Background

MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Games) are online computer games which allow thousands of players from any location to diverge into a single virtual world to interact and engage in game play. The role playing aspect of the game comes into play as people assume the role of any alter-ego, a character in which they control and cooperate with others through social collaboration. MMORPGs are distinguished from other genres of online games by the unique structure of the game servers, which allows the virtual world to remain in a continual state and progress even while the person is not playing.

History

MMORPGs possess a history that spans at least twenty five years. MUDs (Multi-User Domains), predecessors to MMORPGS, were comprised of a text-based virtual world with absolutely no graphics. Players would connect to these game worlds, which were hosted on privately-owned servers, via TELNET client. Players would enter the world, engage in battles with enemies, increase their strength and abilities, and acquire money and other items that will benefit their in-game character. These characters were controlled by typing commands into a parser, which in turn allowed the player to accomplish his various tasks. (Wikipedia, 2006).

The first graphical MMORPG, Neverwinter Nights, launched in 1991 for AOL users on personal computers, revolutionized the gaming community as it made text-based MUDs obsolete. In addition, MMORPGs began to institute fees (pay-to-play), as the cost of server maintenance and overall production of the game began to rise. The internet boom in the 1990s contributed to the popularity of MMORPGs and coincided with the evolution of this genre of online games. (Yee, 2003).

With the development of high-speed internet supplementing the technological advances in the production of computers and graphical design, the MMORPG industry progressed at a phenomenal pace. In 1997, Ultima Online, an MMORPG comprising of three dimensional isometric graphics and intricate and complex game play, was released by Electronic Arts. Ultima superseded most of its predecessors and is currently acknowledged for popularizing the MMORPG genre. Soon thereafter, Sony Entertainment released Everquest, a MMORPG based on fantasy, in 1999. With its phenomenal success, especially in the United States, Everquest became an instant legend. It soon served as a basis for future programmers and designers for other MMORPGs, such as Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, which boasts over six million subscribers world-wide and holds the title as the most successful MMORPG in history. (Yee, 2005).

Currently

With the popularity of MMORPGs rising at a signicant rate, more and more people will enter these virtual realities to engage in the game's interactive and complex game play. Due to the fact that all MMORPGs involve cooperation and social collaboration between players, intricate interactions are constantly taking place. As a result, MMORPGs have recently garnered the attention of academic community, particulary psychologists and economists.