It’s hard to stay ahead of the MMO curve, with such a wide variety of new games coming out every month. With so many massively multiplayer online games launching on a daily basis, it’s tough to know which ones are worth your time.
What is MMO?
Multiplayer Online games, commonly known as MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games), MMOs, or MOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games), are online games played via the Internet or a local area network. Many of these games are accessible for free, and some are paid. Developers of MMOs earn money by charging a monthly fee for access or by selling items, abilities, add-ons for real money, or virtual currency. They often outsource this to different websites such as yesgamers (www.yesgamers.com) or Amazon. You can buy it through these portals and they are directly added to your inventory in the game.
Online multiplayer games have been around for a long time, but the term MMO only began to get traction in the early 2000s. The term “massively multiplayer online game” was originally a marketing term that described one of the features of a gaming network. It was first used in 1997 to describe the video game Ultima Online, which was the first game of its kind to use a large-scale, persistent, and continuous virtual world. It was the first to have multiple players interacting in it simultaneously.
Today, the rise of mobile computing and the convenience of apps have made the existence of in-app purchases all but inevitable. Some games are free to download and play, but these games often rely on in-app purchases to keep players interested in the game and to incentivize them to keep playing. (The game may be free, but the purchases are not!) For example, a game may start out free to play, but if you want to get to a new level or go faster, you’ll need to pay real money (known as micro-transactions) to get access to new features.
There are many advantages of MMO
- First, they are free to play. That means you do not need to pay to play, and you can play as long as you want.
- Second, they are massively multiplayer. You are able to interact with a large community of other gamers.
- Third, there is no limit on how long you can play. You can play as long as you want.
Many people assume that playing an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) is all about killing monsters, leveling up, and taking part in raids. While all of these activities take place in an MMORPG, they are not the sole reason for playing. The major appeal of an MMORPG is the ability to make friends with like-minded individuals from around the globe.
It’s hard to believe sometimes, but the original Massively Multiplayer Online game, Meridian 59, was released 18 years ago. Since then, MMOGs have become a major force in gaming culture, with new ones hitting the market almost every day. Still, the question remains which is the best MMOG to play today? There are several to choose from, but I would recommend Second Life; it’s free, has a huge player base, and you can do just about anything you can imagine. Including socialize, make money, and even play your favorite video game.
Today, there are thousands of massively multiplayer online games available to play. But among the world of MMORPGs, there’s a two horse race when it comes to the best: World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV. The former is an industry juggernaut, though some have started to find it losing its lustre, while the latter has become a huge standout game in its own right despite its more than shaky start. Other games exist of course. Old School Runescape is still a giant, to name but one. It all comes down to what kind of experience you’re looking for.