Last modified on August 29, 2020, at 22:40

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs for short) are a genre of role-playing video games that involve many players logging into a server that is usually owned by the company that develops or publishes the game and playing in a virtual world. This game world is persistent, meaning it exists even when you aren't playing.

Most MMORPGs charge a monthly fee, though many new MMORPGs have systems where the game is both free to download and free to play, but the player pays real money for in-game items or services. The cost of developing and running a MMORPG can be high and include the price and maintenance of the servers used, customer and technical support, and developing fresh in-game content. However, with ongoing monthly charges for players or other persistent financial structure, the potential profit can be extraordinary as well.

Many MMORPGs are designed to be addictive in quality, with a 'grinding' system that requires a player to perform a repetitive task for, at high levels, sometimes days of playtime before gaining a substantive reward. The constantly-growing nature of some popular MMORPG storylines also means there is no real 'end' to the game other than hitting the maximum allowed character level and waiting for the next addition to the storyline to be put up. This addictive quality, deliberately planned into the games to keep players in (because most MMORPGs have very little actual 'fun' involved past the first few levels, if that), can and has caused players to give up essentials in their lives in order to keep playing. World of Warcraft is perhaps the worst offender, with stories having hit headlines about players leaving their spouses and selling their homes in lieu of leaving the game for good.

History

MMORPGs are considered the next step from Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs), which are text-based multiplayer online games, since MMORPGs are graphics based.

Violence

MMORPGs have a tendency to be violent and sometimes graphic. Some MMORPGs have objectionable content such as nudity or innuendo, while others do not.

Commercial MMORPGs

(Due to the growth of this genre, this list will always be incomplete)

Free MMORPGS

(Due to the growth of this genre, this list will always be incomplete)