MMORPG
Overview
A MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) is a game in which players from all over the world take control of unique (often self-designed) avatars in an online gameworld. Games in this genre frequently take place in fantasy or sci-fi settings much like other Action/Adventure games. MMORPGs, like other role-playing games, are what Simon Egenfeldt Nielsen et al. might call "process-oriented games:" instead of giving the player one, ultimate objective, the game offers a system with which the player can endlessly interact [1]. For example,
--quests and non-unilinear structure
--grinding
-guilds/social aspects
History
The ancestor of all MMORPGs as we know them today is the pen-and-paper role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons
--MUDs
--Neverwinter Nights
--Ultima Online
--WoW
Prominent Examples
Neverwinter Nights
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Star Wars: The Old Republic (or SWTOR), was released in 2011 as was the fastest growing MMORPG of all time, accruing 1 million subscribers only three days after its launch mid-December [2].
World of Warcraft
Significance and Criticism
--popularity
--social elements and pop culture significance (Felicia Day's The Guild)
--Everybody hates grinding
--Women and online gaming? (maybe?) (do I want to open this can of worms?)
References
- ↑ 'Understanding Video Games,' Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Jonas H. Smith, Susana P. Tosca
- ↑ Star Wars: The Old Republic Jumps to Light Speed
