The Mmorpg

The MMORPG

The first MMORPG is believed to have shown up in 1996, Meridian 59. It wasn't until 1997, with Ultima Online, that the genre started to become popular.

Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games evolved out of MUDs. These games host a large number of players logging into the same world to play out there game. These visual games are currently very big business. There have been a few attempts over time to create a successful MMORPG, but nothing was an extraordinary success until Everquest.

Click here for screen shots from Ever Quest. (warning large images)

Typically these involve the players having a client that allows them to log into the world, which continues to exist and change even when no one is on. Usually MMORPG's charge a subscription service but occasionally they do not, typically the better games do though.

An interesting aspect of MMORPG's is that they are constantly in flux. To keep the players happy the companies are typically continually working to improve and enhance the game. Players often log in to find that new zones and quests have been added, if the game does well enough players can usually expect expansion sets to come in the future. These expansions are giant additions to the game that players are required to buy.

In 1999 Everquest was released by Sony Online Entertainment and was the most popular and commercially successful MMORPG until 2004. The game was so popular and captivating that it received the nick name Evercrack. It marked the beginning of the modern MMORPG push.

Recently, it seems that every game company has been trying to get it's own MMORPG on the market. Already gaming companies like blizzard, maker of World of Warcraft, Lucas Arts, Star Wars, and Sqaure Enix, maker of Final Fantasy XI have released their own world's MMORPG based on the game series they put out. In planning are a number of MMORPG's that are based on existing worlds from movies, books and games. Future MMORPGs include games from The Matrix, Star Trek, Dungeons and Dragons and Star Wars.

Click here for screen shots from Final Fantasy XI. (warning large images)

At the moment it is impossible to talk about MMORPG's without discussing World of Warcraft (WoW), not just because it's my current game of choice but because it made history.

Everquest