Even if you aren't a gamer, the concept of having to program Flash to such a technical depth to create that level on interactivity is amazing. Gaia Online, is said, to have started the development phase in 2004, but due to technical difficulties, the project was postponed for a later date. The games senior producer and creative director, David Georgeson, and Gaia Online's own developer team, AniHQ, (along with other developers) started the official development in 2007, eventually leading to its open beta release in November of 2008. As of yet, the game has not left open-beta, but it is rumored to be entering V1 quickly.
The game has over approximately 9 million players, thus making it a very successful game and very successful step for the Flash world. Upon initial development, Gaia's own senior producer was skeptical on the creation of a Flash based MMO, if Flash could even be pushed that far. Eventually, the team used a combination of Flash and Java to create the world of zOMG. Georgeson, in an interview with onRPG, was quoted as saying "we've had to create code to sit on top of Flash so that Flash can do things that even the Adobe engineers didn't anticipate because most Flash apps don't have the enormous scope of an entire virtual world."
Having played the game for a time, it was enjoyable. More often then not, you would forget that it is in fact a flash based game. The game-play is smooth, simple, and with zero download, it is virtually playable by anyone with internet access (and a Gaia Online account). Though zOMG is just passed its first year of public release, developers are already making plans to expand content. Personally, I hope that the boundaries zOMG has pushed in the Flash world are pushed even further with its future releases, and possibly by new games, aswell.
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