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Allegorithmic, the creator of a procedural texture production tool called ProFX, announced that NCsoft has licensed its product. ProFX produces highly compressed textures that are "tiny, typically a few kilobytes" in size. Those textures are expanded and generated on the fly from that data by the system's processor as needed. That means file sizes are very small, but visual quality is maintained. The tech is therefore popular with companies developing games for the Xbox Live Arcade, the Xbox 360's digital download marketplace for bite-sized, casual gaming experiences.

NCsoft plans to use the technology in the future development of MMOs for PCs and the PlayStation 3 console. That choice might imply a comparatively small scope for those projects. ProFX is perfectly suited for games downloadable through the PlayStation Network store (Sony's answer to the Xbox Live Arcade), so this is another clue that NCsoft's PS3 games might be PSN releases instead of AAA Blu-ray titles.

It's by no means definitive though; NCsoft might have just been looking for a way to bring down patch sizes. So move along now!

Hermann Peterscheck is the producer of NetDevil's Jumpgate Evolution. He has a lot of experience working on MMOs -- including the original Jumpgate. For those reasons, Ten Ton Hammer decided he would be a great subject for an interview about the process of developing an MMO. You can read the result now.

Apart from the revelation that the game will feature four kilometer-long battleships (cool), the interview was a little bit light on JGE details. But if you're interested in learning how and why games are made, that's okay, because there's a lot of content on that subject.

We thought it was particularly interesting when Peterscheck explained the philosophy behind NetDevil's decision to make JGE. "It is very difficult to steal people away from other MMOs so you are much better off going after an underserved market," he said. He also suggested that every single big MMO succeeded because it (to some extent) created a new market instead of converting users in an existing one.

Trion World Network is quite a company -- without releasing a single game, they've put together millions of dollars in venture capital and compiled a staff list that's got team members from across the history of MMO games, from EverQuest and Ultima Online to World of Warcraft and City of Heroes.

This week, they sent waves through the MMO community by announcing that not only were they working on a fantasy MMO to be helmed by Jon Van Caneghem (original creator of the Might and Magic series of RPG strategy games and co-founder of the company along with Lars Buttler), but that they were forming a groundbreaking partnership with the SCI FI Channel to develop and publish and MMO to live alongside a television show. Finally, we had a small glimpse of just what Trion, with all of their money and experience, were up to.

To find out more, Massively sat down with Van Caneghem (a busy man since the news dropped on Monday) to chat about both the fantasy MMO and the SCI FI project, and what Trion's been working on since they formed. Van Caneghem told us why Trion wants to make a different kind of MMO, and how they'll balance an online game with a television series from the network that's running Battlestar Galactica. The interview starts right after you click the link below.

Age of Conan is not the first MMO to release on consoles as well as the PC. Phantasy Star Universe and Final Fantasy XI were among the vanguards there. Unfortunately, the existing precedents haven't made it look easy. There are a lot of issues to consider. Will Xbox Live (or the PlayStation Network, if the game ever lands on Sony's shores) download regulations prevent prompt bug patching? Will PC users be forced to use voice chat, or will 360 users be forced to buy keyboards? How does one design a user interface that will be equally effective with a console controller and a keyboard/mouse combo?

According to Funcom Project Manager Jorgen Theraldsen, these and other questions have been at the forefront of the development team's thoughts since the beginning. In an interview with MMORPG, he revealed that AoC's combat system has gone through nine iterations throughout Funcom's quest to make it appealing to console users. He admitted that the team still faces "a maze of challenges." At the same time, he assured PC users that the game will not be simplified or held back to make things easier for 360 players. A fine balance, that.

Choosing between the two platforms is probably easy, but many potential players only have one or the other. Funcom will have to keep them all happy if this is going to work. That won't be an easy task.

The developers of Metaplace are pinging the public in search of feedback and good ideas with regards to the platform's planned "badge" system. The system resembles achievements on XBox Live; users and creators of virtual worlds may accomplish certain objectives such as becoming the first Metaplace world to reach 100 simultaneous users, and a unique badge graphic representing the achievement may then be shown to other players and builders in the community.

Areae is dealing with some difficult design decisions. For example: should badges have point values, so whomever has the most points is the most awesome of them all? Should users be able to give badges to one another? How should badges be displayed?

Rather than tackle these questions alone, Areae is offering to everyone the chance to fill out a survey. It's not just multiple choice; participants can explain the reasoning behind their choices. If you've got two cents to share, by all means, go share them!

Recently, WarCry had the chance to sit down with Tabula Rasa's Lead Designer, Tom Potter regarding the state of the game as we see it today. He discusses how successful some of the game's features have been and what they plan for the future of the game. He also touches on Richard Garriott's space flight plans and how involved he still is in the ongoing development of the game. We can't help but wonder what type of inspiration his space flight will evoke.

One of the most interesting pieces of this Q&A is the admission that the game's developers consider themselves more prepared now than they did at launch. While this is perfectly normal for new online games that depend so heavily on the community aspect for its success, it's still interesting to note that Destination Games, being so new to the development world, have finally licked their wounds and are ready to move forward full charge! This includes plans to offer incentives for existing players to stay, and more free trial periods to entice new players to come see what the game is really all about.

A study released by Gartner, a large research firm based in Connecticut, claims that 90% of all "business forays into virtual worlds" fail within 18 months.

According to the study, most businesses focus too much on expensive and unnecessary technology such as powerful physics engines, and don't pay enough attention to the demands and interests of users actual or potential. This is not surprising to us; savvy MMO developers will talk your ear off about how multi-million dollar graphics are at best a red herring and at worst a harbinger of doom.

On the other hand, the study also said that by 2012, 70% of all organizations will be using virtual worlds, and that those endeavors will more successful because businesses will have learned exactly what to expect and will plan development accordingly.

[Via Worlds in Motion]

Well-known European games publisher Codemasters has announced that they plan to move some MMO development in-house. The company currently acts as publisher for a number of Western massively multiplayer games, such as Lord of the Rings Online and Jumpgate Evolution. It also acts as an EU partner for the Korean games and RF OnlineArchlord. Today vice president of Codemasters Online Gaming David Solari has informed GamesIndustry.biz that in-house development was 'always a part of the plan.'

In a lengthy interview with the site, Solari notes that entering the PC MMO marketplace is a daunting task - but they feel they're prepared. The numerous games they've licensed will give them an edge, and has given them a great sense of where the industry is going. His concluding statement is especially interesting, given recent comments by Bobby Kotick in the growing tit-for-tat war between EA and Activision/Blizzard. "I don't think you can compete with Warcraft. In two or three year's there will be something else that will be able to compete with Warcraft but nobody will be able to tell you what that is now. Chucking money at something isn't the answer."

With all the new MMO titles in development, sometimes it's easy to forget that running a profit in this business is actually something of an accomplishment. Starting development on a big-budget subscription-based game, with the barrier of entry purportedly being as high as $1 billion, seems like an extraordinary risk for all parties involved. According to analyst Piers Hardings-Rolls, this cut-throat trend is only deepening.

Their research shows that popular new development strategies, like purchasing lucrative intellectual properties and importing cheaply-developed MMOs from Asia, has done little to shake up the subscription-based business, where most of the profit is still concentrated in a few extremely successful titles. We were a little disappointed that their research didn't touch on the increasingly-prolific free-to-play/microtransaction model, but we suppose that'll have to wait until another day.

I've gotta hand it to MMOG designers. They really kind of get shafted. They spend weeks, months, and years fine-tuning tiny aspects of gameplay that you never even notice or care about (like the amount of silver that level 12 murlocs drop), coming up with interesting quests, trying to innovate the game enough to keep us interested, and developing a stream of content that's regular and enthralling enough to satisfy our all-encompassing hunger for more, more, MORE! While they do this, they have to pay attention to a million other things: time constraints, budget constraints, balance considerations, community expectations, and their pushy producers who want them to get the job done now, even if it means they can't include all of these cool features they have in mind.

When they finally put the finishing touches on this labor of love that they've slaved away on for so, so long, they deliver it out into the excited arms of the community that's been eagerly awaiting the game since they announced what they were working on in pre-alpha. What happens then? Worst case scenario, everyone hates the game and it sinks like a stone to the trash pile of the bargain bin (along with the shattered hopes and dreams of the entire team that worked on the game). But even in the best case scenario, everyone loves the game for about two weeks until they notice all the little flaws that they don't like about your particular design. Then, they start picking it apart bit by bit. "Why didn't you do this this way?" they ask. "Why didn't you make this quest reward better? Why are Mages better than Rogues? Why isn't my +3 sword worse than a +3 axe against Ents? Here's how I think you should fix this awful, terrible, no-good, very bad game design."

You can play the heck out of an MMO, you know this already, but have you ever thought about working on one? If you've already dismissed this idea because you're not a programmer or you couldn't draw a stick figure to save your life, don't worry! Game companies need a variety of talent these days, so you might just find something that fits your qualifications.

Most game developer websites have a spot somewhere near the bottom in tiny two point type advertising the fact that they're hiring. Others post on job boards, or even major forums for their respective games. Recently, NCsoft took a slightly more aggressive approach by planting their help-wanted sign right on their front page. Others have done this recently as well, including Blizzard. Don't be afraid to check out the job listings on your favorite MMO's website for the possibility to get yourself started on the track to developing games, too.

Since Massively reported Melissa 'War Witch' Bianco's comment (from the Heroic Weekend at Omega Sektor) that the City of Heroes/Villains live team had been cut to only fifteen people in the days after CoV's release, the reaction from the player base has been surprise, appreciation and gratitude. They are as impressed as we were that a drastically cut-down team had managed to deliver some of the best content so far, including the Invention System and auction houses.

So who were those fifteen stalwarts, now dubbed the 'Surviving 15' by the forums with a nod and a wink to the 'Surviving 8' of CoH backstory? After some debate, Matt 'Positron' Miller has taken a moment off working on Issue 12 to settle the issue.

Bioware co-director and consummate MMO veteran Gordon Walton spoke recently at the Indie MMO Game Developers Conference about what it takes to compete in the increasingly dense massively multiplayer space. Among the most salient points that Walton harps on is the need for smaller teams to really be cognizant of both their capabilities their potential audience. By focusing on what your team is good at and on the needs of classifiable and hungry niche market, indie developers can still succeed amidst the shadows of your WoWs and WARs and Hello Kittys.

It's a philosophy and potentially fruitful area of exploration that we've heard people like Raph Koster bring up in conversation and others like the guys at NetDevil profess be putting into practice. While there will always be the juggernaut games around which the assembled millions can gather, future growth for this genre only really seems possible in a niche realm. The successes and failures may well be determined by who can avoid the temptations of emulating the big boys in favor of a more reasonable, scaled down project.

One good thing about being in such a net-savvy industry is that when you miss something, like the GDC presentation by NetDevil's Scott Brown and Hermann Peterscheck, somebody will inevitably put the powerpoint online for everybody to see. The NetDevil guys, currently working on Jumpgate Evolution and LEGO Universe, are well-known for their honesty and candor. So when they lay out their model for the future of the MMO industry, we're inclined to listen to them. Their premise is that the exponential growth that has been observed by many parties within the MMO space may in fact be somewhat illusory. While revenues for the industry as a whole continue to sky-rocket, the money and subscription numbers continue to be concentrated in only a few, extremely successful games.

Take one look at all the canceled titles and commercial failures that litter the landscape. They have a point. The advice that they lay out for burgeoning developers is to forgo huge teams, shiny graphics, fancy rec-rooms, and other accoutremonts for a lean team, lower minimum spec, sensible work conditions, and a realistic development timetable that won't lead to costly delays. Perhaps most importantly, they say that trying to take on the big boys with a $4 million budget is tantamount to suicide. Smaller development teams can actually make more money than big budget titles in the long-run if they find their niche and stick to it. Or as one slide says, "A little greatness is always better than a lot of mediocrity."

Is there room in the genre for things that don't fit in the normal schema of MMO games? There have often been problems plaguing Sci-Fi style MMOs throughout the years, be it the fact that they are too vast, or can't live up to the IP that they are built on, allowing the fantasy genre to reign supreme (with exceptions to the rule of course). For the most part players seem to 'get' the games built around fantasy easier, with the play style just making a lot more sense. I know from the players I have spoken to, it's just easier for them to run around and hit things with swords, than to be flying around in star fighters and raiding entire planets.

It begs to question if that will always be the case, and certainly looking at the line up for big MMOs over the next year it certainly looks that way. With FunCom's Age of Conan, and EA Mythic's Warhammer Online, both fit into that fantasy style, and work alongside games like LotRO and WoW with a metric buttload of back-story and lore (though obviously LotRO takes the cake on that aspect.)

What is it that causes this then? Is it the lore, or the swords, or perhaps the fact that fantasy is just more interesting to people than science fiction? Let's try to break it down...