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Space Entertainment Games

NASA Wants its MMO Created for Free 217

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the get-what-you-pay-for dept.
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.'"
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NASA Wants its MMO Created for Free More

NASA Wants its MMO Created for Free

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  • Great plan -- I should try that. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Rei ( 128717 ) on Monday April 21, 2008 @02:23PM (#23149228) Homepage
    I should try getting some other company to write and maintain a game of my design for me at their expense, with the excuse that they can advertise themselves in it. I bet that'll work so well!

    • But they could do that on their own. (Score:5, Funny)

      by khasim ( 1285 ) <brandioch.conner@gmail.com> on Monday April 21, 2008 @02:31PM (#23149350)
      To really lure them in, you have to CONSIDER allowing them that.

      From TFRFP:

      NASA will consider negotiating brand placement, limited exclusivity and other opportunities.
      Emphasis added.

      • It's all in the wording (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Moraelin ( 679338 ) on Tuesday April 22, 2008 @03:54AM (#23155848) Journal
        Well, it's all in the wording and who's interested in what, I guess. I mean, if you think it's bad that they don't give you money to use their brand, think this: for some other brands you have to _pay_ the owner to use their brand.

        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 :P

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by N1ck0 ( 803359 )
      Of course it needs to be developed for free...not too many people are going to pay to play it.

      $0 cost + a few dozen monthly subscriptions = enough money to pay for the crack smoked while thinking of a NASA MMO.

      • If it's anything like working with real NASA... (Score:5, Funny)

        by MoxFulder ( 159829 ) on Monday April 21, 2008 @04:03PM (#23150748) Homepage
        ... it should be a super-awesome game!!!

        You'll start off with exciting missions like applying for visitor badges and credentials, and escorting your foreign colleagues to the bathroom every time.

        If completed successfully, you'll gain entry to exciting office buildings and drab, windowless conference rooms where you can see powerpoint presentations and plot secret strategies to gain research funding and evade red tape.

        Woohoo! I can't wait to play this one!
        • <quote>... it should be a super-awesome game!!!

          You'll start off with exciting missions like applying for visitor badges and credentials, and escorting your foreign colleagues to the bathroom every time.

          If completed successfully, you'll gain entry to exciting office buildings and drab, windowless conference rooms where you can see powerpoint presentations and plot secret strategies to gain research funding and evade red tape.

          Woohoo! I can't wait to play this one!</quote>

          I hope they have a janito

        • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

          by PachmanP ( 881352 )
          Then after you lvl to "Badged" you get to grind towards govie retirement (assuming you get to play as a govie not as a contractor) by reading slashdot all day...

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by gmezero ( 4448 )
      Well, in reality this might not be a bad idea for a small studio to get some high-profile placement for their work.

      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 pla

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gmezero ( 4448 )
        Extra doh, that was supposed to be Sprite... which makes more since with the beotch. Damn'it! Yet again I've been lulled into lazy type-o's by the spellchecker.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by everphilski ( 877346 )
      I should try getting some other company to write and maintain a game of my design for me at their expense, with the excuse that they can advertise themselves in it. I bet that'll work so well!

      Do note that the only deliverable is the game itself - maintaining, operating and updating the game are non-inclusive.

      The point of the space act agreement is such that a company can develop technology for NASA, and at the same time monetize it for themselves. You own the code, not NASA. I don't like it in this cas

  • Preview of the Game (Score:5, Funny)

    by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohnNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Monday April 21, 2008 @02:25PM (#23149266) Journal
    I happen to have very rare output from the upcoming game that I've personally been working on for Nasa. Let's just say we found a way to keep this MMORPG low budget and, in fact, make money off of it without costing NASA or you, the consumer, anything!

    Multi-User Dungeon - MUD1 Version 1E

    * NASA's Super Happy MUD *
    * It's Edutainment! *

    Origin of version: Sat Sep 15 10:00:50 2007

    Welcome! By what name shall I call you?

    >> Buzz

    Hello, Buzz!

    Cape Canaveral Launch Pad.
    You stand in your Converse (tm) Brand [converse.com] space suit on the Launch Pad, before you is a towering shuttle with the huge Coca-Cola (tm) [coca-cola.com] logo on the side of it. A crowd watches in anticipation and enjoys the T-Mobile (tm) [t-mobile.com] cameras broadcasting the cabin and crew live to their cell phones.
    [Exits: shuttle, bathroom]

    >> bathroom

    Bathroom Adjacent to Launch Pad.
    You rush into the bathroom and rip off your helmet to deposit your stomach contents in the toilet. Luckily you have Rolaids (tm) [brands2liveby.com] antacid in your Converse (tm) Brand [converse.com] space suit. You pop a few pills into your mouth ... ahh much better, Rolaids spells relief.
    [Exits: door]

    >> door

    Cape Canaveral Launch Pad.
    You stumble out of the restroom and back on to the launch pad. Oh no, a congressman spots you! "Hey, why if it isn't Buzz!" he says as he moves in for a photo op!
    [A Congressman] is at [quite a few]
    Your pierce *** MASSACRES *** A Congressman!
    A Congressman's pound scratches you.
    Your pierce *** MASSACRES *** A Congressman!
    Your pierce DISEMBOWELS A Congressman!
    [A Congressman] is at [big nasty]
    You stop using A diamond-tipped dagger.
    You wield a legendary greatsword.
    A Congressman sees your attempt to trip him in time to avoid your foot.
    [A Congressman] is at [big nasty]

    Your fiery slash *** DEMOLISHES *** A Congressman!
    [A Congressman] is at [pretty hurt]
    A Congressman sees your attempt to trip him in time to avoid your foot.
    Your flaming slash *** DEVASTATES *** A Congressman!
    [A Congressman] is at [pretty hurt]
    Your burning slash *** OBLITERATES *** A Congressman!
    You trip A Congressman, sending him sprawling to the ground!

    Your flaming slash *** OBLITERATES *** A Congressman!
    A Congressman is mortally wounded, and will die soon if not aided.
    [A Congressman] is at [dying]

    You trip A Congressman, knocking him unconscious. A Congressman is mortally wounded, and will die soon if not aided.
    [A Congressman] is at [dying]

    You trip A Congressman, knocking him unconscious.
    A Comgressman is mortally wounded, and will die soon if not aided.
    Your burning slash *** DEMOLISHES *** A Congressman!
    The Congressman's body becomes limp and the politician drops to the ground DEAD!!

    You receive 212000 experience out of 280012 total. [neutral]
    [Exits: shuttle, bathroom]

    >> shuttle

    You stagger into the elevator paid for by Playboy Magazine [playboy.com] and begin your assent to the cabin. The slow motion walking thingy starts to happen as you cross the bridge ... Before you enter the cabin, you hug the Doritos (tm) [doritos.com] "Who Wants to Meet an Astronaut" Sweepstakes winner and step inside. You turn on your Sony Brand headset [sony.com] that sounds like a dream and prepare for blastoff ...

    That's all we have so far. I think you can see just how exciting this game is goi

  • Given what it costs to maintain let alone develop a MMORPG ($3 million would not have covered running it) the shear amount of "brand placement" required will be overwhelming.

    Unless they're talking about branding outside of the game... the Pepsi shuttle?

  • Profit? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Skeet112 ( 1088203 )
    Yes, I am so sure that the tens of thousands of game developers out there are going to go...

    "Hey, lets make an MMO for NASA for free, while they profit in the millions of dollars off our hard work!"

    Yes, I can just see the enthusiasm stemming from this.
    • Well, if you just had an existing MMORPG, and could easily modify it with little work, I could see this working out pretty well. Similar to all the FPS games that use the Quake or Unreal engine. Just take something that already works, add some new graphics, and voila, a new product.

  • Maybe an opening for F/OSS? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 21, 2008 @02:30PM (#23149338)
    Perhaps this is the sort of thing that RedHat or someone should get involved in. It'd make them look like the goodguys for helping out NASA and demonstrating their comittment to science and technology, as well as ensuring that we'll all be able to play the damned thing -- plus, the community could help out and make sure that it doesn't suck, either.
    • ...Google!!

      Seriously, I think that this is really something that Google could go for and succeed with.

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by wattrlz ( 1162603 )
        Yes, but why would google want to compete with themselves? Don't they have a space program yet?
    • ...

      Yeah.

      Seriously, I contributed to MegaMek for a few years. Great if you like classic Battletech, and the most popular game project on Sourceforge as I recall. Most OSS games are terrible -- design and, in particular, asset production don't really work all that well without some central direction and, um, budget for finding talent. (I'd say the same of programming, which is why the programmers on your favorite OSS products are almost all being paid to do it.)

      Not to mention that typical team sizes for MM
    • Perhaps this is the sort of thing that RedHat or someone should get involved in.

      RedHat specializes in service and support for the enterprise OS and apps. It has no experience in gaming - and there no more arcane art in gaming than the crafting of a successful online multi-player RPG. The landscape is littered with failures.

  • So are they offering naming rights? (Score:5, Funny)

    by deadtree9 ( 772882 ) on Monday April 21, 2008 @02:31PM (#23149346) Journal
    Maybe we can expect a "Lucas Arts International Space Station" (commonly refered to as the Death Star)?

  • my terms (Score:5, Funny)

    by ILuvRamen ( 1026668 ) on Monday April 21, 2008 @02:33PM (#23149376)
    If I write a game for them, I wanna go to the moon dammit!

  • It's all about the tax breaks, (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Higaran ( 835598 ) on Monday April 21, 2008 @02:34PM (#23149386)
    If I was EA I'd do it, work in some tax breaks with the government, do some endorsement deals with say pepsi, and probably still make enough profit to keep it running for years. I bet EA could find some devoper to make it for the 3 mil, and then the press that they would get from it would almost be worth the 3 mil alone. If they only ran add's for their own games they could make it back in a years time. Yes I know that everyone would expect this to be almost similar to WOW in scale, but I bet you could make it in flash, if you limit say 50 people to a perticular area. I think it's completely doable.
    • Not many tax breaks end up being good enough to pay for the entire investment. Usually all it does is reduce your taxable income by $X, not reduce your taxes by $X. So it might reduce their taxes by Y% of X, maybe it's 5% or 25%.

  • duh (Score:2)

    by escay ( 923320 )
    no wonder the budget was cut. an MMO to enhance STEM, what were they thinking? give me an MMO where you can explore extra-sloar systems, travel to other planets and setup civilizations instead. that ould create the space awareness that NASA wants and get some buyers lining up.

  • Where's the budget go? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CommandoCody ( 1154955 ) on Monday April 21, 2008 @02:35PM (#23149394)
    It's pretty simple. NASA used to have the money for the MMO, but last week a tank in Baghdad needed a reload.

  • It's encouraging to see NASA's PR budget cut. NASA does way too much PR, and too much non-space stuff. All of NASA's non-space research should be moved to the National Science Foundation.

    • Right, because the NSF's bureaucracy is so much better, plus all of NSF university based reviewers are great of awarding funding to industry based research.
      Having worked with funding from both institutions in both private and academic settings, I can't think of a worse idea.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by pant ( 814786 )
      NASA's budget shouldn't be cut, it should be increased. Some call it a waste of money, I say it is a drop in the bucket compared to entitlements and military spending.
    • I just submitted my resume to NASA , you insensitive clod!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Hatta ( 162192 )
      If NASA doesn't have the PR budget to communicate to the public and their representatives that NASA is doing worthwhile work, their R&D budget will be the next to be cut.

  • When next we tune in to an episode of... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 21, 2008 @02:37PM (#23149424)
    ....Orcs in Spaaaaaace....

  • Attention Ladies: (Score:5, Funny)

    by JoshOOOWAH ( 849135 ) on Monday April 21, 2008 @02:42PM (#23149492)
    I'm now offering the opportunity to fulfill my every sexual desire. This is a non-paying position with no benefits, but I'm willing to negotiate on allowing you to take charity from friends and/or family of mine who feel bad for you.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by booch ( 4157 ) *

      I'm now offering the opportunity to fulfill my every sexual desire. This is a non-paying position with no benefits...
      No benefits? You must be really bad in bed.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by BlueParrot ( 965239 )

      I'm now offering the opportunity to fulfill my every sexual desire. This is a non-paying position with no benefits, but I'm willing to negotiate on allowing you to take charity from friends and/or family of mine who feel bad for you.


      You may have been moded funny but you would be surprised how many people get responses to similar offers...
  • What sort of analogy could this turn into?

    Hi, I really want to jerk off, but I don't have the energy or willpower to jerk myself off. So, I'll let YOU jerk me off, and in return I'll let you tattoo your name on my dick for everyone else to see.
  • My logo plastered all over the Space Shuttle! yeah!

  • $3M was already not a lot (Score:3, Insightful)

    by The-Bus ( 138060 ) on Monday April 21, 2008 @02:53PM (#23149650)
    $3MM was already a relatively low number. Consider the recent statement by David Jones of RealTime Worlds (they of Crackdown) where he says he'd struggle to make a game under $50MM [gamesindustry.biz].

    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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ultramk ( 470198 )
      Well, I know it's not very popular, but A Tale in the Desert was essentially built and run by one guy with a microscopic budget. It was really fun, too, and very "different".

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Mr. Beatdown ( 1221940 )
      I know it's also not huge, but I gotta represent the hometown (Salem, OR) and link to Dink.

      Dink Smallwood [rtsoft.com]

      Also the same guy who wrote Legend of the Red Dragon, if you guys recall BBSing back in the early 90's. So the key to affordable game design is to make games to the standard of the early 90's and have the cool nickname of "Wiz."
    • 18+ for the main grid...

      13-17 for the teen grid which from what I here is a total wasteland of kids with no money running around griefing each other... atleast that's what my kids tell me about it.

      I tried to encourage them to build and their response was "why bother, nobody has money to buy anything."

      Anyways, I would think NASA would wants teenagers playing in this MMO.
    • 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

      You have to deliver something at least as sophisticated in game play and graphics as "America's Army."

      If the game is constricted to real-world physics, you will be constantly struggling to keep the players interested and engaged. You can't compromise on the elements that promise some imm

  • I'd like someone to give me a free pony. It has to be brown with white spots and answer to the name, "Bart." If you do, I'll consider letting you put a brand on it somewhere unnoticeable. Thanks.
  • All they have to do is agree to give me my advertising now. Delivery date on the MMO will be the day they land a man on Mars.

  • NASA vs America's Army (Score:4, Insightful)

    by snuf23 ( 182335 ) on Monday April 21, 2008 @03:07PM (#23149836)
    So we can't spend $3 million on a game that might help foster scientific interest and education but we do spend tax dollars on a U.S. military recruiting and propaganda game?
    I guess that makes sense given the administration.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sweede ( 563231 )
      Your forgeting that the developers of America's army actually did a good job creating the FPS and it is enjoyable to those of the non-sport FPS players.

      with $3m , what hope did nasa have to create any type of mmo to begin with ?

  • No Awareness of Social Apathy (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Irish_Samurai ( 224931 ) on Monday April 21, 2008 @03:12PM (#23149918)
    Jesus.

    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:
    1. Shooting is much more fun for a larger demographic than watching monitors in mission control during a "virtual mission."
    2. The demographic that would probably be most interested in participating in such activities (watching a virtual monitor during a virtual mission) generally doesn't like overt advertising.
    3. Alienating your target demographic so you don't have to pay for development is a plan on par with selling items at loss and making up for it in volume
    4. Any dev team that could do this probably already makes games, basically meaning that advertisements would largely be for the MMO's mindshare competition.
    5. Government Endorsed Product Advertising through NASA would be a PR nightmare even if everything else magically went off with best case scenario results.
    6. Ultimate failure because everybody would be pissed they couldn't all fly the space shuttle to Pluto for the best loot. Someone has to man Mission Control!
    7. Any Game sufficiently entertaining to capture and maintain an audience despite its built in advertising distractions would be so removed from the spirit of the goals that the whole project would be an exercise in mootness.


    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.
    • "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."

      Grand Theft Shuttle?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by GreggBz ( 777373 )

      Oh, I don't know. Trying to become a virtual astronaut might be a lot of fun.

      Competing with other players online in a simulation of the sorts of intellectual and reflex / endurance challenges required to actually become an astronaut would definitely give the game some content. Learning about NASA's current and future technology and being in the know to share with your classmates and parents would be pretty cool.(I know I loved the stuff when growing up).

      Being part of a community with like minded.. dare

  • I couldn't help but notice that Bush can spend $million of our money every 13 minutes or less [nationalpriorities.org] in Iraq, but expects NASA, our program that is most universally respected and admired around the world, to get free help in teaching our young people how to do it when they get their chance.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by KKlaus ( 1012919 )
      Capitalism is involved in this how?

  • Pay in geek points (Score:3, Insightful)

    by octal666 ( 668007 ) on Monday April 21, 2008 @03:18PM (#23150038)
    Have they thougth about paying geeks in 'geek points'. How many programmers will work 4h a day of their free time for, say, ten years, to fly to the Moon?
    • That depends on how many programmers are gullible enough to believe such a promise.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PayPaI ( 733999 )
      That's 10,400 hours total (4*(52*5)*10), assuming 260 working days per year. Say a competent(?) programmer earns $75/hr, that's $780,000. Not a bad deal if they can actually swing the trip to the moon. I'd say make sure you have an ironclad contract, say at the end of so many hours worked if they can't deliver one(1) trip to the moon, they must pay you some amount. Win/win.
    • Er no thanks, I wouldn't trust NASA with money, why would I trust NASA with 'geek points'? 10 years down the road when I finally accrue enough, they shut the program down.

  • Unsurprising. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Irvu ( 248207 ) on Monday April 21, 2008 @03:19PM (#23150054)
    As scary as this sounds I am not at all surprised. The recent line of NASA administrators have been appointees with a decidedly low-cost high-private-sector mindset. In the abstract "just get someone to do it for free in exchange for ads" this sounds like a good(ish) idea. Certainly one that would sell well at a boardroom full of political appointees lobbyists congresscritters, etc. In short anyone but scientists and educators. To some extent NASA's original announcement of an MMO sounded similar, the kind of thing that makes for a nifty slogan/donut fueled idea but not necessarily something that will play out well, especially for no money.

    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.
  • Oh, work for me for free now, and sell advertising like Google.

    Count me out.

  • After all, it's how the government wants providers to provide health care, welfare, jobs, etc... Why not NASA information systems too? Simply sucker/guilt/coerce/manipulate folks into doing it for nothing.

    The only bigger idiots will be the people that actually decide to do it.

    And now, it's once again time for my favorite cliche catch phrase: "Ayn Rand, call your office."
  • Nowhere in the RFP does it indicate that NASA would retain rights to the MMORPG. This provides a developer the opportunity to produce a NASA branded product, for profit, without having to pay the US Gov't licensing fees, just a long as that developer makes some effort to make the game educational.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
      Since government agencies can't copyright or trademark their work, you could probably do that already.

  • Note to NASA (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Dunbal ( 464142 )
    "Learning" games suck. No one will "play it". What they fail to realize is that MMO's are all about spawn camping, ganging up on the weaker noobs and stealing their stuff or at least destroying it, for the epic lulz.

    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 Ear
  • Mind you, I think this is about the dumbest thing NASA could do, and I'm right to balk at it. Everyone else is right to balk at it -- NASA is expecting someone to devote at least $3 million in time and effort (and frankly, abuse) to their project for nothing. If NASA put a gun to your head and demanded $3 million, they'd be labelled a thief. If they can get $3 million out of you using a 'non-reimbursable Space Act Agreement', they're con men. If you fall for it, you're an idiot.

    I'm expecting few argumen
    • Check out the new wheel!

      there's hundreds if not thousands of "open source" and/or "free software" developers that basically have fallen for that same scenario

      My open source software is software I needed to write, anyway, and in exchange for open sourcing it I've received free improvements from other open source developers, and they got to avoid having to do some basic grunt work.

      The opposite of "open source" isn't "software for money", it's "reinventing the wheel".

      And reinventing the wheel is stupid.

      It's tr
  • I thought the MMORPG was already up and running here [kingdomofloathing.com].

    Wait, wrong link...here it is. [resonant.org]
  • "We'll pay you $3M, but only if you buy $3M worth of sponsorships."

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