Customer Reviews

MMO Evolution

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As I read the book I began to make mental notes for an intended review. When I came to the site to write, I found the first review had exactly the same opinion as myself. The book reads like a compilation of blogs (or one very long-winded blog) ranting on the current state and potential of MMO game development.

As the first review explains, this publication contains many unsubstantiated and often conflicting opinions about the current state of this part of the game development industry. There are very few examples given.

There are plenty more (and better) blogs that will give much more insightful and substantial opinions of the industry. You can spend time and money reading this book, or simply browse any of the gaming web forums on the internet for the same level of understanding.

There's some interesting nuggets, but unfortunately for the most part MMO Evolution reads like an extensive blog post instead of a well-researched fact-supported book.

Rice makes numerous assertions and observations, especially regarding the MMO industry, that he never really backs up with tangible figures or evidence. Though most of the observations are fairly accurate from what I could gather, there's just very little weight behind them since he rarely supports them with facts and figures.

At best, he overly generalizes. At worst, he makes blanket opinionated statements sometimes passed off as facts with little to no qualifiers. He states PCs are a superior game platform to consoles, yet that's very subjective and depends entirely on what type of games you play. Other times he comes off as jaded and inconsistent. On one hand he'll complain the industry isn't doing enough to appeal to the mass market and younger players, but then just a couple of pages later he'll complain that "Basically, games are being created for 6th graders" and that many gamers "long for the golden age of games that required a notepad or journal".

There some nuggets particularly in the latter part of the book where he offers a few interesting ideas to designing MMO games. But even then, it's odd how in the early part of the book he's complaining that the MMO industry is too focused on the same tired fantasy setting, yet many of his ideas in the latter part of the book revolve around that same tired fantasy framework he riled against earlier.

I support self-publishing, but this book is really better fit for a blog and just isn't researched or objective enough to justify a +$20 price tag. However if you can find this book used at a cheap price, it may be worth picking up.

MMO Evolution is a good entry level primer to the growing resistance to big box mainline MMO games in the North American market space. It is written in a style very blog like, making it a fast and easy read. At times it is highly editorial, but underneath that there is a strong understanding of a number of critical aspects of the MMO games industry. You do have to read a bit between the lines to get the full gist of what is being said in this book, and for some it may come as a bit too opinionated.

Particularly interesting are the discussions on thematic and content stagnation and the under laying investment risk vs. reward/quick cash mentality that is so heavily present the risk adverse/high stakes MMO gaming industry.

I recommend this book for people who are looking for a place to start understanding the growing 'in crowd' of dissatisfied gamers, developers, and visionaries in the MMOG field. This book will give you a good solid understanding of what they are thinking, feeling, and the changes they want to make.

I recommend World of Warcraft fanatics and Big Box MMOG Gamers avoid, unless you want to write bad reviews on Amazon in your spare time. You'll be frustrated and angry that the titles you hold dear to your hearts are being used as examples of stagnation and avoidance of change.

I couldn't agree more with the first two posts regarding how the book reads like a diatribe of spewed content without any substance. Anyone who's interested in seriously examining the aspects of games should avoid this book at all costs since it does nothing but introduce a series unsubstantiated claims and opinions.

Within the first few pages alone Mr. Rice states that "Currently, the MMOG market in the West is in a state of stagnation and at the brink of a serious decline." He does not back up any of his arguments with any citations or data.

Even a quick examination of studies in this area will show how untrue this statement is. For example, Screen Digest performed a study which found that the MMOG market will triple by 2011 in the US markets alone. (Western World MMOG Market: 2006 Review and Forecasts to 2011)

I tried to overlook many of these flaws in logic and limited details with the assumption that the author may have credibility within the game industry. I was disappointed to find that even here Robert Rice seemed lacking. I cannot find any details that would suggest to me that Robert Rice has ever held a position within the game industry, academia, etc. that would make him qualified to make the assumptions he makes.

To be fair to readers, this book should be prefaced with Robert Rice's credentials. I would not pay for this book and highly recommend that anyone using it for school related work consider looking to industry leaders and scholarly articles far before they consider the random musings of the average avid gamer.

Used this book as a reference for a school-task about MMO in general. And it was extremely useful. Comprehensive information on all topics within MMO; how a game works, what makes it good etc.

Recommend this book to everyone that has an interest in MMO.