Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Revolution of MMORPG

By Tim Green


The concept of MMORPG, which is the acronym for Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Games, has totally revolutionized the video games as they were once known to their fans around the world. The modern age is the age of information technology, communications and connectivity, and modern game players are content with nothing short of a rich online gaming experience to satisfy their appetite for the real competition.

MMORPG have been such a great success because of how they have allowed players to compete with one another through computer servers regardless of their geographical location. MMORPG are the new face of video games in the 21st Century, as topnotch graphics and stimulating gameplay give all that it takes to engage an online gamer to play online games for hours on end.

Probably none of the MMORPG has tasted success the way World of Warcraft has.
In fact, most MMORPG are based more or less on the concept of this game. Although it is not the first ever MMORPG, but it surely holds the value of a milestone. It is probably the most successful MMORPG commercially, and has been the pivoting force for making MMORPG a worldwide phenomenon.

This fact can be better illustrated by the fact that no less than 11.5 billion registered users were recorded for the World of Warcraft by the end of the year 2008. This only goes to show how MMORPG have gathered a worldwide following, which can be shown by the startling revenue milestone of 1 billion dollars, which was reached just by the end of the year 2006. Such revenue levels can only be compared to top gaming consoles such as Nintendo Wii, PlayStation and Xbox.

The history of MMORPG can be traced back to the 1970s when MUD, one of the first ever multiplayer games, was created. Multiplayer games in those days were far primitive than how we see them these days. The first ever graphically supported multiplayer game was NeverWinter Nights, which was developed by AOL, and since then many MMORPG followed including Ultima Online, which also holds an iconic status in the industry, and it was the developer of this very game, Richard Garriott, who introduced the term MMORPG in the first place.

The concept of MMORPG was originated largely in the United States, and most of the MMORPG have been developed there as well. However, given the global influence these games have created, and also keeping in mind the contribution of the Far East technological giants in video games, some Asian countries have also actively contributed to offer some MMORPG as well, such as the recent release AION and Rohan: The Blood Feud.

The fact of the matter is that MMORPG have much in common with conventional video games, but the two major distinguishing factors of online gaming and their quality to entertain multiple users simultaneously really set them apart. Despite the fact that broadly all MMORPG have been designed on the same lines, still millions of gamers love playing them simply because of the interactive feature of these games. With strong character development, enthralling story lines, thrilling game play and captivating graphics, MMORPG continue to have a huge fan club worldwide.

While most MMORPG can be enjoyed online for free, some even offer paid memberships and some are console-based like Final Fantasy XI for PlayStation. Since its introduction the concept of MMORPG has gained immense popularity mainly due to the engaging gaming experience along with online multiplayer interaction. Developers are enabling great features such as group raids and other customizations which will only add to the value of these games for gamers around the world, so that they get a more customized experience.




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