Project Killers

[DrNova]

Maybe this will help at least one poor noob from making some mistakes.
I dont know if they bother looking here for guidance, but if so, list here things that kill potential projects.

NAME-To many projects use the name "online". It sounds tacky, players know its online, and it takes away from the immersion of your game world.

EARLY BETA OR TEST OR FULL RELEASE-I see SO many people release beta's, or completely openh alpha's, and even FULL RELEASE'S, when they are clearly not ready.  Here are my tips.
  Alpha release-Dont. Ever.  Dont even think about it. If you think about it, slam your fingers in a door.  Alpha release is reserved for the commercial games who have the money and teams and expertise to make something worth an alpha release.  No eclipse game should ever have an Alpha release. An Eclipse alpha release is someone who is just to eager to get people t play their game regardless of its state.
  Beta Release-Your not ready.  Probably not, anyways.  Beta release's should me mostly playable games, for testing of the game world, scripts, ect.  You should have at LEAST the entire game complete up to mid to high mid level range, all items, all spells, all area's, all skills, ect, everything ready up to a decent level, that players can actually test up to.  I see so many beta's released with barley a handful of items, few to no skills or a few skills with 1 or two items/levels achievable, few maps or not enough mapping practice, ect.  Dotn release a beta unless you have a fleshed out game that is truly ready for  real player testing.

Dont release just because you want to show off or are overeager to get people on your game. First it gives a bad first impression when they get on and the game is nowhere near done, secondly you get sidetracked showing off and chatting up players and lose sight of your goal, full release.

STORY-You must have a well thought out, original story(some fan based games are excluded, mainly only zelda)  If you dont have a world created for a player, they will get bored, and never feel anything more then they are playing a game, and this doesnt generate long term players.  By world I dont mean a bunch of maps, I mean a story, history, events, ect.

I could go on. Someone else continue