Since I know little to nothing about MMORPGs, I decided to do a little research to see what they are all about. I apologize ahead of time to anyone who has played or currently plays MMORPGs, because I’m sure you will want to say DUH! to the majority of my post. But bear with me...
As a starting point, and also out of curiosity, I typed “Top 10 MMORPGs” into Google. I clicked on about 3-4 links and soon realized that there was not a clear consensus on which 10 were the Top 10. The only game that consistently showed up in the number one spot was World of Warcraft (surprise, surprise!). I didn’t get too far down this line of research before realizing that, although learning which 10 MMORPGs qualify as the Top 10 would be interesting, it would not teach me anything about what an MMORPG is.
The following are just a few elements of MMORPGs that I thought were worth discussing:
- · First of all, the first M in MMORPG stands for massively while the second M stands for multi-player. The enormous number of players is what distinguishes MMORPGs from other role playing games.
- · Time is persistent in MMORPGs. This means that the virtual world in which the game takes place continues to develop even when you are not playing or are offline. I thought this was important because it makes the virtual worlds in which MMORPGs are played more realistic.
- · Players can cooperate or collaborate with other players to achieve a goal or simply to explore the world. Sometimes players with common interests will organize in large groups called guilds. In this way, MMORPGs serve a social function.
- · Some MMORPGs offer a player vs. player mode in which players are separated into many different factions. Members of each faction work together to defeat the other factions. This requires players to communicate, just as players in guilds would communicate.
- · Gaming Culture: http://www.mmorpgfocus.com Here's a website I found with a forum, a blog, articles about MMORPGs, and much more. This site does a good job of demonstrating the idea that htere is a definite culture which surrounds the world of online gaming. The topics covered in the articles on this site include descriptions of games currently being developed, information about release dates for various versions of games (they pre-release games and get user input to work out the kinks and bugs), information similar to that found in strategy guides, etc. Just from this site alone it's easy to see that some of the people who play MMORPGs devote a lot of time and energy not only to playing the games but also to immersing themselves in the culture that surrounds the MMORPGs via websites such as this one.
The last thing about MMORPGs I want to mention is covered in our readings on virtual worlds for this coming Wednesday. Psychologists and social scientists are interested in studying online worlds because there is a social aspect to them. The interactions that take place within these worlds are very real, and researchers are able to use them as a "platform" for their studies. MMORPGs and other virtual worlds provide an environment in which researchers are able to conduct studies that may not be practical in the real world. Can you guys think of some studies that could be conducted online but may not be possible offline?
I can relate to you in that I actually had no idea about what these games were, let alone what the acronym stood for. I am assuming that these games are similar to some video games, but you can be way more creative with them, and the game goes on, even when your character signs off. I have heard about World of Warcraft but know nothing more than the fact that its an online virtual game. I do not truly understand people's motivations or reasons for playing these types of games, so I am assuming I would need to look more into that.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to examine different roles people take on in these games and their behaviors in this virtual world. While some people may use this as a hobby, others may be completely immersed into this and it may be a large part of their identity.
This is really interesting. I had no idea time was continuous in MMORPGs, and I can see how they used that strategy to keep players captivated and so involved in game. I can't think of any specific studies that could be conducted in these online worlds but with the anonymity involved, scientists and researchers could discover more aspects of an individual than in a real life environment. Examples ranging from how people develop relationships in these virtual worlds to witnessing true signs of addictive behavior.
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