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Posted Jan 19, 2010 by Jon Wood

MMORPG.com occasionally asks the same question to a group of developers to see how different philosophies inside the industry really are. This week, our question is: "How do developers balance the company's need to make a profitable product versus their desire to create an interesting and innovative game?" Today, our answer comes from Fallen Earth's Colin Dwan.

How do developers balance the company's need to make a profitable product versus their desire to create an interesting and innovative game?

Heh, that’s a topic you could write many books on. The classic struggle is between utilizing standards (also called formulaic) or sticking to your creative concept (also called disconnected or difficult to understand). Even in a small company, there is a strong pull to make something “safe” or guaranteed to make money since there’s so little margin. The danger comes in just making what is already on the market and not defining your own space. It’s important to draw a distinction between your game’s features and its foundation or setting.