MMORPG, as defined by Wikipedia; “MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) is a genre of online computer role-playing game (RPG) in which a large number of players interact with each other in a virtual world. As in all role-playing games, the players assume the role of a fictional character (most commonly in a fantasy setting) and take control of many of that character’s actions the game editor, which continues to exist and evolve while the player is out of the game.

MMORPGs are hugely popular around the world, with combined global memberships in subscription and non-subscription games exceeding 15 million in 2006. Overall, MMORPG revenue exceeded $500 million in 2005 and is expected to exceed $1 billion in 2009.” (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

If ever there was one thing that truly became a unique innovation in video games, it would be online gaming and its ability to offer multiplayer gameplay. Now, online multiplayer games aren’t a new thing, having been around for eight years and debuting with DOOM in 1998. However, online multiplayer games weren’t instantly popular across the spectrum of PC gamers. It took a while for the ball to get going, but when it finally started to gain momentum, the following that developed seemingly exceeded even the wildest expectations of the early days.

Definition of online multiplayer games

For those who are not familiar with the term, online multiplayer games imply that multiple players can participate in an online game at the same time. They can work as a team in front of the computer or they can play against each other. Multiplayer games of this nature have been said to be the first change from computer games where a human faces an artificial intelligence to where humans play against other humans. In a way, this phase that online gaming has entered seems to be a throwback to the past in terms of offering the same purpose of games of yesteryear.

The old times

Parker Brothers didn’t make a mint selling all those board games because the games were fascinating to play. (Most of the games were extremely simple, but benefited from excellent marketing campaigns.) Part of the reason families and individuals loved playing these games was because they were social events where people could get together and have a lot of fun interacting. Yes, there were competitive people who sometimes took board games too seriously, but in general, people liked to spend time together and have fun with these classic games.

When video games became more and more popular, gaming took a protracted approach to developing single player games. This ended up killing a lot of the benefits of social interaction. With the advent of online multiplayer gaming, video and computer games have joined the realm of social interaction to fill the apparent void that board games once held. (Board games, however, are still popular and sell out a lot.)

Multiplayer PC games serve an excellent purpose of increasing the social lines of communication between people all over the world and will likely continue to expand in volume and popularity.