Mmorpg

MMORPG... how do they work?

2007-06-24T13:58:00.000+08:00

Ever wonder how an MMORPG works? How every time (well most of the time) you open the client and viola! The game is always there for you to play? Well the way it works is rather simple.

Most of today's MMORPGs run using a client-server system architecture. A client server is a computer architecture which separates a client from a server, and it is almost always implemented over a computer network. This means that the software that generates and manages the "world" of the MMORPG runs continuously on a server.

The players connect to the server via client software. The client software are usually purchased for a one-time fee, or available for download (free MMORPGs). Basically, MMORPGs are always online and will need constant maintenance and development in order to keep up with today's MMORPG standards.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mmorpg#System_architecture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Client-server

peer-to-peer connection

2007-06-23T23:26:00.000+08:00

Peer-to-peer connection is one of the ways of connecting to an MMORPG. Rather than concentrating bandwidth in a low number of servers, peer-to-peer relies heavily on the computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network.

Therefore the "better your computer" the less lag there will be when you are playing the game.

Below is an example of a peer-to-peer network where the computers are connected to a network via the hub. This is the most basic form of a peer-to-peer network.

Advantages of using peer-to-peer in an MMORPG:
1) Because peer-to-peer depends on the computing power and bandwidth of the player's computer, it will lead to significantly less lag.

2) Cheaper to use peer-to-peer

Disadvantages of using peer-to-peer in an MMORPG:
1) Due to the fact that peer-to-peer depends on the computing power and bandwidth of the player's computer, some connection problems or lag may arise when players are participating in an international MMORPG. Due to the distance between the countries, the country which hosts the server would undoubtly have a higher advantage over other countries.

2) Hacking or cheating is easier in a peer-to-peer environment

Development of an MMORPG

2007-06-22T22:07:00.000+08:00

Generally speaking, the cost to develop a competitive commercial MMORPG title would roughly exceed U.S. 10 million dollars. 3D modeling, 2D art, animation, user interface, client / server engineering, database architecture and network infrastructure must be considered whenever developing an MMORPG.

Most modern commercial MMORPGs feature 3D graphics. Front end expertise is heavily needed with implementing the 3D engines, real time shader techniques and physics simulation. The visual content, eg. character, items, maps, is developed by artists who will first begin by conceptually designing 2D art and then later convert them into 3D scenes, models and maps.

Developing a commercial MMORPG also requires expertise with client/server architecture, network protocols, security and relational database designs. The server must also be able to handle and verify large amounts of connections, prevent cheating, and apply changes to the game.

Maintenance requires sufficient amounts of servers and bandwidth with without them will tend to lead to lag and frustration for the players and damage the reputation of the game.

references:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mmorpg

MMORPG for profits?

2007-06-17T21:49:00.000+08:00

Since the creation of Everquest, more and more MMORPGs have been geared towards making a profit. For example, Everquest is a pay-to-play MMORPG, which means that players have to pay a certain amount in order to play the game for a specific amount of time. This means that overall; the game is able to reap in a steady flow of cash instead of the traditional buy-once-and-forget-about-it single player game.

By simply doing a basic calculation, you can see how modern MMORPGs earn huge profits just by waiting. Take for example World of Warcraft. In a monthly basis, a player must pay about 15 US dollars. There are currently about 2.5 millions users playing World of Warcraft in the U.S.A alone and more than 8.5 million players world wide.

Add that up and you get.... a lot.

MMORPG in research

2007-06-16T22:02:00.000+08:00

There is a famous case where the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft had been used in a research regarding pandemics. A disease called known as the corrupted blood had spread around most of the servers and had an enormous effect on players.

The media had taken particular interest in it as it may emulate real-life behavior of humans in a wake of a real pandemic. There have been studies on how real people would react had this pandemic been a real one and the studies had shown that most of the players would willingly spread the disease to others before dying themselves.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrupted_Blood

more of the story can be found here.

MMORPGs in private servers

2007-06-15T21:51:00.000+08:00

MMORPG private servers are basically servers that do not have any affiliations (connections) to the official server of the MMORPG. Most of today’s private servers are free-to-play and they may offer significantly higher rates of leveling.

For example: killing a monster in an MMORPG may give you one level, but in a private server, the owner may set it so that for every monster you kill, you gain twenty levels.

The usage of emulators is currently the most common method used to host private servers. The software of an emulator is written by analyzing the network traffic of how the game client connects to the host server. However using emulators may cause glitches of limited functionality as the original MMORPG may not be emulated completely.

Many of the private servers that exist violate copyright laws and some of the popular ones have been forced to shut down by the authorities. For example the private server of Lineage II: l2extreme was found guilty of using official server software and leaked server codes. l2extreme was later shut down by the FBI.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_server

A list of popular private servers can be found here.

The full article regarding the shutting down of l2extreme can be found here.

Types of text-based MMORPGs

2007-06-10T22:51:00.000+08:00

Most text-based MMORPGs are browser based, which means that they run on your web browser (like Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Netscape) due to the fact that developing game and server clients take up a lot of time, effort, money and the fact that text-based MMORPGs do not generate as much revenue as their graphical counterpart.

There are currently two types of text-based MMORPGs, which are real-time and turn-based . Text-based MMORPGs that run in real-time are like graphical MMORPGs, where when you control your character to do something, they will immediately do so without delay. The text-based MMORPG Popomundo is an example of a real-time text based MMORPG.

Text-based MMORPGs that are turn-based however, are much difference in a sense where most of the player's actions can be done only after spending a set amount of time in the gaming world. For a turn-based MMORPG, the players would get a set amount of points every turn. The players can then do specific tasks once they have accumulated enough points. The frequencies of turns vary from every text-based MMORPGs. The player may have to wait for 10 minutes, or in some other cases, for over an hour to accumulate points.

Example of how a turn-based MMORPG works:
Player A gets 3 points an hour.
To attack Player B, Player A needs to use 10 points. Therefore Player A needs to wait at least 4 hours to attack Player B.

or

Player A gets 10 points every 5 minutes.
Player A needs 5 points to buy a knife. Therefore every 5 minutes Player A can buy two knives.

Some of the popular turn-based text-based MMORPGs are Metro Wars, Dark Throne, and Omerta

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn-based_MMORPG

Text-based MMORPG defined

2007-06-09T22:42:00.001+08:00

When asked of their opinion of what an MMORPG is, most of the people would answer: "An online game where many people play" or even jokingly: "Mostly Men Online Role Playing Girls".

Many people would think of popular titles such as World of Warcraft or Ragnarok Online when asked about MMORPGs. However, those examples are in terms of Graphical MMORPGs. Then what about text-based MMORPGs?

Text-based MMORPGs are in a sense the same as Graphical MMORPGs, the only difference is that text-based MMORPGs is played by controlling your character in terms of text. This means that most of the input and output, where your control and view over your character are entirely text-based.

The picture below shows an example of a text-based MMORPG

Some examples of text-based MMORPGS are Popomundo, Ogame and Hattrick.

A list of popular text-based MMORPGs can be found here.

MM uh-oh RPG

2007-06-08T11:31:00.000+08:00

Since the creation of popular online MMORPGs, somewhat "lazy" players have been in the creation of BOTs (robots!!!). BOTs are literally third party programs that have been programmed with the purpose to either level a character or to collect resources all while the user is AFK (Away From Keyboard).

BOTs have generally been deemed illegal and usage of BOTs are banned in most MMORPGs, this however does not discourage many people form using them, largely due to the fact that game companies are rather lazy to take action on the vast majority of players that use them.

Recently however, the game company Blizzard and Vivendi has filed a suit against MYD industires. MYD industries are the developor of a BOT program for the MMORPG WoW called Glider. It however seems ridiculous as there are plenty of other WoW BOT programs that have yet to be filed for copywrite infringement.

Another lawsuit filed by Blizzard was against the popular gold-selling website peons4hire. This has yet to be resolved as it is very complicated. It seems that gold (a currency in WoW) is deemed as a "virtual property", and therefore is free to be traded among people as it has no value. If however, Blizzard successfully wins the lawsuit, it may wrack havoc as it may be the starting point where lawsuits would be able to be used in a free-for-all against anyone with conflicts with "virtual property" and therefore damage the foundation of present and future MMORPGs.

Links:
http://www.peons4hire.com/
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=106771592&sid=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_game_bot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glider_%28MMORPG_bot%29

MMORPG update

2007-06-03T22:14:00.001+08:00

Since the popularity explosion of MMORPGs, the rate of new MMORPGs appearing in the gaming world is about 1 every year. However, it takes a lot of time, money and effort to make a name for an online game, especially when its new and unheard of.

An MMORPG would typically earn its fame through three different methods., one of which
is by advertising their game months before the alpha and beta releases. Another way is by word of mouth; this way may bring fame to an MMORPG depending on the speed and frequency of information. The final way is price; yes, the price of an MMORPG and the cumulative payments is a major deciding factor in most of the modern MMORPGs.

e.g:
A player would rather spend more money on an MMORPG with better graphics, interactions and game play than on a cheaper or even free MMORPG with lower quality graphics, interactions and game play.

And so, i will now share with you a list of MMORPGs that have been noted "worth playing". The list compiled below shows the top ten MMORPGs to date (based on popular votes), courtesy of www.the-top-tens.com.

1) Final Fantasy XI
2) World of Warcraft
3) Runescape
4) EVE online
5) Guild Wars
6) Dark Age of Camelot
7) Maple Story
8) Lineage 2
9) Everquest 2
10) City of Heroes / Villians

The full list of MMORPGs based on popularity (including games not in the top 10) can be found here.

Popularity of MMORPGs

2007-06-02T23:36:00.000+08:00

MMORPGs were fairly unpopular before the 1990 due to lack of interest, graphics quality and in terms of gameplay. It would take a few more years until MMORPGs to become common among players lives. The MMORPG world had their first boom into popularity with the arrival of Everquest.

As the year 2000 went by, MMORPGs improved greatly in the terms of popularity features. MMORPGs like World of Warcraft (WoW) and Cities of Heroes drew much interest from players due to their graphics and gameplay.

Image courtesy of MMOGChart.com

The graph chart shows the rise of popularity of MMORPGs, from almost zero participants in 1998 and then rapidly accelerating in 2002 and reaching a peak of 13 million users at 2007. The growth pattern of MMORPGs popularity suggests that it will continue to gain more players well into 2010.

MMORPGs have been so popular that, they have even found their ways into popular cartoons such as The Simpsons. The videos can be found below:

Warning: May contain foul languages or bloodless / bloody violence. Viewer discretion is advised.

Why MMORPG?

2007-05-31T22:50:00.000+08:00

MMORPGs are becoming more and more pupolar lately. Why is it that more and more people are becoming engrossed with MMORPGs? There are many reasons to this behavior, one of which is for the sake of fun. This becomes apparant as more and more people try to find ways to spend time.

Another very important reason may be due to the fact that you can make friends quickly through online gaming. In an interview of Trip Hawkins by Chirs Chong from The Star.

Hawkins (a pioneer of computer and videogame industry) stated:

"I think people need social enablers. We're not that good at engaging with total strangers or even calling up people we know to say, "Hey, I'm lonely - could we have an intimate chat?"

We're actually kind of embarrassed and reluctant to make intimate disclosures or even ask intimate questions to our family members – that's just the way we are. Anything that happens in society that helps people overcome those kinds of hurdles is a good thing.

And of course, if you're involved in any sort of social activity – be it a club at school or something at work – it gives you something to focus on and it gets you over those initial hurdles.

And as you move into the virtual world, it's the same set of issues. What makes virtual worlds so compelling to most people is that they're icebreakers. They're a way for people to get relationships started."

The full article (The Man Who Made Electronic Art) can be found here.

History of MMORPG

2007-05-26T01:49:00.000+08:00

MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons), the world's oldest multi-user roleplaying game

MMORPGs are noted to have surfaced somewhere around the 1990's; with the creation of MUDs (an entirely non-graphical text-based multi-user roleplaying game first developed by Richard Bartle and Roy Trubshaw), MMORPGs began to grow in the commercial business.

The first commercial MMORPG was Islands of Kesmai designed by Kelton Flinn and John Taylor. This game became available to consumers in 1984 for $12.00 per hour via a CompuServe (CompuServe Information Services, or CIS) online service.

Islands of Kesmai was one of the first successful multi-user online role-playing games.

Mmorpg defined

2007-05-24T23:21:00.000+08:00

How to define an MMORPG...?

Many people who only have a basic knowledge of MMORPGs would normally answer: "A type game that many people play"; well they are wrong. MMORPGs are more than just an interactive game between players, it is the result of years of human ingenuity brought together to produce a software that allows users from all over the world to communicate, interact and socialise with each other.

As related to RPG's (Role Playing Games), the players of MMORPG's are to assume a fictional character within the game, and then take control of that character's actions.

MMORPGs are very popular throughout the world, with combined global memberships in subscription and non-subscription games exceeding 15 million as of 2006. Worldwide revenues for MMORPGs exceeded half a billion dollars in 2005, and Western revenues exceeded one billion USD in 2006.

The majority of MMORPGs are based on traditional fantasy-themed gameplay, occurring in an in-game universe. Some employ hybrid themes that either merge or substitute fantasy elements with those of science fiction, sword and sorcery, the occult, or other recognizable literary genres. Often these elements are developed using similar tasks and scenarios involving quests, monsters, and loot.

Hello ^^

2007-05-23T23:53:00.000+08:00

Hey there welcome to my blog,

From now onwards i will be posting on topics regarding MMORPG's (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games).

For those who are not familiar with mmorpg's, they are a type of non-immersive virtual reality programs; which means that the users can delve into an imaginary world and then interact with the objects or players through the means virtual reality.

I will be continually posting topics regarding mmorpg's throughout the next six weeks, and so please post a comment or two on any topics that you might be interested in.