Online Worlds Roundtable #13, Parts 1-4

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Written by BuckGB on November 10th, 2006

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Gordon Walton, BioWare Austin: Design within the medium of online games is not well understood at all, in my opinion. We (game developers) are still discovering what works and what doesn't when it comes to massively multiplayer games in our own markets. Layered on top of this lack of fluency and understanding of our online medium are the very real differences between various global markets, which are particularly notable when comparing the Western and Asian ones.

Though Korea is clearly the best single place to see innovation in online gaming, it is just as important to look at games from all the markets worldwide, because there are examples in every market worthy of study.
Regardless of these differences, I think developers worldwide can certainly learn a lot by playing and evaluating games from outside their respective home markets. An online designer who has not visited Korea and/or played the new Korean games (in particular) is missing a huge opportunity to see an amazing array of design experimentation.

Korea is *the most advanced* market in the world when it comes to online games, and thus is particularly worthy of study by other game developers worldwide. At the recent GDC, the Korean Game Development Institute made a presentation where it was revealed there are almost 2,500 game companies in Korea (the vast majority of which make online games) that have produced almost 4,000 titles. If you visit any game room in Korea, you will see people playing a dizzying array of games of all different kinds, including many types we don't see in the West.

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