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	A '''MMORPG''' ('''Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game''') is an ] ] in which a large number of ] interact with one another in a ]. As in all ], players assume the role of a character (traditionally in a fantasy setting) and take control over most of that character's actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player RPGs by the game's ], usually hosted by the game's ], which continues to exist and evolve while the player is away from the game. This results in a gameworld which is far more dynamic, diverse, and realistic than those of other games.

	MMORPGs are immensely popular, with several commercial games reporting millions of subscribers. ] boasts the highest subscription numbers, with millions of users registered with the more popular games; see ] for a list of the most prominent MMORPGs.


	==Common Features==
	Though MMORPGs have evolved considerably, many of them share various characteristics.
	* Traditional ] style gameplay, including ], ], and ].
	* A system for character development, usually involving levels and experience points (commonly abbreviated as Exp or XP)
	* An economy, based on trading of items (such as weapons and armor) and a regular currency.
	* ], organizations of players, whether or not the game supports them.
	* Game Moderators, in charge of supervising the world.

	As most MMORPGs are commercial, like ] and ], players must either purchase the client software for a one-time fee or pay a monthly subscription fee to play. Most major MMORPGs require players do both these things. Some free-of-charge MMORPGs do exist, though their production quality is generally lower compared to "pay-to-play" counterparts.

	==History==
	MMORPGs, as we define them today, have existed since the early 1990s. However, they have a history that extends back into the late 1970s.

	===The First Gameworlds===
	The beginning of the MMORPG genre can be traced back to text-based Multi-User Dungeons, or ], the first of which was developed by ] and ] in ]. These were gameworlds hosted on private servers (usually at a university, sometimes without the knowledge of the system's administrators) which players would connect to using a ] client. Gameplay was usually similar to tabletop ] such as ]; by typing commands into a parser, players would enter a dungeon, fight monsters, gain experience, and acquire loot.

	Similar games quickly developed around the same time for the ] System. MUDs (and later descendants such as ]es and ]s) were wildly different in implementation from one another, but shared many basic interface elements - for example, a player would usually navigate his or her character around the gameworld by typing in compass directions ("n", "se", etc.)

	Many MUDs are still active to this day, and the most influential MMORPG designers such as ], ], ] and ] began as MUD developers and/or players.

	===Early Commercial Development===
	The first commercial MMORPG (although what constitutes "massive" requires some context when discussing mid-1980s ]s) was '']'' designed by ] and ]. Still text-based, this game became available to consumers in ] at the cost of $12.00 per hour via the ] online service.

	The first graphical character-based interactive environment, though not actually an RPG, was '']'' (first released as '']''), which was introduced in 1988 by ] for ] customers on their ] computers. Users could interact with one another, chat and exchange items. Although very simple, its use of online ]s (already well established off-line by ] and other games) and combining ] with graphics was revolutionary for the time. The term ''avatar'' for an on-screen player character may have originated at LucasArts as part of the ''Habitat'' project.

	]'', the first graphical MMORPG.]]
	The first graphical MMORPG was '']'' by designer ] and programmer ], which went live on AOL for ] owners in 1991 and ran through 1997. The project was personally championed and green-lighted by AOL President ]. Both ''Club Caribe'' and ''Neverwinter Nights'' cost $6.00 per hour to play.

	During the early-], commercial use of the internet was limited by ] acceptable use policies. Consequently, early online games like ''Neverwinter Nights'', '']'', '']'' and '']'' relied upon proprietary services for distribution such as CompuServe, ], and ].

	Following ''Neverwinter Nights'' was '']'', a MMORPG within ] (TSN) which ran from 1992 through 1996. The game was produced by ]. ''The Shadow of Yserbius'' was an hourly service, although it also offered unlimited service for $119.99 per month, until ] acquired TSN and rendered it strictly an hourly service.

	As the ] restrictions were relaxed, traditional game companies and online services began to deploy games on the ]. The first commercial text-based MMORPG to make this transition from a proprietary network provider (CompuServe, in this case) to the Internet was '']'', designed by ] and ]. It was a fantasy roleplaying game featuring an evolving world and professional ]s who conducted online events. The game was offered through the Internet for $3.60 per hour in 1992 and ran until 2000.

	Access to one unified internet allowed game companies to accumulate truly "massive" playerbases, profit, and popularity.

	===World-wide MMORPGs===
	'']'' was a successful early internet MMORPG launched by ] in 1996. It was notable for having fully animated 2D graphics, both in and out of combat - this made it far more accessible to a wide variety of audiences compared to previous games. Still, just like its predecessors, it used '']'' style character levels, and had simple turn-based combat and a basic user interface.

	'']'', released in 1997, is credited with popularizing the genre. The game featured a flat monthly subscription fee (first introduced by the ] game '']'' in 1996) instead of the hitherto-traditional per-hour plan; the monthly fee has since become the standard for most MMORPGs. This new pricing model has also been seen as the motivation for business to shift from the 'hardcore gamer' audience (who racked up massive fees) towards a broader, more massive market. ''Meridian 59'' and ''Ultima Online'' also set the precedent for monthly $10 USD subscriptions, a figure that would later gradually increase across the genre. These were the first games that used and spread the term "massively multiplayer".

	Meanwhile, commercial online games were becoming extraordinarily popular in ]. '']'', designed by ], began commercial service in 1996 and eventually gained over one million subscribers. Song's next game, '']'' (]), was an even bigger success. ''Lineage'' reached millions of subscribers in Korea and ], and gave developer ] the strength to gain a foothold in the global MMORPG market for the next few years.<!--This would be a good place to throw 1 or 2 sentences listing NCSoft's other MMORPG achievements and the years they went live-->

	]'' drove MMORPGs into the Western mainstream.]]

	Launched in March ] by Verant Interactive and later acquired by ], '']'' drove fantasy MMORPGs into the Western mainstream. It was the most commercially successful MMORPG in the ] for five years and was the basis for ten expansions (as of December, 2005) and several ]. '']'' magazine and other non-gaming press featured stories on ''EverQuest'', often focusing on the controversies and social questions inspired by its popularity. '']'' launched later in the year and was another hit, rounding out what is sometimes called the original "big three" of the late 1990s (''Ultima Online'', ''EverQuest'' and ''Asheron's Call''). Yet another fantasy game, ''Asheron's Call'' at least featured an original universe; the world of EverQuest was heavily influenced by D&D, and Ultima Online took place in the same universe as several other Ultima games . The future continued to look bright as ] revealed it had begun developing '']''.

	===MMORPGs in the new millennium===
	By the turn of the century the concept of ]s expanded into new ]s. Many of these games, such as the ] '']'' (2001) brought some of the ] heritage with them.

	For fans of the genre, 2000 was a relatively quiet year, but developers and investors were buzzing to jump into the continually expanding market. '']'' was launched in early 2001 and can be seen as the first successful fantasy MMORPG of the 21st century. It launched smoothly, required less time to gain ] and had an integrated ] combat system. Critics dismissed the sci-fi MMORPG '']'' while it suffered through its rough first month in June 2001. Growth of the 'big three' nearly plateaued during 2001 and ''Ultima Online 2'' was cancelled while still in development, indicating that the market had possibly been saturated.

	Released in 2002, '']'', an online "sequel" to the long running single-player ] RPG series, became the first major console MMORPG, as well as the first online game capable of supporting games and servers shared by both console and PC users. Its practice of randomly selecting servers for new player-characters all over the world was controversial and criticized, but resulted (intentionally in fact) in game worlds in which the players regularly spoke different languages. Also released in 2002, the sprite-based '']'', produced by Korean company ], took Asia by storm, as ''Lineage'' had done. Gravity once claimed that there were 17 million subscribers of the game, though this number may not be entirely reliable.

	May 2003 saw the release of '']'', the first MMORPG released by Iceland-based developer ] (CCP). ''Eve Online'' distinguished itself by placing all players in a single world without 'sharding' the servers to distribute player load. Based in a fictional galaxy 24,000 years in the future, ''Eve Online'' drew a small but loyal fan base that has grown over time. According to the game's website, the user base for ''Eve Online'' has broken the 100k mark, and the game continues to break its own Peak Concurrent User (PCU) record, which stands at 23,811 as of ] 2006 .

	In November 2004, ] expected to dominate the market when they released the sequel to their phenomonally successful ''EverQuest'', '']''. To keep from competing with themselves, Sony began to offer a flat monthly rate to play all Sony MMORPGs such as ''EverQuest'', '']'', and the new ''EverQuest II''. However, much of Sony's potential customer base was drawn to ]'s '']'' (WoW), released in that same month. At present, WoW is one of the most played games in North America, and one of the most played American MMORPGs, with a total of over 6 million customers worldwide. With the release of these newer games, subscriptions began to decline for old games, such as '']'' and '']'' 1.
	<!--Insert information here on Lineage II, EverQuest II and WoW. Some mention of EQ2 and WoW pulling their subscription base from other games should be explained. Many other games (EQ for sure) suffered their subscription rates greatly when these 2 MMORPG giants went live-->

	The release of '']'' in April 2005 represented ]'s investment in the possible profitability of an online RPG with a one-time fee. ''Guild Wars'' did not share many of the distinguishing features of typical MMORPGs such as the massive persistent game world, the subscription fee, the large time investment required to play, and the largely server-dependent software architecture and as such was termed a Competitive Online Role-Playing Game (CORPG) by the developers.

	Another Korean MMORPG, '']'', a side-scroller developed by ], likewise contains free gameplay. However, it covers its costs through purchasable game "enhancements". Due to its free nature, the game is said to have more than 30 million players in all of its many versions, with the majority of them from East Asia.

	On ], ], the ] announced a ban on all "violent" gameplay for ]s under 18. Chinese officials defined 'violent' as any game that involves player vs. player combat, a common feature among MMORPGs. Later in August the same year, the Chinese government imposed online gaming curbs so players will gain experience and items in game at a decreased and decreasing rate, until it hits zero after five hours of consecutive gameplay, after which the player must log off for five hours to get the full rate back.

	== Academic attention ==
	MMORPGs have begun to attract significant academic attention, notably in the fields of ] and ]. ] specializes in the study of ]s (MUDs, MMOGs, and similar concepts). Most of his writings, including "Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier" (2001), have examined relationships between real world economies and ].

	With the growing popularity of the genre, a growing number of ]s and ]s study the actions and interactions of the players in such games. One of the more famous of these researchers is ]. Another researcher is Nick Yee who has surveyed more than 35,000 MMORPG players over the past few years, focusing on psychological and sociological aspects of these games. His research can be found at .

	== Independent development ==
	]'' is one of the independent efforts to create a free MMORPG.]]

	Many small teams of programmers and artists have tried to create their own MMORPGs. The average MMORPG project takes three to four years and large investments of money to create. Independent development, or game development not run by any company, usually takes longer due to lack of developer's time, manpower or money. Additionally, the long-term lack of funding required for running MMORPG servers may lead to the abandonment of the project.

	Sometimes these independent games are free-to-play, but will confer in-game privileges to paying customers.

	<!-- DO NOT ADD your favorite amateur development effort here without discussing it on the Talk page first. If you add something without discussing it first, it will be reverted, no questions asked. Note that the games listed here are in production, not BETA, and have Misplaced Pages pages - if your page cannot survive on Misplaced Pages, it is unlikely that it will stay on this page either. Click the "Discuss this page" link to start a discussion on why you think your game should be added. -->
	The best-established independent projects are '']'', '']'', '']'' and '']''. ''Daimonin'' and ''Planeshift'' are entirely ]. The developers of ''Endless Online'' have released with details about their coding.

	The ] 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.

	== Browser-based MMORPGs ==
	<!-- DO NOT ADD your favorite Browser-based effort here without discussing it on the Talk page first. If you add something without discussing it first, it will be reverted, no questions asked. Note that the games listed here are in production, not BETA, and have Misplaced Pages pages - if your page cannot survive on Misplaced Pages, it is unlikely that it will stay on this page either. Click the "Discuss this page" link to start a discussion on why you think your game should be added. -->
	With the success of the MMORPG genre in recent years, several multiplayer games played in ]s have also begun using the MMORPG moniker. This largely text-based sub-genre developed from old ] games and pre-dates the modern idea of an MMORPG. Browser-based MMORPGs are usually simpler games than their stand-alone counterparts, typically involving turn-based play and simple strategies (e.g. "build a large army, then attack other players for gold"), though there are many interesting variations on the popular themes to be found. Many of these games are more like ] ]s or ]s than ]s. In '']'' players control planets and fleets of ships; in '']'' the player commands an army rather than a single ]. In '']'', the player controls a character who owns a spaceship and gains experience points through trading or fighting, in a way similar to the classic game '']''.

	]'' is an example of a text-based MMORPG accessible with a web browser.]]

	One of the earliest examples of a browser-based MMORPG is '']'', which dates back to early ]. Currently, an extremely popular browser-based MMORPG, ''Kings of Chaos'', boasts a player population numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Its popularity is primarily fuelled by a reciprocal link clicking system where users give each other more soldiers by clicking on their friends' unique links, taking advantage of the ] to spread word of the game across the world. Some examples of click based MMORPG's are '']'' and '']'', whose code is ], allowing anyone to create their own game ]. Another browser-based MMORPG, '']'', largely parodies other games. Some of the more popular of these have become profitable through user subscriptions.

	Not all browser-based MMORPGs are ]. More recently, faster computers and the ] programming language have allowed the introduction of graphical browser-based MMORPGs such as '']'', produced by '']'', which are more similar to standalone MMORPGs.

	== Genre challenges ==
	{{main\|MMOG genre challenges}}
	Most MMORPGs require significant development resources to overcome the logistical hurdles associated with such large production efforts. Online games require ]s, significant hardware requirements (e.g., ]s and ]), and dedicated support staff. Despite the efforts of developers cognizant of these issues, reviewers often cite non-optimal populations (such as overcrowding or under-populated worlds), ], and poor support as problems of games in this genre. These problems tend to be worse for free MMORPGs. ] MMORPGs could theoretically scale better because peers share the resource load, but practical issues such as asymmetrical network bandwidth and CPU-hungry rendering engines make peer to peer MMORPGs a difficult proposition. Additionally, they become vulnerable to other problems such as ].

	Several MMORPGs have suffered through technical difficulties through the first few days (or weeks) after launch. Early successes such as ''Ultima Online'' and ''EverQuest'' managed to pass through this stage with little permanent damage. Few games may have significant failures, leading ultimately to their demise, if they launch too early and contain frequent bug fixes, downtime, or structural game changes that may discourage players from continuing to play the game. Due to these problems, games such as '']'' and '']'' struggled to regain good press after their first month, and gained good press after stabilizing their servers. '']'' and '']'' showed hardly any signs of such difficulties.

	=== Cheating ===
	{{main\|Cheating in online games}}
	Cheating is a major challenge for the game developers, as it is done in many ways. ] is a form of cheating involving the use of a flaw in the game mechanics to gain unfair advantage. Depending on the nature of the exploit, game developers can fix the exploits within hours or even minutes through patches and updates, although some holes last weeks or months before they are detected or reported. Even when fixed, exploiting can still be an issue, as exploiters may still have the advantage they gained before the patch was released. Depending on the seriousness of the exploit, a rollback may be needed just to counter the effects the exploits had.

	External or 3rd party programs are another type of cheat. They can be used to automate legitimate actions that were intended to be accomplished by the users themselves, often with such efficiency that it provides a huge advantage. ] is a term for a player using a script that could automate progress through the game without them actually playing the game for themselves. This could be done through a simple macro program which records keystrokes and mouse movements, or scripting program that could make “smart” keystrokes, such as AC Tools. ], if they are unable to exploit loop holes in the game, will use such methods to harvest materials or gold from the game world right around the clock.

	Requiring a little more talent on the cheaters part, along with some rudimentry ], some third party programs are released with code in them to ] and relay account details back to the author, enabling them to steal virtual possesions from the account or impersonate the rightful owner to perpetrate confidence tricks and other scams. These ] often masquerade as a free utility to help with some common game related task such as character template design. Even more subtle methods are known to be used to gain an edge, and these require the most skill as they can be hard to detect. Depending on the way the game handles certain aspects of gameplay the client or components thereof can be modified, either on disk, directly in memory or on the wire as data passes between the client and server. All the while the server does not verify the veracity of client data or, ideally, take care of important calculations server-side, this can be used to modify values such as character health or armour, speed up movement or subtly change other non-trivial aspects of the game to the cheater's advantage. There are programs that have been designed to prevent external programs from running during a game, such as ]. The integrity of client files can also be checked each time you load the game, although of course some gamers have found ways to bypass or disable these protection programs.

	=== Private servers ===
	Single-client based graphic MMORPGs may have private servers or server emulators. Private servers are mostly run by volunteers, therefore most of them are free. However, some private servers may wish for people to donate money, sometimes in exchange for a bonus in the game. Private servers remain markedly less popular than the official servers, with player numbers in the hundreds, not thousands. '']'' is a server emulator for ''EverQuest'', others exist for ''World of Warcraft'', ''Lineage II'', ''Ultima Online'', and many other MMORPGs.

	In ] as well as many other Asian countries the use of private servers is more prevalent. Most Chinese MMORPG players are aware of the existence of private servers, and according to statistics more people prefer private servers than official servers. The reasons for this are the relatively high fees for official servers and the availability of 100MB/s fiber optic internet connections, which can be as cheap as US$30 a month. As a result, the costs of running a server in China are remarkably low. In one instance, a private server had more than 50 000 players registered. Some even have 1000 accounts in 1 day (the opening day). Among such cases are ''Mu Online'' which is one of the most popular private server games in the world, with over thousands of private servers. Private servers have significantly damaged the commercial MMORPG development. Many gamers in China feel the companies that developed MMORPGs purposefully made the leveling progress advance slowly so more money could be made off the gamers. Most of the private servers have placed a faster experience rate, allowing players to progress through the game faster than on retail servers.

	==See also==
	<!-- Please do not link individual game articles here. Instead put them in the "List of MMORPGs" article. -->
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ] (MMORPG/])
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]

	== References ==
	* Ferrell, Keith. (November 1987) "". ]
	* Kent, Steven (September 23, 2003). "". ].
	* ] (2003). ''Designing Virtual Worlds''. Indianapolis: New Riders. ISBN 0-1310-1816-7.
	* "Massively Money-Eating Online Games" (October, 2005) ''PC Gamer'' 12 (10), p.28

	== External links ==
	<!-- DO NOT ADD your pet site here without discussing it on the Talk page first. If you add a site without discussing it first, it will be reverted, no questions asked. Click the "Discuss this page" link to start a discussion on why you think your site should be added. -->
	* - Bruce Woodcock's analysis of MMOG subscription counts based on figures reported by the games' developers.
	* - Philip Dhingra's tracking of the virtual economy
	* - 1UP.COM article on farming.
	* - Nick Yee's ongoing survey study of MMORPG players. Demographics, narratives and essays.
	* - A set of articles posted at Gamespy.com, concerning the past, present, and future of the genre.

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Revision as of 17:54, 8 March 2006