Virtual Worlds and MMORPGs: Overview

Introduction

A virtual world is a computer-simulated world that can be interacted with by players over the World Wide Web. These simulations have several common characteristics, including a shared space in which many users interact, a graphical user interface (GUI), real-time action, interactivity, persistence (meaning the world changes regardless of whether or not a specific player is logged in), and community. Massively-multiplayer online role-playing games, or MMORPGs, are video games played within virtual worlds. MMORPGs allow players to take on persona of fictional creations, also known as avatars. MMORPGs and many virtual worlds are forms of social networking in that players interact, form clubs or groups, and communicate with each other.

MMORPGs and virtual worlds often charge subscription fees for use, and players often must download or purchase software to begin playing. For instance, Linden Labs' Second Life, one of the most popular virtual worlds, has no fee for basic use, but does charge monthly premium fees, and players pay US dollars to purchase land and other items in the game. To play Electronic Arts' The Sims Online users paid roughly $40 for the game software, and paid a monthly subscription fee as well, before it was discontinued in 2008. Membership in New Horizon Interactive's Club Penguin, a popular virtual world for children, cost nearly $60 per year and no software was needed to begin play.

Virtual worlds and MMORPGs are considered by many people to be more than just computerized games. For example, they have vibrant economies in which virtual assets (property or goods) may be traded for real-world money. Additionally, these games have become associated with internet overuse, which, depending on one's perspective, may qualify as an addiction. There have been cases of gaming addicts losing their jobs and even dying.

Understanding the Discussion

Avatar: Avatars are the online representation of a MMORPG player or virtual world citizen. Depending on the game being played, as well as the attitude of the player, avatars may be realistic (a human that resembles the human player), fictional (a mythical beast, for example) or semi-fictional (an enhanced version of the player). Avatars may be ranked or otherwise interacted with on the basis of their skill levels, wealth and other character traits.

MUD: The earliest version of MMORPGs (as well as the less specific massively-multiplayer online game, or MMOG) were known as MUDs, or multiple-use dungeons/domains/dialogues, and were designed for online gamers to communicate with each other while playing. Popular MUDs often were based on role-playing games that were popular among computer programmers of the early-to-mid 1970s.

Persistent World: MMORPGs and virtual worlds are persistent. This term refers to the continuing evolution of the game world regardless of whether a specific player is playing, as well as the always-online nature of it.

Virtual Economy: A virtual economy functions like a real economy in that it is a system of goods, trade, payment, and distribution, but based in virtual environments. Virtual economies often include transactions of real money in the trade of virtual objects, game avatars and upgraded access and abilities.

History

Both MMORPGs and virtual worlds can trace their histories to the invention of the Internet and commercial Internet services such as CompuServe and America Online, which began as an effort to inter-link computers for the purposes of communication between them. They are also related to the development of computerized adventure and role-playing games, which first gained popularity in the early 1970s among computer programmers and operators. At the same time, video games were enjoying their first phase of popularity with simple (by today's standards) games like Pong (a tennis simulation) and Tank (a combat game).

The first MMORPGs were known as MUDs (for multiple-use dungeon/domain/dialogue). Many MUDs borrowed elements of paper-and-dice fantasy role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, such as the creation of unique characters with distinct personalities and skills, and a quest through levels within a fantasy world. They also allowed players to communicate with each other, often in chat rooms, while taking turns at play. Other MUDs were based on realistic combat games. Among the most popular of these early multi-player games were Maze War (often consideredthe original 3-D first-person shooter), Island of Kesmai and LucasFilm's Habitat. Many later MMORPGs and virtual worlds borrowed elements from these games.

The themes that are popular in MMORPGs and virtual worlds are commonly found outside the world of gaming and the Internet. Many fantasy-based MMORPGs have similar mythologies and imagery to those found in classical mythology, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, the stories of H.P. Lovecraft and the 1960s television series Star Trek. Important concepts related to virtual worlds and MMORPGs are the idea of avatars, virtual reality and cyberspace, all of which were important themes in such books as True Names by Vernor Vinge, Neuromancer by William Gibson, and Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. These stories were influential in the development of the idea of cyberspace and the cyberpunk genre, which depicted the dark side of computer use, the Internet and digital citizens, while at the same time creating the modern-day idea of the "geek hero," a popular theme explored in later films like The Matrix In the 1990s, several graphics-based online role-playing games were launched, including Quantum Computer's Neverwinter Nights (1991), Origin Systems' Ultima Online (1997) and Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest (1999). These games were made for fantasy role-playing. During the same period, other virtual worlds appeared that were not made specifically for gaming, such as CyberTown (1995) and Habitat, but were instead environments where users could interact in a virtual reality world that often resembled the real world.

Improvements in technology, including high-speed Internet and more powerful personal computers with realistic graphics and sound capabilities, have helped MMORPGs and virtual worlds grow in popularity. In 2008, some of the most popular MMORPGs being played were Runescape, Second Life, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft, The Sims Online, and CCP Games' EVE Online. In subsequent years, as children became more engaged with the Internet at an earlier age, the popularity of virtual worlds targeted at younger age groups greatly increased. Membership in such virtual worlds as Club Penguin, Sulake's Habbo Hotel and Ganz's Webkinz World soon rivaled that of more adult-oriented worlds. Linden Labs, the creator of Second Life, has also tapped into corporate, educational, government and non-profit clients who use the environment for collaboration, community creation and simulation.

One of the more pervasive problems associated with both MMORPGs and virtual worlds is the notion of Internet overuse, which some critics believe classifies as an addiction. In 2007, a South Korean gamer died after spending several days online playing a game. In order to quell such behavior, some countries, including the United States, China and South Korea, have set up clinics for Internet and game overuse. However, some people believe that this issue is not given enough attention by the mental health community because it is misunderstood.

Since their introduction just a few decades ago, MMORPGs and virtual worlds have become a topic in mainstream media because of the phenomenal growth in membership, the economics of online gaming, the popularity of the Internet as a vital social networking environment, and the imaginative ways that people choose to represent themselves in fantasy worlds. Futurists, who study technological trends to theorize how new technologies may affect civilization, believe that MMORPGs and virtual worlds will grow in importance throughout the world, not as games, but as places where humankind realizes its potential in areas of education and communication.

As virtual worlds and MMORPGs grew in popularity, so too did the interest of economists, who study them as economic phenomena. For example, in October 2007, the total amount of Linden Dollars, the virtual unit of currency circulating in Second Life, was over $3.7 billion, with the majority of players spending up to $5,000 Linden per month. In addition, government authorities have considered whether or not to levy taxes on virtual assets, and discussions are underway regarding the property rights of players toward their virtual assets. Similarly, members of the MMORPGs community suggested that the virtual worlds should mimic real life by having the current economic crisis become a part of the story line in the virtual world. Others discussed the trend of employers not wanting to hire players of MMORPGs because they lack focus on their work.

There are other interesting real-world effects of virtual gaming, including the growth of so-called gold farms, in which "farmers" are hired by players to collect valued items within the game for them. Many of these, critics claim, operate like sweatshops in which conditions and pay for workers are poor compared with Western standards. Such practices have been discouraged by game administrators, and some games have banned this behavior altogether. Virtual crime is also becoming more frequent; one such crime involved a Dutch teenager accused of stealing virtual furniture in Habbo Hotel. Other acts of crime have occurred virtually, causing law enforcement to get involved. These crimes are also affected by the fact that the players can come from anywhere in the world and where laws differ regarding the Internet.

Virtual worlds and MMORPGs saw high levels of growth from their earliest days, and in the 2000s and 2010s they came to be seen as places not just for gaming and social interaction but for business and networking as well. Virtual worlds in particular have been of great interest to business enterprises, educational institutions and other organizations that have identified the virtual world experience as an opportunity to expand their customer or client base and to attempt to reinvent themselves online. Examples of such behavior abounded in Second Life; for instance, the news agency Reuters instituted a bureau within the game, while Sun Microsystems, Cisco Systems and other companies have held press events in the virtual world.

In April 2012, an investor spent $2.5 million for virtual real estate in the MMORPG game Etropia Universe. It was the largest transaction for a MMORPG game at the time, and the investor will profit off of the transactions from other users who spend money on his “virtual land” that he purchased in the game’s Planet Calypso region. The same year, the number of subscribers to World of Warcraft surpassed ten million, making it one of the most popular MMORPG games in the world. In addition to playing the game, gamers are also figuring out ways to profit off of it by selling their player accounts to less experienced users. While subscribers to the game dropped in the 2020s, reaching 4.5 million subscribers in 2022, the game remained one of the most popular MMORPG games.

Virtual Worlds and MMORPGs Today

In the mid-2010s game developers as well as scientists researching the impact of virtual worlds became increasingly interested in the incorporation of virtual reality (VR) technology into games to enhance the total virtual experience. Long a topic of interest to science fiction, VR technology made major progress in the twenty-first century, with more affordable and portable devices made available including the Oculus Rift headset (the Oculus company was purchased by social media company Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion) and the Google Cardboard system using a standard smartphone as a VR display. Such systems have also been applied to realms other than gaming, from rehabilitation programs for veterans or addicts to education. Many companies continued to experiment with or refine systems for engaging senses other than vision in the VR experience, including hearing, smell, taste, and even touch. Some researchers predict that once virtual worlds can effectively mimic all aspects of real life significant changes will come about for human existence, such as the ability to upload one's consciousness to a virtual world to achieve a form of potentially eternal life.

As the popularity of and access to VR systems increased in the 2020s, experts proposed that the reality of a so-called metaverse could come to fruition in the twenty-first century. Most frequently associated with science fiction, the metaverse is described as an iteration of the internet that is a single, universal, and immersive virtual world accessed using VR and augmented reality (AR) systems. The metaverse could become a virtual version of the real physical world.

These essays and any opinions, information or representations contained therein are the creation of the particular author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of EBSCO Information Services.

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