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What is a "Real" MMO?
Numynclatre
Member Posts: 4
I see this posted on these forums all the time, "x game is a real mmo."
What current games do you consider a real MMO?
What games that are on MMORPG.com aren't really MMO's?
What features does a MMO have to have to be considered a real MMO?
What features does a MMO have to have to be considered a real MMORPG?
I don't really have a strict sense of what a MMO is so this is what I think:
A game where you can play with hundreds of people at once and you can actually see their character/s in your game.
-A coward dies a thousand times before his death. The valiant never taste of death but once.
-The only one keeping you from success is yourself.
Comments
First thing on my list is, can you play it offline? -If the answer is yes, it is not an MMO. The rest is more or less debatable. One thing is for sure: Any strict minimum player count anyone suggests is completely arbitrary.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
Short and sweet: An MMO is a game that takes place in an online world. Not a "map," not an arena. You must be able to interact with it and you must be able to, at any point, walk away and start doing something else without moving to a different one. That is why MAG is not an MMO, or Left 4 Dead.
In my palm I hold the world, in my hand I grasp it.
I loosened my fist but for an instant,
and thus I failed to clasp it.
What isn't an MMO? Guild Wars. WoW almost isn't.
What is an MMORPG? A massive immersive world, without instances, where hundreds of people can interact with one another at all times, focus on socializing.
That is the heart of what MMOs used to be about.
WoW on the other hand, almost entirely instanced, almost no focus on socializing, its clearly a game rather than a world that makes sense (the quests alone make this) eck.
You forgot to add RPG to it. If two players can log in at once that is a multiplayer game. If you can make a name for youself with other players around you then its an MMORPG. The more sandbox the game is the more RPG it is. Like Darkfall.
The definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.
Massively Multiplayer: Has to have multiple concurrent players. Massive amounts.
Online: Over the internet.
Role Playing: There should be a lot of people saying 'thee' and 'thou'. Unless it's a space game, in which case there should be a lot of people talking about hyperspace and nanotechnology, and looking very serious.
Game: It has to have rules. Without rules it's just a bunch of people talking funny.
Meowhead: Taking words too literally for their own good.
Exactly. Any definition beyond that is projection of one's personal preference and has zero basis in fact or reality.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
a LARP
(oh, that's not quite the question you were asking were you ... language is so slippery)
LOL!
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Role-playing game, an environment where I the player create a character and control the character in such a way that the character takes on a life of its own. I (the guy) role-play as character. Goofy language optional but he (or she) is "Ferdinand" not "Ken the programmer guy in the mid-west".
One aspect of RPG is a persistant character that is stored between gaming sessions, allowing the player to continue progression as if the character never left the world.
Online, the game is played via multiple computers and network. This implies public network, but a private wide area network of significant proportions could host an MMORPG (like Compuserve or AOL back in the day).
Massively Multiplayer, the "environment" where the game is played consists of a great number (500 is a common figure) of players who are, at least somewhat, playing with each other in a world which encompasses them all.
I don't consider a chatroom lobby like we had for FPS games sufficient to be considered the "environment" since we didn't play in together in the chatroom, but instead were shuffled off to our own server space.
I don't consider private instanced space to qualify as "environment". Instances are private cooperative mini-games apart from the true multiplayer environment.
That's it for me :-)
Yep that post was pretty much /end thread.
First off, then I guess this disqualifies WoW? Because the most you can have play together is what, 40?
Massive by its old MMO definition was 200-600 players working together.
As for your other statement, no, any other definition people give is probably in line with what MMOs used to be. Back from 1997-2003 MMOs all had a few things in common, the massive amounts of players, focus on a virtual world rather than a game, and heavily emphasizing socializing. RPG mechanics were also deeply ingrained into the game. That's what an MMORPG was for a long time. This only started to change with modern MMOs. So when people ask what a "real" MMo is, others will answer "it's what MMOs were in the Golden Age, 1997-2003".
Well first you have to specify whether you're talking about just 'mmo' or specifically 'mmorpg'.
Beyond that, history has shown that its whatever a publisher says it is.
We used to have hundreds attacking-defending Stormwind and Org. I don't consider grouped to be a limitation of playing together. Then again, overland pvp isn't what it used to be.
Sort of like today's auto manufacturers and the stuff they sell as SUVs.
Really now? I mean... really?
Garvon3, there is more to WOW than just that 3 hour session twice a week when you're grinding for your leet gear. You really don't know that? LOL
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
You can only play a "Real" MMO, if you eat the red pill. If an MMO doesn't come with a red pill, then it isn't real.
Check out my nature/animal/relaxing music channel on Youtube!
My game channel on Youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/vendayn
Yeah, there's also grinding quests by yourself or grinding instances with a handful of people you've likely never met before and will never meet again. I wouldn't call either massive, nor would I say the game mechanics encourage socializing.
I think a "real" MMORPG is simply whatever the developers wish to label as such; however, I do have specific criteria by which I judge each MMO.
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
let's go to the definition of an mmo:
Massive (or Massively) = Huge map, world, scenarios. Game is designed be able to handle a lot of players, NPCs, etc. etc. etc. Must have a corresponding large amount of game content.
Multiplayer - played not just by one player. Game must be played simultaneously by a lot of people.
Online - game must be played online using the internet
If a game fits all three of these descriptions... then it is an mmo...
However, the term is 'massively multiplayer' which was a designantion given to refer to the hundreds or thousands of players in a game world compared to the 4-32 that were currently in most multiplayer games at the time. It was not in reference to world size, as many MUDs and CRPGs would have completely kicked the MMOs to the curb in that category.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I wouldn't say hundreds of thousands.
Most MMORPG's don't actually have that many players online at any given time. Think about it...
1) Only one server counts. You will never play with more than there are on that SINGLE server. Servers are capped at a set number of players online at any one time. World of Warcraft has TONS of servers and millions of players-- but you are NOT playing with millions of other people. Not even close. Not even a million.
2) Most MMO's are split between realms, sides, factions, continents, zones, etc. This means that of the players online at any one time, you can only player with a set amount, and the rest you never see. If there's PvP, you only ever see the PvP enemy sides.
3) In your immediately vicinity (usually a zone or area) there are only ever [x] number of players. In fact, you will rarely see more than 100 users in any one zone. Even the most heavily populated zones don't go far past 100, and CERTAINLY NOT in the thousands.
Massively Multiplayer is a lot less than people think. Take DAoC for example...
Right now as of 2/28/2011 12:36am -6CST there is...
1 Server, 1313 Players Online, and 3 Realms.
Pretending Realm populations are balanced equally, each realm has only 437 players. If this was a PvE game, you're only playing on the same server as 437 players. There are scores upon scores of zones. Since this is a PvP game, You're playing with 1313 - PvE Players - Active Players. You're left with whatever % of 1313 that active PvP players are. This is not even 1000, guaranteed.
This does not include BOTS or Multi-Boxing, AFKers, Crafters, Socializers, eRPers, RPers, those in levels 1-49 who are grinding in PvE or quests, RAIDers, etc.
Any in one moment, you may be playing in a full group of 8, against another full group of 8, for a total of 16 players playing together. At most, I've seen each side have an army of 300, which is still < 1000 players playing together. At max in the most popular day/time for the game with all 3 sides fighting, it has certainly not been hundreds of thousands of players.
MMORPG's are more MORPG than they are MMORPG, unless you consider 1000 players or 500 players MMORPG, which indeed you should.
If being a developer means being quiet, mature, well-spoken, and disconnected from the community, then by all means do me a favor and believe I'm not one.
Neither would I.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Most multiplayer games can't get over the hump of 128 concurrent players (a 64 x 64 pvp map often times), so the "massive" part generally kicks in after that. I'm not skilled in network archicture, but my understand is it's different to design something that goes up to 128 concurrent players, and something that hold 5k or 10K concurrent players.
For "RPG" to be added (if we're talking COMPUTER rpg, not paper 'n pencil), you basically need character advancement. Skills, levels, gear, etc., that goes up in strength.
You forget the last "G" stands for game. A mmorpG, of course, is a game, before it is a world. Vanguard built a huge world and no one comes. Bliz builds a fun games and laughs all the way to the bank.