I'm asking this mainly to the UO and EQ vets as I never played them. My first MMO was EVE back in 2003/4 when peak was 3-4000 players (yes, I did't leave off a zero). At the time I had no clue exactly what an MMO was and thought I was just playing an online space game. The same can be said for SWG which was my next game (not sure if this was pre CU but it was defintely pre-NGE). It was only after I started playing the 'mmo that shall not be named' you know the one with lots of subs, and subsequent MMOs that I realized what an MMO was.

So back to my original question, what is a Real MMO?

Originally posted by mbd1968

I'm asking this mainly to the UO and EQ vets as I never played them. My first MMO was EVE back in 2003/4 when peak was 3-4000 players (yes, I did't leave off a zero). At the time I had no clue exactly what an MMO was and thought I was just playing an online space game. The same can be said for SWG which was my next game (not sure if this was pre CU but it was defintely pre-NGE). It was only after I started playing the 'mmo that shall not be named' you know the one with lots of subs, and subsequent MMOs that I realized what an MMO was.

So back to my original question, what is a Real MMO?

YOu played it IMHO SWG. The game needed work like any MMO after release but the foundation was there. 

Originally posted by nariusseldon
There is no such thing. MMO is just a label to put on a collection of games. Each have different features. The label is just for convenience.

I was going to respond with "my favorite color is purple", but this answers the question better.

Originally posted by WhiteLantern

Originally posted by nariusseldon
There is no such thing. MMO is just a label to put on a collection of games. Each have different features. The label is just for convenience.

I was going to respond with "my favorite color is purple", but this answers the question better.

What these guys said.

Originally posted by nariusseldon
There is no such thing. MMO is just a label to put on a collection of games. Each have different features. The label is just for convenience.

Wrong.  Unfortunately, MMORPG has really blurred the lines of what is and what is not.  This site is more of a games site these days, rather than just a MMO site.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Originally posted by nariusseldon
There is no such thing. MMO is just a label to put on a collection of games. Each have different features. The label is just for convenience.

Wrong.  Unfortunately, MMORPG has really blurred the lines of what is and what is not.  This site is more of a games site these days, rather than just a MMO site.

^^ his favorite color is blue.

In my opinion, Eve Online is the only true Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Everything else is simply EMPGs (Expanded Multi-Player Games).

That's not a statement of how good or bad Eve Online is, or how good or bad everything else is. But as far as what a true MMORPG stands for, I think that Eve is the only one that really gets it right (though unfortunately I've never been able to really get into Eve myself).

well I think there is a problem here.  That would be the difference between what the words say Massively Multiplayer online role playing game and what many people take them to mean.  MMORPG would apply to any online game capable of hosting many people at the same time who can, if they so choose, interact and which has some element of roleplay.  Roleplay being you have some choice in your character - you are not playing Sgt Rambo Jones just like everyone else.  

  What a great many people mean by it, especially older players, is that there is an online game which hosts many people at the same time who can play as close to the character of their choice as that game allows and in which game there is a lot of social interaction, including but not limited to grouping and guilds, and healthy chats, where friendships can be made as opposed to enemies and where the chat isn't limited to taunts and Chuck Noris jokes.  

I blame Fb and cellphones.  people are so used to anonymous communication where they can say and do what they want without being punched in the face that they have become dis-social.  Not unsocial but dis- in that their social contact starts at disrespect.  Mutial at times but still disrespect.  

Another factor is that many games, in order to make more money(nothing wrong with that), have made their games so easy that  anyone can solo them.  I remember LOTRO at launch, it was challenging, some quests required groups.  A year ago I solo'd a guardian to level cap, noo groups, social interaction, or help required.  I could have been playing a single player game, and in fact would have probably liked a single player version more because then there would not have been these annoying other players mining my lodes and killing my mobs.  When you no longer need their help it sometimes seems like other players are a hindrance.  Just my opinion.

My points to see a game as MMORPG(example Darkfall Online)

- one Open World

- player Interaction that can change this world

- massive amount of players that can interact with each other in one world

- player created content

- an actual enviroment ( mobs, ressources maybe a weather system )

The definition for an MMO is pretty simple(example Planetside 2)

-massive amount of players that interact with each other in one world

Typically, when people throw the word "real" in front of something it means that's what they like.  Take it with a grain of salt.  It's all a matter of opinion. 

If you ever played PnP RPG you would understand. Full character customization and your own story development, not dev driven. Persistant world to live in and explore with dangers to over come.

Alignment based factions not this two faction stuff they have today. Alignment is based on race and class. Completely different game play depending on race and class.

True death penatlies. Don't forget the actual need to eat, drink and rest.

Night time was that night time! You couldn't see anything and undeand spawned all over the place.

Mobs that where challenging otherwise why would they be a treat to the city if they are so weak they would be extinct.

There are many more features that make a MMORPG that we haven't seen in years but everyone is on this single player bandwagon.

MMORPG was never meant for casual gamers just like PnP was never meant for casual gamers.

Originally posted by Edeus

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Originally posted by nariusseldon
There is no such thing. MMO is just a label to put on a collection of games. Each have different features. The label is just for convenience.

Wrong.  Unfortunately, MMORPG has really blurred the lines of what is and what is not.  This site is more of a games site these days, rather than just a MMO site.

^^ his favorite color is blue.

LOL .. yeah.

I will just go with the common usage. If gaming press is calling TOR a MMO, i will use the label for convenience. Personally, i play good games, not games in a particular narrow definition of genre.

Originally posted by Thorbrand

If you ever played PnP RPG you would understand. Full character customization and your own story development, not dev driven. Persistant world to live in and explore with dangers to over come.

Alignment based factions not this two faction stuff they have today. Alignment is based on race and class. Completely different game play depending on race and class.

True death penatlies. Don't forget the actual need to eat, drink and rest.

Night time was that night time! You couldn't see anything and undeand spawned all over the place.

Mobs that where challenging otherwise why would they be a treat to the city if they are so weak they would be extinct.

There are many more features that make a MMORPG that we haven't seen in years but everyone is on this single player bandwagon.

MMORPG was never meant for casual gamers just like PnP was never meant for casual gamers.

I used to play PNP RPG .. so? Really? Eat, drink and rest? Games are for fun .. i want to play a mage killing monsters, not a mage who needs 8 hours of sleep.

MMORPG is not meant for casuals. Just look at WOW. And that is the definition of MMORPG today. Things change. They always do.

Originally posted by Thorbrand

If you ever played PnP RPG you would understand. Full character customization and your own story development, not dev driven. Persistant world to live in and explore with dangers to over come.

Alignment based factions not this two faction stuff they have today. Alignment is based on race and class. Completely different game play depending on race and class.

True death penatlies. Don't forget the actual need to eat, drink and rest.

Night time was that night time! You couldn't see anything and undeand spawned all over the place.

Mobs that where challenging otherwise why would they be a treat to the city if they are so weak they would be extinct.

There are many more features that make a MMORPG that we haven't seen in years but everyone is on this single player bandwagon.

MMORPG was never meant for casual gamers just like PnP was never meant for casual gamers.

So MMORPGs are supposed to be highly developed themeparks with difficulty determined by the group of players playing together at the time?

Also PnP RPG was hardly persistant.  It was purely dependant on the GM and good his/her memory/documentation was.  Unless you chose to play a specifically deadly scenario player death was extremely rare.

From Wikipedia:

"Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world.

As in all RPGs, players assume the role of a character (often in a fantasy world) and take control over many of that character's actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player RPGs by the number of players, and by the game's persistent world (usually hosted by the game's publisher), which continues to exist and evolve while the player is offline and away from the game.

MMORPGs are played throughout the world. Worldwide revenues for MMORPGs exceeded half a billion dollars in 2005,^[1] and Western revenues exceeded US$1 billion in 2006.^[2] In 2008, Western consumer spending on subscription MMOGs grew to $1.4 billion.^[3] World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG, has more than 10 million subscribers as of February 2012.^[4] Star Wars: The Old Republic, released in 2011, became the world's 'Fastest-Growing MMO Ever' after gaining 1 million subscribers within the first three days of its launch.^[5][6]"

Originally posted by Gravarg

From Wikipedia:

"Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world.

As in all RPGs, players assume the role of a character (often in a fantasy world) and take control over many of that character's actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player RPGs by the number of players, and by the game's persistent world (usually hosted by the game's publisher), which continues to exist and evolve while the player is offline and away from the game.

MMORPGs are played throughout the world. Worldwide revenues for MMORPGs exceeded half a billion dollars in 2005,^[1] and Western revenues exceeded US$1 billion in 2006.^[2] In 2008, Western consumer spending on subscription MMOGs grew to $1.4 billion.^[3] World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG, has more than 10 million subscribers as of February 2012.^[4] Star Wars: The Old Republic, released in 2011, became the world's 'Fastest-Growing MMO Ever' after gaining 1 million subscribers within the first three days of its launch.^[5][6]"

But...............what's your favorite color?

The question is, essentially, meaningless.   As are some of the answers.  It's an umbrella term for a wide category of gaming subspecies.  

Although I did like the earlier take that it had to have other people, be online, and you had to have some sort of ability to make an individual character.

Originally posted by L0C0Man
Reading these forums, seems "Real MMORPG" = whatever MMO that existed before WoW... while I guess WoW and anything after it would be a "Fake MMORPG".. :)

Almost.

"Real MMO" is a game made with my favorite ruleset.  If none of those have been made, say in the last dozen years, obviously it is only further evidence of inescapable doom and the decline and fall of Western Civilization.  Plus any other dramatic overstatements I can dream up to tack on.