SmokeJumper lets us in on how fun being a Dev is!

[MrVicchio]

Author Topic: Hey Devs, how fun is your job?
DreamTitan
Station Member
Registered: Dec 2002 posted 12-20-2002 02:52 PM user search report post
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a little question for the devs.
how fun is your job guys. You get to make this awsome title for all of us gamers to play. As well as have the power to point where the game is gonna go. Then after the game is released you can brainstorm to add new vehicles and new character abilities.

My question is. How do you feel about your job and what your trying to create?

* DEV REPLY************************

SmokeJumperPS
Station Admin
Registered: Sep 2001 posted 12-20-2002 06:33 PM user search report post
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lol, Sk3ld...that's pretty much accurate.
I mean...don't get me wrong. This is a great gig. After all...we make things go BOOM! for a living.

Of course, it's not just fun and games. 30 people for 2+ years spending $8-10 million. That's a fairly substantial chunk of business there and we have to make it turn around into more cash or else we're on the streets later on looking for other jobs.

The pressure can be tremendous, and creative endeavors are NEVER finished...regardless of how much time you have available...because you always think of ways to make the game better if given enough time to think about it.

Plus...for the 24 months you work on a project...for 22 of those months, the dang game is broken. Unplayable. Bug-ridden. Not Fun.

On the otherhand, we discuss things like warp gate technology, we debate whether weather patterns should be global or just continental, we talk about whether the capture console should be on the top floor, or somewhere else in the base, we argue about whether the Phoenix missile launcher is too powerful.

Like I said...very stressful...but a great gig.

http://boards.station.sony.com/ubb/planetside/Forum2/HTML/000969.html

[diluted]

perhaps it can be a big investment but looking back im sure it was awesome working on it all.

[Hatte]

And the feeling of satisfaction as they watch the user totals rise will be the best part.

[RageMaster]

$8-10 Million?

Wow. I decided to work my brain over how you guys plan to break even.

8 000 000 dollars. Presume the MOG runs for 5 years (optimistic). So divide by 5 and we get...

1 600 000 dollars per year. Divide by 12 and were talkin...

133 333 dolars per month. To get 133 333 dollars per month at a theoretical $10 monthly subscription fee we divide by 10 and get how many peeps on average need to be subscribed per month to this game... 13 333.

Oh my god. Well, I'll ceirtainly be in that number, so its just a case of the bare minimum 13 332 other people you need to get hooked on this game!!!

Aw hell, its looking damned good and I've been spreadin the word down in West Midlands UK on unauthorised and no doubt welcomed behalf of your marketing team. I have no doubt it will deliver the goods. If you guys keep an eye on the balance issues throughout I think it would be a pleasure to play this game indefinately.

And, if its not too much of an inconvenience, build some peer-to-peer voicecomms program into it, cuz games like this are SO much better when you can speak to your comrades. The voice-comms would sell real well to reviewers in magazines too. I know it'd sell to me.

Best'o'luck.

-RageMaster

[Rasia]

In all fairness, that cash amount is likely just to recoup the development costs up to release. The expenses per month go up post- release as you will need to maintain servers/bandwidth (and frequently teams expand post a successful launch when expansion pack time comes around).

Though, you have to figure one-time box sales into the figure also, which I'm sure helps.

(13,331...I'm in for sure!)

[SandTrout]

you're forgeting that you have people buying the $40+ game, of which the productiong gets about $20-$30 just estimateing, and alot of that goes into makeing the CDs, boxes, and manuels.

Also, 14,000 players is very reasonable for a game, heck, Im pretty sure Half-life(in all it's varients) has almost, if not more than, 1million players.

(Edit: when I think about it, I'm confident HL has several million players)

[MrVicchio]

Uhm... every MMO to date has had atleast a 40,000 player base. Even WWII on line did at one point... but that game, as good as they wanted it to be, jsut had too many issues...

Think about that 40,000 x (and I THINK its gonna be 14.95 but that is just me...)$10 = 400,000 x 12 = 4.8 million a year gross profit. Just off a minimum base of 40k

[�io]

Bottom line, nobody makes anything in todays world if it don't bring in the cash so trust them to figure out how to make PS profitable. :p

[MrVicchio]

Hehehe imagine that monthly is my opinion of 14.95... that make it 7 million a year or so in profit off of JUST 40k

You want REALLY scary, there are projections that Star Wars Galaxies will hit the 1,000,000 subscriber mark... now THAT is scary.

[Psycho21]

Ah yes, the big dollar question. If you Devs have any influence at all, plz try to keep the monthly down to $10 ($20 to me, im in Australia), otherwise im sure you'll lose a lot of players. $10 just sounds so nice.

Also, do you have any idea where the servers are going to be based? This will be the other deciding factor for me, unless i somehow manage to get into the beta :D

[�io]

Originally posted by Psycho21
Ah yes, the big dollar question. If you Devs have any influence at all, plz try to keep the monthly down to $10 ($20 to me, im in Australia), otherwise im sure you'll lose a lot of players. $10 just sounds so nice.

:eek:

You mean there's actually an exchange rate that sucks more than the Canadian dollar???!

[RageMaster]

Someone posted:
Think about that 40,000 x (and I THINK its gonna be 14.95 but that is just me...)$10 = 400,000 x 12 = 4.8 million a year gross profit. Just off a minimum base of 40k

Right, so 40 000 players average over 2 years will bring in the cash to cover the development costs. Cool.

Just another 39 998 peeps to confirm they're gonna subscribe then eh dev-team? No pressure ;-)

EAGERLY awaiting the game. Best-o-luck.

-RageMaster

[FireFrenzy]

Originally posted by Dio
:eek:

You mean there's actually an exchange rate that sucks more than the Canadian dollar???!

*slap*

YEN!

[�io]

Yen doesn't count, Yen has always been 1283567955708Yen = 0.10US. :D