New Media & MMORPG's

From Baruchnewmedia

1 MMORPG
2 History
3 Psychology
4 Economics
5 Common Features of MMORPGs
6 Types of MMORPGs
7 MMORPGs vs Reality
8 PvP
9 Business Models
10 Addiction
11 MMOs and Business
12 Gold Farming
13 Electronic Sports (E-Sports)
14 Virtual Crimes
15 Games
16 Companies using Second life
17 Console Gaming
18 References

MMORPG

What is a MMORPG ?

MMORPG is an acronym for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. MMORPGs are games in which players create their own avatars and explore the virtual worlds. These virtual worlds may be based off existing works (World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Star Trek Online), completely originals works (Guild Wars, Ragnarok Online, Dungeon Fighter Online), or they may even be loosely based on historical events (Granado Espada, Red Cliff). Most MMORPGs allow for individuals to interact with existing communities, create new communities via in-game guild/clan systems, and barter and trade with other players.If you want to meet a lot of people, customize your character, and delve into complex worlds, or maybe even just burn some time, MMORPGs may be for you.

History

The first MMORPG called Ultima Online was created by Richard Garriot.It was released on September 25, 1997.Ultima is currently a game that is still actively played today. The origin of MMORPGs stem back from early MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) genre games. MUDs were generally games imersed in a fantasy or Sci-fi world in which players explore and interact with other players or NPCs.The most well-known and commonly referenced MMORPG is Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, which has roughly 12 million players worldwide, as of October, 2010. Worldwide revenues for MMORPGs exceeded half a billion dollars in 2005,and Western revenues exceeded US$1 billion in 2006. In 2008, Western consumer spending on subscription MMOGs grew to $1.4 billion. The reoccurring themes within MMORG’s are that of fantasy, role playing, community, competition and the ability to make money by achieving certain levels or assets within the digital world and selling them within the real world to users who know and appreciate their value within the digital world. This trend is still going strong and has led to hundreds of new developments of MMORGs that are all similar in concept to the most popular World of Warcraft. performer 5

Psychology

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, a clinical psychologist, has conducted interviews with computer users including game-players. Turkle 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.

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; 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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

Economics

Many MMORPGs feature living economies. Virtual items and currency have to be gained through play and have definite value for players. Such a virtual economy can be analyzed (using data logged by the game) and has value in economic research; more significantly, these "virtual" economies can have an impact on 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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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.

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.
   - The use of unsanctioned auction sites, which has led publishers to seek legal remedies 
     to prevent their use based on intellectual-property claims.
   - 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.

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.

Common Features of MMORPGs

With the help of new media, MMORPGs have evolved at a considerably fast rate and each and everyone of them carry similar traits. They include:

 1)Character Development - where the user trains the character and it gains levels and experience  
   points
 2)Economy - each MMORPG has a currency (ex - gold), and the cost of items is dependent on trading 
   items; similar to what we experience in the real world
 3)Clans/Guilds - organizations where you can meet new players, making it a better gaming        
   experience
 4)Game Masters (GM) - supervises the MMORPG to make sure the game runs smoothly

As Facebook (new media) popularity grows, many MMORPGs started creating "Like" or "Fan Pages" on social networking sites. Having "Likes" or Fan Pages on Facebook enables the game and the players to find out what their friends (and others) are currently playing or sharing.

Types of MMORPGs

When people hear the word MMORPG, they immediately thinks of a virtual 3d setting where players from across the world interact together using virtual characters and do quests, missions, and etc. However there are many types of MMORPGs out there and not all of them involves doing some sort of quests, missions and other things. MMORPG’s can exist in many different settings and time depending on how the creators of the game want. As mentioned in “Common Features of MMORPGs” all types of MMORPGs have 4 features in commons. These features can be found in all kind of MMORPGs. As new media evolves, so does MMORPGs. MMORPG’s used to be limited to only a small group of around 5 people playing it and now it evolved to hundreds of thousands of people playing together online. There are many types of MMORPGs and to better understand how MMORPG’s changes with new media, we need to understand the types of MMORPGs out there.

Types of MMORPG’s

    - Role-Playing MMORPGS usually involve players joining a team of players on the internet 
      and work cooperatively through the game environment to achieve common goals that insure the survival of the team 
      and advance the team through the gaming environment such as completing quests, missions and other features of the game.
    - First-person shooter-First-person shooter games are games that emphasize player skills such as the player’s ability 
      to aim and think tactically.
    - Real-time Strategy-These games involves players taking on the role as general, kings or other type of figurehead 
      and leading an army into battle against other players. However these games evolve even when the player is offline. 
      It is something like a virtual reality that runs when the players themselves aren’t playing it.
    - Sports-Sport games are games that involve the concept of sports in it. These games allow players 
      to experience the joys of playing certain games without actually sweating and playing it.
    - Racing-Similar to Sport games, but Racing involves the concept of racing in a virtual world without actually getting 
      into a real car.
    - Music/Rhythm-Games that emphasize on capsiplex music or is music centered.
    - Management-Games that are easy to play and players can log onto it a few times a day or weeks 
      to keep track of the game progress.
    - Social-These games focus on interacting with other players instead of objective-based gameplay. (e.g. Second Life)
    - Simulations-Reality actions such as flying an airplane that is highly realistic but yet, it’s in the virtual world.
    - Turn-based Strategy-Players share the same virtual playing world but they each take a turn in playing.

References: Fodeman, Doug. "Summer Concerns - Blogs & Online Role-Playing Games ©." Web log post. Children Online. Apr. 2004. Web. 6 May 2011. <http://www.childrenonline.org/articles/Blogs_Gaming.html>.

MMORPGs vs Reality

MMORPGs affect consumers psychologically and economically. One criticism of MMORPGs is that they turn consumers into lifeless zombies that are constantly staring at their computer screens. Some people become so obsessed with MMORPGs that they may neglect their physical needs or the needs of others.^[1] Another criticism is that MMORPGs rely on the concept of the "Skinner Box" in which rats (players) are driven to keep pushing a button (repeat the same actions) constantly for a chance to get a food pellet (new item). ^[2]

Defenders of MMORPGs claim that the players are making new friends and interacting with one another in a safe, controlled environment. MMORPGs can also help a person learn how to interact in social situations which, in theory, could be transferred into real life teeth whitener reviews social skills. Some MMORPGs have developed sophisticated economies with equipment, currency, and characters within the game being exchanged online for real money. This has led to the study of "synthetic economies"^[3] and how they relate to real world economies. Organizations are also using virtual worlds as training and recruiting tools in education, business^[4] and the military^[5].

PvP

PvP or player-versus-player is a feature in MMORPGs that allows players to go up against each other in a live contest. It is different from PvE, or player-versus-enemy, which has players up against clear skin max computer-controlled opponents. Players take part in PvP because they want to see how they compare to other players or because of incentives in the system. There are usually rewards for players that may only be obtained through PvP. PvP systems have allowed people to compete on a different platform.

Business Models

MMORPG developers make use of different Business models to profit from their games.

Free to Play Model: Does not require a subscription for players to play the game. The game can be supported by advertisements that appear before the game, or during the game. There are often cash items where the game developers offer items that can only be purchased by real money and not the ingame virtual money. They can be for aesthetic appeal, or offer useful benefits to the players. Free to play mmmorpgs tend to be of lesser quality but not necessarily.

Pay to Play Model: Requires a monthly subscription fee for players to play the game. The appeal of pay to play mmorpgs are the fact that they are high quality games created by popular game developers. They tend to have improved graphics, gameplay features, and more.

Mixed Model: The mixed model is a hybrid model that incorporates features of both business models. They have basic players who play for free and premium players who pay to play. Often the game developers will have two types of servers. Dedicated servers for the paying players, while free players will all be playing on a fewer congested servers which could result in long log in times, and severe lag. Game developers can also have game features that are only available if you are a premium player. If there are ads in the game, they will be removed for premium players.

Sometimes companies allow players to purchase prepaid cards instead of having them worry about buying ingame cash with credit cards or PayPal. Shops like BestBuy and Target sells them. Although not MMORPGs, sites with virtual pets, such as Webkins and Neopets, also make use of prepaid cards or something similar in nature.

In addition, many MMORPG developers release expansion packs for new content to the original base MMORPG already released. This requires players to purchase the expansion pack to access the additional content. Games such as Guild Wars, Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft are renown for releasing numerous expansion packs to keep players interested in the game.

There has a been a recent shift in the market from P2P markets to F2P markets. Many of the classic P2P MMO's such as Everquest 2, Lord of the Rings Online, and Lineage 2. The customer base in these MMO's is not enough to sustain a good profit. Instead limiting various in game functions, skills, dungeons, etc. enable them to get people who will use the cash shop to unlock these "extra" features of the games. It has proven very successful in such MMO's as Maplestory.

Picture Reference: http://img0.mmo.mmo4arab.com/news/2010/11/22/wow_cataclysm/wow_cataclysm_02.jpg

Addiction

One of the problems that can arise with MMORPGs is the potential addiction that comes from playing these games. Currently, the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM IV) does not label gaming addiction as a mental illness. For many players engulfed in the virtual world, however, the dependency is still undeniably real. The AMA’s council on science and public health stated that social dysfunction may be a side effect of spending too much time behind a screen. The chairman of the council also noted that by labeling gaming addiction as a disorder, more studies can be done on the subject to find the right therapy for the problem.^[6]

In 2005, China alone had users spending nearly five million on online games. This devotion to games raised concern in China, which eventually imposed a penalty on players. Gamers younger than 18 had their abilities reduced after three hours of play and severely limited after five hours, forcing them to take a five hour break before they can play normally again.^[7] Although World of Warcraft did have this system put in place in China, very few other games have followed suit. The games that have actually installed the system also have workarounds to bypass it, such as using an adult's identification card.

Some cases of addiction can take a turn for the worse. In a real life incident a Chinese teenager thought he was still playing World of Warcraft in real life and set another classmate on fire because he thought he was a fire mage. That lack of separation from reality caused a simple argument into a devastating event. The teenager eventually got 8 years in prison and was to pay the victim's family $700,000 RMB ($100,000 USD).

The latest research shows that approximately 1 in 5 players age 12 - 17 become addicted to MMORPGs. Along with the typical 20 - 30 hours of gaming that players usually spent per week, there is an accompanying loss of identity and detachment from reality such as some mentioned above, a classmate lit another classmate on fire. Reality becomes somewhat distorted and the consequences include damage to relationships, loss of sleep, as well as avoidance of real life issues.

From a 20-year old Everquest player: “I've always been shy around people and never had a great social life and online gaming pretty much become the outlet for that. I've basically spent every waking hour online playing games so I could basically make up for my poor self-esteem in the games by leveling my characters so I'd be better than most and socializing a lot so I'd become a liked person. I recently tried to quit EQ, but after a month I was too bored with normal life again so I got sucked right back into it.” ^[8]

The average intensity of playing MMORPG’s is 22.7 hours a week but around 9% of players spent nearly more than 40 hours a week. While 60% of players confirmed that they spent over 10 hours at a time (in a single day playing a MMORPG’s nonstop). The research confirmed that younger players are more likely to be addicted to MMORPGs. ^[9]

Some sort of factors that determine when a player is addicted. They will show salience when the MMORPGs became the most important thing in an person’s life and causes a conflict when the activity is taken away.

Picture reference: http://lawblog.legalmatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/addicted-to-video-games-lawsuit.jpg

MMOs and Business

With a growing number of users getting into virtual worlds, there is a hidden market for entrepreneurship. In games such Second Life, real money is exchanged for 300 Linden dollars which can be used to purchase in-game items. Users are also allowed to purchase and sell items to other players such as clothing, accessories, and even renting out land. By allowing this form of free market, users can make real profits from selling in-game products or renting out land. In 2003, Linden Lab made a policy giving ownership of virtual creations to their makers. This allowed creation such as Tringo, a combined puzzle-like game of bingo, to make profits for the user and programmer Nathan Keir. The game’s popularity in Second Life drew attention from Nintendo Company and was made available for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance and cellphones^[10]. Entropia Universe is a virtual universe with a real cash economy. Property for example, can be highly valued in terms of real money. On November 2010, "A virtual resort in Entropia Universe was divided and sold to investors for $635,000 USD."^[11]

Business Opportunities

There are as many opportunities for innovation and profit in the Second Life world as in the Real World. Open a nightclub, sell jewelry, become a land speculator; the choice is yours to make. Thousands of residents are making part or all of their real life income from their Second Life Businesses.

By way of example, here are just a few in-world business occupations which Residents founded and currently run, and make part or all of their real life living from:

Party and wedding planner, pet manufacturer, tattooist, nightclub owner, automotive manufacturer, fashion designer, aerospace engineer, custom avatar designer, jewelry maker, architect, XML coder, freelance scripter, game developer, fine artist, machinist set designer, tour guide, dancer, musician, custom animation creator, theme park developer, real estate speculator, vacation resort owner, advertiser, bodyguard, magazine, publisher, private detective, writer, gamer, landscaper, publicist, special effects designer, gunsmith, hug maker, and so on.

Picture reference: http://nwn.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/09/27/ibm_work_continues.jpg

Gold Farming

Since in most mmorpgs, players are able to trade with each other, some players exploit this opportunity to make real life money. The most common way is to "farm" for "gold" (any ingame currency) or items and then sell the gold or items online using websites such as ebay or forums. In some larger games, there are even websites dedicated to selling this ingame currency. This affects in the ingame economy, since gold purchasing players will be able to accumulate a virtual wealth easily giving them an advantage over non gold-purchasing players.

Because it takes a lot of time for players to gain the in-game currency, lazier players from developed counties are willing to pay real cash to gain a faster advantage for their games rather than earning it on their own. This leads to developing countries such as China to take this opportunity for a business. There are more than 100,000 professional gold farmers working in China. Gold farming generates more then $3 billion a year worldwide.^[12]

Governments see this as an opportunity to gain additional tax revenues.

In the game SecondLife, it is actually possibly to convert the ingame money into real life money.

Another growing concern is the similarity between gold farming and drug trafficking.^[13] Studies have been performed and there appears to be a similar correlation in the behavior of gold farmers and drug dealers and gangs. The social interaction among the gold farmers are very selective and limited. Gold farming is also a growing concern because MMORPGs generally prohibit gold farming and yet this continues to be in practice.

References:

Picture: http://www.gossipgamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/wow-gold.jpg

http://www.aurumahmad.com/vwe/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/gold-farming.jpg

Electronic Sports (E-Sports)

Electronic Sports, abbreviated e-sports, is a term used for competitive gaming for almost any platform. Examples of game genres that fall into the e-sport category is usually Real-Time Strategy games, First-Person Shooters, Racing, and Fighting games. These games are played on three levels of ability: amateurs, semi-professionals, and professionals. When players get recognized on a national level, they sometimes get contracts to play at large events such as World Cyber Games and Major League Gaming. There are different ones around the world specific to their own countries as well. Many of these events are live streamed to users who cannot make it there live and it helps to spread the influence and promote E-Sports.

South Korea has had one of the longest activity for e-sports. They started in mid to late 1990's when Starcraft : BroodWar became a huge game in Korea and gained recognition. In South Korea this game is spectated through various televised networks as well as streamed online to those outside Korea. Korean pro-gamers have attained celebrity status due to the popularity of the game.

Another large games getting action in the E-sports scene is World of Warcraft. With the introduction of Arenas in the game many teams have been contracted to compete in national/ global tournaments. With prize pool the size of $200,000, it is very profitable to have a strong contracted team. Again these tournaments are streamed live with permission from the organizations. They usually have commentators while livestreaming the matches. One of the top sites to use for competitive Arena's is a site called Arenajunkies.com.

Virtual Crimes

An article about a global crackdown on online gaming and gamers: “Players in South Korea have been prosecuted for stealing virtual property. More than half of the 40,000 computer crimes investigated by South Korea’s National Police Agency in 2003 involved online games.” ^[14] It shows how a government can be totalitarian, where they would interfere with the virtual world. It shows how consumers are so into games that they would ask the government to interfere, such as when "a Chinese court ordered a game company to restore virtual biochemical weapons someone had pilfered from a player."^[14] This completely shows how the new age of Media and MMORPG are affecting the world. All ingame properties that are stolen can easily be turned in to a real world profit. Like the gold farming section above explained, the gold and items with in a game can be sold. By hacking in to another persons account, they can take proactol plus all the gold the person has and sell it back to the very people they steal it from. EVE Online's free political control virtual universe results in wide possibilities for virtual crimes. On October 2010, a EVE Online player pulled off an massive in-game investment fraud that resulted in the player stealing $45,000 worth of in-game currency.^[15]

Games

MMORPGs are considered games, yet they are also considered to be part of New Media. It is becoming a new medium in which people can interact and communicate with one another.

Aion - 3D Fantasy MMORPG. Pay to Play. Monthly fee of $14.99.
EVE online - 3D Space MMORPG. Pay to Play with real and in-game money. Monthly fee of $14.99.
Fallen Earth — 3D Post-apocalyptic. Pay to play. Monthly fee of $14.99
Fiesta — 3D Fantasy, free to play
Final Fantasy XI — 3D Final Fantasy universe (Multiplatform: PC, Playstation 2, Xbox 360) $12.95
Final Fantasy XIV - 3D Final Fantasy universe PC - Monthly fee of $12.99.
Fung Wan Online — 3D Chinese Fantasy
Furcadia — 2D Fantasy. Free to Play, but you can buy items in item shop.
Global Agenda - 3D Buy to Play. Sci-Fi Universe. No monthly fees. In-game store providing additional content.
Guild Wars - 3D Buy to Play. Fantasy MMORPG with dungeon instances gameplay. In-game store providing additional content.
Lego Universe - 3D Fantasy Universe. Basic monthly fee of $9.99 or different available subscription plans for longer durations.
Lineage1 - Shifted from Pay to play to slimming reviews free to play strategy.
Lineage2 - Korean 3D MMORPG. Fantasy based, pay to play. Monthly fee of $14.99
Lord of the Rings Online - 3D MMORPG based on the book Lord of the Rings.
Mabinogi - 3D Fantasy Korean MMORPG. Free to Play. Micro-transaction store.
MapleStory - Free to Play 2D side slim weight patch scrolling Korean MMORPG
Metin2 - 3D fantasy-based MMORPG. Free to play available on Windows.
Omerta - Mafia Centered Browser enabled Text-based MMORPG. Free to Play.
Runescape - 3D fantasy-based MMORPG. Recognized as Phen375 Worlds most popular free MMORPG.
Star Trek Online - 3D Space Universe. Basic monthly fee of $14.99 or different available subscription plans for longer durations.
Star Wars:Knights of the Old Republic - Multi-Platform MMORPG introduced on Xbox, Windows and Mac
Sword of the New World - 3D Korean MMORPG, based on an alternate dimension of Colonial America. Free to play
Warhammer Online - Pay to play 3D MMO, fantasy based. Monthly fee of $14.99.
Warrior Epic - 3D MMORPG with dungeon instances gameplay. Free to play, but you can buy items in item shop.
World of WarCraft - Pay to slimming pills Play 3D MMO, fantasy based. Monthly fee of $14.99.

Some of these MMORPGs are hosted by the different HGH Advanced companies. Some people like to play with a specific company like Nexon and ijji. Different companies will provide different type of environment and players.

More can be found on websites that have unique hoodia directories of MMORPG's such as MMO Hub and MMOsite. You can also find ratings and comments about MMORPG games on sites such as mmorpg.com.

References: http://images.pictureshunt.com/pics/w/world_of_warcraft-1922.jpg

http://mmohut.com/editorials/lineage-2-free-to-play

http://defaultprime.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/aion-box-art.jpg

Companies using Second life

"We are a small community. Someone sent a resume and wanted to meet in SL to discuss job prospects," Jaffe says. "When we met, I realized that we had met before in Second Life when the senior editor of the Harvard Business Review gave a talk on marketing in Second Life." As more of real life pushes into Second Life, corporations and even individuals will tap long-time skin care products review denizens and gamers for their skills, and Berger says more work is coming. "We will start to see the need for maintenance, including virtual shopkeepers who need to phen375 fat burner man the virtual store."^[16]