Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs)

MMOGs Definition:
MMOGs MMOGs come in a variety of themes, including fantasy roleplaying (e.g. World of Warcraft, Everquest, Lineage) and science fiction (e.g. Anarchy Online, Star Wars: Galaxies). Games vary in their themes, objectives, and affordances, but typically all offer the opportunity to:socialize (interact and collaborate with other real people), achieve (build up one's skills/attributes/material possessions or fulfill tasks/quests), explore (visit the sights within a virtual world); orcompete with or (in some cases) kill other characters (Bartle 1996).

Unlike traditional linear games that are neither persistent nor online, a world in a MMOG is dynamic and fluid; for any given person, it will never be the same place twice. The digital lives of a virtual world's residents continue on, whether or not an individual player is logged in. The interactions between real human participants—hundreds of thousands of participants interacting with each other and with objects in the virtual world—cause this fluidity.

Normally, MMOGs do not rely on either predefined ultimate winning or losing states or rigid goals or required tasks. Within the socially and technically constructed constraints imposed by the game designers and other participants, players are essentially free to say what they please, do what they please, and socialize with whom they please.

MMOGs allow diverse people to interact and exchange values and culture with each other, and these interactions are by no means trivial; they often lead to the development of new acquaintances and friendships. Yee (2003) notes, for example, that 40% of the participants in three major MMOGs believe that their online friendships within a game are comparable to or better than their offline friendships. In some cases, these online relationships have resulted in real-life marriages.

References
Bartle, R. 1996. Hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades: Players who suit MUDS. Journal of MUD Research 1(1). http://www.brandeis.edu/pubs/jove/HTML/v1/bartle.html (accessed July 3, 2007). Yee, N. 2003. The demographics of gender bending. The Daedalus Project. http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/000551.php (accessed July 7, 2007).


Fonte para pesquisa: http://innovateonline.info (05/08/2007)