Difference between revisions of "Massively Multiplayer Online Games"

Revision as of 19:38, 22 February 2011

Games which support hundreds or thousands of players to inhabit the same game world and interact with each others.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Examples

Depending on how one defines massively, text-based multiuser adventures such as DragonMud and Kingdoms are among the first Massively Multiplayer Online Games. These were however not explicitly designed and deployed to support concurrent players numbering in the thousands, examples of games that do this include Ultima Online, World of Warcraft, and Eve Online. While all these are Computer-based Roleplaying Games to a larger or smaller degree, other game genres are possible. World War II Online is a FPS-based example and Hattrick is one simulating Soccer Management.

See the category Massively Multiplayer Online Games for all examples on the wiki.

Using the pattern

For practical reasons, Massively Multiplayer Online Games need to have some features. First, they have several players so designing them includes considering the various options connected to Multiplayer Games. Of these, supporting Late Arriving Players and Drop-In/Drop-Out are necessary since one cannot demand that all players should have their play sessions completely synchronized. Further, they need computer programs as Dedicated Game Facilitators to handle the large game states and to mediate the gameplay and the Communication Channels between players. This may be augmented with Game Masters to handle problematic Social Interaction between players and to collect information to develop Evolving Rule Sets.

Many Massively Multiplayer Online Games have Persistent Game Worlds but they do not need to - Hattrick suffices with players, teams, and leagues.

Evolving Rule Sets

Invites Purchasable Game Advantages Construction

Instances

where several, sometimes even thousands, of players share the same Game World, which itself has an existence independent of the players themselves. The high level of Social Interaction that occurs in these games can over time give rise to both Social Statuses among the players and Social Organizations given some support through the game design.

Events Timed to the Real World

Encouraged Return Visits

Social Organizations

Guilds

Some Live Action Roleplaying games do approach the same numbers of players as Massively Multiplayer Online Games but differ in many other ways and the two patterns have relatively little in common.

Although similarly named, Massively Multiplayer Online Games mainly share functionality outside the actual gameplay with Massively Single-Player Online Games.

Diegetic Aspects

Interface Aspects

Narrative Aspects

Diegetic Consistency

Never Ending Stories

Persistent Game Worlds

Consequences

Putting many players into the same game make it more or less impossible for Social Interaction not to occur. Further, since they nearly always need updates to handle bugs, issues with Player Balance, or Events Timed to the Real World, they also have Evolving Rule Sets.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Social Interaction, Evolving Rule Sets

Can Modulate

Multiplayer Games

Can Be Instantiated By

with Dedicated Game Facilitators and Multiplayer Games

Drop-In/Drop-Out, Late Arriving Players

Can Be Modulated By

Communication Channels, Game Masters, Persistent Game Worlds

Possible Closure Effects

Potentially Conflicting With

History

New pattern created in this wiki.

References

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Acknowledgements

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