Can somebody tell me which mmorpg is the first AAA one?

Very often when we go to a discussion forum those so called "experts" almost mentioned this is a AAA mmorpg and that isn't a AAA mmorpg but who can tell us exactly what is a AAA mmorpg?

Now, who can tell me a list of 5 AAA mmorpg? :)

Blizzard, SoE, Turbine, NCsoft, Funcom

Those are the ones I can think of that have a ton of cash to throw around.

Oh and anyone thats given cash by EA.

TYVM... but who rated them AAA?

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

TYVM... but who rated them AAA?

A combination of the player community and mmo jouralists.

Usually used when a developer that has like ten times the amount of cash to toss at a game unlike indy developers.

Also those developers are expected to deliver much higher quality games than indy devs that usually have like sub 50 devs on a game while companies like SoE and Blizzard use 300+ and have an infinite budget to work with.

This is why you see games released by these guys get flamed if they release buggy or unfinished and why indy developers are cut a bit of slack and arent ridiculed for targeting a smaller playerbase.

Triple A is a term that has no real definition.

Developers and publishers use the term to describe big, well funded projects while gamers use the term to describe good games.

Is there a renowned agency doing the rating? AFAIK there is none. It is not like AAA bonds (rated by moody, S&P) .

So again, who gave those game (companies) you mentioned their AAA rating?

When and where was the first time the term "AAA mmorpg" used and which game received this honor?

Now, you mentioned indie companies.... Why are they not AAA rated? Is Jagex AAA?

Indeed, there's no truly solid definition for "AAA"... most people understand the term well enough, but it's hard to pin down precisely if you ask for a definition. On a related note, the exact same is true of the term "indie" — people understand what it means, but the exact definition of what separates "independent" developers from others is hard to pin down. Technically speaking, Blizzard is "independent," because they don't answer to anyone but themselves. They just have a shitload of cash and employees.

EDIT: "AAA" is not an official rating, like "R" or "PG-13" or "four stars." It's not a measurement of quality, even though it has CONNOTATIONS of that. "AAA" really just means "grandiose, heavily marketed and hyped project done by a large, established, professional group of developers" (though again, the exact definition is hard to pin down).

Originally posted by Gameloading

Triple A is a term that has no real definition.

Developers and publishers use the term to describe big, well funded projects while gamers use the term to describe good games.

Agree with GL here.

AAA just means its an MMO that is made/backed by a well known company and has a larger budget than most other MMOs being made.

Basically the whole AAA thing = Game should be of higher quality due to the budget and names behind it (though it isnt always a sure thing, because even potential AAA titles tend to miss their mark with the community/reviewers)

As for who started the whole trend; it just happened. There is no set rules or governing body to set the AAA standard, just happens.

You see... what I don't understand is why people keep referring AAA games vs indie games when they argue over many mmorpg related topics.

I believe Funcom is in most people's AAA list and Jagex is absoultely not. However, does anybody know Funcom is actually smaller than Jagex (and probably a couple of the asian companies).

Still, I am very interested to know the origin of the term "AAA mmorpg". There must be somebody who started using it and I think it definitely needs a updated definition.

Quit being daft, the guy already answered your question. Things like this don't typically have a 100% good reason for being done or can be justified. AAA rating is really determined by the players and journalists. No one official. If you need someone official to validate a rating, then you won't find one. Just like the term sandbox, themepark, grind, questing, and so on; AAA is just a term the majority labels a game with.

So Nate, if no one official labels them, who is anyone to tell me I can't label such and such game as a AAA title? No one if you want to be daft and argue feverishly with the majority, but it's commonly accepted that only the big budget games get that rating.

Originally posted by nate1980

Quit being daft, the guy already answered your question. Things like this don't typically have a 100% good reason for being done or can be justified. AAA rating is really determined by the players and journalists. No one official. If you need someone official to validate a rating, then you won't find one. Just like the term sandbox, themepark, grind, questing, and so on; AAA is just a term the majority labels a game with.

So Nate, if no one official labels them, who is anyone to tell me I can't label such and such game as a AAA title? No one if you want to be daft and argue feverishly with the majority, but it's commonly accepted that only the big budget games get that rating.

What made Funcom a big budget company then? They are smaller than at least a couple indie ones.

Indie is not refering to size. Indie means independent developer. which means a developer developing games without the financial support of a publisher.

What's the difference if they use their own money to publsih their own games?

I am just interested to find a guideline for mmorpg ratings because AFAIK there is not such agency. I just quoted Funcom as an example. It is not as big either in size or spending as others and yet why people still listed them as AAA?

BTW, what are all the AAA mmorpg in everybody's mind?

funcom's publishing a franchise game "AoC" they have to have some serious money. They also have to be getting paid some serious money for making that game. Funcom's not indie b/c they've got enough money to not be. Look at them they're publishing a franchise game. Franchise=$$$$

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

BTW, what are all the AAA mmorpg in everybody's mind?

WoW, EQ, EQ2, Lotro, Lineage, Lineage 2, SWG, Vanguard, CoH, Aion, GW, WAR, AoC, AO,

shit I could go on and on.

Anything made by Blizzard, Turbine, SoE, Funcom, NCsoft and EA.

Oh and Funcom made their cash off single player games and AO and now AoC. They have like 2-3 MMOs in developement.

They arent as heavy in the cash department as the other but still up there.

Originally posted by 133794m3r

funcom's publishing a franchise game "AoC" they have to have some serious money. They also have to be getting paid some serious money for making that game. Funcom's not indie b/c they've got enough money to not be. Look at them they're publishing a franchise game. Franchise=$$$$

Didn't I give you an example of Jagex already? They also blew 10s of millions pounds in making a mmorpg. That's likely to be most than the cost of AoC. BTW AoC is not necessarily very profitable comparing to many in its peer list.

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

Originally posted by 133794m3r

funcom's publishing a franchise game "AoC" they have to have some serious money. They also have to be getting paid some serious money for making that game. Funcom's not indie b/c they've got enough money to not be. Look at them they're publishing a franchise game. Franchise=$$$$

 

Didn't I give you an example of Jagex already? They also blew 10s of millions pounds in making a mmorpg. That's likely to be most than the cost of AoC. BTW AoC is not necessarily very profitable comparing to many in its peer list.

Until F2p games equal the quality of p2p games noone will consider any of them AAA even if they make more profit than blizzard.

Jagex i'd consider a AAA company. Sure their game sucks but oh well. They're making enough $$$ and blowing it so that they can do that. Also Funcom's a public company where as Jagex is a private one. None of us truly know how much money they blew. Being a public company and publishing a frnachise makes them a AAA company. They were in my eyes when they first started doing AoC.

Also look at the game company's ability to make a game. Jagex does have the finacial backing but they're private and their game's well really small to be completely fair. Sure they have x number of players but the quality's not too high. Thus i'd call them maybe a AA company.

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

Originally posted by 133794m3r

funcom's publishing a franchise game "AoC" they have to have some serious money. They also have to be getting paid some serious money for making that game. Funcom's not indie b/c they've got enough money to not be. Look at them they're publishing a franchise game. Franchise=$$$$

 

Didn't I give you an example of Jagex already? They also blew 10s of millions pounds in making a mmorpg. That's likely to be most than the cost of AoC. BTW AoC is not necessarily very profitable comparing to many in its peer list.

Funcom was making games long before they even entered the MMO genre. They have a few PS1 and PC games (Longest Journey). They were an already established company before they even released Anarchy Online.

An indie company on the other hand usually refers to a company that has yet to have released a game and has no established backing before the development of the game. Indie companies have no real ties to the industry while thier project is in development. After the project is launched most Indie companies end up signing on with big name publishers or just stay a solo company. Once they sign on with another company (like say EA managed to convince CCP to sell to them, CCP would then lose the 'indie' status)

Originally posted by metalhead980

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

Originally posted by 133794m3r

funcom's publishing a franchise game "AoC" they have to have some serious money. They also have to be getting paid some serious money for making that game. Funcom's not indie b/c they've got enough money to not be. Look at them they're publishing a franchise game. Franchise=$$$$

 

Didn't I give you an example of Jagex already? They also blew 10s of millions pounds in making a mmorpg. That's likely to be most than the cost of AoC. BTW AoC is not necessarily very profitable comparing to many in its peer list.

Until F2p games equal the quality of p2p games noone will consider any of them AAA even if they make more profit than blizzard.

LOL. Some of these non AAA games have higher quality than the AAA ones. For instance, Jagex's success is recognized by the real world. They got real world reward by a REAL agency by the name of Guiness, and also voted by REAL people to receive a goldenjoystick reward.

Many of the AAA games are not recognized anywhere in the REAL world by REAL people by showing REAL statistices.

The ones like WAR only received I-PAID-FOR-A-LOT-OF-ADS-REWARD and such.