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MMORPG - How do you define it?
DetectiveChat
Member Posts: 29
MMORPG is a term that's been floating around for many years now but it seems to have lost its meaning.
Traditionally it breaks down to Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game but it's also shortened to MMO and used to refer to all manner of games.
In an increasingly online/connected industry, can we really define a game as an MMORPG alone?
Is it firmly reserved for the likes of WOW and Guild Wars?
Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
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Comments
MMO and MMORPG are not the same thing. A MOBA is not the same thing. I think you might be referring games Hearthstone being called an MMO, which it definitely is not. Yes we can still define a game as an MMORPG or something else, it hasn't really changed that much and I'm not quite sure I understand the confusion.
I'd say, you should probably give up on this. Even under the strictest literal interpretation of the term "Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game" it's still subjective. Thus, it means whatever suits a person saying it. I've watched the meaning of the 1st descriptor become meaningless. The initial term was "Massively" not "Massive". What's the difference? One is an Adjective the other is an Adverb. One would describe the game itself (Massive) the other describes how the game is played (Massively). But now, we are using the terms interchangeably so that any game that uses player accounts is now "Massively" And now even more recently, we've seen instances where even the 2nd descriptor is being watered down. As in the case with games like Hearthstone are being thrown in the mix. And While the game meets the "multi-player" term at a technical level, it's not the most appropriate use for this context. That being the context of MMOs. A 2 player game, while technical definable as multi, really would be better described as a 2-player, 1v1 or dual player game. That is,unless you have a reason to want to throw it into another category.
We are now at the point where you can 'legitimately' call any online game an MMO.
How to define it? Easy.
MMO: I can get 5 different guilds/clans on the screen all dancing in a circle
MMORPG: I can get 5 different guilds/clans on the screen all dancing in a circle and after doing so for 3 days some are masters of breakdance and others do a perfect tango.
Personally, I never feel the requirement to put a hard definition on genres for things like video games, books, music etc.
When I explain a new game to a friend and try to describe the play style in words, I usually compare it to a game I know they have played. "It's an MMORPG similar to WoW", "It's a shooter similar to Call of Duty", "It's a single player RPG similar to Unchartered", "It's and Action RPG similar to God of War". Stuff like that. Then I explain the setting, and what is different about it. To me, that paints a better picture of what a game is like than saying "it's an MMORPG" It just narrows the field a bit further so people know what I'm talking about.
Or sometimes I put it like this: Wildstar is an MMORPG with WoW's controls, and LoL's combat. But explaining to people I know using games that I know they are at least familiar with would have more value.
As for an online forum where you don't know the people. I would just go with the popular ones because who has the time to find out what everybody has played if they are inquiring about a new game. If they are on an MMORPG forum, they are probably aware of the popular ones and their systems.
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MMORPG is that part of online games where thousands of players simultaneously play together in a persistent virtual world. Player avatars persist between play sessions and accumulate progress in one form or another, and can potentially persist for years. If YOU are not logged-in to the game, the world still exists for other players. The world only stops existing when the software that creates it is shut down. The virtual world usually exists continuously, regardless of whether players login or not.
The above definition was quite easy to apply to MMO's at the dawn of the industry, when there was only one type of MMO. But as the industry grew and evolved, MMO has become the umbrella term for all online games that have fairly large numbers of players. Online Game (OG) is probably a more "correct" term nowadays, but old habits die hard...
I dont think it fits what ever a person saying it means. Massive or Massively break down to the same thing, BIG. If you are finished exploring the entire game in the time it takes to finish a standard console game, 3-7 days. Then its not massive. With expansion you can one day be massive but at lunch you have a few instance hubs and some dungeons, you are not a MMO. GW1 fans may bash me for this but to me its like this. You ever feel like having Pizza and for what ever reason you dont have the time to go get one so you nuke a pizza pocket. Its a good fix but its still not the full deal.
Once every genre tacked on some form of stat or gear progression, the meaning of RPG got diluted.
Once every game started (or more accurately, was required) to include some form of online play, the same thing happened to "Multiplayer" even in titles that were obviously not designed with multiplayer in mind.
Now that some games that are otherwise very close to mmorpgs of old, have made a feature out of the way some people play WOW (standing in the capital city outside the AH just waiting for some Q to pop) the whole idea of "massively MP" has also gotten diluted and seems to now mean massive numbers who are on-line waiting for something, even if the maximum you will ever see on-line together is 12 or 24.
And enter "action combat" and minimalist ability bars and the line between MMOFPS and MMORPG also begins to blur.
It seems to me that now you have to add some sort of qualifier to MMORPG--something like "traditional" or "lobby" or "action"--so that other people can understand just what the hell you mean by MMORPG.
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I agree with you. But I am just stating the reality of how it has evolved and how people use it now. Whenever I saw that thread that included Hearthstone in a list of MMO games, I pretty-much threw this term out the window. I see it now as a term that will continue to envelop any game that someone wants to include it in regardless of any real classifications. "MMO" has become nothing more than a marketing term.
LOL I so dont agree. IMO best value for the money when its a good game. Heck I spent 60 bucks on "Force Unleashed 2" and finished it in 6-10hrs game play. For about 15 bucks a month I get the value in the month that would take 3-5 console games to get the same play time. MMOs have saved me tones of money lol
Ya things are getting a bit twisted. I see someone on the forum say RPG stood for roll-playing-game as its a game with many classes. I dont care how people use it, it still holds the same meaning =-)
What? Far Cry 4 is $70. You can play most mmorpgs for free or for $15 per month and have thousands of hours of playtime. How is that overpriced?
How I define it? I don't.
I just follow common usage. It is not that important to have a strict definition anyway. It is not like I like or dislike a game because of its classification.
Why? If most people respond like me (i.e. they don't care about genre) then it follows the logic that companies do NOT need to make true MMORPGs because the market cares little about how "true" a MMORPG is.
Well I assume 1st we need to define the word massive(ly) and I assert it must be a comparison to an exsiting behemoth and since there are some games that are just so absolutly huge to term it masivly it must cater to somewhere around 10m player, Otherwise we might need to start calling them minor(ly)
So yea right there the term MMORPG has lost its credibility.
That's proven to be true and will always be true. When games like farmville reach the hands of so many, you don't need to make a deep immersive game... you just need to make something shiney for people to dabble in every so often. The genre has been monopolized. No company will change this UNTIL the people who don't care stop playing these games and play the games they do care about...
Correct me if I am wrong but I was under the impression that the "massively" connotation referred to the multiplayer part, not the size of the game.
Massively multiplayer was taken to mean a very large number of people.
Then you add " Online role playing game"
Definition: Large numbers of people playing an online role playing game.
The grey area comes in when you define:
-how large does the number have to be,
-and do all the people have to "technically" be in the world at the same time.
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I don't see that most people do; you seem to have been severely thrown off course by a couple of out of touch gaming sites and the running joke called SuperData.com. The differences between, say, LoL and WOW are pretty damn easy too see.
It's funny, I was at a party this weekend with a number of gamers and when I was caught checking these forums on my phone, one of them asked: "so what are people talking about on mmorpg.com these days", I responded with "well most of the time they argue about payment models or typically debate about what an MMO is. There's actually a few of them out there that call LoL and WoT MMOs". One guy then proceeded to lose half a beer via nose spray and another asked: "you're joking, right?WTF". Then came the inevitable "this is how you spend your time", lol.
But you won't see me claiming anything about "most people". In reality, neither of us know what "most people" are in this case.
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