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MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE ROLE-PLAYING GAME

A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of computer role-playing games (CRPGs. There is a large number of people interacting with one another virtually. Richard Garriott[citation needed] gave these online games the term of MMORPG who is the creator of Ultima Online.

The MMORPG are very famous all over the world. In all Role-Playing Games the players assume the role of a fictional characted. The player takes control of the character's actions, however not all of the characters actions can be controled.

The MMORPGs are different fron otherssuch as single-player or small multi-player CRPGs because of the number of players. Another differece is the game's persistent world which continous to exist and evolve.

The MMORPGs are a big bussines wchich revenue ecxeeds $1 billion a year Worlwide. From 2007 to 2008 the virtual goods buying and trading exceeded $1 billion US dollars. In 2008, Western consumer spending on subscription MMOGs grew to $1.4 billion.

Common features
Many of the MMORPGs share basic characteristics such as common themes like: some progression, social interaction within the game, in-game culture, system archictecture, and character customization. Although moder MMORPGs can often differ dramatically from their antecedents.

The characters are ofeten customized extensively, in the technitial as in the visual aspects. Developers usually add new choices to this characters. Some games iclude a form of molding that help to have a better flexibility of choice. The abilities of a character can be specified depending on the game, the specialties can be as basic as just having a greater affinity in one statistic, gaining bonuses of in-game resources such us race, job, etc.

Themes
The majority of popular MMORPGs are based on traditional fantasy themes, often occurring in an in-game universe comparable to that of Dungeons & Dragons.[3] Some employ hybrid themes that either merge or substitute fantasy elements with those of science fiction, sword and sorcery, or crime fiction. Still others use more obscure themes, including American comic books, the occult, and other recognizable literary genres.[3] Often these elements are developed using similar tasks and scenarios involving quests,[3] monsters, and loot.

Progression
Most of the MMORPGs, the development of the player's character is the most important goal. A character progression system is include in some of the MMORPGs. This system allow the player to earn "experirnce points" for their actions allowing them to improve the character level, making them better at whatever they do.

Social Interaction
MMORPGs most of the time allow players to communicate one another, however; this depends on the game.

Roleplaying
In some MMORPGs the palyers are expected to roleplay their characters. In a roleplaying game (RPG) the participant assumes the role of the fictional character. The participant choces the actions of the character according to their charactization. Whether the action succeed or fail depends on hoe good the formal system of rules and guidelines are followed. However; becaues the behaviour of the cahracters are far from normal most of the player do not play the roles of their characters.

The majority of the "role-playing games are conducted like a Radio Drama." One player, the game "Master" (GM), who usually are employees or unpaid volunteers. The "GM" is responsable for describing the game world and its inhabitants; the other players on the game describe the intended actions of their characters, and the "GM" describes the outcome. A different variety of role-playing game is the Live Action Role-Playing Game (LARP), where the players assume the assume the rolr of their characters and perform it.

System architecture
A client server system archictecture is used in most of the MMORPGs. Players connect to the software that generates the "world", which runs continuously on a server, throught "via client software." This software provides access to the entirely "world," however; sometimes further "expantions" may be rewuired to be purchased in order to allow access to some areas of the game. For example, EverQuest and World of Warcraft are games that use such format. Players generally must purchase the client software for a one-time fee, although an increasing trend is for MMORPGs to work using pre-existing "thin" clients, such as a web browser.

Montly subscription are required for some of the MMORPGs. "Massively Multiplayer" are always online, and most require montly payments or some sort of continuous payment. That is use for the maintenance and development of the game. Some MMORPGs might be run on multiple separate servers, each one representing a different world and not allowing the players to interact with other players using different servers. World of Warcraft is a prominent example, in which each server houses thousands of players.

History
MUD, an early multi-user roleplaying gameMain article: History of massively multiplayer online role-playing games Although MMORPGs, as defined today, have only existed since the early 1990s,[4] all MMORPGs can trace a lineage back to the earliest multi-user games which started appearing in the late 1970s.[4] The first of these was Mazewar, though more would soon be developed for the PLATO system.[13] 1984 saw a roguelike (semi-graphical) multi-user game, called Islands of Kesmai.[13] The first "truly" graphical multi-user RPG was Neverwinter Nights, which was delivered through America Online in 1991 and was personally championed by AOL President Steve Case.[13] Other early proprietary graphical MMORPGs include three on The Sierra Network: The Shadow of Yserbius in 1992, The Fates of Twinion in 1993, and The Ruins of Cawdor in 1995.

When NSFNET restrictions were lifted in 1995, the Internet was opened up to developers, which allowed for the first really "massive" titles. The first success after this point was Meridian 59, which also featured first-person 3D graphics,[14] although The Realm Online appeared nearly simultaneously and may be credited with bringing the genre to a wider player-base.[13] Ultima Online, released in 1997, may be credited with first popularizing the genre,[13] though Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds was primarily responsible for mainstream attention throughout Asia which was released in 1996, about a year earlier than Ultima Online. It was EverQuest that brought MMORPGs to the mainstream in the West.[13]

These early titles' financial success has ensured competition in the genre since that time. MMORPG titles now exist on consoles and in new settings, and their players enjoy higher-quality gameplay. The current market for MMORPGs has Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft dominating as the largest pay-to-play MMORPG (despite millions of hackers & bots)[15], alongside earlier such titles like Final Fantasy XI (purging millions of hacker and bot accounts) and Phantasy Star Online, though an additional market exists for free-to-play MMORPGs, which are supported by advertising and purchases of in-game items. This free-to-play model is particularly common in Korean MMORPGs such as MapleStory and Rohan: Blood Feud. One exception, however, is Guild Wars, which avoids competition with other MMORPGs by only requiring the initial purchase of the game to play.

Psychology
Because of the real interaction between MMORPGs players, even though the environment are virtual, phsychologists and soviologist still use MMORPGs as a tool for academic research. A research made by Dr. Sherry Turkle, who interviewed game-player users founfd that many of them have expanded their emotional range by exploring the many different roles, that includes gender identities, that MMORPGs allow an individual to explore. In another research by Nick Yee, who surveyed more than 35,000 MMORPGs users, found that 15% of players become a guild-leader at one time or another, however most of them find the job tough and thankless. The survey also revealed that the player often spends a lot of time doing things that are external to gameplay but part of the metagame.

Some of the players have admitted that the emotions that they feel while playing the MMORPGs are very strong. This emotions are so strong that "8.7% of male and 23.2% of female players in a statistical study have had an online wedding." Other researches have found that the enjoyment of a game is related to the social organization of a game. Ranging from brief encounters between players tio highly organized play in structured groups.

In another research by Zaheer Hussain and Mark D. Griffiths, it was found that 21% of the MMORPGs users prefer to meet people online that offline. The research also shows that there are more male users than femele users. It was also found that 57% of gamers had created a character of the opposite gender, and it is suggested that the online female persona has a number of positive social attributes.

Economics
See also: Virtual economy A user browsing the market for items in EVE OnlineMany MMORPGs feature living economies. Virtual items and currency have to be gained through play and have definite value for players.[24] Such a virtual economy can be analyzed (using data logged by the game)[24] and has value in economic research; more significantly, these "virtual" economies can have an impact on the economies of the real world.

One of the early researchers of MMORPGs was Edward Castronova, who demonstrated that a supply-and-demand market exists for virtual items and that it crosses over with the real world.[25] This crossover has some requirements of the game:

The ability for players to sell an item to each other for in-game (virtual) currency. Bartering for items between players for items of similar value. The purchase of in-game items for real-world currency. Exchanges of real-world currencies for virtual currencies. The creation of meta-currencies such as DKP, or Dragon kill points, to distribute in-game rewards.[26] The idea of attaching real-world value to "virtual" items has had a profound effect on players and the game industry, and even the courts. Castronova's first study in 2002 found that a highly liquid (if illegal) currency market existed, with the value of Everquest's in-game currency exceeding that of the Japanese yen.[27] Some people even make a living by working these virtual economies; these people are often referred to as gold farmers, and may be employed in game sweatshops.[28]

Game publishers usually prohibit the exchange of real-world money for virtual goods, but others actively promote the idea of linking (and directly profiting from) an exchange. In Second Life and Entropia Universe, the virtual economy and the real-world economy are directly linked. This means that real money can be deposited for game money and vice versa. Real-world items have also been sold for game money in Entropia, and some players of Second Life have generated revenues in excess of $100,000.[29]

Some of the issues confronting online economies include:

The use of "bots" or automated programs, that assist some players in accumulating in-game wealth to the disadvantage of other players.[30] The use of unsanctioned auction sites, which has led publishers to seek legal remedies to prevent their use based on intellectual-property claims.[31] The emergence of virtual crime, which can take the form of both fraud against the player or publisher of an online game, and even real-life acts of violence stemming from in-game transactions.[32] Linking real-world and virtual economies is rare in MMORPGs, as it is generally believed to be detrimental to gameplay. If real-world wealth can be used to obtain greater, more immediate rewards than skillful gameplay, the incentive for strategic roleplay and real game involvement is diminished. It could also easily lead to a skewed hierarchy where richer players gain better items, allowing them to take on stronger opponents and level up more quickly than less wealthy but more committed players.[33]

Development
Players interacting in Ultima Online, a classic MMORPG.The cost of developing a competitive commercial MMORPG title often exceeds $10 million.[34] These projects require multiple disciplines within game design and development such as 3D modeling, 2D art, animation, user interfaces, client/server engineering, database architecture, and network infrastructure.[35]

The front-end (or client) component of a commercial, modern MMORPG features 3D graphics. As with other modern 3D games, the front-end requires expertise with implementing 3D engines, real-time shader techniques and physics simulation. The actual visual content (areas, creatures, characters, weapons, spaceships and so forth) is developed by artists who typically begin with two-dimensional concept art, and later convert these concepts into animated 3D scenes, models and texture maps.[36]

Developing an MMOG server requires expertise with client/server architecture, network protocols, security, and relational database design. MMORPGs include reliable systems for a number of vital tasks. The server must be able to handle and verify a large number of connections, prevent cheating, and apply changes (bug fixes or added content) to the game. A system for recording the game's data at regular intervals, without stopping the game, is also important.[37]

Maintenance requires sufficient servers and bandwidth, and a dedicated support staff. Insufficient resources for maintenance lead to lag and frustration for the players, and can severely damage the reputation of a game, especially at launch. Care must also be taken to ensure that player population remains at an acceptable level by adding or removing servers ("shards"). Peer-to-peer MMORPGs could theoretically work cheaply and efficiently in regulating server load, but practical issues such as asymmetrical network bandwidth and CPU-hungry rendering engines make them a difficult proposition. Additionally, they would probably become vulnerable to other problems including new possibilities for cheating. The hosted infrastructure for a commercial-grade MMORPG requires the deployment of hundreds (or even thousands) of servers. Developing an affordable infrastructure for an online game requires developers to scale to large numbers of players with less hardware and network investment.[38]

In addition, the development team will need to have expertise with the fundamentals of game design: world-building, lore and game mechanics,[39] as well as what makes games fun.[40]

Non-corporate development
Though the vast majority of MMORPGs are produced by companies, many small teams of programmers and artists have attempted to contribute to the genre. As shown above, the average MMORPG development project requires enormous investments of time and money, and running the game can be a long-term commitment. As a result, non-corporate (or independent, or "indie") development of MMORPGs is less common compared with other genres. Still, many independent MMORPGs do exist, representing a wide spectrum of genres, gameplay types, and revenue systems.

Some independent MMORPG projects are completely open source, while others like PlaneShift feature proprietary content made with an open-source game engine. The developers of Endless Online have also released development information with details about their coding.[41]

The WorldForge 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.[42] The Multiverse Network is also creating a network and platform specifically for independent MMOG developers.[43]

Trends as of 2008
As there are a number of wildly different titles within the genre, and since the genre develops so rapidly, it is difficult to definitively state that the genre is heading in one direction or another. Still, there are a few obvious developments. One of these developments is the raid group quest, or "raid",[44] which is an adventure designed for large groups of players (often twenty or more).

Instance dungeons
Another is the use of instance dungeons. These are game areas that are "copied" for individual groups, which keeps that group separated from the rest of the game world. This reduces competition, and also has the effect of reducing the amount of data that needs to be sent to and from the server, which reduces lag. Final Fantasy XI pioneered instanced dungeons with the BCNM and KSNM system (Burning Circle or Kindred Seal, Notorious Monster) for smaller groups (4-6 people), Limbus & Dynamis for larger alliances (6-18 people), as well as Instanced PvP in Brenner and Ballista. World of Warcraft's "raids", mentioned above, are often instance dungeons, as are all of the combat areas in Guild Wars. Also the creators of Ragnarok Online introduced an instanced dungeon called "Endless Tower". This is, however, the only instanced dungeon in the game. Dungeon Runners is, like Guild Wars, instanced, excluding Player vs Player areas.

Solo play
Although these games are multiplayer, and intended to be played in groups for the best experience, most now provide solo content, or adventures a player character can do on their own. It can be difficult to find a group to adventure with, and this allows people to play the game without waiting around in safe areas like cities for a long period of time. This change turned out to be popular, and some of the older MMORPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons Online were retrofitted to make solo play easier. Adding to the popularity is a side effect: some people prefer to solo. To encourage players to continue grouping, many games reward grouping by giving grouped players bonuses such as more experience points than they would otherwise get soloing.

Player-created content
Increased amounts of "Player-created content" may be another trend.[45] From the beginning, the Ultima Online world included blank 30-page books that players could write in, collect into personal libraries and trade; in later years players have been able to design and build houses from the ground up. Some non-combat-based MMORPGs rely heavily on player-created content, including everything from simple animations to complete buildings using player-created textures and architecture like A Tale in the Desert. However, these games are very different from the far more popular "standard" MMORPGs revolving around combat and limited character trade skills. Player-created content in these games would be in the form of areas to explore, monsters to kill, quests to carry out and specific in-game items to obtain. The Saga of Ryzom was the first of these "standard" MMORPGs to offer players the ability to create this type of content.

Use of licenses
The use of licenses, common in other video game genres, has also appeared in MMORPGs. 2007 saw the release of The Lord of the Rings Online, based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Other licensed MMORPGs include The Matrix Online, based on the Matrix trilogy of films, Warhammer Online, based on Games Workshops tabletopgame, Star Trek Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Champions Online and Age of Conan. Additionally, several licenses from television have been optioned for MMORPGs, for example Stargate Worlds, which is currently in development. The process is also apparently being applied in reverse, with James Cameron designing an MMORPG that will precede the film (Project 880) to which it is tied.[46]

Console-based MMORPGs
The first Console-based MMORPG was Phantasy Star Online for the Sega Dreamcast, however, this game anticipated by his time was known by few. On some parts of the world Broadband communications was still a dream, fact that didn't help spreading the genre.

Although console MMORPGs are considered more difficult[47] the platform is gaining more attention. Funcom's Age of Conan is to be released on the Xbox 360 in 2009[48][49], Turbine, Inc. announced working on a console-based MMO[50], Sony Online Entertainment is working on DC Universe Online for the PC and PS3. Final Fantasy XI was originally released for Ps2 and PC, but was later extened to Xbox 360, & later emulated as a Ps2 game on the Ps3. Cryptic Studios will release Star Trek Online and Champions Online to both PC and console[51].

References Wikipedia, The free Eciclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMORPG

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