MMORPGs

Well, I decided to post about MMORPGs today. So, do you like playing games with your friends in multiplayer mode? If so, you are bound to like MMORPGs. The acronym MMORPG stands for ‘Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game.’ The major difference between normal games played in multiplayer mode and MMORPGs is that in MMO games, there are thousands of players involved in the game and playing at the same time. This is what makes these type of games addictive and fun to play.

A Massive(ly) Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game or MMORPG is a multiplayer computer role-playing game that enables thousands of players to play in an evolving virtual world at the same time over the Internet. These games only work with a braodband internet connection and are completely played online.

Here’s how it works: Players run a client (game files installed on their pc) and then connect to a Game server. This allows the users to log into a virtual world. The virtual world continues regardless of who is logged in or not. When a player logs in, they are represented in the game world by a graphical representation of the character they play. The players are allowed to shape their own experience by providing multiple (or customizable) characters that the player can use.

Once a player enters the world, they can engage in a variety of activities with other players who are accessing the game the same way from all over the world.

Most MMORPGs run several identical copies of the virtual world, called "shards", "sub-worlds", "continents", "servers" or "realms", that the player can choose from.

Some of the most popular commercial MMORPGs report over 200,000 subscribers and the South Korean MMORPGs claim the highest subscription numbers by far reporting millions of registered users.

Most MMORPGs provide support for large in-game groups of players, commonly called clans but also sometimes called "guilds" or other names depending on the game. A clan can be a social group or have a specific game-related purpose, ranging from helping newbies to teaming up in player versus player combat. Most new MMORPGs feature "raids", challenging encounters designed for one or more clans to participate in.

Seems exciting right? It sure is. I came to know of MMO games back in 2005. Back then, the internet wasn’t as fast and cheap as it is now. This kind of affected the graphical qualities of online games. But now they are much better in terms of graphics and sound-effects due to the internet becoming cheaper and speedier.

If you want to play an MMO game, make sure your internet connection is broadband (at least 1 mbps) and has unlimited bandwidth, i.e. there are no limits on how much you download from or upload to the internet. This is necessary because when you play an online game, data is continuously downloaded and uploaded until you exit the game.

Your hands sure must be itching by now to play a MMORPG. Well don’t even try searching Google for such games because there are thousands of them and did I forget to tell that most of MMORPGs become paid after a couple of months of release? Well, don’t be too afraid because most MMOGs are about a dinner’s worth per month (yeah from $10-$30). Not much as you’re paying per month.

Now, since I know you hate scouring the internet to find something, I’ll provide you with information of the most popular MMOGs, MMOGs that are free and currently in beta testing and also my favorite MMOGs.

PS: A nice website for checking out all the MMOGs currently out is www.mmorpg.com. It contains most of the MMOGs (I don’t think that it includes region-based MMO games though).

Rest tomorow :)