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Multiplayer was always a welcome addition to any single player game, whether it’s co-op or pvp, playing the same game together is a really fun experience. What if you could play with potentially thousands of other people in a huge open world?
Welcome to the concept of MMORPGs!
Simply put, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) are games that you play on persistent servers that keep going after your character logs out, while allowing players to interact with each other in real time.
The more popular the game, the higher the player count, allowing players to meet people from virtually any place in the world. It’s no exaggeration to say that MMORPGs offer some of the best opportunities in meeting different and interesting people and potentially create life-long friendships or rivalries!
So what actually makes MMORPGs enjoyable enough to spend your precious time on? There’s quite a few features that the majority of titles share between them, with main ones being focused around player interaction, quests and storylines, world exploration and personal customization of characters.
Certain titles can focus on some parts more, while sacrificing others, letting players decide what kind of MMORPG they want to take part in.
Unsurprisingly it’s one of the most noteworthy aspects of MMORPGs.
Single player games are undeniably enjoyable but through introduction of the “chaotic” aspect of other players interacting with each other within the game, it can create some truly memorable moments. Whether accidental or on purpose.
The social aspect becomes even more engaging once players experience more of the world and become part of it. It’s important for the game to allow different mechanics that give players options to interact with each other, as it is often the main reason to play MMORPGs.
While interactions with others are very important, being able to explore the wide world is crucial as well. Various challenges and new discoveries fuel the imagination and the sense of adventure.
Whether you do it on your own or with a party is up to individual discretion but either should feel rewarding. Finding new locations, enemies or treasures or simply admiring interesting landscapes, each MMORPG should create a world filled with cool things that players want to visit, whether by themselves or with friends in tow.
A pretty standard choice for most MMORPGs is to keep players focused at the very beginning of the game in a way of “prologue”. The game mechanics introduction via initial quests and missions are quite efficient ways of fulfilling that role.
Depending on how well written the main story is, the players can get personally immersed in the actual in-game conflict and attempt to become the heroes that save the world. It’s not uncommon to find more “grindy” types of missions to keep players engaged and these can get a bit discouraging as they often feel like side content.
Better stories give players more incentive to enjoy side content, without feeling “forced” to grind for things and simply enjoying the whole experience.
Since RPG is one of the main aspects of the genre, player customization is quite a big part of it as well. Character creation is one of the first things players are tasked to do when they make a new character to join the game.
Race, class, personality or how the character looks are all up to the player to decide. Furthermore, cosmetic gear is often used to give each character an even more unique (and prestigious) visual. Especially if it’s a rare drop from an enemy!
For dedicated role-players, there are also options to use their clothing as part of the role-playing character within the game.
A lone wanderer with a questionable past? An inquisitive scholar with a penchant for adventure? If you find people with similar interests, character customization can go a long way to achieve some really fun role-playing sessions!
The longer the MMORPG title exists, the more complex the interactions within it become. This is especially true regarding the player driven economies.
Like in the real world, the supply and demand for items is what drives the market fluctuations.
From basic crafting materials to rare legendary gear, each item is part of the global economy. It’s not uncommon for people to sell in-game items for real world money, but it’s something that’s frowned upon by many players as it has a strong effect on the existing in-game economy.
The derogatory term of “gold-farmer” is reserved for players that extensively grind valuable items to sell them for real world money, which decreases its value due to higher availability.
It's an interesting look into how humans tend to navigate towards balance, no matter what environment they’re in. And how they view those who disrupt the established “natural order”.
Competition is inevitable in any multiplayer game. Even if the game is focused on co-op, players tend to compare their contribution to the success.
PvP is the culmination of the game knowledge, character build/gear and overall skill of each player. If done correctly, each part should play a vital role. Any game that is skewed towards pay-to-win mechanics is going to be resented by the players, as this tends to show that developers don’t value the time the person spent mastering the game.
Since meta needs to keep changing to keep PvP interesting and engaging, it’s often very popular amongst people who maxed out their levels and are on the look out for new challenges, while waiting for new content to be released.
Creating a very highly competitive playerbase, especially when paired with unique rewards for the top players.
There’s a great number of MMORPGs today, thanks to the popularisation of the genre over the years.
We’ve picked a few that stood the test of time and are still popular despite their years. If you’re interested in any of them, it's probably best to pick one and stick to it!
Released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment, the game is based on the Warcraft franchise and takes place in the world of Azeroth, four years after the events of Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne. World of Warcraft (WoW) is one of the most successful and populous MMORPGs since its inception.
The player creation process requires to pick a side, either the Alliance or the Horde, which affects which races can be chosen. There are certain classes that are tied to the race but both Horde and Alliance offer at least one race that can choose the class to create a balanced roster.
There's quite a few classes to choose from, with different specialisations for each of them, potentially encouraging testing them out before committing to any one class.
Since its initial release, there were multiple expansions that added changes to mechanics, visuals, classes, max level but also plenty of additional content, bosses, storylines, areas, races etc.
It still boasts one of the largest MMORPG communities, allowing new players to play for free (with some limitation of available features) up to level 20 before requiring the monthly subscription.
Easy recommendation for anyone who’s looking for a decent MMORPG to sink some hours into.
There were 2 versions of Final Fantasy XIV. The first version was released in 2010 and shut down in 2012. The second and currently available version was released in 2013 and is still going strong.
Despite the failure of the first release, the rerelease is universally praised for its graphics, story, player engagement and sound/music design.
Character creation lets you pick the race, clan, class, deity, birthday and visual look (to a quite high degree) of your hero.
After picking a server, you’ll start in a specific (class related) city to begin your adventure.
Once you reach level 10, you’ll be able to switch for other classes to level them up instead, while also unlocking the secondary jobs through Disciples of Land/Hand classes. These give you access to a pretty extensive crafting system and usually a very worthwhile investment.
There’s a huge amount of content to explore in FFXIV in the form of various PvE (player vs environment), PvP, main/side quests, crafting/gathering or just simply spending time with others players and roleplaying.
There’s a surprising amount of people who simply enjoy relaxing within the game outside of the usual grind for levels and items. Making FFIV a place to simply relax with virtual friends and just hang around fishing for example.
There’s a very generous free trial of up to level 60 (with some limitations on available options included), before deciding to join the monthly subscription plan.
A definite recommendation for anyone who’s looking for a fun MMORPG with a great story.
Released in 2011 by Bioware it is a continuation of the Knights of the Old Republic franchise, set approximately 300 years after the end of KoTOR 2: The Sith Lords and takes place during the time of a bitter truce between the newly established Sith Empire and The Galactic Republic.
The character creation gives the player a choice between two factions, the aforementioned Sith and the Republic. Each offers 4 mirrored classes that follow their own unique storylines. Each playthrough offers a voice acted interaction with various NPCs and a choice system that affects further events and storyline plots.
This alone makes it a very special MMORPG design when it comes to the narrative focus and story, something that Bioware is well known for in their previous game.
After completing the prologue, the players receive a spacecraft that serves both as a dwelling and transportation across the galaxy, while also allowing players to interact with the crew of companion characters unlocked during the adventure.
Following the previous KoTOR morality system, there’s light and dark side choices (good and evil basically) but it only offers minor changes, mostly cosmetic with some dialogue variations unlike the older titles.
It has an enjoyable and not too grindy gameplay, with a curious resource gathering/crafting that allows companions to perform these tasks instead of the main character.
Anyone who enjoys carefully tailored Bioware style storylines and enjoys the feeling of being part of the Star Wars universe should give it a try, as it offers a free trial up to level 60 with few expansions included (with some limitations on available options).
MMORPGs have a very powerful allure for people seeking to build relationships in virtual worlds. They don’t require as much effort as real life and you can simply log out at virtually any time for as long as you want to, putting a pause on any relationships within these games.
This combined with interesting stories, delivery of new content from developers, sense of achievement and feeling of belonging within the community creates a very addicting experience.
Despite it being taking place in a virtual world, it feels real to many people. They learn to be part of it and it becomes part of them, sometimes leading to cases where they take over other parts of their lives.
But within moderation, MMORPGs can simply be a very relaxing and fun experience that lets players build long lasting friendships if they wish to.
MMORPGs can offer a lot to the players. Entertainment, sense of achievement, community and depending on dedication, even financial returns.
On the other hand they can be a really severe time sink and while it’s possible to spend a moderate amount of time instead of going all in, the way they’re designed usually incentivizes longer sessions.
Either way, it’s hard to not enjoy them whether you’re looking for a casual or more hardcore commitment. As long as you keep in mind that most things are best enjoyed with moderation and don’t let it take over other important parts of your life, you should be fine!
There are many differences due to MMORPGs being designed for multiplayer. Mostly
removing single player focus completely, like immersive storytelling, world affecting decisions, gradual progression etc.
There are titles that allow players to enjoy MMORPGs on their phone. There aren’t many titles that offer cross-play features due to their complexity, which phones don’t handle very well.
The ability to interact with other people while exploring a massive open world is a huge reason behind its popularity. This combined with plenty of features to make these interactions even more meaningful creates a sense of being part of a different, but very real world.
There’s plenty of titles that are available for free, with certain limitations or some extra premium features locked behind paywalls to help maintain the costs of maintaining the servers.
