I agree, according to the article, the front end of "email authorization" takes the most time to do. For an MVP a login system really just has to work, and then you can personalize it more as you go. Most of the time for an MVP should be dedicated to the main features of app. (In this case uploading pictures, news feed, etc).
For my app we used Auth0 to quickly get login working before we had to present it. It took about total 5 hours to set up and test. Since then we have built our own login system and made sleek looking create/login screens; which in total took about ~15 hours.
I have played my fair share of MMOs, and the game I spent the most time exploring the world was LOTRO. (lord of the rings online) It has been 5 or so years since I played, so not sure if it is still the same, but back then they had some deeds system where each region had challenges to kill a certain amount of creatures or explore different locations and would reward you with permanent stat boosts. I remember our guild would have nights where we would group up and tackle these challenges together, those are some of my favourite memories in gaming. Sigh, growing up sucks.
LOTRO also has an equippable item ("Stone of the Tortoise") that prevents a character from gaining EXP. If I had the time to play still I would get this. The low-level content is some of the best in the game, IMO.
"Ozymandias" will always be in his voice in my mind. It's one of the few poems I'm at all familiar with, and I like it a lot.
edit: Here's the poem, below, for anyone interested. And for anyone unfamiliar with what my parent's comment means: In the game Civilization IV, researching a technology is accompanied by a quote. Nimoy reads these quotes aloud, in this game, and '"And on the pedestal these words appear: / 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: / Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' / Nothing beside remains."' is the chosen quote for the "Construction" technology. You can probably find audio of it on the internet (which I recommend), but I can't youtube at work.
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Unfortunately, my stupid sense of humor makes me remember his Sputnik the best of all those little quotes. Somewhere on YouTube there's a black screen with the audio looped for hours.
For my app we used Auth0 to quickly get login working before we had to present it. It took about total 5 hours to set up and test. Since then we have built our own login system and made sleek looking create/login screens; which in total took about ~15 hours.