World Applied Programming, Vol (3), Issue (1), January 2013. 1-4 ISSN: 2222-2510 ©2012 WAP journal. www.waprogramming.com General Trends in Multiplayer Online Games Masoud Nosrati * Ronak Karimi Kermanshah University of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran Kermanshah, Iran [email protected] [email protected] Abstract: Online games are developed every day-to-day. Producing the games has become one of the most beneficial jobs for game studios. Different types of games with various aims are produced. But, among all of them, multiplayer games have a special place. A multiplayer video game is one which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time. In other hands, online games found the popularity between users. It provided an excellent opportunity for producing multiplayer online games. This paper will get into the general trends in multiplayer online games. So, the basic notions of gaming are talked as the first step. Then, Different general genres are introduced. Various types and impressive features of the genres are investigated in details, too. This paper tries to give a top level view to multiplayer online games to readers. Keyword: Online games, Massively multiplayer online game, Multiplayer online role-playing game, Multiplayer online battle arena I. INTRODUCTION An online game is a video game played over some form of computer network, using a personal computer or video game console [2]. There are many ways for users to play games online. This includes free games found on the internet, games on mobile phones and handheld consoles, as well as downloadable and boxed games on PCs and consoles such as the PlayStation, Nintendo Wii or Xbox. Some of the most common devices on which online games are consoles, PC games, web games and applications, mobile games, and handheld games [1]. Online gaming is a technology rather than a genre, a mechanism for connecting players together rather than a particular pattern of game play [3]. Online games are played over computer networks as well as Internet. It has two advantages: 1. Ability to connect to multiplayer games, although single-player online games are quite common as well 2. A great percentage of games don’t require payment A multiplayer video game is one which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time. Unlike most other games, computer and video games are often single-player activities that put the player against preprogrammed challenges and/or AI-controlled opponents, which often lack the flexibility and ingenuity of regular human thinking. Multiplayer components allow players to enjoy interaction with other individuals, be it in the form of partnership, competition or rivalry, and provide them with a form of social communication that is almost always missing in single- player oriented games. II. ONLINE GAME GENRES Online games have different genres. Video game genres are used to categorize video games based on their gameplay interaction rather than visual or narrative differences [4]. A video game genre is defined by a set of gameplay challenges. They are classified independent of their setting or game-world content, unlike other works of fiction such 1 Masoud Nosrati et al., World Applied Programming, Vol (3), No (1), January 2013. as films or books. For example, an action game is still an action game, regardless of whether it takes place in a fantasy world or outer space [5]. There are 3 general genres in online gaming: massively multiplayer online game, massively multiplayer online role- playing game, and Multiplayer online battle arena. In this section, they will be talked in details. II.1. Massively multiplayer online game A massively multiplayer online game (also called MMO and MMOG) is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on personal computers. Most of the newer games consoles, including the PSP, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PS Vita and Wii can access the Internet and may therefore run MMO games. Additionally, mobile devices and smartphones based on such operating systems as Android, iOS and Windows Phone are seeing an increase in the number of MMO games available. There are several types of massively multiplayer online games [6]: Role-playing Bulletin board role-playing games First-person shooter Real-time strategy Real-time strategy Simulations Sports Racing Casual Music/Rhythm Social II.2. Massively multiplayer online role-playing game Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world. The term MMORPG was coined by Richard Garriott, the creator of Ultima Online, in 1997 [7]. Previous to this and related coinages, these games were generally called graphical MUDs; the history of MMORPGs traces back directly through the MUD genre [8][9]. Through this connection, MMORPGs can be seen to have roots in the earliest multi- user games such as Mazewar (1974) and MUD1 (1978). 1985 saw the release of a roguelike (pseudo-graphical) MUD called Island of Kesmai on CompuServe [9] and Lucasfilm's graphical MUD Habitat. The first fully graphical multi- user RPG was Neverwinter Nights, which was delivered through America Online in 1991 and was personally championed by AOL President Steve Case [10]. Other early proprietary graphical online RPGs include three on The Sierra Network: The Shadow of Yserbius in 1992, The Fates of Twinion in 1993, and The Ruins of Cawdor in 1995. Another milestone came in 1995 as NSFNET restrictions were lifted, opening the Internet up for game developers, which allowed for the first truly "massively"-scoped titles. Finally, MMORPGs as defined today began with Meridian 59 in 1996, innovative both in its scope and in offering first-person 3D graphics, with The Realm Online appearing nearly simultaneously. Ultima Online, released in 1997, is often credited with first popularizing the genre though more mainstream attention was garnered by 1999's EverQuest in the West and 1996's Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds in Asia [10]. These early titles' financial success has ensured competition in the genre since that time. MMORPG titles now exist on consoles and in new settings, and their players enjoy higher-quality gameplay. The current market for MMORPGs has Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft dominating as the largest pay-to-play MMORPG [11], alongside earlier such titles like Final Fantasy XI and Phantasy Star Online, though an additional market exists for free-to-play MMORPGs, which are supported by advertising and purchases of in-game items. This free-to-play model is 2 Masoud Nosrati et al., World Applied Programming, Vol (3), No (1), January 2013. particularly common in Korean MMORPGs such as MapleStory, Rohan: Blood Feud, and Atlantica Online. Also, there are some free-to-play games, such as RuneScape & Tibia, where the game is free, but one would have to pay monthly to play the game with more features. Guild Wars is an exception. It avoids some degree of competition with other MMORPGs by only requiring the initial purchase of the game to play [12]. As in all RPGs, players assume the role of a character (often in a fantasy world) and take control over many of that character's actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player RPGs by the number of players, and by the game's persistent world (usually hosted by the game's publisher), which continues to exist and evolve while the player is offline and away from the game. MMORPGs are played throughout the world. 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. World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG, has more than 10 million subscribers as of February 2012. Star Wars: The Old Republic, released in 2011, became the world's 'Fastest-Growing MMO Ever' after gaining 1 million subscribers within the first three days of its launch. Although modern MMORPGs sometimes differ dramatically from their antecedents, many of them share some basic characteristics. These include several common features: persistent game environment, some form of progression, social interaction within the game, in-game culture, system architecture, membership in a group, and character customization. Most impressive features of MMORPG are: Progression Social Interaction Roleplaying Culture System architecture II.3. Multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), more commonly known as action real-time strategy (action RTS or ARTS), is a sub-genre of the real-time strategy (RTS) genre, in which usually two teams of players compete with each other in discrete games, with each player controlling a single character through an RTS-style interface. It differs from traditional RTS games in that there is no unit construction and players control just one character. In this sense, it is a fusion of action games and real-time strategy games. The genre emphasizes cooperative team-play; players select and control one "hero", a powerful unit with various abilities and advantages to form a team's overall strategy. The objective is to destroy the opponents' main structure with the assistance of periodically spawned computer-controlled units that march towards the enemy's main structure via paths referred to as "lanes". There are two opposing teams whose goal collectively as a team is to destroy their enemy's base to win. Typically, there is one main structure which must be destroyed to win, though destroying other structures within the opposing team's base can confer other benefits.