“World of MMO Craft”
The line between the real world and the virtual world has
blurred. Perhaps once upon a time we could easily demarcate between fact and fiction,
life and games, but online games now challenge the barriers that might have
once been solid. The virtual world, though intangible, is now quite real and
gaining importance in mainstream techno-culture. The median age of online
gamers ranges from mid-twenties to early thirties; these games are not just for
kids! The abbreviation MMOG stands for Massively Multiplayer Online ( Game )
and one of the most played and established of the kind for the 21st century is World of Warcraft created by Blizzard
Entertainment. Focusing on the history, development and process of the creation
of several blockbusters which form the ground rules of the genre, we are
exploring the artificial realm for virtual gamers. Through analysing the
experience and the purpose that a user finds in these virtual worlds, I will
explain what makes one MMORPG good in terms of what users would come to expect from
an MMO game in the current technological stage.
The very first computer games, before the home computer
revolution took place, were created on expensive computer systems called mainframes; most of those early games were created in
universities as programming projects. These mainframe systems were perfect for
generating statistical information, but unfortunately they had very limited
graphical output and in many cases they would only display text-based
characters. The initial games were
text-based adventure games and it wasn’t long before they were given a basic
level of multiplayer functionality. Many of these adventure games were based on
fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons and
Dragons. These computer games were named MUD, which is an
abbreviation of multi-user dungeon. The multiplayer aspect of these games was
basic by today’s standards and was limited by the internet speed to
sending email messages and chatting within the game.
The main factor that requires users to play MMOs is
constant internet connection and the process of communicating with other
machines over a telephone line was still problematic. It was expensive and
unreliable. After the introduction of the World Wide Web and the graphical
bowser, the speeds of modems began to increase allowing for a much better
online experience. These advances led to a
technology and services boom. A number of telephone and computer-based
companies began offering easy access to the Internet,
one of which was a company called America
Online (AOL). Most of AOL’s competitors provided a simple dial-up
connection whereby the user would then use a browser to search the Internet for
content. AOL provided it all within the same program which contained items such
as websites, forum boards, chat rooms, and most importantly games. There was something special included together with all
the single player games; it released the first graphical MMO called Neverwinter Nights in 1991.
“Neverwinter Nights” (AOL) screenshot:
(Source: mmohuts.com, 2009)
