Text-Based Online Game Earns 21-Year Old $1,000,000

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
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Text-Based Online Game Earns 21-Year Old $1,000,000


Step 1: Create a free-to-play online text-based game. Step 2: Allow people to pay for extras. Step 3: Become a millionaire at 21.

Sometime certain online games will strike the right chord with gamers and gain a significant following. One such game is Telegraph [http://www.torn.com/], which is really 1 million-and-a-half dollars by current exchange rates. This guy's doing all right, he is.

The game's intro video gives you a basic idea of what it is like. I decided to give it a try, and was pretty impressed. You can do a lot: buy weapons and armor, commit crimes, get a job, get an education, train at the gym, read the newspaper (where it looks like real players can even advertise), go to the casino, and more. There are a lot of interesting ideas in Torn; it appeals to the the part of me that used to play MUDs for hours a day. There is even a radio station (with DJs) called Torn Radio that plays anything from Twista to David Cook.

Torn's gameplay partially revolves around statistic bars that are used to complete actions. For example, to complete a crime you have to have a certain amount of Nerve, while to go to the gym you need Energy. Once you are out, you cannot complete certain actions until these stats regenerate.

Torn is free-to-play, but players can drop $5 a month for a bunch of extras including faster Energy regeneration, a bigger Energy bar, and, of course, a cosmetic enhancement of a star next to your name. Enough people have chosen to pay this fee to earn Chedburn a cool million. If you'd like to add some more money to his overflowing coffers, or just want to check out this creative game, play it at http://www.torncity.com [http://www.torncity.com].

(Via: Bitmob [http://www.bitmob.com/index.php/component/content/article/1/3965-torn-online-game-free-to-play-makes-developer-a-millionaire])


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theultimateend

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Nov 1, 2007
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wouldyoukindly99 said:
People will buy anything it seems. They know we have real games right?
That kind of comment makes me guess that you have never played a well made mud.
 

A Weary Exile

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Aug 24, 2009
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theultimateend said:
wouldyoukindly99 said:
People will buy anything it seems. They know we have real games right?
That kind of comment makes me guess that you have never played a well made mud.
To answer your question: no I haven't.

But you can make this kind of thing for free in the RP section correct? I'm sure there are other sites that have RP sections where you can make text based games for free.
 

illumin8

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Mar 2, 2008
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Last game I played like this was bootleggers I was hooked on that. These games can be really fun depending on the type of community using it.
 

Amnestic

High Priest of Haruhi
Aug 22, 2008
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The American Dream made manifest via the wonders of the internet.
 

theultimateend

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Nov 1, 2007
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wouldyoukindly99 said:
theultimateend said:
wouldyoukindly99 said:
People will buy anything it seems. They know we have real games right?
That kind of comment makes me guess that you have never played a well made mud.
To answer your question: no I haven't.

But you can make this kind of thing for free in the RP section correct? I'm sure there are other sites that have RP sections where you can make text based games for free.
But will they be of the same quality?

Everything is worth what the purchaser will pay (old quote, wish I had made it up), which means that the services here (considering they were actually paid for) were of a value greater than free.
 

Booze Zombie

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Dec 8, 2007
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Good on him, I think I'll give this a play.

Text based games can be just as ingaging as "real" games, by the way, people.
 

Rhayn

Free of All Weakness
Jul 8, 2008
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That's pretty awesome, I bet he's pleased. Probably suprised too.

That reminds me, I need to see if I could play through that one text based game, Planetside, I think. That was pretty cool.
 

ActionDan

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Jun 29, 2009
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Text based games. How. Bloody. Boring. And to discover that people actually pay money for this!? I just can't understand the appeal. Its absolutely beyond me.
 

Teh_Doomage

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Jan 11, 2009
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I figured the mud games would be dead and buried, but if they can make a comeback I'd be all over them...until then, there's still D&D.
 

tce11

Turtle Who Lives in the Clouds
Apr 17, 2008
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Smoke cannabis... in a text based game?

'You are now smoking weed... it's pretty cool?'

I don't know i guess it would probably affect your stats or something.. but still.