Resources - Wizards and Warriors: Massively Multiplayer Online Game Creation - page 298

There are many roles that are required to create an MMO, and you may find
that you can fill some of these easily, while you struggle with others. The
following list will give you an idea of the kind of skills that are needed in the
creation and management of an MMO. Some of these skills you might not have,
but as you scale your game upwards, you might find you need some of these
additional skills to help push your game to the next level.

n Designer: The designer is the person who sets the overall theme of the
game, generates the core ideas, and designs how it will generally work.
The designer needs to come up with a general plot theme; he or she can
do this independently or use a story writer, or a combination of both.
The designer will create a multitude of material that documents the fine
details of how the game will play. All through the game

'

s creation, the
designer will continue to have input on how things work, or should
work, or how things might change if a particular feature is not working
as expected. It is most likely that you are the designer of the MMO; you
may be doing this process alone or with a friend.

Story Writer: Even though you might have a theme for the MMO, you
still need the idea to be expanded. MMOs require a lot of back-story. A
back-story is the history of a character, the setting, and related events, all
which give the game a level of depth that is essential if you are making a
good MMO. The designer might create the basics, and then the story
writer takes the basic plot and expands upon the back-story and develops
the characters

n

details. For example, in the zombie concept used in this
book, you might explain who the sheriff is and his history with the peo-
ple he meets. The main issue for MMOs is how you introduce this infor-
mation to the players so that they can understand better the game world
they are living/playing in. In many games, this might take the form of
an introduction video(s), cut scenes, narration, or other game-play
features that focus the player

'

s attention on a particular text. You may
find that the writer and designer are the same people.
n UI (User Interface) Artist: This is the players

'

HUD (Heads Up Display),
menu options, and any graphics that the players see in-game that allow
them to play the game. UI artists have a particular set of skills that allows
them to understand what works well with the game genre, and allows the

'