NASA Wants its MMO Created for Free 217
fyc writes "It seems that the educational MMORPG NASA's proposing will no longer have a budget of $3 million. Instead, any prospective development partner is being asked to create and maintain the MMORPG for free under a 'non-reimbursable Space Act Agreement'. It won't be a one-sided agreement, though. From NASA's RFP: 'In exchange for a collaborator's investment to create and manage a NASA-based MMO game for fun and to enhance STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics], NASA will consider negotiating brand placement, limited exclusivity and other opportunities.'"
Where's the budget go? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:get-what-you-pay-for dept.? (Score:3, Insightful)
There's a big difference between "make(ing) great software for no money" and "making great software for no money that someone else will control."
NASA - "Need A Space Agency"
$3M was already not a lot (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, that's for a console AAA title with whiz-bang graphics, voice acting, etc. I'm sure the NASA MMO doesn't need to be on that level but I'm not sure the term "MMO" can properly be applied to anything with a $3MM budget, short of stuff like Puzzle Pirates [puzzlepirates.com].
I mean there's plenty of MMOs that were made for something closer to free than $3MM (Omerta [barafranca.com] comes to mind) but I don't think when you hear "NASA" and "MMO" you envision a text adventure.
They should just develop things on SecondLife since the client exists already. I believe they've done that already, but I'm not sure what the extent of it is.
NASA vs America's Army (Score:4, Insightful)
I guess that makes sense given the administration.
No Awareness of Social Apathy (Score:5, Insightful)
Someone needs to get the morons at NASA a dose of reality. America's Army FPS game works because many people like to shoot imaginary people. During the game play, enticing players to "do this for real." is not rocket science.
Now lets count the problems with applying this methodology to actual rocket science the way NASA proposes:
You want to raise funds for this? You would have a better time if you allowed SciFi and Video Game companies rent advertising space on your booster and fuel tanks like NASCAR.
Re:Looks like NASA's PR budget was cut (Score:2, Insightful)
Pay in geek points (Score:3, Insightful)
Unsurprising. (Score:5, Insightful)
Given NASA's history with overspecified budgets, often carved up by Congress as a home for pork I fully expect this MMO to never see the light of day unless google or someone else does it. Not because it is entirely wrong or because NASA "can't get it right" but because they will not be allowed to.
As an indication of what I am talking about consider the space shuttle. NASA has been trying to replace the space shuttle for years, since well before the Challenger disaster. The project has been restarted multiple times with each time congress allocating some but not all of the money and then subsequent congresses shutting it down before it can be completed to "reallocate" the money.
Many of the same congresscritters who angrily grilled NASA over the Columbia disaster probably cut funding for the shuttle replacement at least once in their careers. But I doubt they even remember doing it.
Re:NASA vs America's Army (Score:3, Insightful)
Note to NASA (Score:2, Insightful)
America's Army works because you get to shoot other players. Period.
NASA wants to somehow create a multiplayer "game" that will teach you science??? Unless I can breed mutants on a space station by genetically altering their DNA using cosmic radiation and then unleash them on an unsuspecting Earth, I just don't want to play!
Re:Great plan -- I should try that. (Score:3, Insightful)
For instance NOAA is using the Sculptie Earth model created by TFPSoft in Second Life as a basis for some of their Earth presentations but all they could afford to provide in return was a logo drop... While it's certainly nice to get paid, sometimes getting some visibility for you company has it's own value.
Now in this case I would like to hope that the "NASA will consider negotiating brand placement, limited exclusivity and other opportunities" notice is there simply to help constrain the discussion up front and not something that will be used to screw a developer out of any recognition for their work. As I'm sure unfettered we'd see "The Sprint in Space MMO, with PVP combat around Uranus... beotch!" game.
On second thought... Doh!
Re:Attention Ladies: (Score:3, Insightful)
You may have been moded funny but you would be surprised how many people get responses to similar offers...
This is just a more polite way of saying (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Note to NASA (Score:5, Insightful)
It's all in the wording (Score:4, Insightful)
E.g., AFAIK, racing games get to pay use actual RL cars in their games. You may think, "wtf, I'm actually advertising their cars, they should pay me", but it's usually seen the other way around: you get to use their cars and the mind-share that their marketing department built, to sell your game.
And might get other restrictions placed on them too. E.g., the persistent rumour is that some games don't have car damage, simply because some car company or another said, basically, "thou shalt not show our cars all banged up and crumpled."
So, well, NASA could put it as "we'll allow one developer to use our brand for free, exclusively, and make money out of it." You know, it's the same zero dollars budget, but "we're not charging" you sounds generous, while "we're not paying you" sounds petty.
Now if any devs and publisher want to take that deal, well, that's a whole other question.
Most MMOs cost a lot more to make then they used to. The behemoth called WoW raised the bar in a lot of aspects, simply by being there. It's not just that it _is_ more polished in virtually all aspects than any other publisher could be arsed to fund before they shove it out the door. It's that at this size it (A) is the place where all your friends are, so you have to be given a good reason to play something else, and (B) it's become a brand name by itself. Everyone has at least heard of World Of Warcraft by now.
So there's a lot of effort and a lot of cost to go against that. And you have to wonder if you'll get those money back.
Would that many people join your game because of the NASA brand name?
Worse yet, can you figure the setting and gameplay to keep them, once the first brave pioneers try it? I mean, The Sims was a bigger brand name and had more devout followers than all Blizzard games put together, but it flopped anyway. If the gameplay isn't what people expect, they leave, and tell all their friends to not bother.
Honestly, I can't even imagine how could you turn NASA's missions into a good MMO. You could make a 30'th century SF MMO with a fictional future NASA, no doubt. But the existing missions and a cramped space station, well, just aren't much of a MMO world.
Make it Edutainment too? Oooer. That adds a new layer of challenge by itself. People play games to be entertained, not to be lectured. So every piece of educational info you want to cram in, is a challenge by itself to either (A) try to make it entertaining too, against all odds, or (B) compensate for it with enough other entertaining stuff.
So they do have quite the challenge ahead to convince a publisher that the NASA brand is worth all that headache.
But, still, just saying, you'd be surprised how PR can spin it into an act of generosity anyway