ArcheAge is an MMORPG in from Korean company XLGames and published in the NA and EU by Trion Worlds. Players enter a fantasy world and start play on one of two continents: Nuia (Elves. Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are a combination of role-playing video games and massively multiplayer online games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual world.

1. Game Atlantica Online Pc
2. Atlantica Online Game System Requirements
3. Atlantica Online Gameplay
4. Atlantica Online Game Download

Atlantica Online is a free-to-play (F2P) 3Dtacticalmassively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by NDOORS Corporation. The game's primary setting is a fantasy-themed alternate history Earth composed of a diverse blend of historical, cultural, allegorical, and mythological elements. The game world is primarily modeled after real-world geography with accessible locations on six of the seven continents as well as the mythical floating continent of Atlantis from which the game's name is derived.

• 1Gameplay

Gameplay[edit]

Atlantica Online is a turn-based tactical MMORPG in which the player primarily assumes the role of a descendant of the Atlantean people. The primary goal of the game is to search for your ancestral home to save the world from the effects of Oriharukon, a substance created by the ancient Atlanteans. The player's journey spans the globe and transcends time in search of clues that will lead to the lost civilization. The player battles men, monsters, and machines that have been corrupted by the Oriharukon's Influence.^[16]

The game design puts a strong emphasis on membership in guilds, which are permitted to own and customize towns like a business, profiting from the transactions that take place within their town. Up to ten guilds can unite under a single banner to form a Nation and go to war with other nations. Guilds and nations offer a variety of benefits to their members including passive boosts, guild-oriented dungeons, and ‘Guild Crafting’ where every member of a guild works together to complete a single craft. Players can also own their own houses.

In addition to the main quest line, the game features a variety of supplementary side quests rich with history and lore, a complex skill system, an in-depth crafting system, and a player housing system. As players journey through the world of Atlantica Online, their characters and mercenaries grow and develop, gaining access to new, more powerful skills and equipment along the way. As the level cap has advanced, the developers have implemented a set of milestones in the leveling structure with associated level-specific quest lines that enable players access to powerful class-specific skills known as “talents” upon completion.^{[citation needed]} Players can recruit up to eight mercenaries to join them in their travels, and each can increase in experience level. There are relatively few equipment options available to players apart from a few class-specific armor sets and limited-time ‘legendary items’. Players can combine armor effects through an 'enchantment' process.

The game's battle system is turn-based.^[17] When a player character and an enemy character come into contact with each other on the game map, both parties are transported into an instance where the battle takes place. During battle other players' groups and other monster groups may join in to a maximum of three groups on each side. In battle, the characters of each party are positioned on a 3x3 grid. Using attacks and abilities, the goal is to beat the opponent. The rewards include experience points and loot like the game's virtual currency, various materials, pieces of equipment etc. Player versus player combat operates through this system. There are two leagues players can join, as well as daily, weekly, and monthly fights and championships.

The Tactical battle system (TBS) is a separate, additional combat system that differs in many respects from the original system. Players and their adversaries are placed in a landscape where moving around characters freely is possible. New decision impacts like the possibility to take cover, different height levels and the movement speed of specific characters are added while certain mechanics of the original combat system are removed.^[18] Players complete story-based and objective-driven missions in the tactical battle system.

A dungeon in Atlantica Online is an instance region that can be opened with a special key and allows up to three players to clean the dungeon of enemies for a final reward in addition to the normal loot. Raid dungeons were added in 2012.

Setting[edit]

The world of Atlantica Online features real world locations mixed with mythological and fantasy elements. Steam game key location. Countries like Germany and China are represented, with cities like Munich, Moscow, and Sapporo as visitable hubs that offer services like banks, hospitals, the marketplace where players can trade goods with each other and other facilities. Though the locations on the map feature climates similar to their real world counterparts, the architecture is often a generic recreation of well known structure types, such as the cities in Eastern Europe and Japan.

The locations are based on real world locations, but are often geographically out of place and altered for effect. Most of the civilizations represented are anachronistic: Rome is set in the Holy Roman Empire, while Great Britain is independent, the Ottoman Empire reigns in Turkey, Southeast Asia resembles ancient Indian kingdoms before Western colonization and Islamic influence, and North America is caught up in the Industrial Revolution.

Development[edit]

The North American English version, available worldwide, was first distributed by the USA subsidiary company NDOORS Interactive, Inc.^[19] A closed beta version was made available to FilePlanet subscribers on July 15, 2008.^[20] The first phase of the open beta ended on July 28, 2008; the start of the second phase began on August 7, 2008.^[21] On October 30, 2008 at 11a.m. PDT, Atlantica Online ended its beta period and began its official run at 6p.m. PDT on October 30, 2008.^[22] NDOORS also launches Atlantica Online Germany, for European players, on the October 21. The closed Beta started on September 1 and ended after a month. The Chinese company The9 has obtained exclusive rights for distributing and operating Atlantica Online in China.^[23] Russian localized version open beta test started May 12, 2010 supported by Innova Systems company.

Atlantica's publisher and developer, NDOORS Interactive, regularly releases new content updates. Non-Korean servers generally receive the updates after the Korean servers. Updates include, for instance, new dungeons, quests, NPCs, skills, mercenaries, outfits, equipment, mounts, and community features. Updates also balance the game's elements. Implemented on August 17, 2010, the Troy Story Arc is a series of 'missions' following the format of the Tactical Battle System (TBS) that was introduced in the same patch. In each mission one or more players take part in a fantasy version of the Trojan War. The rewards include generous amounts of experience points and valuable chests containing loot.^[18] In April 2013, the first part of the major content update 'Rise of Atlantis' was released. May 2013 saw the second part and the third part is scheduled for June 2013. Previously with The Trojan War and the Romance of the Three Kingdom's reaching a great feedback from the players it was time to add in a new area, the Mythical region of Atlantis, which was divided by two, West and Eastern Atlantis. This update was the most extensive to that date, introducing a new continent to explore (mythical Atlantis), new mercenary classes, new equipment, content and several changes to other features of the game.^[24][25] Implemented on April 8, 2014, (Europe) the Mayan Hero Arc is the start of the new 'Heroes' class line following the format of the Tactical Battle System (TBS) that was introduced previously in some raids and other more classic Content. In each mission one or more players take part in a fantasy version of the ancient mythology. The rewards can be very rewarding if the highest level of content is done. Future content to come will revolution the game, such as Whip using Mercenary's, a Corps Feature and other things that are planned/set to hit the Korean Servers in 2014 and early 2015.^[26]

On December 18, 2008, the North American continent was added, which features New York City as a new explorable city and the United States and Mexico as explorable countries. These contain a few dungeons, but greatly expand the map in Atlantica. Developers have also mentioned the possibility of adding the continents of the Southern Hemisphere, excluding Antarctica.

Reception[edit]

Reception of Atlantica Online has been largely positive. The game received a number of awards upon release in 2008.^[31]Atlantica Online was selected as an official game for the Korean Game and Game World Championship (GNGWC) in 2008 and 2009^[35] and won the prestigious Golden Plume Award for Best Foreign Online Game at the 2008 China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference (ChinaJoy).^[34]

The game is acclaimed for its innovative turn-based battle system and its integration with community features. Danny Gourley of Ten Ton Hammer praised its gameplay, stating 'it requires gamers to think a little instead of just mashing buttons'.^[36]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^{abcdefghijklm}'Atlantica Online Credits'. MobyGames. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
2. ^'Published Titles'. Gamebryo. Retrieved 2015-01-04.
3. ^ ^ab'회사연혁 : 엔도어즈'. NDOORS Corporation. 2012. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
4. ^'Atlantica Set for Official Launch'. Nexon America Inc. 2008-10-28. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
5. ^'『アトランティカ』正式サービス開始のお知らせ'. Nexon Co., Ltd. 2008-11-25. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
6. ^'Atlantica Online Selected as Official Game of the Game & Game World Championship 2009'. IGN Entertainment, Inc. 2009-05-06. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
7. ^'The9 to begin Atlantica open beta test'. China Daily Information Co. 2009-05-25. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
8. ^'Milestones'. Asiasoft Corporation Public Company Limited. 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-06-04. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
9. ^'Die Beta endet. Der Item-Shop startet'. Nexon Europe S.à r.l. 2009-11-19. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
10. ^'Fin de la seconde bêta et annonce de la version officielle'. Nexon Europe S.à r.l. 2010-05-05. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
11. ^'Официальный запуск тактико-ролевой игры 'Атлантика''. Innova Co. S.à rl. 2010-06-15. Archived from the original on 2015-05-06. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
12. ^'Launching Item Mall (Archived)'. PT. Kreon/Gemscool. 2010-06-18. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
13. ^'Atlantica Online se lanza hoy comercialmente'. IDG Communications, S. A. U. 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
14. ^'Lançamento Oficial (Archived)'. Ignited Games Inc. 2011-05-30. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
15. ^'New Heroes will rise – Atlantica Europe English'. Nexon Europe S.à r.l. 2014-04-09. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
16. ^http://www.ign.com/games/atlantica-online/pc-14261327
17. ^'Atlantica Online Interview - Part 1'. IGN Entertainment, Inc. 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
18. ^ ^ab'Troy, TBS and My Home patch notes'. 2010-08-17. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
19. ^Closed Beta Press Release
20. ^'Atlantica Online beta phase 1 opens for FilePlanet subscribers'. Atlantica.ndoorsgames.com. 2011-02-17. Archived from the original on 2008-12-20. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
21. ^'Re-opening of closed beta'. Atlantica.ndoorsgames.com. 2011-02-17. Archived from the original on 2008-12-20. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
22. ^'Launch of the official game'. Atlantica.ndoorsgames.com. 2011-02-17. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
23. ^'The9 Limited Obtains Exclusive License to Operate Atlantica in Mainland China'. Reuters.com. 2008-04-22. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
24. ^'Rise of Atlantis, part 1, 'Awakening' patch notes'. 2013-04-17. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
25. ^'Rise of Atlantis, part 2, 'Ascension' patch notes'. 2013-05-18. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
26. ^'Mayan Hero Patch notes'. 2010-08-17. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
27. ^'GameSpot Average Player Score'. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
28. ^'GiantBomb User Score'. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
29. ^'IGN Community Score'. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
30. ^'2008 Best of F2P Awards'. TenTonHammer.com. 2009-01-04. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
31. ^ ^ab'Praise for Atlantica'. atlantica.nexon.net. 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
32. ^'GameOgre's 2008 Online Game Awards'. Gameogre.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
33. ^ ^abc'OnRPG Member's Choice Awards 2008'. OnRPG.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
34. ^ ^ab'Atlantica Online Wins a Top Award at ChinaJoy Debut - IGN'. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
35. ^'Game and Game World Championship Website'. Gamengame.com. 2010-11-21. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
36. ^'Ten Ton Hammer's Atlantica Online Review'. Tentonhammer.com. Retrieved 2011-05-30.

External links[edit]

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are a combination of role-playing video games and massively multiplayer online games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual world.

As in all role-playing games or RPGs, the player assumes the role of a character (often in a fantasy world or science-fiction world) and takes control over many of that character's actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player online RPGs by the number of players able to interact together, 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 a billion dollars in 2006.^[2] In 2008, the spending on subscription MMORPGs by consumers in North America and Europe grew to $1.4 billion.^[3]World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG, has over 10 million subscribers as of November 2014.^[4]World of Warcraft's total revenue was $1.04 billion US dollars in 2014.^[5]Star Wars: The Old Republic, released in 2011, became the world's 'Fastest-Growing MMO Ever' after gaining more than 1 million subscribers within the first three days of its launch.^[6][7]

• 1Common features
• 3Development
• 4Trends
• 5In society and culture

Common features[edit]

Although modern MMORPGs sometimes differ dramatically from their predecessors, many of them share the same basic characteristics. These include several common features: persistent game environment, some form of level progression, social interaction within the game, in-game culture, system architecture, membership in a group, and character customization.

Themes[edit]

The majority of popular MMORPGs are based on traditional fantasy themes, often occurring in an in-game universe comparable to that of Dungeons & Dragons. Some employ hybrid themes that either merge or replace fantasy elements with those of science fiction, sword and sorcery, or crime fiction. Others draw thematic material from American comic books, the occult, and other genres. These elements are often developed using similar tasks and scenarios involving quests, monsters, and loot.

Progression[edit]

In nearly all MMORPGs, the development of the player's character is the primary goal. Nearly all MMORPGs feature a character progression system, in which players earn experience points for their actions and use those points to reach character 'levels', which makes them better at whatever they do.^[8] Traditionally, combat with monsters and completing quests for non-player characters, either alone or in groups, are the primary ways to earn experience points. The accumulation of wealth (including combat-useful items) is also a way to progress in many MMORPGs. This is traditionally best accomplished via combat. The cycle produced by these conditions, combat leading to new items allowing for more combat with no change in gameplay, is sometimes pejoratively referred to as the level treadmill, or 'grinding'. The role-playing game Progress Quest was created as a parody of this trend. Eve Online trains skills in real time rather than using experience points as a measure of progression.

In some MMORPGs, there is no limit to a player's level, allowing the grinding experience to continue indefinitely. MMORPGs that use this model often glorify top ranked players by displaying their avatars on the game's website or posting their stats on a high score screen. Another common practice is to enforce a maximum reachable level for all players, often referred to as a level cap. Once reached, the definition of a player's progression changes. Instead of being awarded primarily with experience for completing quests and dungeons, the player's motivation to continue playing will be replaced with collecting money and equipment.

Often, the widened range of equipment available at the maximum level will have increased aesthetic value to distinguish high ranking players in game between lower ranked players. Colloquially known as endgame gear, this set of empowered weapons and armor adds a competitive edge to both scripted boss encounters as well as player vs player combat. Player motivation to outperform others is fueled by acquiring such items and is a significant determining factor in their success or failure in combat-related situations.

Social interaction[edit]

MMORPGs almost always have tools to facilitate communication between players. Many MMORPGs offer support for in-game guilds or clans, though these will usually form whether the game supports them or not.

In addition, most MMOGs require some degree of teamwork in parts of the game. These tasks usually require players to take on roles in the group, such as protecting other players from damage (called tanking), 'healing' damage done to other players or damaging enemies.

MMORPGs generally have Game Moderators or Game Masters (frequently referred to as GMs or 'mods'), who may be paid employees or unpaid volunteers who attempt to supervise the world. Some GMs may have additional access to features and information related to the game that are not available to other players and roles.^[9]

Relationships formed in MMORPGs can often be just as intense as relationships formed between friends or partners met outside the game, and often involve elements of collaboration and trust between players.^[10]

Roleplaying[edit]

Most MMORPGs provide different types of classes that players can choose. Among those classes, a small portion of players choose to roleplay their characters, and there are rules that provide functionality and content to those who do. Community resources such as forums and guides exist in support of this play style.

For example, if a player wants to play a priest role in his MMORPG world, he might buy a cope from a shop and learn priestly skills, proceeding to speak, act, and interact with others as their character would. This may or may not include pursuing other goals such as wealth or experience. Guilds or similar groups with a focus on roleplaying may develop extended in-depth narratives using the setting and resources similar to those in the game world.^[11]

Culture[edit]

Over time, the MMORPG community has developed a sub-culture with its own slang and metaphors, as well as an unwritten list of social rules and taboos. Players will often complain about 'grind' (a slang term for any repetitive, time-consuming activity in an MMORPG), or talk about 'buffs' and 'nerfs' (respectively an upgrade or downgrade of a particular game mechanic).

As with all such cultures, social rules exist for such things as invitations to join an adventuring party, the proper division of treasure, and how a player is expected to behave while grouped with other players.^[11]

Debate rages in various gaming media over the long-term effect of video game overuse. The On-Line Gamers Anonymous forums are filled with stories of players that have neglected social, employment and/or family responsibilities in favor of their virtual lives.

System architecture[edit]

Most MMORPGs are deployed using a client–serversystem architecture. The server software generates a persistent instance of the virtual world that runs continuously, and players connect to it via a client software. The client software may provide access to the entire playing world, or further 'expansions' may be required to be purchased to allow access to certain areas of the game. EverQuest and Guild Wars are two examples of games that use such a format. Players generally must purchase the client software for a one-time fee, although an increasing trend is for MMORPGs to work using pre-existing 'thin' clients, such as a web browser.^{[citation needed]}

Some MMORPGs require payment or a monthly subscription to play. By definition, 'massively multiplayer' games are always online, and most require some sort of continuous revenue (such as monthly subscriptions and advertisements) for maintenance and development purposes. Some games, such as Guild Wars have disposed of the 'monthly fee' model entirely, and recover costs directly through sales of the software and associated expansion packs. Still, others adopt a micropayment model where the core content is free, but players are given the option to purchase additional content, such as equipment, aesthetic items, or pets. Games that make use of this model often have originated in Korea, such as Flyff and MapleStory. This business model is alternately called 'pay for perks' or 'freemium', and games using it often describe themselves with the term 'free-to-play'.

Depending on the number of players and the system architecture, an MMORPG might actually be run on multiple separate servers, each representing an independent world, where players from one server cannot interact with those from another; World of Warcraft is a prominent example, with each separate server housing several thousand players. In many MMORPGs the number of players in one world is often limited to around a few thousand, but a notable example of the opposite is EVE Online, which accommodates several hundred thousand players on the same server, with over 60,000 playing simultaneously (June 2010^[12]) at certain times. Some games allow characters to appear on any world, but not simultaneously (such as Seal Online: Evolution), others limit each character to the world in which it was created. World of Warcraft has experimented with 'cross-realm' (i.e. cross-server) interaction in player vs player 'battlegrounds', using server clusters or 'battlegroups' to co-ordinate players looking to participate in structured player vs player content such as the Warsong Gulch or Alterac Valley battlegrounds.^[13] Additionally, patch 3.3, released on December 8, 2009, introduced a cross-realm 'looking for group' system to help players form groups for instanced content (though not for open-world questing) from a larger pool of characters than their home server can necessarily provide.^[14]

History[edit]

MMORPG is a term coined by Richard Garriott to refer to massive multiplayer online role-playing games and their social communities.^[11] The link between Garriott and the MMORPG term has been recognised by many scholars.^[15] Previous to this and related coinages, these games were generally called graphical MUDs; the history of MMORPGs traces back directly through the MUD genre.^[16][17] Through this connection, MMORPGs can be seen to have roots in the earliest multi-user games such as Mazewar (1974) and MUD1 (1978). 1985 saw the release of a roguelike (pseudo-graphical) MUD called Island of Kesmai on CompuServe^[18] and Lucasfilm's graphical MUD Habitat.^[19] The first fully graphical multi-user RPG was Neverwinter Nights, which was delivered through America Online in 1991 and was personally championed by AOL President Steve Case.^[20] Other early proprietary graphical online RPGs include three on The Sierra Network: The Shadow of Yserbius in 1992, The Fates of Twinion in 1993, and The Ruins of Cawdor in 1995. Another milestone came in 1995 as NSFNET restrictions were lifted, opening the Internet up for game developers, which allowed for the first truly 'massively'-scoped titles. Finally, MMORPGs as defined today began with Meridian 59 in 1996, innovative both in its scope and in offering first-person 3D graphics, with The Realm Online appearing nearly simultaneously.^[20]Ultima Online, released in 1997, is often credited with first popularizing the genre,^[20] though more mainstream attention was garnered by 1999's EverQuest and Asheron's Call in the West^[20] and 1996's Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds in South Korea.

The financial success of these early titles has ensured competition in the genre since that time. MMORPG titles now exist on consoles and in new settings. As of 2008, the market for MMORPGs has Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft dominating as the largest MMORPG,^[21] alongside other titles such as Final Fantasy XIV and Guild Wars 2, though an additional market exists for free-to-play MMORPGs, which are supported by advertising and purchases of in-game items. This free-to-play model is particularly common in South Korea such as MapleStory, Rohan: Blood Feud, and Atlantica Online. Also, there are some free-to-play games, such as RuneScape and Tibia, where the game is free, but one would have to pay monthly to play the game with more features. Guild Wars and its sequel avoid some degree of competition with other MMORPGs by only requiring the initial purchase of the game to play.

Development[edit]

The cost of developing a competitive commercial MMORPG title often exceeded $10 million in 2003.^[22] These projects require multiple disciplines within game design and development such as 3D modeling, 2D art, animation, user interfaces, client/server engineering, database architecture, and network infrastructure.^[23]

The front-end (or client) component of a commercial, modern MMORPG features 3D graphics. As with other modern 3D games, the front-end requires expertise with implementing 3D engines, real-time shader techniques and physics simulation. The actual visual content (areas, creatures, characters, weapons, spaceships and so forth) is developed by artists who typically begin with two-dimensional concept art, and later convert these concepts into animated 3D scenes, models and texture maps.^[24]

Developing an MMOG server requires expertise with client/server architecture, network protocols, security, and database design. MMORPGs include reliable systems for a number of vital tasks. The server must be able to handle and verify a large number of connections, prevent cheating, and apply changes (bug fixes or added content) to the game. A system for recording the games data at regular intervals, without stopping the game, is also important.^[25]

Maintenance requires sufficient servers and bandwidth, and a dedicated support staff. Insufficient resources for maintenance lead to lag and frustration for the players, and can severely damage the reputation of a game, especially at launch. Care must also be taken to ensure that player population remains at an acceptable level by adding or removing servers. Peer-to-peer MMORPGs could theoretically work cheaply and efficiently in regulating server load, but practical issues such as asymmetrical network bandwidth, CPU-hungry rendering engines, unreliability of individual nodes, and inherent lack of security (opening fertile new grounds for cheating) can make them a difficult proposition. The hosted infrastructure for a commercial-grade MMORPG requires the deployment of hundreds (or even thousands) of servers. Developing an affordable infrastructure for an online game requires developers to scale large numbers of players with less hardware and network investment.^[26]

In addition, the development team will need to have expertise with the fundamentals of game design: world-building, lore and game mechanics,^[27] as well as what makes games fun.^[28]

Non-corporate development[edit]

Though the vast majority of MMORPGs are produced by companies, many small teams of programmers and artists have contributed to the genre. As shown above, the average MMORPG development project requires enormous investments of time and money, and running the game can be a long-term commitment. As a result, non-corporate (or independent, or 'indie') development of MMORPGs is less common compared to other genres. Still, many independent MMORPGs do exist, representing a wide spectrum of genres, gameplay types, and revenue systems.

Some independent MMORPG projects are completely open source, while others feature proprietary content made with an open-source game engine. The WorldForge project has been active since 1998 and formed a community of independent developers who are working on creating framework for a number of open-source MMORPGs. The Multiverse Foundation has also created a platform specifically for independent MMOG developers.^[31]

Trends[edit]

As there are a number of wildly different titles within the genre, and since the genre develops so rapidly, it is difficult to definitively state that the genre is heading in one direction or another. Still, there are a few obvious developments. One of these developments is the raid group quest, or 'raid',^[32] which is an adventure designed for large groups of players (often twenty or more).

Instance dungeons[edit]

Instance dungeons, sometimes shortened to 'instances', are game areas that are 'copied' for individual players or groups, which keeps those in the instance separated from the rest of the game world. This reduces competition, and also reducing the amount of data that needs to be sent to and from the server, reducing lag. The Realm Online was the first MMORPG to begin to use a rudimentary form of this technique and Anarchy Online would develop it further, using instances as a key element of gameplay. Since then, instancing has become increasingly common. The 'raids', as mentioned above, often involve instance dungeons. Examples of games which feature instances are World of Warcraft, The Lord of the Rings Online, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Aion, Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars, Rift, RuneScape, Star Trek Online and DC Universe Online.

Player-created content[edit]

Increased amounts of 'player-created content' is another trend.^[33]

Use of licenses[edit]

The use of intellectual property licensing common in other video game genres has also appeared in MMORPGs. 2007 saw the release of The Lord of the Rings Online, based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Other licensed MMORPGs include The Matrix Online, based on the Matrix trilogy of films, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, based on Games Workshop's table top game, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars The Old Republic, Champions Online and Age of Conan.

Additionally, several licenses from television have been optioned for MMORPGs, for example Star Trek Online and Stargate Worlds (which was later canceled).

Console-based MMORPGs[edit]

The first console-based MMORPG was Phantasy Star Online for the Sega DreamCast.^[34] The first console-based open-world MMORPG was Final Fantasy XI for the PlayStation 2.EverQuest Online Adventures, also on the PlayStation 2, was the first console MMORPG in North America.Although console-based MMORPGs are considered more difficult to produce,^[35] the platform is gaining more attention.

Browser-based MMORPGs[edit]

With the popularization of Facebook and microtransactions has come a new wave of Flash and HTML5 based MMORPGs that use the free to play model. They require no download outside of a browser and usually have heavily integrated social media sharing features. An example of a browser-based MMORPG is Freewar.

Smartphone-based MMORPGs[edit]

Smartphones with their GPS capabilities (amongst others) enable augmented reality games such as Ingress and Pokémon Go. The games are enhanced by location and distance based tracking, bench marking goals or facilitating trade between players.

In society and culture[edit]

Psychological effects[edit]

Since the interactions between MMORPG players are real, even if the environments are virtual, psychologists and sociologists are able to use MMORPGs as tools for academic research. Sherry Turkle has found that many people have expanded their emotional range by exploring the many different roles (including gender identities) that MMORPGs allow a person to explore.^[36]

Nick Yee has surveyed more than 35,000 MMORPG players over the past several years, focusing on psychological and sociological aspects of these games. Recent findings included that 15% of players become a guild-leader at one time or another, but most generally find the job tough and thankless;^[37] and that players spend a considerable amount of time (often a third of their total time investment) doing things that are external to gameplay but part of the metagame.^[38]

Many players report that the emotions they feel while playing an MMORPG are very strong, to the extent that 8.7% of male and 23.2% of female players in a statistical study have had an online wedding.^[39] Other researchers have found that the enjoyment of a game is directly related to the social organization of a game, ranging from brief encounters between players to highly organized play in structured groups.^[40]

Game Atlantica Online Pc

In a study by Zaheer Hussain and Mark D. Griffiths, it was found that just over one in five gamers (21%) said they preferred socializing online to offline. Significantly more male gamers than female gamers said that they found it easier to converse online than offline. It was also found that 57% of gamers had created a character of the opposite gender, and it is suggested that the online female persona has a number of positive social attributes.^[41]

A German fMRT-study conducted by researchers of the Central Institute of Mental Health points towards impairments in social, emotional and physical aspects of the self-concept and a higher degree in avatar identification in addicted MMORPG players, compared to non-addicted and naive (nonexperienced) people.^[42] These findings generally support Davis' cognitive behavioral model of Internet addiction, which postulates that dysfunctional self-related cognitions represent central factors contributing towards the development and maintenance of MMORPG addiction.^[43] The high degree of avatar identification found by Leménager et al. in the addicted group of this study indicates that MMORPG playing may represent an attempt to compensate for impairments in self-concept. Psychotherapeutic interventions should therefore focus on the development of coping strategies for real-life situations in which addicted players tend to experience themselves as incompetent and inferior.^[42]

Richard Bartle, author of Designing Virtual Worlds, classified multiplayer RPG-players into four primary psychological groups. His classifications were then expanded upon by Erwin Andreasen, who developed the concept into the thirty-question Bartle Test that helps players determine which category they are associated with. With over 650,000 test responses as of 2011, this is perhaps the largest ongoing survey of multiplayer game players.^[44] Based on Bartle and Yee's research, Jon Radoff has published an updated model of player motivation that focuses on immersion, competition, cooperation and achievement.^[45][46] These elements may be found not only in MMORPGs, but many other types of games and within the emerging field of gamification.

In World of Warcraft, a temporary design glitch attracted the attention of psychologists and epidemiologists across North America, when the 'Corrupted Blood' disease of a monster began to spread unintentionally—and uncontrollably—into the wider game world. The Centers for Disease Control used the incident as a research model to chart both the progression of a disease, and the potential human response to large-scale epidemic infection.^[47]

Economics[edit]

Many MMORPGs feature living economies. Virtual items and currency have to be gained through play and have definite value for players.^[48] Such a virtual economy can be analyzed (using data logged by the game)^[48] and has value in economic research. More significantly, these 'virtual' economies can affect the economies of the real world.

One of the early researchers of MMORPGs was Edward Castronova, who demonstrated that a supply-and-demand market exists for virtual items and that it crosses over with the real world.^[49] This crossover has some requirements of the game:

• The ability for players to sell an item to each other for in-game (virtual) currency.
• Bartering for items between players for items of similar value.
• The purchase of in-game items for real-world currency.
• Exchanges of real-world currencies for virtual currencies.
• The invention of user-created meta-currencies such as Dragon kill points to distribute in-game rewards.^[50]

The idea of attaching real-world value to 'virtual' items has had a profound effect on players and the game industry, and even the courts.^[51] The virtual currency selling pioneer IGE received a lawsuit from a World of Warcraft player for interfering in the economics and intended use of the game by selling WoW gold.^[52] Castronova's first study in 2002 found that a highly liquid (if illegal) currency market existed, with the value of Everquest's in-game currency exceeding that of the Japanese yen.^[53] Some people even make a living by working these virtual economies; these people are often referred to as gold farmers, and may be employed in game sweatshops.^[54]

Game publishers usually prohibit the exchange of real-world money for virtual goods, but others actively promote the idea of linking (and directly profiting from) an exchange. In Second Life and Entropia Universe, the virtual economy and the real-world economy are directly linked. This means that real money can be deposited for game money and vice versa. Real-world items have also been sold for game money in Entropia, and some players of Second Life have generated revenues in excess of $100,000.^[55]

Some of the issues confronting online economies include:

• The use of 'bots' or automated programs, that assist some players in accumulating in-game wealth to the disadvantage of other players.^[56]
• The use of unsanctioned auction sites, which has led publishers to seek legal remedies to prevent their use based on intellectual-property claims.^[57]
• The emergence of virtual crime, which can take the form of both fraud against the player or publisher of an online game, and even real-life acts of violence stemming from in-game transactions.^[58]

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Linking real-world and virtual economies is rare in MMORPGs, as it is generally believed to be detrimental to gameplay. If real-world wealth can be used to obtain greater, more immediate rewards than skillful gameplay, the incentive for strategic roleplay and real game involvement is diminished. It could also easily lead to a skewed hierarchy where richer players gain better items, allowing them to take on stronger opponents and level up more quickly than less wealthy but more committed players.^[59]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Parks Associates (2005). 'Online Gaming Revenues to Triple by 2009'. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
2. ^Harding-Rolls, Piers (2006). Western World MMOG Market: 2006 Review and Forecasts to 2011(PDF). London, UK: Screen Digest. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2007-06-04. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
3. ^Harding-Rolls, Piers (2009). Subscription MMOGs: Life Beyond World of Warcraft(PDF). London, UK: Screen Digest. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2009-12-29. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
4. ^Reilly, Luke (2014-11-19). 'World of Warcraft Subscriptions Back Over 10 Million'. IGN. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
5. ^Tassi, Paul. ''World of Warcraft' Still A $1B Powerhouse'. Forbes.com. Forbes. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
6. ^'Star Wars: The Old Republic Jumps to Light Speed (NASDAQ:EA)'. Investor.ea.com. 2011-12-23. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
7. ^Rundle, Michael (2011-12-27). 'Star Wars: The Old Republic Is 'Fastest-Growing MMO Ever' With 1m Users'. Huffington Post.
8. ^Mulligan, Jessica; Patrovsky, Bridgette (2003). Developing Online Games: An Insider's Guide. New Riders. pp. 474, 477. ISBN1-59273-000-0. [pp. 474] experience points A point value that is accumulated by gameplay activity such as leveling and is used as a measure of a character's power. Popularized by the classic dice version of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons back in the 1970s and carried over to online gaming by designers. [pp. 477] level A rank or rating of a character's power. [..] leveling Activity in-game devoted to increasing a character's experience, level, and/or skills. Leveling usually consists of killing mobs.
9. ^Nicholas, Munn J. 'The Reality of Friendship Within Immersive Virtual Worlds.' Springer Science+Business Media (2011): 1-10. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
10. ^R.Schroeder & A. Axelsson (2006). 'The Psychology of MMORPGs: Emotional Investment, Motivations, Relationship Formation, and Problematic Usage'. Avatars at Work and Play: Collaboration and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments(PDF). Nicholas Yee. London: Springer-Verlag. pp. 187–207. ISBN1-4020-3883-6.
11. ^ ^abcJøn, A. Asbjørn (2010). 'The Development of MMORPG Culture and The Guild'. Australian Folklore: A Yearly Journal of Folklore Studies. 25: 97–112., p.97
12. ^'This Weekend: The Alliance Tournament Finals!'.
13. ^'World of Warcraft Europe -> Info -> Basics -> Battlegroups'. 5 April 2008. Archived from the original on 5 April 2008.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
14. ^'World of Warcraft'.
15. ^Safko, Lon; Brake, David (2009). The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success. Wiley. ISBN0-470-41155-4. Richard Garriott first coined the term MMORPG in 1997.
16. ^Castronova, Edward (2006). Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games. University Of Chicago Press. pp. 10, 291. ISBN0-226-09626-2. [pp. 10] The ancestors of MMORPGS were text-based multiuser domains (MUDs) [..] [pp. 291] Indeed, MUDs generate perhaps the one historical connection between game-based VR and the traditional program [..]
17. ^Bainbridge, William Sims (2004). Berkshire Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction. 2. Berkshire Publishing Group. p. 474. ISBN0-9743091-2-5. Developers had long considered writing a graphical MUD. [..] the last major 2D virtual environment in the West marked the true beginning of the fifth age of MUDs: Origin Systems' 1997 Ultima Online (UO).
18. ^Mulligan, Jessica; Patrovsky, Bridgette (2003). Developing Online Games: An Insider's Guide. New Riders. p. 447. ISBN1-59273-000-0. 1985 [..] 'My memory says that Island of Kesmai went live on CompuServe on December 15, 1985, after a very long internal test. The price was actually $6 an hour for 300 baud, $12 for 1200 baud. Serious players paid the bucks.'—Kelton Flinn
19. ^'Bringing Habitat Back to Life'. pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
20. ^ ^abcdKoster, Raph (2002-02-20). 'Online World Timeline'. Raph Koster's Website. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
21. ^Snow, Blake (2008-01-23). 'World of Warcraft addicts 10 million subscribers'. GamePro.com. Archived from the original on 2008-01-28. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
22. ^Adam Carpenter (2003), Applying Risk-Based Analysis to Play Balance RPGs, Gamasutra, gamasutra.com
23. ^Jon Radoff (2007), 'Anatomy of an MMORPG,' PlayerVox,radoff.comArchived 2009-12-13 at the Wayback Machine
24. ^Frank Luna (2006), '3D Game Programming with DirectX 9.0c, a Shader Approach,' Worldware Publishing, ISBN1-59822-016-0
25. ^Jay Lee (2003), Gamasutra, Relational Database Guidelines for MMOGs, gamasutra.com
26. ^GDC Proceedings 2005, Online Game Architecture: Back-End Strategies, gamasutra.com
27. ^Chris Crawford (2003), Chris Crawford on Game Design, New Riders Games, ISBN0-13-146099-4
28. ^Koster, Raph (2005). A Theory of Fun for Game Design. Paraglyph Press. ISBN1-932111-97-2.
29. ^'Ryzom is free software! What can we do from here?'. Fsf.org. 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
30. ^Massively Multiplayer Game Ryzom Released as Free Culture and Free Software on creativecommons.org, Chris Webber, (May 6, 2010)
31. ^'About Multiverse'. Multiverse. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
32. ^Wilson, Steve (December 14, 2006). 'Casual Play: Raiding Needs to Die'. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
33. ^Jon Radoff (March 20, 2007), Gamasutra, Five Prescriptions for Viral Games, gamasutra.com
34. ^'Console MMOs: a brief history of one man's couch-laden adventures'. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
35. ^'Analysis: Why Aren't There More Console MMOs?'.
36. ^Turkle, Sherry (1997-09-04). Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. Simon & Schuster. ISBN0-684-83348-4.
37. ^Yee, Nick (2006-03-20). 'Life as a Guild Leader'. The Daedalus Project. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
38. ^Yee, Nick (2006-08-29). 'Time Spent in the Meta-Game'. The Daedalus Project. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
39. ^Yee, Nick (2006-08-29). 'An Ethnography of MMORPG Weddings'. The Daedalus Project. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
40. ^Nardi, Harris (2006), Strangers and Friends: Collaborative Play in World of Warcraft, Proceedings of the 2006 20th anniversary conference on Computer supported cooperative work
41. ^Hussain, Zaheer (2008), Gender Swapping and Socializing in Cyberspace: An Exploratory Study
42. ^ ^abLeménager, Tagrid; Gwodz, Alexander; Richter, Anne; Reinhard, Iris; Kämmerer, Nina; Sell, Madlen; Mann, Karl (2013): 'Self-Concept Deficits in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games Addiction'. European Addiction Research 19: 227-234.
43. ^Davis, RA (2001): A cognitive-behavioral model of pathological internet use. Computers in Human Behavior 17: 187-195.
44. ^'Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology'. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
45. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2011-05-21. Retrieved 2011-05-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
46. ^Radoff, Jon (April 2011). Game On: Energize Your Business with Social Games. ISBN978-0-470-93626-9.
47. ^'Looking Back.. World of Warcraft'. CVG. 2005-01-04. Retrieved 2006-08-05.
48. ^ ^abPrivantu, Radu (2007-02-17). 'Tips on Developing an MMO Economy, Part I'. DevMaster.net. Archived from the original on 2007-04-09. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
49. ^Castronova, Edward (2006). Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games. University Of Chicago Press. pp. 10, 291. ISBN0-226-09626-2.
50. ^Castronova, Edward; Fairfield, Joshua (2007). Dragon Kill Points: a Summary White Paper. Social Science Research Network. SSRN958945.
51. ^'Virtual worlds wind up in real courts - Technology & science - Games'. MSNBC. Retrieved 7 February 2005.
52. ^'IGE Sued by World of Warcraft Player'. EscapistMagazine. 2007-06-01.
53. ^Whiting, Jason (2002-11-06). 'Online Game Economies Get Real'. Wired News. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
54. ^Lee, James (2005-07-05). 'Wage Slaves'. 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 2009-10-01. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
55. ^Hof, Robert (2006-05-01). 'My Virtual Life'. BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
56. ^Robert Shapiro (2003), How online games teach us about economics, slate.com
57. ^Blizzard Goes to War, terranova.blogs.com
58. ^BBC News (2005), Game Theft led to Fatal Attack, news.bbc.co.uk
59. ^'Gamble your life away in ZT Online'.

Atlantica Online Gameplay

Further reading[edit]

• Jøn, A. Asbjørn (2010). 'The Development of MMORPG Culture and The Guild'. Australian Folklore: A Yearly Journal of Folklore Studies. 25: 97–112.
• Dyer-Witheford, Nick; de Peuter, Greig (2009). Games of empire: Global capitalism and video games. University of Minnesota Press.
• Jenkins, Henry (2004). Game Design as Narrative Architecture. First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game. MIT Press. pp. 118–30.
• Tekinbaş, Katie Salen; Zimmerman, Eric (2006). The game design reader: a Rules of play anthology. MIT Press.

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