[JasonReynolds]

Hey not sure if I'm in the exact right place, For a c++ or c# coder how much would it be to hire him or her for a whole process of an MMORPG?

And how much am I relatively looking at in cost as in what is average wage?

This post has been edited by JasonReynolds: 25 July 2011 - 01:47 PM
Reason for edit:: Title renamed to be more descriptive

[macosxnerd101]

Moved to Corner Cubicle.

Frankly, this is not going to be a cheap expenditure. The scope of the game is going to affect the cost. However, for a team of programmers making $100k or more a year (plus benefits, appropriate taxes on your end, etc.), you're easily looking at a few hundred thousand dollars. At least. These things take years to build and test to the point where they are ready to be released as a commercial or professional product. No offense intended, but it doesn't sound like you're that familiar with the programming industry. There is nothing wrong with this, but be advised this a HUGE project to bite off. My advice is that if you don't know EXACTLY what you are getting into, don't bite off this project.

[NickDMax]

Well that really depends upon a lot of things:

#1 The quality you are looking for (there are lots of coders who will work for very little but often you get what you pay for)

#2 How much design has already been done. Design takes experience and experience costs more.

#3 How much code needs to be written.

#4 How excited/interested you can get other developers. Many OpenSource projects have been developed with very little (direct) monetary incentive - but because the developers were excited about the project they did it anyway - generally though this is like asking them to "invest" in the code - so if you pull "this is my intellectual property" crap with the finished product you might find more than one lawsuit you have to pay for. (this is of course assuming you have a design in mind already).

There are probably lots of other considerations but these should get you started. As for a ball park figure -- well if you were paying HS students 10$ an hour at 40 hrs per week you are looking at 400$ per developer per week so figure each development iteration takes at least a week and you will probably require 3-4 I would think you are looking at a minimum of a few thousand dollars.

If you want a professional developer... well it will probably take less time, but you will pay a lot more (though probably not an hourly rate). It will also depend upon who owns the source at the end of the day.

[macosxnerd101]

Quote

#4 How excited/interested you can get other developers. Many OpenSource projects have been developed with very little (direct) monetary incentive - but because the developers were excited about the project they did it anyway - generally though this is like asking them to "invest" in the code - so if you pull "this is my intellectual property" crap with the finished product you might find more than one lawsuit you have to pay for. (this is of course assuming you have a design in mind already).

I want to flipside this one as well. We see a lot of offers in Post a Job for programmers to help make the next groundbreaking MMORPG for what amounts to no-pay, with key phrases like "a cut of the profits", "join our group for fun", etc. If you are a high school or college student and are doing this with a bunch of friends, it'll probably be easier to find people willing to do this for free. Much beyond that though, you'll have a significantly tougher time finding people willing to do this for free.

[DivideByZero]

[SixOfEleven]

Game programming isn't easy and an MMORPG could be considered the toughest game to build. For every 1000 MMORPGs started I'd say that 1, maybe 2, make it to completion. I would also think that several that make it to completion don't make any sort of money. I'm not trying to burst any bubbles. I'm an indie game developer and work hard on my games. There is a lot more goes into making a game than people think. It isn't just the code and the assets either. There is the entire balancing process of making a game that isn't too easy or too hard. There is the world building aspect as well. Creating the data to go with the code is just as hard as writing the code. If it isn't done with the same amount of thought as went into writing the code the game will flop. As always, start small and build your way up. Some of the simplest games were the most successful. I would have loved to come up with Tetris first.

[lordofduct]

SixOfEleven said it, so I'm just going to bump it instead of posting my own diatribe as an indie game programmer.

[anonymouscodder]

I agree with what was said in this topic but, just a thought, theres A LOT of mmos out there. I guess its easier nowadays to find someone good (maybe event a little cheaper) to hire than it was some time ago.

Easier doesn't mean it's easy, of course still a though task to get a team and a whole game from 0.

[Raynes]

I like to akin it to writing a captivating 1000 page novel in code.

[AdamSpeight2008]

Like writing War & Peace, with Magik in it.

[sparkart]

SixOfEleven, on 26 July 2011 - 07:36 AM, said:

Game programming isn't easy.

That is like saying programming isn't easy.

The real challenge in developing a game is the game idea itself. Games are a form of art. It's a concept. If you have a really good concept, there are a lot of people that can do it for you. The question is, why should they? Why should they when they can easily work on their own idea?


Give me some information about your game. If I am interested, I'll do it for you for free.

edit:
I was actually being serious. And the point that I was tying to bring across is that you can get people to help out for little to nothing at all if you can convince them. It's like convincing investors to loan you their money. Same principle.

This post has been edited by sparkart: 27 July 2011 - 01:49 PM

[stackoverflow]

You are much better off learning how to program and starting it yourself. Once you have a product up and rolling-- even if it's a piece of junk-- people are more likely to jump on board.

[raziel_]

sparkart, on 27 July 2011 - 11:28 PM, said:

SixOfEleven, on 26 July 2011 - 07:36 AM, said:

Game programming isn't easy.

That is like saying programming isn't easy.

The real challenge in developing a game is the game idea itself. Games are a form of art. It's a concept. If you have a really good concept, there are a lot of people that can do it for you. The question is, why should they? Why should they when they can easily work on their own idea?


Give me some information about your game. If I am interested, I'll do it for you for free.

edit:
I was actually being serious. And the point that I was tying to bring across is that you can get people to help out for little to nothing at all if you can convince them. It's like convincing investors to loan you their money. Same principle.

Yeah making games is a snap. I wonder why they have a team of developers and have a year or two develop cycle... Don't get me wrong the idea is a very big part of a game but writing the code for it is a lot of work.

This post has been edited by NoBrain: 28 July 2011 - 02:22 PM

[modi123_1]

Amusingly the OP hasn't been back. Maybe he found his developers?