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.