The Online RPG
Online RPG
The Online RPG or role-playing game can trace its descent through the tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons® that burst into the imaginations and hobby time of gamers in the 1970s. These games allowed players to go on adventures with their friends while seated around a table in one of their homes. With the development of the internet, the online RPG was born and took the gaming world by storm.
Online RPG History
While a lot of the early history of online RPGs was filled with text-based adventures and multi-user dungeons, graphic-heavy RPGs were commercially hosted by services like Compuserve, GEnie, and AOL. One of the more successful early commercial mmorpg online games was Neverwinter Nights hosted on AOL.
As the market continued to develop, Ultima Online®, a development of the very successful series of Ultima computer RPGs by Origin Systems would be an independent mmorpg run on Origin’s own servers and would popularize ideas such as character professions, property ownership, and was one of the first virtual economies. Once Ultima Online® established the commercial viability of the online RPG, the floodgates were opened and there were dozens of mmorpg online games that were released in the following years, across all manner of genres. Although fantasy was the biggest genre, science fiction, pirates, modern fantasy, and superheroes all had their own games developed.
The Online RPG Now
Although World of Warcraft® is the most popular mmorpg online game out there nowadays, there are several other games that continue to offer online role-playing fun to their subscribers. Science-fiction games such as EVE Online® remain very popular, along with licensed science-fiction games such as Star Wars: The Old Republic® and Star Trek Online®. There are also dozens of other, less-well-known games that are currently active.
The current online RPG market is divided into the subscriber-based games and the free-to-play games as the game creators try to find good business models. Subscriber based games charge a monthly fee to allow the player to keep playing in the world. In contrast, the free-to-play games allow players to play with basic features and equipment, and allow purchasing of “upgrades” through “cash shops” in-game or microtransactions. One game, Guild Wars®, allowed players to play for free and supported itself through sales of the game software.
One of the more recent trends in online RPGs has been browser-based games, where the players play the game using their web browser. This way, the players do not have to buy expensive software to play, but the graphics are much more limited than the commercial 3D RPGs.
Picking a good Online RPG
Choosing which Online RPG to play can seem a bit confusing, with all of the various options out there. The best approach would be to first look at games that you enjoy playing. Since online RPGs can demand a lot of your time to play, you’re going to want to make sure that it’s a style of gameplay that you’re comfortable with and enjoy.
You will also want to look for games that are popular and have a good user base. The more popular games will have the staff and development resources to make sure that the game stays fresh and fun, and that any problems are quickly ironed out. The more popular games also tend to have better security to keep automated programs out of the gameplay.
Finally, consider your budget both in terms of time and money. Most players can afford one or maybe two online RPG subscriptions at once, and will have only enough leisure time to play in one or two games at a time. Diving into more than a couple of games will waste time and money.
You will find that the hobby of playing in an online RPG can be a great deal of fun as you play with friends or make new friends in the virtual game world.
Legal Notice and Disclaimer: World of Warcraft® is a registered trademark of Blizzard Entertainment. EVE Online® is a registered trademarks of CCP hf. Ultima Online® is a registered trademark of Origin Systems. Star Wars: The Old Republic® is a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Inc. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. STAR TREK ONLINE is a registered trademark of Cryptic Studios. Guild Wars® is a registered trademark of NCsoft Corporation. All trademarks mentioned in this article are the property of their respective owners. All trademarks mentioned in this article are used under the terms of fair use and no challenge to any trademark is made or contemplated.
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