MMORPG

From GPWiki

MMORPG stands for Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.

A Role Playing Game is a game in which you play the role of a specific character within the game. Examples of some of these types of game are the Legend of Zelda games, Chrono Trigger, the Baldur's Gate series, Morrowind and Final Fantasy.

These type of games can be made for online play, allowing many players to connect to a central server and play in the same (usually persistant) world. This adds a factor of social interaction and continuity that can be a lot of fun.

MMORPG's are a descendant from MUD (and related) games. The first really big graphical MMORPG was Ultima Online, after that Everquest was a big hit. At the moment there is a wide range of all kinds of MMORPGs and non-RPG massive online games. People are known to spend/waste incredible amounts of time on this type of games.

One thing that sets MMO games apart from single player games is the fact that the companies charge you by the month to play. This means that the game must be designed in such a way that it stays interesting for a long time. Often this is solved by making accomplishing stuff (usually means 'levelling up your character') take a lot of time and work. This is (in my opinion) the downside of most MMORPGs: They turn into a repetetive drudgery in order to gain more levels and impress your friends.