How long does it take to design an online game?

Question

I've got a great online game idea, but am not a software engineer, how difficult is it to create an online game (similar to Club Penguin, Webkinz, Runescape...). Where can I look to get an experienced online game engineer to create the game and bring it to life, and how quickly can it be designed?

Answer 1

On-line games, especially MMORPGs, are the most complex applications you can find on the net, and are, not only inaccessible to amateurs, but also extremely expensive to design!  (Runescape cost hundred's of thousand's of $ to develop!)

You could, however, start small, using a few excellent programmers: place your idea to rentacoder.com (free), and see what you are offered.

I see such development spread over several years with a team of specialists: don't expect any offer for a few hundreds.

I started one a four years ago, alone: it took me 8 months hard work to get a very basic landscape, buildings and a few people moving around...  Gave up. Can't do it alone...  

Answer 2

Online games are extremely difficult to make, and extremely expensive.  Even low-budget, indie MMOs like Puzzle Pirates take more than $1 million to make, to say nothing of supporting and marketing.  The more complex the game, the more expensive and time consuming it is.  Professionally made online games typically take 3 to 6 years and 50 to 300 people to produce, and cost anywhere from $1 million to $100 million just to get out the door.

Software engineers with experience creating an online game are few and far between, but you absolutely need someone with experience when you’re undertaking something this complex.  They’re also typically paid $70,000 to $120,000 per year.  And in online games, software engineers are just the programmers, not the designers as well – you’ll need a staff of experienced online game designers as well, and they typically make $50,000 to $100,000 per year.

So given the time, money, and expertise required to make an online game, you have two options.  First, look into non-traditional ways of implementing your ideas, such as text MUDs or Flash webpages, learn how to design and program on your own, and create the game on your own.  The second option is to go to college, get your degree, then get into the game industry, work your way up through the ranks over 10 years or more, until you’re Lead Designer or CEO, and then make your game using the professional resources of the game industry.

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