There aren’t many conferences in the game industry that allow game developers to focus on indie (independent) game development. This is especially true in the Massive Multiplayer Online part of the industry, where cost and scope of projects is typically large and innovation is kept at a low level due to the risks involved.

Thankfully, opportunities are improving for indie developers. This past weekend a new conference debuted that specifically gathered indie MMO game developers to the twin cities of America for discussions and classes on game development, business relations, how to manage a community, and even how sex may play a unique role in MMOs. IMGDC stands for ‘Indie MMO Game Development Conference’ and is located at the site: http://www.imgdc.com/.

The conference consisted of two days of roundtable discussions and classes that either were on the subject of game content development or were geared more towards the business side of development. Each type had their own meeting room, which was separated by a central room that consisted of a few vendors, mostly from colleges and other game companies. The central room also gave participants a chance between sessions to discuss development ideas.

I hinted above that sex was a part of the discussions, but so were mermaids. No, they have nothing to do with each other in this instance, but both clearly show the unique topics that were presented. Sex was the topic of a roundtable discussion that helped participants to understand why sex is such a controversial issue in games, and ways indie developers can take this attitude and turn it around to bring sex into games on a prominent and responsible level. We didn’t just discuss the direct topic, but more about socialism, personal affection for one another, and relationships in general.

Mermaids came into discussion in one of the classes presented by the educational professor, Celia Pearce, who is developing a mermaid focused game. While the topic of mermaids is somewhat arbitrary, the point of the class was to realize that developers typically “play it safe” in the industry. They often follow the same rules and expectations from one instance to another, never varying from either class based systems or skill based systems, which was also another topic of a roundtable discussion. The game ‘Mermaids’ attempts to do away with death, levels, and other numerical constraints, which gives the players more control over the economy and what happens in the game. Another major theme was the use of underwater 3D exploration. You may think you’re exploring a 3D world in World of Warcraft, but on the whole you are really on a flat 2D surface.

Will ‘Mermaids’ be successful? I have high hopes for the project. If it is someday released and you purchase the game, it will show you what creative talent is possible when developers are free from certain constraints other companies may have. As well as the results from being free from the higher expectations that comes with developing a larger and more costly game.

‘Slaughtering Sacred Cows’ was another roundtable discussion that got at the core issues of what we as MMO game players are beginning to experience and truly understand about the current issues in MMO games – the consistent replication of stable and known successful content from one game to another and what is truly useful to the game player, what is fun, and what is not. What can we get rid of that isn’t fun anymore? Do you play MMOs and always feel that leveling up never quite satisfied you, or on the other hand truly appreciated the ability for developers to add increasing levels of graphical detail to games? Indie developers are attempting to discover what we need and what can be removed. Like the mermaids game, they are finding ways to create new and fresh games, but with a way to play them that are completely new to MMOs.

One of the last classes was headed by my friend Kelly “Ophelea” Heckman from gamersinfo.net. She discussed ways that community managers can help MMO game developers to ensure players are satisfied with their gameplay and that any concerns are dealt with efficiently. I personally cannot count the times that I’ve had a concern with the responsiveness and involvement of official community support, being from any game that I’ve played, whether it was an MMO or a First Person Shooter. The industry has some awesome talent, but as Kelly pointed out there is so much more that can be done to ensure players are supported.

The future of MMO game development looks bright. One of the greatest things that every participant took away from the conference was the knowledge that more and more tools for smaller development teams are allowing greater freedom and flexibility in creating unique and fun MMO games. I would like to thank Robert Rice who wrote the book “MMO Evolution”, Brian “Pyschochild” Green for his views on the increasing influence of the international community, Rick Pollack for his educational perspective of games, Steven Wilcoxon for his ideas on alternate worlds, Eric Rhea for his insight on business development, Jonathon Stevens for allowing us to attend the conference, and all the others that I met at the conference.

The community looks forward to your games!

Written by: Mathew "Berek" Anderson