A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an
online video game
An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and mobile devices, and s ...
with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge,
persistent open world, although there are games that differ. These games can be found for most network-capable platforms, including the
personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
,
video game console
A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...
, or
smartphones and other mobile devices.
MMOs can enable players to cooperate and compete with each other on a large scale, and sometimes to interact meaningfully with people around the world. They include a variety of gameplay types, representing many
video game genre
A video game genre is an informal classification of a video game based on how it is played rather than Computer graphics, visual or narrative elements. This is independent of setting (fiction), setting, unlike works of fiction that are expressed ...
s.
History
The most popular type of MMOG, and the subgenre that pioneered the category, is the
massively multiplayer online role-playing game
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.
As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
(MMORPG), which descended from university
mainframe computer
A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterpris ...
MUD and adventure games such as ''
Rogue'' and ''
Dungeon
A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from ...
'' on the
PDP-10
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)'s PDP-10, later marketed as the DECsystem-10, is a mainframe computer family manufactured beginning in 1966 and discontinued in 1983. 1970s models and beyond were marketed under the DECsystem-10 name, espec ...
. These games predate the commercial gaming industry and the Internet, but still featured persistent worlds and other elements of MMOGs still used today.
The first graphical MMOG, and a major milestone in the creation of the genre, was the multiplayer flight combat simulation game ''
Air Warrior
''Air Warrior'' was a multiplayer online combat flight simulation game launched by Kesmai in 1988. It was hosted on GEnie and used that service as a server for client software running on a variety of personal computers. It underwent continual imp ...
'' by
Kesmai
Kesmai was a pioneering game developer and online game publisher, founded in 1981 by Kelton Flinn and John Taylor. The company was best known for the combat flight sim '' Air Warrior'' on the GEnie online service, one of the first graphical MM ...
on the
GEnie
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic myt ...
online service, which first appeared in 1986. Kesmai later added 3D graphics to the game, making it the first 3D MMO.
Commercial MMORPGs gained acceptance in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The genre was pioneered by the
GemStone
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...
series on GEnie, also created by Kesmai, and ''
Neverwinter Nights
''Neverwinter Nights'' is a series of video games developed by BioWare and Obsidian Entertainment, based on the ''Forgotten Realms'' campaign setting of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Aside from also being set in the Dungeons & Dr ...
'', the first such game to include graphics, which debuted on
AOL in 1991.
As
video game developer
A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...
s applied MMOG ideas to other
computer and video game genres
A video game genre is an informal classification of a video game based on how it is played rather than visual or narrative elements. This is independent of setting, unlike works of fiction that are expressed through other media, such as films ...
, new acronyms started to develop, such as
MMORTS
Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game (MMORTS) mixes the genres of real-time strategy and massively multiplayer online games, possibly in the form of web browser-based games, in which a very large number of players interact with on ...
. ''MMOG'' emerged as a generic term to cover this growing class of games.
The debuts of ''
The Realm Online
''The Realm Online'', originally known as ''The Realm'', is a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) launched in December 1996 for Windows PC. It was designed in the tradition of graphical MUDs, before the usage of the terms "m ...
'', ''
Meridian 59
''Meridian 59'' was a 1996 video game developed by Archetype Interactive and published by The 3DO Company. It was the first 3D graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and one of the longest running original online role-p ...
'' (the first 3D MMORPG), ''
Castle Infinity'' (the first kid-focused MMORPG),''
Ultima Online
''Ultima Online'' (''UO'') is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released on September 24, 1997 by Origin Systems.
Set in the '' Ultima'' universe, it is known for its extensive player versus player combat system. ...
'', ''
Underlight
''Underlight'' is a fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then ...
'' and ''
EverQuest
''EverQuest'' is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows PCs. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North Amer ...
'' in the late 1990s popularized the MMORPG genre. The growth in technology meant that where Neverwinter Nights in 1991 had been limited to 50 simultaneous players (a number that grew to 500 by 1995), by 2000 a multitude of MMORPGs was each serving thousands of simultaneous players and led the way for games such as World of Warcraft and ''
EVE Online
''Eve Online'' (stylised ''EVE Online'') is a space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by CCP Games. Players of ''Eve Online'' can participate in a number of in-game profes ...
''.
Despite the genre's focus on multiplayer gaming,
AI-controlled characters are still common.
NPCs and
mob
Mob or MOB may refer to:
Behavioral phenomena
* Crowd
* Smart mob, a temporary self-structuring social organization, coordinated through telecommunication
Crime and law enforcement
* American Mafia, also known as the Mob
* Irish Mob, a US crimin ...
s who give out quests or serve as opponents are typical in MMORPGs. AI-controlled characters are not as common in action-based MMOGs.
The popularity of MMOGs was mostly restricted to the computer game market until the
sixth-generation consoles, with the launch of ''
Phantasy Star Online'' on ''
Dreamcast
The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...
'' and the emergence and growth of online service
Xbox Live
The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an Internet, online multiplayer video game, multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox ...
. There have been a number of console MMOGs, including ''
EverQuest Online Adventures'' (
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
), and the multiconsole ''
Final Fantasy XI
also known as ''Final Fantasy XI Online'', is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), originally developed and published by Squaresoft and then published by Square Enix as the eleventh main installment of the ''Final Fantas ...
''. On PCs, the MMOG market has always been dominated by successful
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
MMORPGs.
MMOGs have only recently begun to break into the mobile phone market. The first,
Samurai Romanesque set in feudal
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, was released in 2001 on
NTT DoCoMo's
iMode
NTT DoCoMo's i-mode is a mobile internet (distinct from wireless internet) service popular in Japan. Unlike Wireless Application Protocols, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail, and the packet-s ...
network in Japan. More recent developments are
CipSoft
CipSoft GmbH is a German video game developer based in Regensburg. Founded in 2001, it is the developer of ''Tibia''. As of January 2023, the company employs 95 people.
History
CipSoft was founded on 8 June 2001 by Guido Lübke, Stephan Payer ...
's
TibiaME and Biting Bit's ''MicroMonster'' which features online and bluetooth multiplayer gaming.
SmartCell Technology is in development of Shadow of Legend, which will allow gamers to continue their game on their mobile device when away from their PC.
Science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
has also been a popular theme, featuring games such as ''
Mankind
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
'', ''
Anarchy Online
''Anarchy Online'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) published and developed by Norwegian video game development company Funcom. Released in June 2001, the game was the first in the genre to include a science-fiction ...
'', ''
Eve Online
''Eve Online'' (stylised ''EVE Online'') is a space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by CCP Games. Players of ''Eve Online'' can participate in a number of in-game profes ...
'', ''
Star Wars Galaxies
''Star Wars Galaxies'' was a ''Star Wars'' themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows, developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts.
Released on June 26, 2003, to much critical ac ...
'' and ''
The Matrix Online
''The Matrix Online'' (abbreviated as ''MxO'') was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) initially developed by Monolith Productions and later, a few months after launch, by Sony Online Entertainment. It was advertised as ...
''.
MMOGs emerged from the hard-core gamer community to the mainstream strongly in December 2003 with an analysis in the ''Financial Times'' measuring the value of the virtual property in the then-largest MMOG, EverQuest, to result in a per-capita GDP of 2,266 dollars which would have placed the virtual world of EverQuest as the 77th wealthiest nation, on par with Croatia, Ecuador, Tunisia or Vietnam.
''
World of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'' is a dominant MMOG with 8-9 million monthly subscribers worldwide. The subscriber base dropped by 1 million after the expansion
Wrath of the Lich King
''World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King'' is the second expansion set for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) ''World of Warcraft'', following '' The Burning Crusade''. It launched on November 13, 2008 and sold 2.8 m ...
, bringing it to 9 million subscribers in 2010, though it remained the most popular Western title among MMOGs. In 2008, Western consumer spending on ''World of Warcraft'' represented a 58% share of the subscription MMOG market in 2009.
The title has generated over $2.2 billion in cumulative consumer spending on subscriptions from 2005 through 2009.
Virtual economies
Within a majority of the MMOGs created, there is virtual currency where the player can earn and accumulate money. The uses for such virtual currency are numerous and vary from game to game. The
virtual economies
A virtual economy (or sometimes synthetic economy) is an emergent economy existing in a virtual world, usually exchanging virtual goods in the context of an online game, particularly in massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). People enter th ...
created within MMOGs often blur the lines between real and virtual worlds. The result is often seen as an unwanted interaction between the real and virtual economies by the players and the provider of the virtual world. This practice (
economy interaction) is mostly seen in this genre of games. The two seem to come hand in hand with even the earliest MMOGs such as ''
Ultima Online
''Ultima Online'' (''UO'') is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released on September 24, 1997 by Origin Systems.
Set in the '' Ultima'' universe, it is known for its extensive player versus player combat system. ...
'' having this kind of trade, real money for virtual things.
The importance of having a working virtual economy within an MMOG is increasing as they develop. A sign of this is
CCP Games
CCP hf., doing business as CCP Games, is an Icelandic video game developer based in Reykjavík. Novator Partners and General Catalyst had previously collectively owned a majority stake in the company, and in September 2018, CCP was acquired ...
hiring the first real-life economist for its MMOG
Eve Online
''Eve Online'' (stylised ''EVE Online'') is a space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by CCP Games. Players of ''Eve Online'' can participate in a number of in-game profes ...
to assist and analyze the virtual economy and production within this game.
The results of this interaction between the virtual economy, and our real economy, which is really the interaction between the company that created the game and the third-party companies that want a share of the profits and success of the game. This battle between companies is defended on both sides. The company originating the game and the intellectual property argue that this is in violation of the terms and agreements of the game as well as copyright violation since they own the rights to how the online currency is distributed and through what channels. The case that the third-party companies and their customers defend, is that they are selling and exchanging the time and effort put into the acquisition of the currency, not the digital information itself. They also express that the nature of many MMOGs is that they require time commitments not available to everyone. As a result, without external acquisition of virtual currency, some players are severely limited to being able to experience certain aspects of the game.
The practice of acquiring large volumes of virtual currency for the purpose of selling to other individuals for tangible and real currency is called
gold farming
Gold farming is the practice of playing a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) to acquire in-game currency, later selling it for real-world money. . Many players who have poured in all of their personal effort resent that there is this exchange between real and virtual economies since it devalues their own efforts. As a result, the term 'gold farmer' now has a very negative connotation within the games and their communities. This slander has unfortunately also extended itself to racial profiling and to in-game and forum insulting.
The reaction from many of the game companies varies. In games that are substantially less popular and have a small player base, the enforcement of the elimination of 'gold farming' appears less often. Companies in this situation most likely are concerned with their personal sales and subscription revenue over the development of their virtual economy, as they most likely have a higher priority to the games viability via adequate funding. Games with an enormous player base, and consequently much higher sales and subscription income, can take more drastic actions more often and in much larger volumes. This account banning could also serve as an economic gain for these large games, since it is highly likely that, due to demand, these 'gold farming' accounts will be recreated with freshly bought copies of the game.
The virtual goods revenue from online games and social networking exceeded US$7 billion in 2010.
In 2011, it was estimated that up to 100,000 people in China and Vietnam are playing online games to gather gold and other items for sale to Western players. While this 'gold farming' is considered to ruin the game for actual players, many rely on 'gold farming' as their main source of income.
However single player in MMOs is quite viable, especially in what is called 'player vs environment' gameplay. This may result in the player being unable to experience all content, as many of the most significant and potentially rewarding game experiences are events that require large and coordinated teams to complete.
Technical aspect
Most MMOGs also share other characteristics that make them different from other multiplayer online games. MMOGs host many players in a single game world, and all of those players can interact with each other at any given time. Popular MMOGs might have thousands of players online at any given time, usually on company-owned servers. Non-MMOGs, such as ''
Battlefield 1942
''Battlefield 1942'' is a 2002 first-person shooter video game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game can be played in single-player mode against the video game AI or in multiplayer mode a ...
'' or ''
Half-Life
Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable at ...
'' usually have fewer than 50 players online (per server) and are usually played on private servers. Also, MMOGs usually do not have any significant
mod
Mod, MOD or mods may refer to:
Places
* Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band
* M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
s since the game must work on company servers. There is some debate if a high head-count is a requirement to be an MMOG. Some say that it is the size of the game world and its capability to support many players that should matter. For example, despite technology and content constraints, most MMOGs can fit up to a few thousand players on a single game server at a time.
To support all those players, MMOGs need large-scale game worlds, and
servers to connect players to those worlds. Some games have all of their servers connected so all players are connected in a
shared universe
A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...
. Others have copies of their starting game world put on different servers, called "shards", for a sharded universe. Shards got their name from Ultima Online, where in the story, the shards of Mondain's gem created the duplicate worlds.
Still, others will only use one part of the universe at any time. For example, ''
Tribes
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...
'' (which is not an MMOG) comes with a number of large maps, which are played in rotation (one at a time). In contrast, the similar title ''
PlanetSide
''PlanetSide'' was a massively-multiplayer online first-person-shooter video game published by Sony Online Entertainment and released on May 20, 2003.
''PlanetSide'' chronicles the efforts of three factions as they fight for territorial contro ...
'' allows all
map
A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes.
Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...
-like areas of the game to be reached via flying, driving, or teleporting.
MMORPGs usually have sharded universes, as they provide the most flexible solution to the server load problem, but not always. For example, the space simulation ''
Eve Online
''Eve Online'' (stylised ''EVE Online'') is a space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by CCP Games. Players of ''Eve Online'' can participate in a number of in-game profes ...
'' uses only one large cluster server peaking at over 60,000 simultaneous players.
It is challenging to develop the database engines that are needed to run a successful MMOG with millions of players. Many developers have created their own, but attempts have been made to create ''
middleware
Middleware is a type of computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue".
Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement co ...
'', software that would help game developers concentrate on their games more than technical aspects. One such piece of middleware is called
BigWorld
BigWorld Technology was an Australian software company. It was the developer of BigWorld, a middleware development tool suite for creating massively multiplayer online games (MMO) and virtual worlds. It was formed in 2002 by John De Margheriti ...
.
An early, successful entry into the field was VR-1 Entertainment whose Conductor platform was adopted and endorsed by a variety of service providers around the world including Sony Communications Network in Japan; the Bertelsmann Game Channel in Germany; British Telecom's
Wireplay
Wireplay was an online multiplayer gaming network available as a dial-up service that allowed players to match up and play PC games with each other remotely. Compatible games had ''Wireplay'' capability built into the game itself, with the onlin ...
in England; and DACOM and Samsung SDS in South Korea. Games that were powered by the Conductor platform included Fighter Wing, Air Attack, Fighter Ace, Evernight, Hasbro Em@ail Games (Clue, NASCAR and Soccer), Towers of Fallow, The SARAC Project, VR1 Crossroads and Rumble in the Void.
Typical MUDs and other predecessor games were limited to about 64 or 256 simultaneous player connections; this was a limit imposed by the underlying operating system, which was usually Unix-like. One of the biggest problems with modern engines has been handling the vast number of players. Since a typical server can handle around 10,000–12,000 players, 4000–5000 active simultaneously, dividing the game into several servers has up until now been the solution. This approach has also helped with technical issues, such as
lag
Lag, or similar, may refer to:
Lag
* Łąg, Poland
* Lag (company), a French guitar maker
* Lag (cue sports), a brief pre-game competition to determine which player will go first
* Latency (engineering), a slower response time in computing, commu ...
, that many players experience. Another difficulty, especially relevant to real-time simulation games, is time synchronization across hundreds or thousands of players. Many games rely on time synchronization to drive their physics simulation as well as their scoring and damage detection.
Although there is no specific limit to where an online multiplayer online game is considered massive, there are broad features that are often used as a metric. Garriott's famed 1997 definition referred to the fundamental architecture shift required to support tens of thousands of concurrent players, which required shifting from individual servers to data centers on multiple continents. Games may have MMO features like large worlds with online persistence but still not generally be considered an MMO, such as
Grand Theft Auto V
''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
's online play, while other games like
League of Legends
''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by '' Defense of the Ancients'', a custom map for ''Warcraft III'', ...
have small individual sessions but the global infrastructure requirements often allow for classification as an MMO. The term is often used differently by players who tend to refer to their play experience versus game developers who refer to the engineering experience. MMO game developers tend to require tremendous investments in developing and maintaining servers around the globe, network bandwidth infrastructure often on the order of terabytes per second, and large engineering problems relating to managing data spread between multiple computer clusters.
Game types
There are several types of massively multiplayer online games.
Role-playing
Massively multiplayer online
role-playing games
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...
, known as MMORPGs, are the most common type of MMOG. Some MMORPGs are designed as a
multiplayer browser game in order to reduce infrastructure costs and utilise a
thin client
In computer networking, a thin client is a simple (low-performance) computer that has been optimized for establishing a remote connection with a server-based computing environment. They are sometimes known as ''network computers'', or in th ...
that most users will already have installed. The acronym ''BBMMORPG''s has sometimes been used to describe these as ''browser-based''.
Bulletin board role-playing games
Many games are categorized as MMOBBGs,, Massively Multiplayer Online Bulletin Board Games, also called MMOBBRPGs. These particular types of games are primarily made up of text and descriptions, although images are often used to enhance the game.
First-person shooter
MMOFPS is an online gaming genre which features many simultaneous players in a
first-person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the p ...
fashion.
These games provide large-scale, sometimes team-based combat. The addition of persistence in the game world means that these games add elements typically found in RPGs, such as
experience point
An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experi ...
s. However, MMOFPS games emphasize player skill more than player statistics, as no number of in-game bonuses will compensate for a player's inability to aim and think tactically.
Real-time strategy
Massively multiplayer online
real-time strategy
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, turn ...
games, also known as "MMORTS", combine
real-time strategy
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, turn ...
(RTS) with a
persistent world
A persistent world or persistent state world (PSW) is a virtual world which, by the definition by Richard Bartle, "continues to exist and develop internally even when there are no people interacting with it". The first virtual worlds were text-ba ...
. Players often assume the role of a general, king, or other types of figurehead leading an army into battle while maintaining the resources needed for such warfare. The titles are often based in a
sci-fi
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...
or
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
universe and are distinguished from single or small-scale multiplayer RTSes by the number of players and common use of a persistent world, generally hosted by the game's publisher, which continues to evolve even when the player is offline.
Turn-based strategy
Steve Jackson Games'
UltraCorps
''UltraCorps'' is an online, multi-player, turn-based space strategy game originally developed by VR-1 Entertainment in 1997 and acquired by Microsoft's MSN Gaming Zone in 1998. The game couples distinctive 3-D rendered artwork and the ability to ...
is an example of an MMO turn-based strategy game. Hundreds of players share the same playing field of conquest. In a "mega" game, each turn fleets are built and launched to expand one's personal empire. Turns are usually time-based, with a "tick" schedule usually daily. All orders are processed, and battles resolved, at the same time during the tick. Similarly, in ''
Darkwind: War on Wheels'', vehicle driving and combat orders are submitted simultaneously by all players and a "tick" occurs typically once per 30 seconds. This allows each player to accurately control multiple vehicles and pedestrians in racing or combat.
Simulations
Some MMOGs have been designed to accurately simulate certain aspects of the real world. They tend to be very specific to industries or activities of very large risk and huge potential loss, such as rocket science, airplanes, trucks, battle tanks, submarines etc. Gradually as simulation technology is getting more mainstream, so too various simulators arrive into more mundane industries.
The initial goal of ''
World War II Online
''WWII Online'' is the very first massively multiplayer online first-person shooter (MMOFPS) ever created and holds three Guinness World Records. It is in active (continuous) development by Playnet, Inc.'s internal game studio, "Cornered Rat Soft ...
'' was to create a map (in northwestern Europe) that had real-world physics (gravity, air/water resistance, etc.), and ability for players to have some strategic abilities to its basic FPS/RPG role. While the current version is not quite a true simulated world, it is very complex and contains a large persistent world.
The MMOG genre of air traffic simulation is one example, with networks such as
VATSIM and
IVAO striving to provide rigorously authentic
flight-simulation environments to players in both pilot and air traffic controller roles. In this category of MMOGs, the objective is to create duplicates of the real world for people who cannot or do not wish to undertake those experiences in real life. For example, flight simulation via an MMOG requires far less expenditure of time and money, is completely risk-free, and is far less restrictive (fewer regulations to adhere to, no medical exams to pass, and so on).
Another specialist area is the mobile telecoms operator (carrier) business where billion-dollar investments in networks are needed but market shares are won and lost on issues from segmentation to handset subsidies. A specialist simulation was developed by Nokia called Equilibrium/Arbitrage to have over a two-day period five teams of top management of one operator/carrier play a "wargame" against each other, under extremely realistic conditions, with one operator an incumbent fixed and mobile network operator, another a new entrant mobile operator, a third a fixed-line/internet operator, etc. Each team is measured by outperforming their rivals by market expectations of that type of player. Thus each player has drastically different goals, but within the simulation, any one team can win. Also to ensure maximum intensity, only one team can win. Telecoms senior executives who have taken the Equilibrium/Arbitrage simulation say it is the most intense, and most useful training they have ever experienced. It is typical of business use of simulators, in very senior management training/retraining.
Examples of MMO simulation games include ''
World of Tanks
''World of Tanks'' (''WoT'') is a massively multiplayer online game developed by Belarusian company Wargaming, featuring 20th century (1910s–1970s) era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to ...
'', ''
War Thunder
''War Thunder'' is a free-to-play vehicular combat multiplayer video game developed and published by Gaijin Entertainment. Announced in 2011, it was first released in November 2012 as an open beta with a worldwide release in January 2013; it had ...
'', ''
Motor City Online
''Motor City Online'' was a racing massively multiplayer online video game released by Electronic Arts on October 29, 2001. The point of the game was to buy classic cars (mostly American muscle cars) ranging from 1930s to 1970s models, tune them u ...
'', ''
The Sims Online
''The Sims Online'', also known as ''EA-Land'', was a massively multiplayer online variation on Maxis' computer game ''The Sims''. It was published by Electronic Arts and released in December 2002 for Microsoft Windows. The game was sold in retai ...
'', and ''
Jumpgate
An Einstein–Rosen bridge, or wormhole, is a postulated method, within the general theory of relativity, of moving from one point in space to another without crossing the space between. Wormholes are a popular feature of science fiction as t ...
''.
Sports
A massively multiplayer online sports game is a title where players can compete in some of the more traditional major league sports, such as
football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
,
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
,
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
or
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
. According to GameSpot.com, Baseball Mogul Online was "the world's first massively multiplayer online sports game". Other titles that qualify as MMOSG have been around since the early 2000s, but only after 2010 did they start to receive the endorsements of some of the official major league associations and players.
Racing
MMOR means massively multiplayer online racing. Currently there are only a small number of racing-based MMOGs, including ''
iRacing
''iRacing'' is a subscription-based online racing simulation video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008. All in-game sessions are hosted on the publisher's servers. The game simulates real world cars, tr ...
'', ''
Kart Rider
''Crazyracing KartRider'' ( ko, 크레이지레이싱 카트라이더) is an online multiplayer racing game developed by Nexon Korea Corporation. It is part of the ''Crazy Arcade'' franchise. It earns revenue by selling virtual items within the i ...
'', ''
Test Drive Unlimited
''Test Drive Unlimited'' is an open world racing video game developed by Eden Games and published by Atari for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. Atari Melbourne House developed the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable versions. Being the e ...
'', ''
Project Torque
''Project Torque'', also known as ''Level-R'' outside North America and ''HEAT Online'' for the 2010 North American version, is a multiplayer online racing game (MMORG) with partially chargeable content, or micro-transactions, originally develope ...
'', ''
Drift City
''Drift City'' (also known as Skid Rush (스키드러쉬) in South Korea) is a massively multiplayer online racing video game developed by NPluto and sponsored by several major automotive companies such as Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and U1 Technolog ...
'' and ''
Race or Die''. Other notable MMORs included ''
Upshift Strikeracer
''Upshift Strikeracer'' (''USR'') was a MMO racing video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, o ...
'', ''
Motor City Online
''Motor City Online'' was a racing massively multiplayer online video game released by Electronic Arts on October 29, 2001. The point of the game was to buy classic cars (mostly American muscle cars) ranging from 1930s to 1970s models, tune them u ...
'' and ''
Need for Speed: World'', all of which have since shut down. The ''
Trackmania
''TrackMania'' is a series of racing games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Nintendo DS and Wii developed by Nadeo and Firebrand Games. Instead of following the usual trend of choosing a set car and track to ...
'' series is the world's largest MMO racing game and holds the world record for "Most Players in a Single Online Race". Although ''
Darkwind: War on Wheels'' is more combat-based than racing, it is also considered an MMOR.
Casual
Many types of MMO games can be classified as
casual, because they are designed to appeal to all computer users (as opposed to subgroup of frequent game buyers), or to fans of another game genre (such as
collectible card games
A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in 1993.
Genera ...
). Such games are easy to learn and require a smaller time commitment than other game types. Other popular casual games include simple management games such as ''
The Sims Online
''The Sims Online'', also known as ''EA-Land'', was a massively multiplayer online variation on Maxis' computer game ''The Sims''. It was published by Electronic Arts and released in December 2002 for Microsoft Windows. The game was sold in retai ...
'' or ''
Kung Fu Panda World
''Kung Fu Panda World'' was a browser-based video game. The game was themed after the ''Kung Fu Panda'' franchise of DreamWorks Animation, where players could move their character around a pre-rendered 2D world and participate in a variety of m ...
.''
MMORPGs, or massively multiplayer online puzzle games, are based entirely on puzzle elements.
They are usually set in a world where the players can access the puzzles around the world. Most games that are MMOPGs are hybrids with other genres. ''
Castle Infinity'' was the first MMOG developed for children. Its gameplay falls somewhere between
puzzle
A puzzle is a game, Problem solving, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together (Disentanglement puzzle, or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at th ...
and
adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
.
There are also massively multiplayer collectible card games: ''
Alteil
is a story-driven, Adobe Flash, Flash-based online collectible card game produced by Japanese studio Dex Entertainment Inc., Dex Entertainment and published by Media Blasters. It was released in Japan in 2004, and released in English in 2008. Alt ...
'', ''Astral Masters'' and ''Astral Tournament''. Other MMOCCGs might exist (''
Neopets
''Neopets'' is a virtual pet website. Users can own virtual pets ("Neopets") and buy virtual items for them using one of two virtual currencies. One currency, called Neopoints, can be earned within the site, and the other, Neocash, can eithe ...
'' has some CCG elements) but are not as well known.
Alternate reality game
An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions.
The form is defined by inten ...
s (ARGs) can be massively multiplayer, allowing thousands of players worldwide to co-operate in puzzle trials and mystery solving. ARGs take place in a unique mixture of online and real-world play that usually does not involve a
persistent world
A persistent world or persistent state world (PSW) is a virtual world which, by the definition by Richard Bartle, "continues to exist and develop internally even when there are no people interacting with it". The first virtual worlds were text-ba ...
, and are not necessarily multiplayer, making them different from MMOGs.
Music/rhythm
Massively multiplayer online music/rhythm games (MMORGs), sometimes called massively multiplayer online dance games (MMODGs), are MMOGs that are also
music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...
s. This idea was influenced by ''
Dance Dance Revolution
(''DDR'') is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, ''Dance Dance Revolution'' is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance ...
''. ''
Audition Online
''Audition Online'' ( ko, 오디션 온라인), also known as ''X-BEAT'' in Japan and popularly called ''AyoDance'' in Indonesia, is a free-to-play multiplayer online casual rhythm game produced by T3 Entertainment. It was originally relea ...
'' is another casual massively multiplayer online game and it is produced by T3 Entertainment.
''
Just Dance 2014
''Just Dance 2014'' is a 2013 dance rhythm game developed by Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Milan, Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Pune, Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Barcelona and published by Ubisoft. The fifth main installment of ...
'' has a game mode called World Dance Floor, which also structures like an MMORPG.
Social
Massively multiplayer online social games (MMOSGs) focus on socialization instead of objective-based gameplay. There is a great deal of overlap in terminology with "online communities" and "
virtual world
A virtual world (also called a virtual space) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activities ...
s". One example that has garnered widespread media attention is Linden Lab's ''
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
'', emphasizing socializing,
worldbuilding
Worldbuilding is the process of constructing a world, originally an imaginary one, sometimes associated with a fictional universe. Developing an imaginary setting with coherent qualities such as a history, geography, and ecology is a key task fo ...
and an in-world virtual economy that depends on the sale and purchase of user-created content. It is technically an MMOSG or
Casual Multiplayer Online (CMO) by definition, though its stated goal was to realize the concept of the
Metaverse
In science fiction, the "metaverse" is a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal, and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets. In colloquial usa ...
from
Neal Stephenson's novel ''
Snow Crash
''Snow Crash'' is a science fiction novel by the American writer Neal Stephenson, published in 1992. Like many of Stephenson's novels, it covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography ...
''. Instead of being based around combat, one could say that it was based around the creation of virtual objects, including models and scripts. In practice, it has more in common with ''
Club Caribe'' than ''
EverQuest
''EverQuest'' is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows PCs. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North Amer ...
''. It was the first MMO of its kind to achieve widespread success (including attention from mainstream media); however, it was not the first (as ''Club Caribe'' was released in 1988). Competitors in this subgenre (non-combat-based MMORPG) include ''
Active Worlds
Active Worlds is an online virtual world, developed by ActiveWorlds Inc., a company based in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and launched on June 28, 1995. Users assign themselves a name, log into the Active Worlds universe, and explore 3D virtual wo ...
'', ''
There'', ''
SmallWorlds'', ''
Furcadia
''Furcadia'' is a free-to-play Massively multiplayer online game#Casual, MMOSG/MMORPG or graphical MUD, set in a fantasy world inhabited by magical creatures. The game is based on User-generated content, user-created content with emphasis on world ...
'', ''
Whirled
Whirled is a virtual world website and video game created by Three Rings Design. Its Open Beta stage was announced at the Game Developers Conference in 2007. It makes use of Adobe Flash as an applet embedded into the website while also having p ...
'', ''
IMVU
IMVU (, stylized as imvu) is an online virtual world and social networking site. IMVU was founded in 2004 and was originally backed by venture investors Menlo Ventures, AllegisCyber Capital, Bridgescale Partners, and Best Buy Capital. '' and ''
Red Light Center''.
Many browser-based Casual MMOs have begun to spring up. This has been made easier because of maturing of ''
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Fla ...
'' and the popularity of ''
Club Penguin
''Club Penguin'' was a massively multiplayer online game (MMO), involving a virtual world that contained a range of online games and activities. It was created by New Horizon Interactive (now known as Disney Canada Inc.). Players used cartoon ...
'', ''
Growtopia'', and ''
The Sims Online
''The Sims Online'', also known as ''EA-Land'', was a massively multiplayer online variation on Maxis' computer game ''The Sims''. It was published by Electronic Arts and released in December 2002 for Microsoft Windows. The game was sold in retai ...
''.
Combat
Massively multiplayer online combat games are realtime objective, strategy and capture the flag style modes.
''
Infantry Online'' is an example multiplayer combat video game with sprite animation graphics, using complex soldier, ground vehicle and space-ship models on typically complex terrains developed by Sony online entertainment.
Research
Some recent attempts to build
peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network. They are said to form a peer-to-peer n ...
(P2P) MMOGs have been made. ''Outback Online'' may be the first commercial one, however, so far most of the efforts have been academic studies. A P2P MMOG may potentially be more scalable and cheaper to build, but notable issues with P2P MMOGs include security and consistency control, which can be difficult to address given that clients are easily hacked. Some MMOGs such as
Vindictus
''Vindictus'' is an action massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by devCAT, an internal studio of Korean free-to-play game publisher Nexon. ''Vindictus'' is a prequel to the MMORPG ''Mabinogi'', and is known as ''Mabinog ...
use P2P networking and client-server networking together.
In April 2004, the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
announced that it was developing a massively multiplayer training simulation called ''AWE'' (
asymmetric warfare
Asymmetric warfare (or asymmetric engagement) is the term given to describe a type of war between belligerents whose relative military power, strategy or tactics differ significantly. This is typically a war between a standing, professional ar ...
environment). The purpose of ''AWE'' is to train soldiers for
urban warfare
Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both the operational and the tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the presence of civilians a ...
and there are no plans for a public commercial release.
Forterra Systems
Forterra Systems, Inc. was a 3D graphics software company headquartered in San Mateo, California that produced private and secure massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) virtual worlds for corporate, government, defense, medical and educational ...
is developing it for the Army based on the ''There''
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...
.
In 2010,
Bonnie Nardi published an ethnographic study on World of Warcraft examined with
Lev Vygotsky
Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (russian: Лев Семёнович Выго́тский, p=vɨˈɡotskʲɪj; be, Леў Сямёнавіч Выго́цкі, p=vɨˈɡotskʲɪj; – June 11, 1934) was a Soviet psychologist, known for his work on ps ...
's
activity theory
Activity theory (AT; russian: link=no, Теория деятельности) is an umbrella term for a line of eclectic social-sciences theories and research with its roots in the Soviet psychological activity theory pioneered by Sergei Rubinste ...
.
As the field of MMOs grows larger each year, research has also begun to investigate the socio-informatic bind the games create for their users. In 2006, researchers Constance A. Steinkuehler and Dmitri Williams initiated research on such topics. The topic most intriguing to the pair was to further understand the gameplay, as well as the virtual world serving as a social meeting place, of popular MMOs.
To further explore the effects of
social capital
Social capital is "the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively". It involves the effective functioning of social groups through interpersonal relationships ...
and social relationships on MMOs, Steinkuehler and Williams combined conclusions from two different MMO research projects: sociocultural perspective on culture and cognition, and the other on media effects of MMOs. The conclusions of the two studies explained how MMOs function as a new form of a "third place" for informal social interactions much like coffee shops, pubs, and other typical hangouts. Many scholars, however, such as Oldenburg (1999), refute the idea of a MMOs serving as a "third place" due to inadequate bridging social capital. His argument is challenged by Putnam (2000) who concluded that MMOs are well suited for the formation of bridging social capital, tentative relationships that lack in depth, because it is inclusive and serves as a sociological lubricant that is shown across the data collected in both of the research studies.
MMOs can also move past the "lubricant" stage and into the "superglue" stage known as bonding social capital, a closer relationship that is characterized by stronger connections and emotional support. The study concludes that MMOs function best as a bridging mechanism rather than a bonding one, similar to a "third place". Therefore, MMOs have the capacity and the ability to serve as a community that effectively socializes users just like a coffee shop or pub, but conveniently in the comfort of their home.
Spending
British online gamers are outspending their German and French counterparts according to a study commissioned by Gamesindustry.com and TNS. The UK MMO-market is now worth £195 million in 2009 compared to the £165 million and £145 million spent by German and French online gamers.
The US gamers spend more, however, spending about $3.8 billion overall on MMO games. $1.8 billion of that money is spent on monthly subscription fees. The money spent averages out to $15.10 between both subscription and free-to-play MMO gamers. The study also found that 46% of 46 million players in the US pay real money to play MMO games.
''Today's Gamers MMO Focus Report'', published in March 2010, was commissioned by TNS and gamesindustry.com. A similar study for the UK market-only (''UK National Gamers Survey Report'')
was released in February 2010 by the same groups.
See also
*
Extended reality
Extended reality is a catch-all to refer to augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Sometimes the abbreviation “XR” is used to refer to both. The technology is intended to combine or mirror the physical world with a "digital twin world ...
*
Game engine
A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...
*
List of massively multiplayer online games
This is a list of notable massively multiplayer online games (MMOG), sorted by category.
Massively multiplayer online first-person shooter games (MMOFPS)
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG)
Massively multiplayer onl ...
*
Multiplayer video game
A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
*
Online game
An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PC game, PCs, Console game, consoles and ...
*
Social network game
A social network game (sometimes simply referred to as a social media game, social gaming, social video game or online social game) is a type of online game that is played through social networks or social media. They typically feature multipl ...
*
Virtual world
A virtual world (also called a virtual space) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activities ...
References
External links
*
{{Video game genre
Multiplayer online games
Video game genres
Video game terminology
Social software