mmorpgs - mmorpg

Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
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A screenshot of Eternal Lands, an MMORPG
A screenshot of Eternal Lands, an MMORPG

Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of online role-playing video games (RPGs) in which a large number of players interact with one another in a virtual world.

As in all RPGs, players assume the role of a fictional character (most commonly in a fantasy setting)[1] and take control over many of that character's actions[2]. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player RPGs by the number of players, and by the game's persistent world, usually hosted by the game's publisher, which continues to exist and evolve while the player is away from the game. MMORPGs should also be distinguished from their text-based relatives, sometimes called MU*s (more specifically MUDs, MUSHes, MOOs etc. depending on the codebase, which are generally free games based on an open source codebase. [2]

MMORPGs are very popular throughout the world, with combined global memberships in subscription and non-subscription games exceeding 15 million as of 2006.[3] Worldwide revenues for MMORPGs exceeded half a billion dollars in 2005,[4] and Western revenues exceeded one billion USD in 2006.[5]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Common features
o 1.1 Themes
o 1.2 Progression
o 1.3 Social roles
o 1.4 System architecture
* 2 History
* 3 Psychology
* 4 MMORPG culture
* 5 Economics
* 6 Development
o 6.1 Trends as of 2007
o 6.2 Non-corporate development
* 7 See also
* 8 Notes and references
* 9 External links

[edit] Common features

Though MMORPGs have evolved considerably, and modern versions sometimes differ dramatically from their antecedents, many of them share some basic characteristics.

[edit] Themes

The majority of MMORPGs are based on traditional fantasy-themed game play, occurring in an in-game universe comparable to that of Dungeons & Dragons.[1] Some employ hybrid themes that either merge or substitute fantasy elements with those of science fiction, sword and sorcery, crime fiction, but there are other themes like soccer, the occult, or other recognizable literary genres.[1] Often these elements are developed using similar tasks and scenarios involving quests,[1] monsters, and loot.

[edit] Progression
A highly-progressed character from EverQuest 2, with mount.
A highly-progressed character from EverQuest 2, with mount.

In nearly all MMORPGs the development of the player's character is a primary goal. Many titles feature a character progression system in which players earn experience points for their actions and use those points to reach character "levels", which makes them better at whatever they do.[1] Traditionally, combat with monsters and completing quests for NPC's, either alone or in groups, is the primary way to earn experience points. The accumulation of wealth (including combat-useful items) is also a way to progress in many titles, and again, this is traditionally best accomplished via combat. The cycle produced by these conditions, combat leading to new items allowing for more combat with no change in gameplay, is sometimes pejoratively referred to as the level treadmill.[1] The role-playing game Progress Quest was created as a parody of this trend..

Also traditional in the genre is the eventual demand on players to team up with others in order to progress at the optimal rate. This tends to force players to change their real-world schedules in order to "keep up" within the game-world. Though some titles recognize this trend as a problem and provide ways to progress within short, unscheduled periods of time, this is still widely criticized of games in the genre.[citation needed]

[edit] Social roles

MMORPGs always allow players to communicate with one another. Depending on the other interactions allowed by the game, other social expectations will be present.

Many MMORPGs exploit their players' social skills and offer support for in-game guilds or clans (though these will usually form whether the game supports them or not).[1] As a result many players will find themselves as either a member or a leader of such a group after playing a MMORPG for some time. These organizations will likely have further expectations for their members (such as intra-guild assistance).
A Sand Giant attacking a player in 1999-era EverQuest
A Sand Giant attacking a player in 1999-era EverQuest

Even if players never join a formal group, they are still usually expected to be a part of a small team during game play, and will probably be expected to carry out a specialized role. In combat-based MMORPGs, usual roles include the "tank", a character who absorbs enemy blows and protects other members of the team, the "healer", a character responsible for keeping up the health of the party,[6] the "Damage Dealer," a character suited to inflicting damage, with less ability to resist large amounts of it, and a "nuker", usually a magic user, that has abilities that inflict large amounts of damage, but is the most physically weak compared to its counterparts. Additionally there might be classes dedicated to "buffing", using abilities that help oneself or a team by increasing their attributes or abilities, or "debuffing", using abilities to hinder enemies by lowering their attributes and abilities. Each game might have these roles, additional hybrid roles, or might eliminate them. Some players might enjoy one role over others and continue to play it through many different MMORPG titles.

Some MMORPGs also may expect players to roleplay their characters - that is, to speak and act in the way their character would act, even if it means shying away from other goals such as wealth or experience. Most MMORPG players never actually play the roles of their characters, however, and so this behavior is far from being the norm.[7] Still, MMORPGs may offer "RP-only" servers for those who wish to immerse themselves in the game in this way.

Often titles will also feature Game Moderators or Game Masters (frequently abbreviated to GM), which may be paid employees or unpaid volunteers who attempt to supervise the world. Some GMs may have additional access to features and information related to the game that are not available to other players and roles.

[edit] System architecture

Most MMORPGs are deployed using a client-server system architecture. The software that generates and persists the "world" runs continuously on a server, and players connect to it via client software. The client software may provide access to the entire playing world, or further 'expansions' may be required to be purchased to allow access to certain areas of the game, Everquest and World of Warcraft are two examples of games that use such a format. Players generally must purchase the client software for a one-time fee, although an increasing trend is for MMORPGs to work using pre-existing "thin" clients, such as a web browser. A notable example is Runescape, which players connect to via a browser, allowing access to the game independent of platform and location.

Some MMORPGs require payment of a monthly subscription to play. By nature, "massively multiplayer" games are always online, and most require some sort of continuous revenue (such as monthly subscriptions and advertisements) for maintenance and development. Games that feature massively-multiplayer functionality, but do not include roleplaying elements, are referred to as MMOGs.

Depending on the number of players and the system architecture, a MMORPG might actually be run on multiple separate servers, each representing an independent world, where players from one server cannot interact with those from another.

[edit] History
MUD, an early multi-user roleplaying game
MUD, an early multi-user roleplaying game

Main article: History of massively multiplayer online role-playing games

MMORPGs, as defined today, have only existed since the early 1990s.[2] Still, all MMORPGs can trace a lineage back to the earliest multi-user games which started appearing in the late 1970s.[2] The first of these was Mazewar, though more would soon be developed for the PLATO system.[8] 1984 saw a Roguelike (semi-graphical) multi-user game, called Islands of Kesmai.[8] The first "truly" graphical multi-user RPG was Neverwinter Nights, which was delivered through America Online in 1991 and was personally championed by AOL President Steve Case.[8]

When NSFNET restrictions were lifted in 1995, the internet was opened up to developers, and this allowed for the first really "massive" titles. The first success after this point was Meridian 59, which also featured first-person 3D graphics,[9] although The Realm Online appeared nearly simultaneously and may be credited with bringing the genre to a wider player-base.[8] Ultima Online, released in 1997, may be credited with first popularizing the genre,[8] though Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds was primarily responsible for mainstream attention throughout Asia and it was EverQuest that brought MMORPGs to the mainstream in the West.[8]

These early titles' financial success has ensured competition in the genre since that time. MMORPG titles now exist on consoles and in new settings, and their players enjoy higher-quality gameplay. The current market for MMORPGs has Blizzard's World of Warcraft dominating as the largest pay-to-play MMORPG,[citation needed] though an additional market exists for free-to-play MMORPGs, which are supported by advertising and purchases of in-game items. One major exception is Guild Wars, which only requires the initial purchase of the game and mandates no further payment. There are a few other games of this nature but Guild Wars is by far the dominant title in this sub-category with it being the only real competitor to World of Warcraft in the West.[citation needed]

[edit] Psychology

Since the interactions between MMORPG players are real, even if the environments are not, psychologists and sociologists are able to use MMORPGs as tools for academic research. Sherry Turkle, a clinical psychologist, has conducted interviews with computer users including game-players. Turkle found that many people have expanded their emotional range by exploring the many different roles (including gender identities) that MMORPGs allow a person to explore.[10]

Nick Yee has surveyed more than 35,000 MMORPG players over the past few years, focusing on psychological and sociological aspects of these games. Recent findings included that 15% of players become a guild-leader at one time or another, but most generally find the job tough and thankless;[11] and that players spend a considerable amount of time (often a third of their total time investment) doing things that are directly-related to, but outside of, the game itself.[12]

Many players report that the emotions they feel while playing an MMORPG are very strong, to the extent that 8.7% of male and 23.2% of female players in a statistical study have had an online wedding.[13] Other researchers have found that the enjoyment of a game is directly related to the social organization of a game, ranging from brief encounters between players to highly organized play in structured groups.[14]

Richard Bartle has classified multiplayer RPG-players into four primary psychological groups. His classifications were then expanded upon by Erwin Andreasen, who developed the concept into the thirty-question Bartle Test that helps players determine which category they are associated with. With over 200,000 test responses as of 2006, this is perhaps the largest ongoing survey of multiplayer game players.[15]

[edit] MMORPG culture

One of the largest difference between MMORPGs (and other MMOs) and single-player games is that large online games must be balanced in order to be fair to all players, sometimes at the sacrifice of realism. For this reasons, MMORPGs usually do not have "cheat codes," which single player games may have, although staff members may be able to edit character settings. Some games like RuneScape and the EverQuest series (with the exception of Lords of EverQuest) are exclusively multi-player, while other games, like the Diablo series, have both a single player and multi-player part.

In most MMORPGs, there are staff members (usually company employees, and sometimes volunteer players) that can edit character data and take action against those who violate policies. These players are called "GMs" (game masters) or "moderators."

Many MMORPGs are associated with grinding, in which leveling up can be very tedious, especially for high-leveled players.

Because of the many possibilities of MMORPGs, they are known to be more likely to cause addiction, and has been a source of concern for parents.[16] In 2005, China announced a controversial system of limiting gameplay to three hours per day, and players who played past that would find their character weakened. [17]

Some players have jokingly viewed real life as an MMORPG.[18]

[edit] Economics

See also: Virtual economy

A user browsing the market for items in EVE Online
A user browsing the market for items in EVE Online

Many MMORPGs feature living economies, as virtual items and currency have to be gained through play and have definite value for players.[19] Such a virtual economy can be analyzed (using data logged by the game)[19] and has value in economic research; more significantly, these "virtual" economies can have an impact on the economies of the real world.

One of the early researchers of MMORPGs was Edward Castronova, who demonstrated that a supply-and-demand market exists for virtual items and that it crosses over with the real world.[20] This crossover has some requirements of the game:

* The ability for players to sell an item to each other for in-game (virtual) currency.
* Bartering for items between players for items of similar value.
* The purchase of in-game items for real-world currency.
* Exchanges of real-world currencies for virtual currencies.

The idea of attaching real-world value to "virtual" items has had a profound effect on players and the game industry, and even the courts. Castronova's first study in 2002 found that a highly liquid (if illegal) currency market existed, with the value of Everquest's in-game currency exceeding that of the Japanese yen.[21] Some people even make a living by working these virtual economies; these people are often referred to as gold farmers, and may be employed in game sweatshops.[22]

Game publishers usually prohibit the exchange of real-world money for virtual goods. However, a number of products actively promote the idea of linking (and directly profiting from) an exchange. Some players of Second Life have generated revenues in excess of $100,000.[23] However, in the case of Entropia Universe, the virtual economy and the real-world economy are directly linked. This means that real money can be deposited for game money and vice versa. Real-world items have also been sold for game money in Entropia.

Some of the issues confronting online economies include:

* The use of "bots" or automated programs, that assist some players in accumulating in-game wealth to the disadvantage of other players.[24]
* The use of unsanctioned auction sites, which has led publishers to seek legal remedies to prevent their use based on intellectual-property claims.[25]
* The emergence of virtual crime, which can take the form of both fraud against the player or publisher of an online game, and even real-life acts of violence stemming from in-game transactions.[26]

Linking real-world and virtual economies is rare in MMORPGs, as it is generally believed to be detrimental to gameplay. If real-world wealth can be used to obtain greater, more immediate rewards than skillful gameplay, the incentive for strategic roleplay and real game involvement is diminished. It could also easily lead to a skewed hierarchy where richer players gain better items, allowing them to take on stronger opponents and level up more quickly than less wealthy but more committed players.[citation needed]

[edit] Development

In general, the cost of developing a competitive commercial MMORPG title often exceeds ten million dollars.[27] These projects require multiple disciplines within game design and development: 3D modeling, 2D art, animation, user interfaces, client/server engineering, database architecture and network infrastructure.[28]

The front-end (or client) component of a commercial, modern MMORPG features 3D graphics. As with other modern 3D games, the front-end requires expertise with implementing 3D engines, real-time shader techniques and physics simulation. The actual visual content (areas, creatures, characters, weapons, spaceships and so forth) is developed by artists who typically begin with two-dimensional concept art, and later convert these concepts into animated 3D scenes, models and texture maps.[29]

Developing an MMOG server requires expertise with client/server architecture, network protocols, security and relational database design. MMORPGs include reliable systems for a number of vital tasks. The server must be able to handle and verify a large number of connections; prevent cheating; and apply changes (bug fixes or added content) to the game. A system for recording the game's data at regular intervals, without stopping the game, is also important.[30]

Maintenance requires sufficient servers and bandwidth, and a dedicated support staff. Insufficient resources for maintenance lead to lag and frustration for the players, and can severely damage the reputation of a game, especially at launch. Care must also be taken to ensure that player population remains at an acceptable level by adding or removing servers ("shards"). Peer-to-peer MMORPGs could theoretically work cheaply and efficiently in regulating server load, but practical issues such as asymmetrical network bandwidth and CPU-hungry rendering engines make them a difficult proposition. Additionally, they would probably become vulnerable to other problems including new possibilities for cheating. The hosted infrastructure for a commercial-grade MMORPG requires the deployment of hundreds (or even thousands) of servers. Developing an affordable infrastructure for an online game requires developers to scale to large numbers of players with less hardware and network investment.[31]

In addition, the team will need to have expertise with the fundamentals of game design: world-building, lore and game mechanics,[32] as well as what makes games fun.[33]

[edit] Trends as of 2007

As there are a number of wildly different titles within the genre, and since the genre develops so rapidly, it is difficult to definitively state that the genre is heading in one direction or another. Still, there are a few obvious developments. One of these developments is the raid group quest, or "raid",[34] which is an adventure designed for large groups of players (often twenty or more).

Another is the use of instance dungeons. These are game areas that are "copied" for individual groups, which keeps that group separated from the rest of the game world. This reduces competition, and also has the effect of reducing the amount of data that needs to be sent to and from the server, which reduces lag. World of Warcraft's "raids", mentioned above, are often instance dungeons, as are all of the combat areas in Guild Wars.

Increased amounts of "Player-created content" may be another trend.[35] From the beginning the Ultima Online world included blank 30-page books that players could write in, collect into personal libraries and trade; in later years players have been able to design and build houses from the ground up. Some non-combat-based MMORPGs rely heavily on player-created content, including everything from simple animations to complete buildings using player-created textures and architecture like A Tale in the Desert. However, these games are very different from the far more popular "standard" MMORPGs revolving around combat and limited character trade skills. Player-created content in these games would be in the form of areas to explore, monsters to kill, quests to carry out and specific in-game items to obtain. The Saga of Ryzom was the first of these "standard" MMORPGs to offer players the ability to create this type of content. Again, whether or not this becomes mainstream is anyone's guess.

The use of licenses, common in other video game genres, has also appeared in MMORPGs. 2007 saw the release of The Lord of the Rings Online, based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Other licensed MMORPGs include The Matrix Online, based on the Matrix trilogy of films, Warhammer Online, based on Games Workshops tabletopgame and Star Wars Galaxies. Additionally, several licenses from television have been optioned for MMORPGs, for example Stargate Worlds, which is currently in development. The process is also apparently being applied in reverse, with James Cameron designing a MMORPG that will precede a film (Project 880) it is tied to.[36]

The introduction of free trials, making titles into shareware, has also become more common, as developers expect that players will become "hooked" by their worlds and begin to pay for them. World of Warcraft, The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar and EVE Online have all incorporated short free-play periods with the creation of game accounts, while others, like Anarchy Online, RuneScape and Rappelz have unlimited free-to-play periods, though with caveats; these titles may display in-game advertisements to non-paying customers, or restrict some content.

Another trend that has shown great presence in MMORPGs is "player-driven" gameplay. Player-driven gameplay relies on the players themselves for events and wars, instead of having these things come from non-player characters (NPCs). Although all MMORPGs try to maximize player interactions, as it provides immersion, some take the concept to an extreme. One example is Shadowbane, which provides neither quests nor dungeons, and instead has players enlisting each other to control land, properties, provinces, and nations.

[edit] Non-corporate development

Though the vast majority of MMORPGs are produced by companies, many small teams of programmers and artists have attempted to contribute to the genre. As shown above, the average MMORPG development project requires enormous investments of time and money, and running the game can be a long-term commitment. As a result, non-corporate (or independent, or "indie") development of MMORPGs is less common compared with other genres. Still, many independent MMORPGs do exist, representing a wide spectrum of genres, gameplay types, and revenue systems.

Some independent MMORPG projects are completely open source,while others like PlaneShift feature proprietary content made with an open-source game engine. The developers of Endless Online have also released development information with details about their coding.[37]

The WorldForge project has been active since 1998 and formed a community of independent developers who are working on creating framework for a number of open-source MMORPGs.[38] The Multiverse Network is also creating a network and platform specifically for independent MMOG developers.[39]