A Short Definition

What to Expect

In this blog, I aim to cover:

1. An overview of some of the developments in MMORPGs over the last 10 years
2. An insight into the Psychology of what makes MMORPGs so popular
3. Aspects of MMORPGs we can use in game design
4. Explore a template for a successful MMORPG

Topics will include:

Definition of an MMORPG
The last 10 years of MMORPG development (summary)
Why are MMORPGs so popular?
MMORPGs in the mobile market
Case Examples

Hopefully at least some of that will sound interesting to you!

Definition

Ok, just to make sure we're all on the same page here.....people often use the term "MMO" to describe an MMORPG when really "MMO" covers a large portion of games including MMORTS and MMOFPS.

This seems a bit basic I know, but I thought it was important to get this straight from the start.

In fact, I found 15 types of MMO (ok, some are a little ridiculous) which shows the variety of games this term covers.

I'm only going to talk about MMORPGs here.

MMORPG: MMO Role Playing Games – WoW

MMOBA: MMO Battle Arena – League of Legends

MMORTS: MMO Real Time Strategy Games – Age of Empires Online

MMOFPS: MMO First Person Shooter Games – Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament

MMOSG(sports): MMO Sports Games – FIFA, Pro-Evolution Soccer

MMOR: MMO Racing Games – Need for Speed

MMORG/MMODG: MMO Rythm/Music Games or MMO Dancing Games – Dance Dance Revolution

MMOMG: MMO Management Games – The Sims Online, Monopoly City Streets

MMOSG(social): MMO Social Games – Second Life, Furcadia

MMOBBG/MMOBBRPG: MMO Bulletin Board Games or MMO Bulletin Board Role Playing Games – Quest For Magic, BladeMaster

MMOPG: MMO Puzzle Games – Three Rings, Puzzle Pirates

MMOCCG: MMO Collectible Card Games – Magic:The Gathering Online

MMOARG alternate reality games – Second Life

MMOTBSG Turn based Strategy Games – Ultracorps, Darkwind:War on Wheels

MMOSiG Simulation Games: Equilibrium/Arbitrage, The Sims Online

Man, that's a lot of letters! :D 

So, I'm sure everyone reading this knows this already, but:

Massively Multiplayer = a very large number of people playing together. Not small groups like Diablo 3. 

Online = a persistent world that continues when not logged in.

Role Playing = the player assumes the role of a character. Some people do this literally in game by continually being “in character”, some just take on the appearance of a character.

The most famous example of an MMORPG is World of Warcraft. Don't worry though, I really won't mention this game a heck of a lot because I believe, great though it is, this game has been discussed thousands of times. Frankly, there's a lot more to MMORPGs than WoW.

I know, how dare I !

Coming Up Next: How Many People Play MMORPGs?