Open Sourcing MMOs 137
The Stropp's World blog has an interesting editorial of the pros and cons for open sourcing MMOs, especially those that have "died." Stropp examines both sides of the issue and makes some compelling arguments. "So, there are some good reasons for a company to open source the game that it is soon to retire, and there are a couple of good reasons against. What to do? If opening up the client is not an option, open up the server code. This would allow the open source community to take the software, install it on a community server and open it up to the fans. Other players might want to grab the source and create their own private servers, perhaps with different rule sets for PvP and the like. The life of the game could be extended for years, supporting a thriving community."
Why on earth would they do that? (Score:5, Insightful)
Hit the nail on the head (Score:3, Insightful)
The simple fact is, its volunteer work and as such it is not a priority for those doing it.
Lets throw in a few other issues.
1. Differences. It is very hard to have a leader over a project like this in an environment where a dissatisfied group can up and fork their own
2. Feature creep.
3. Boring crap. All the graphics needed for the client. This collides with issue #1. Designers want X but available artists deliver Y.
4. Time, time to deliver something playable isn't quick if they want a lasting product. Linux didn't spring up overnight.
5. Mindset. Too many would come at it with the mindset that "if only game X did this". Well see #1. Everyone can't agree and many lock into a pattern of wanting to do X because either they liked X or didn't.
Really I don't see any large scale MMORPG like those given. I can see a contribution based one where the approach is modular like Never ending nights yet that still would require a good deal of client and server work. Yet the base framework could be created to allow people to sub the art in and if the scripting language is good enough to build their own. I am sure there are many examples of this already but it probably comes down to #1 again. Differences.
Security trough obscurity (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm willing to bet most MMOs trust the client to some extent, in order to reduce their load. Open Sourcing them might not be such a good idea.
Re:Why on earth would they do that? (Score:4, Insightful)