MMORPG

A massively (or massive) multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG is a multiplayer computer role-playing game that enables thousands of players to play in an evolving virtual world at the same time over the Internet. MMORPGs are a specific type of massively multiplayer online game (MMOG).

History

MMORPGs are computer games that can be traced back to the 1970s to non-graphical online MUD games, to text-based computer games such as Adventure, Dungeon and Zork, and to pen and paper role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons.

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In the late-1970's the Plato System featured a line-drawn pseudo-3D MMORPG called Moria, not to be confused with the later VAX VMS based game Moria.

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The first text-based commercial MMORPG (although what constitutes "massive" requires some context when discussing mid-1980's mainframes) was Islands of Kesmai by Kelton Flinn and John Taylor, which went live in 1984 at the cost of $12.00 per hour, offered via the CompuServe online service.

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Habitat, a graphical environment designed at LucasArts where users could interact, chat and exchange "items" debuted in a reduced form under the name Club Caribe on AOL in 1988. Although it was not a game, its combination of graphics, avatars and chat was revolutionary for the time.

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During the early-1990's, commercial use of the Internet was limited by NSFNET acceptable use policies. Consequently, early online games relied upon proprietary services such as CompuServe and America Online for distribution. As these restrictions were relaxed, traditional game companies and online services began to deploy games on the Internet.

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The first commercial text-based MMORPG to transition from a proprietary network provider (CompuServe, in its case) to the Internet was Legends of Future Past, designed by Jon Radoff and Angela Bull. It was a fantasy roleplaying game featuring an evolving world and professional Game Masters who conducted online events. The game was offered through the Internet for $3.60 per hour in 1992 and ran until 2000.

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The first graphical MMORPG was Neverwinter Nights by designer Don Daglow and programmer Cathryn Mataga, which went live on AOL in 1991 and ran through 1997. The project was personally championed and green-lighted by AOL President Steve Case, and cost $6.00 per hour to play.

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Following Neverwinter Nights was The Shadow of Yserbius, an MMORPG within The Sierra Network, which ran from 1992 through 1996. The game was produced by Joe Ybarra. TSN was an hourly service, although it also offered unlimited service for $119.99 per month, until AT&T acquired TSN and rendered it strictly an hourly service.

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The Realm Online was a successful early MMORPG, launched by Sierra Online in 1996. The Realm included a basic, two-dimensional graphics engine and Dungeons & Dragons style character levels. It had a basic user inferface and turn-based combat, also taken from the Dungeons & Dragons mold.

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Ultima Online (1997) is credited with popularizing the genre. The game featured a flat monthly subscription fee (first introduced by the 3DO game Meridian 59 in 1996) instead of the hitherto-traditional per-hour plan; the monthly fee has since become the standard for most if not all 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. M59 and UO 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".

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Meanwhile, commercial online games were becoming extraordinarily popular in South Korea. ', designed by Jake Song, began commercial service in 1996 and eventually gained over one million subscribers. Song's next game, Lineage (1998), was an even bigger success. Lineage reached millions of subscribers in Korea and Taiwan, and gave developer NCsoft the strength to gain a foothold in the global MMORPG market for the next few years.

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Launched in March 1999 by Verant and later aquired by Sony Online Entertainment, EverQuest drove fantasy MMORPGs into the Western mainstream. It was the most commercially successful MMORPG in the United States for five years and was the basis for ten expansions (as of September 13, 2005) and several derivative games. TIME magazine and other non-gaming press featured stories on EQ, often focusing on the controversies and social questions inspired by its popularity. Asheron's Call launched later in the year and was another hit, rounding out what is sometimes called the original "big three" of the late 1990s (UO, EQ, AC). Yet another fantasy game, it at least featured an original universe. The future continued to look bright as Origin revealed it had started developing Ultima Online 2.

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By the late 1990s the concept of massively multiplayer online games expanded into new video game genres. Many of these games, such as the "massively multiplayer online first-person shooter" World War II Online (2001) brought some of the RPG heritage with them.

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For fans of the genre, 2000 was a relatively quiet year, but developers and investors were buzzing to jump into the continually expanding market. Dark Age of Camelot launched in 2001 and can be seen as a successful post-big-three fantasy game: It launched smoothly, required less time to gain levels, and had an integrated player versus player system. Critics dismissed the sci-fi MMORPG Anarchy Online while it suffered through its rough first month in June. Growth of the big three nearly plateaued during 2001 as well and UO2 was cancelled while still in development, indicating that the market possibly had been saturated.

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Among challenges, the effort to keep players paying monthly fees companies such as Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) seek solutions of their own. One of such is a single flat rate allowing players to play games from previous older products such as Everquest and Planetside with a more recently released variety, Everquest II and Starwars Galaxies. Many players argue the fees, the lack of information supporting the need and the unwillingness of most major MMO companies to properly specify where the money is being spent. The release of Guild Wars, April 28th, 2005, following Blizzard's Diablo titles of the past, relies on a different marketing approach. NCsoft, the creators of Guild Wars, uses the lack of monthly fees as a device to bring in customers both familair and new to the genre. As their software's strain on its servers requires less maintenance than the average MMORPG, to their advantage and the hope that sales will surpass the crutch of monthly payments. It's success will be determined only in the years to come, however, if successful, MMORPG publishers may seek a similar approach to future titles resulting in new options in the industry.

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On August 4, 2005, the Chinese government announced a ban on all "violent" gameplay for minors under 18. Chinese officials declared violent 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 can not play more than three consecutive hours. See BBC news article.

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