mmorpg

Massively Multiplayer Online Games
Simply put, an MMORPG is a video game that is played by thousands of players within one gaming world. Players assume the role of a fictional character and complete quests, gather loot and participate in traditional Dungeons and Dragons style play. The key distinguishing feature of the game is the presence of a persistent world. That is, the world the game is played in is always "online" and can be accessed at any time with changes happening to it regularly so that it feels like a living, breathing world.(Kent, 2003)

Commonly Used Acronyms

 * MMO - Massively Multi player Online
 * MMOG - Massively Multi player Online Game
 * MMORPG - Massively Multi player Online Role playing Game
 * MMOFPS - Massively Multi player Online First-Person Shooter
 * MMOPW - Massively Multi player Online Persistent World

History
MMOG's by definition have been around since the late 80's with games like //Yserbius// and //Air Warrior// being introduced where players would log on to a proprietary network to play the games and pay per minute/hour to play. However, the name that is often regarded as the "grand daddy" of things online and persistent is a game called //Meridian 59//, which began as a collaborative work among [|MUD] enthusiasts. It was released in 1996 by 3DO games, which was the first company to coin the term "massively multiplayer". (Kent, 2003) Then, in the late 90's three games, often coined as "the big three" were release to popular success. //Lineage//, released in 1996, //Ultime Online//, released in 1997, and //Everquest//, released in 1999. All three games were based in a fantasy setting with goblins, magic and castles but they all had a distinct playstyle and feel to them. //Lineage// was a game based around Player-versus-Player content and as Richard Garriot, creator of the //Ultima// franchise says, "The //Lineage// gameplay model is very much a territorial conquest and management game, compared to most U.S. MMPs, which are personal role-playing games with personal leveling up." It was vastly different from the game //Everquest// which was based on role-playing and seeing character progression. However, with it's 3D graphics //Everquest// became a huge success with the most online subscriptions for its time. The game spawned 11 expansion packs with numerous classes, races and abilities added over the years. //Everquest// also set the model for future MMO's to be released.



//Everquest 2: The sequel to the game that started the 3D MMO revolution// (Source: [|IGN])

The Future of MMORPG's
With the huge success that //World of Warcraft// has become MMORPG's are big business now. There are countless big budget and low budget MMO's on the horizon, but what will they contain that the previous games have not?

Huge Seamless Worlds
//Vanguard: Saga of Heroes// is a game that is aspiring to create one huge persistant world with no load times once you have gotten into the game. This creates a much greater sense of immersion for the player, and the easier it is for the game to suck you in, the easier it is for the game makers to keep you there (paying your monthly fee, of course). Until now no game has had an entirely seamless world from one end to the other, so //Vanguard// will be in a league of it's own. Whether or not it works as intended or creates the desired effect remains to be seen.

Content, Content, Content!
One of the major hurdles MMO game designers have to overcome is the sheer amount of content that they need to create. In a single player game, the designers know exactly where you will go and what you will do in any given situation (to a certain extent). Conversely in the online gaming worlds you are free to do whatever you want, whether that is going to follow an epic questline or just sitting in one of the many inns and talking to some friends. Another issue lies in the fact that online games never truly end. There is no "last boss", no nice ending to tie up all the loose ends, so what ends up happening is players gobble up all the content available and then they want more! This proves to be very difficult for game designers because there is only so much they can put into a game. A game on the horizon looking to push out lots of custom content is //Lord of the Rings Online//. They have opted out of the huge seamless world and are going for a more story driven instance based game. Wherein you will trigger your own events and special scripted storylines that only you can see that will change the world for you. This should appease all of the content hungry fans out there.

Deeper Gameplay
Most MMO's have a very basic "behind the scenes die rolling" system in place for most their combat mechanics. This system basically mimics the old Dungeons and Dragons style of play, but all the player sees is the numbers he is hitting and enemy for. Pretty boring. However, the game //Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures// hopes to appease some of the bored gamers with a fighting system that is more involved than just hitting the "auto attack" button and going to make a sandwich. Players will actually control where they swing their weapons in order to do more damage to any given opponent (who will try to dodge your attacks no doubt).



//Vanguard: An underground city showing just how immersive these games can be//

=World of Warcraft=

One of the most popular, widespread, and possibly most addictive example of a MMORPG is Blizzard Entertainment's [|World of Warcraft]. Currently there are over 7 million players registered in the WoW universe, and this number is expected to grow. WoW lets users create their own individual characters, which gain experience points as more tasks are completed throughout the WoW universe.

//World of Warcraft: The MMO that brought online gaming to the mainstream with over 7 million players//

Addictive Properties
While WoW is just a video game, it can be very addictive for some of its players. Since more experience points/levels are gained as more tasks are completed, serious gamers will play as much as possible to maximize their experience points/levels. It has been reported that in China, a 13 year old boy jumped to his death after playing too much WoW, and his parents are now suing Blizzard Entertainment. There has been another report that in Korea, a couple neglected their child which resulted in its death while going to play WoW at an internet cafe. The degree to which WoW influenced these tragic deaths is up for debate, but the fact remains that WoW was involved. The WoW universe and its social/physical effects on players are parodied in a recent //South Park// episode entitled "Make Love, Not Warcraft".

Part I media type="youtube" key="BZkiyLhLPyg"

Part II media type="youtube" key="Bb8oBeuteho"

Bibliography

[|"Online Game, Made in U.S., Seizes the Globe"] by Seth Schiesel, //The New York Times//, September 5, 2006 [|"Parents Suing Blizzard for World of Warcraft Addiction"] by by Ellie Gibson, //Game Indsutry Biz//, November 21, 2005 [|"Neglected Child Dies While Parents Play World of Warcraft. This Isn't Gaming News."] by Ben Kuchera, //Opposable Thumbs//, June 21, 2005 Wikipedia, "Massively-Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games" -[| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMORPG] Kent, Steven (September 23, 2003). "[|Alternate Reality: The history of massively multiplayer online games]". [|GameSpy].