MMO Understanding

[Daydreamer]

Hi ,

-Massive- meaning many, or very large. Could be game size, game content, and or player base. (Nothing stating it needs to be all on one world, or at the same time)

That’s a fine definition for the word “massive.” On its own, it makes perfect sense. However, for the purposes of our discussion, the word is part of a term which already has its own generally established definition (however flexible that definition may be – see my post above).

Try thinking about it this way. A “soap box”, literally, must be made from actual soap, right? Well, of course that isn’t right! People in the English speaking world understand the term to have a different definition than “a box made out of soap”.

Now, the same logic applies to that first “M” in “MMO”. You can define the term “massively” quite succinctly, separately from the “multiplayer online” part, but when those words are used together, the definition shifts in most people’s minds to the general understanding of the term “MMO”, one which has evolved over the past 15 or so years. And I think this is where you’re finding a disconnect with other posters.

If I were to play one vs one online, 16 vs 16, or 100 randoms running around, if the player base is quite “Massive” and some of the elements are there to make it a connection based game, then it could be a MMO.

If the players cannot all interact on a scale greater than 16 vs. 16, then it won’t fall under the definition that most people understand. That should be clear from the responses in this thread. If they can interact in the hundreds, however, then I imagine you’re on more solid ground.

If I were to play WOW and only seen 64 players ever on screen at a time will you try to claim it too is not an MMO? Think about the logic here. throw traditional MMO out the window.

In WoW, players can interact with each other on a scale in the thousands, even if some instances have 64 or fewer players. Game characters can chat, change instances, group, buy and sell, and affect the world around them on a rather large scale. This is what distinguishes that particular “MMO” from other “massive” but completely instanced games like Call of Duty.

If my game reaches 1+ Million online players and only 64 can play at a time with each other I will still call it an MMO.

If your game is that successful, then you rock as a developer, and congratulations! But would 64 players per world be enough to constitute an “MMO”?

Who knows. It’s possible, although I suspect most users would probably expect potential interaction with hundreds or thousands once that second “M” is added to the description. From their perspective, it doesn’t matter how many other people are playing at home – that has no impact on their game. What matters to them, per the expectation of an “MMO” experience, is how many people are playing in their world.

I hope that helps!

Cheers,
-D