MMO Understanding

Community Community & Industry Discussion
1

Over the years I see people see the word “MMO” and run for the hills. I wanted to :enlighten: a bit on that meaning, no pun intended. :slight_smile:

As we know MMO means massive Multiplayer Online. I play many FPS games that are MMO’s but not your typical genre of them. They are simply lobby based. You do not need to have thousands of players on screen and running around to be considered an MMO.

If your game has thousands of players online at periods of time over the day, everyday it is still technically an MMO.

If you have few players online at all times it is more or less just an MO. I do not think there is an exact number of players needed to make it techincally an MMO or not but I would imagine quite a few thousand at least. So in light of the term MMO do not fear a MMO project, because it could very well be just a MP game that just happens to have taken off. :slight_smile:

Just a quick look into what actually MMO means. :slight_smile: You can actually make an MMO from little to no budget using this technical logic. Your MP game just goes viral. :slight_smile:

2

I believe the biggest hurdle of an mmo is the servers and the maintenance of these servers.

With UE4 and source access an MMO theoretically should be easier to do with the right skill sets. Budget or no budget its still hard to produce, like any game really.

3

Right. I am just trying to get certain people to understand that an MMO does not need to be a multimillion dollar budget games with millions of players online. Does not need to be open world either. :slight_smile: It can be an MP game that just takes off and gains many players. The server part may have issues but if you have a game with that kind of viral success servers should not be too much of an issue at least cost wise. But yeah.

6

So basically a Minecraft with combat system of any modern MMO? :slight_smile:

8

MMO is technically Massive Multiplayer Online. Not a shortened name for MMORPG. Because RPG would describe the genre of the game. Like for example MMOFPS, MMORTS, etc. But MMO alone by technical understanding would be any game online with many many players. The number of players online needed to make it MMO is not really specific but should consist of thousands I would imagine. Making an MMORPG would be crazy because you need quests, rewards, AI, NPC’s, a large world, and so on. But a FPS lobby based MMO like Crossfire is just simple maps with MP modes and one AI mode. A much dumbed down type of MMO in terms of work both coding and art side.

Games like Halo 3 would be classified as MMO if they wanted to be. They would follow under Massive Multiplayer Online. We cannot ignore the technical fact that MMO spelled out is Massive Multiplayer Online. I am aware many people do not break it down this much but facts are facts.
**
Answer this question using logic.**

If my FPS for example has 2 million players online at once or atleast a few hundred thousand and they were all connected and could chat through game and such. Play each other in MP modes. is this not again technically considered a Massive Multiplayer Online game?

Just something to think over, forget the standardized use of the term MMO and think of the actual logic in those 3 letters.

9

I love the idea of an MMO but yeah… The only MMO I played long term post-Warcraft was EVE Online (well after a stint in City of Heroes)

But yeah usually whenever I see an MMO or hear the word I run the other way

10

In your example those players are not simultaneously connected to one single game world . This is one of primary things one would look for in a MMO. Also I am confused of your goal in this thread unless it was just a food for thought subject.

11

More or less a perspective thread on the word MMO. How I would find it used logically. So it is more or less your own take on it how you see it etc. :slight_smile:

13

Well as i rember you can set RTCW:Enemy Territory server to 64 players and you can find maps specially for this number and no body called that MMO (even thru MMORPG existed by that time)

For me MMO is where server (or closter) have single consistent world (without match) which lot of players can join in as you expect from the world… a virtual world something like matrix :slight_smile:

14

Always wanted to create a game that allows anyone to host a server, including the players.
Rather then one large, continuous world all the time, you have many sub-worlds, linked together by various in-game portals.
Its not a new idea, but still an interesting one.
I toyed with it myself way back using Quake III Arena :stuck_out_tongue:

This is part of the reason I like the idea of Firebox.

15

I am just saying it does not need to be anything like MMORPG to be MMO. I just break the word MMO down to its basic meaning. Massive Multiplayer Online. This tells me that to be MMO I need many many players online playing my game. Of course in an PvP or Co-op environment. It just logically makes sense to me. It would then be up to the developers or Publishers to put an MMO tag in the title or not.

16

The meaning of the term “RPG” is all over the place these days. By the definition of the word, almost any game you play is an RPG because you take the role of a character. Game developers don’t go throwing out that their games are RPGs because generally when one hears RPG, they think about choosing your equipment and leveling up. Take Heavy Rain for example, it’s not defined as an RPG, but it technically is an RPG because you’re able to interact with the world and ultimately able to choose how their story plays out.

Just because the first “MMO” was an “MMORPG” doesn’t mean that every MMO not followed by RPG is a fake. They may be derivatives of the original source, but as I said, an RPG is generally any game in the first place. MMORPGs by their very nature may be associated with limitless freedom, but at the same time, there’s a limit to your progression in every game no matter how many item variations you can find or levels you can achieve. By rooting out that RPG encompasses all, it’s very easy to say that, yes, every “MMO” is an “MMORPG.”

However, just because an MMO is followed by any other suffix besides RPG, doesn’t make it fake. It makes it what it’s called. Technically, MMORPG is a mash-up of MMO + RPG; mmorpg isn’t a genre in itself, it’s a massive online multiplayer…role playing game. Role Playing Games have been around for quite a while before they became MMOs, just like any other genres.

Anyways, like is saying, a game doesn’t have to be labeled as an MMORPG to be considered an MMO, because let’s face it, RPG encompasses everything, it doesn’t mean we have to go labeling it on every single little thing, because the general idea of an RPG is not something we want every game to be thought of as. If something wants to be called an MMORTS, it has every right to be.

18

I actually did some quick research. RPG is technically every game you play.

You play the role of a player in the game environment. Even Pong or Tetris would be considered as RPG. The ball would be the player or the shapes. But this thread is not a waste of breathe. It is allowing people to express their take on how they perceive a word to be. Like to me FPS would be a First Person Shooter and to others a camera angle titled as a game. (last I checked shooter was a genre for games) Also MMO to me is Massive Multiplayer Online and to you its MMORPG. But if it it so pointless why you keep coming back? It must strike a cord somewhere which means to you it does matter.

If something can be taken from this thread its the fact that we all have our own perspectives on how genres, titles, and their meanings are to us in this line of work. Be it logical, technical, or idealistic. As in the popular meaning.

20

I like the definition of MMO as the way how the game is possible to play. If the primary game loop is connected with other players, it’s the MMO game. If not, it’s a single player with coop/multiplayer/etc., but not MMO.

Anyway, genrel talks… eternal holywar :smiley:

21

You’re taking the fact that every game is an RPG, and trying to further your own debate (which is fine), but it’s not really what I was trying to show you. FPS kind of is a genre if you think about it. “First Person” is not a genre, it actually is just a viewpoint, but “First Person Shooter” is a genre.
Pretty much every juice product is made using water, does that mean we should call every juice product Water? It should be up to the developer to apply a “genre” to their game, whether or not it actually fits the description.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is labeled FPS Action Roleplaying, even though to me, it’s not a shooter, it’s an rpg game through a first person viewpoint. There’s some shooting going on with projectiles and bows, but I still wouldn’t call it a shooter. Why? Because to me, when I hear FPS, I think of call of duty. It’s the same with RPG; everyone has their own meaning that they apply to a word, but every opinion is still valid because it’s their own.

There’s also Mirror Edge. It is labeled First Person Action Adventure Platformer. It’s not labeled First Person Shooter because, even though you actually can shoot guns, and even though you technically are viewing the game through first person, the emphasis is not on the fact that it’s an FPS. Why? Once again, there’s a reputation that comes with each label that developers don’t want to get across. If you hear that Mirror’s Edge is an FPS, are you, or are you not going to automatically assume you’re going to be holding an assault rifle and blowing up buildings? With further research, you’ll learn that it’s not the case, but because you initially heard that it was an FPS, you already started developing feelings of like/dislike towards it based on it’s label alone. If you want to apply your own label to a game, that’s all well and fine, but again, it’s only your opinion (which is great).

To me, MMO is a type of network that allows multiple users to connect simultaneously to a game or game world. It’s not something you can actually create, it’s something that’s happened upon (can you really call it an MMO if you’re the only one playing?) Though the first MMO happened to be an RPG, it doesn’t mean that every type of MMO should be labeled as such. MMORPG is a product of a person that puts their RPG onto a network allowing multiple users, and concurrently, multiple users connect. The word Massive is highly subjective. The main focus here should actually be Multiplayer Online.

22

I am surprised how well the topic got heated up. I am even more pleased with the posters in it. We had several moments where we could have turned into a warzone in here but we all kept it somewhat professional and on topic. :slight_smile: I salute you all.

23

I think there’s a sweet spot where you have interactions with a massive player base asynchronously and have more intimate synchronous play sessions with smaller groups of players. Supporting a RPG dungeon crawl with 16-32 players synchronously doesn’t create a huge tech burden for example, and offering the larger community global services like chat, marketplaces, guilds, fort building, etc which scale through external services retains the best parts of a massive player base in my opinion. That way you can guarantee polished/low-latency interactions for the active play sessions and not sacrifice overall quality as your community continues to grow. This model also works well in the economy of server management which can quickly become important if you have a fun game on your hands. :slight_smile:

24

So essentially you would stretch your resources as your player base stretches. Causing minimal work load on the overall project. Instead of beasting it out at once you gradually add to it as it is needed.

26

Technically for me, MMO is a server farm that allows hundreds of users to connect to one continuous game world. FPS is first-person perspective with guns. RPG is iffy but most categories it with vast equipment, stats and leveling up.

27

How would you guys classify games like maple Story and Grand Chase? Both are titled as MMORPG’s and both are sidescrollers and mostly 2D/2.5D. Neither has open worlds, or one continuous world. Grand Chase is a lobby based dungeon crawler with up to 3 other people. Or up to 8 on a PvP battle. Maple is map to map like you would see in a Pokemon game. Does this change your thoughts on the term “MMO”? Looking forward to comments on this.