Online Games SIG/2007WPSB/The Past
International Game Developers Association
Table of contents |
[edit] Introduction
The history of online game is surprisingly rich and diverse. Games that could be considered massively multiplayer existed as early as 1974. Several dozen games spanning many genres and themes were created in this period. Enjoy discovering the roots of this medium!
[edit] In the Beginning
The first multiplayer game involving two separate client terminals appears to have been on Plato in 1969, a copy of Spacewar which was originally invented in 1962.
Plato was an amazing system designed for education that foreshadowed much of development that was done later on online services and the world wide web. Several different individuals and teams ended up independently "inventing" online gaming in the 70's and early 80's. Once computers could talk to each other (or multiple people could play on terminals connected to the same computer) online gaming was going to happen!
Raph Koster's timeline is a great resource to the past of online games. http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/mudtimeline.shtml
Brad Lineberger from Icarus Studios also submitted this timeline link: http://library.thinkquest.org/C002414/history.html
Core Text | Further Reading | Springboard
[edit] The Generations of Online Gaming
The generations of online gaming can be defined as:
1969-1982 The Plato and other educational systems beginning
1983-1995 Online Services and BBS Games
1996-2003 Meridian 59, Ultima Online & Everquest to pre-WOW
Each of these generations are described below in detail.
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[edit] Historical Business Models
The earliest games were all run on educational or private computers, so no charges were involved. The trick was figuring out how to get access unless you were lucky enough to already have it!
Once the online services & BBS game era started, the primary business model was pay-by-the-minute. On the online services, the charges were the same no matter what activity you did online. Online services soon learned that games would drive inordinate usage, which was good for their bottom line. ...
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[edit] The History of the Eastern Markets
- doing for Asia, what the above does for the western world***
...
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[edit] Case Studies
This section contains case studies authored by the people intimately involved with these games. ...
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[edit] The List of Historical Games
Every massively multiplayer game published prior to 2004 should be listed here aphabetically. The title, date it launched (and closed), companies involved, who developed it, where it was available and any other pertinent information! We are interested in having the authors let us know what previous games or experiences inspired the game and any antidotes about the development process you care to share.
[edit] Ultima Online=====
Title: Ultima Online http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultima_online
Maximum Subscribers/Players: 245k in February of 2001 (documented)
Launched: September 1997
Developer/Publisher: Origin Systems/Electronic Arts
Date Closed: Still available in 2007
Developers: Available at the links for each version/expansion: http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/ultima-online-series
Expansions: 7 Expansions starting with The Second Age in 1998 : http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/ultima-online-series
Inspirations: (this is for people on the team to give information on what massively multiplayer online game(s) inspired or informed their work on this title)
Antedotes: (this is for people on the team to give small stories on the development or running of the game)
Gordon Walton: I believe this was the first MMO to break 100,000 active subscribers in the USA and in Japan
GameName======================
Title: game/link to game if available
Maximum Subscribers/Players: should be number, date and (documented or undocumented)
Launched: Month and Year
Developer/Publisher:
Date Closed: Month and Year or Still Available
Developers: named or linked to
Expansions: If applicable, list or link to them
Inspirations: (this is for people on the team to give information on what games or other items inspired their work on this title)
Antedotes: (this is for people on the team to give small stories on the development or running of the game, format would be name: antedote)
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