for advertising.

This just isn't the type of project people pursue with no budget. You could perhaps try applying for a personal loan, borrowing from family and/or friends, or approaching venture capitalists to get some starting funds -- otherwise you'll probably need to start smaller.

So to make things more clear, I will summarize:

I have everything (including a business plan, development plan, technologies know-how and general business and specifically experience in creating video games, as part of my several decades of professional experience working in the IT industry and my education) that is required to start with turning this idea for a MMORPG into a commercial (and according to the figures commercially successful) product, minus the funds, some things to take care of on the business side and the required "talent" / HR.

I am looking for information (tips, ideas, ...) on how to address the HR issue, specifically where to post on the Internet to advertise the opportunity to an as large as possible (yet suitable) audience, preferably free of charge. To add that "talent" to the project is important so that a prototype can be produced to attract funding.

Advertise as large as possible is incongruent with free of charge.



I've worked on games that have a DAU of around 150,000 players. We invested tens of millions in the game every year. We have server farms in three continents. But even that isn't really enough players to be considered "MMO" status. MMO has a meaning, and it involves lots of money.

That first "M" has a very important meaning that many people forget. That first "M" can really only be achieved by a global presence that in practice is quite expensive, approaching a 9-digit figure in money. Perhaps you simply meant a more general online world?

If you honestly meant MMO, then I will assume your business plan details things like how you intend to develop your server farm, how you intend to provide global 24/7 support, global billing, global taxes, global translations, global privacy laws, global security regulations, global game ratings, and many things beyond simple game design documents. Simply creating a game (production) is relatively easy. Post-production costs and lifetime product support generally dwarf development costs.

I'm really not sure how in your business plan you intended to get your tithe-of-a-billion dollars in funding. That's the thing most people in the discussion are confused about.

So if you mean a real MMO, assuming you have already used your networking skills and talked with all your professional contacts you have developed, you will need to spend money. Lots of money. Around fifty million dollars worth of money (at least) over the first three years.

You have "several decades of professional experience". This means you should have a network of personal contacts that extends to several hundred people. Recruit your first round of leaders from people you know can do the job and are willing to take the risk. If none of your friends and acquaintances are willing to take the risk, think about why.

You incorporate your business (costing money) and start paying people (costing lots of money) as a startup.

After you and your contact network has been questioned, you need to hire one more person: An HR specialist (costing money).

You and your friends (the contacts willing to join you) will form the core team. Any skills you don't have among you get listed and given to the HR specialist. They will scour the internet (costing money) and use their network of headhunters (also costing money) to hire people with the needed skills (which costs lots of money).

If you have to ask, you probably aren't ready for it. If you don't have the experience or business acumen to hire the first core group of people, you are absolutely out of your league for a real MMO. It is a very ambitious project usually approaching a hundred million dollars. First get your feet wet with a few million-dollar projects.


So, did you mean a real MMO, or did you mean a more simple online game?


If you read the Networking Forum FAQ, there is a link to how to develop a basic online world server in under a day, and develop a simple isometric online multiplayer world in less than a week. The server in the FAQ can probably support around 500 concurrent users.

If you don't think "MMO" you really only need one or two programmers, a modeler, and animator, and some audio. You will fill the role of designer and producer. A simple, professional looking non-MMO online world can be put together by a small team in just a few months. It has been done many, many times. Again you can likely get that from your network of co-workers you developed over decades of professional experience. Building it is the easy part, selling it and supporting it is much harder.

"how / where specifically to find project / team members"

There aren't any. Why? Because people with the time/talent to build MMO projects don't generally work for free.

Also, they were all recruited by the guy asking this yesterday. Otr the guy the day before. Or the two guys the day before that. Because world+dog has 4 pages of a design for an MMO and wants a bunch of free effort to take that and turn it into money and fame.

You're in competition for the same zero people as fifty-thousand other projects.