One particularly addicting form of video game is the massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG).  When I first started looking into the history of these games I was surprised to find that they don’t actually come from what I consider the birthplace of most video games – Japan.  Instead, a lot of the games come from the United States.

The beginning of MMORPGs can be tracked to a game called Mazewar that was released in 1974.  This was a very basic game, also the first first-person shooter, but it crossed new boundaries by letting people interact in a virtual world from different computers.  Since then the genre has seen many different forms, but has gained a new level of popularity with games such as Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft.

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World of Warcraft holds the record for most subscribers of any MMORPG with over 11.5 million monthly subscribers as of December 2008.  This epic world allows players to interact in the world of Azeroth, which was previously established in the other Warcraft games.  Players can choose to either make a character in the Alliance (the good guys) or the Horde (the bad guys).  There are many different races and classes available within each faction, each of which have different abilities.  By leveling up within the virtual world, your avatar gains strength and abilities and gains access to different parts of the world that were previously unavailable.

Released two years before World of Warcraft in 2002, Final Fantasy XI is another MMORPG that is an extension of the Final Fantasy series.  This game is actually available on the Playstation 2, Xbox 360, and for personal computers.  In addition to having a new style of gameplay, the game has new elements specific to this release such as its Final Fantasy songs.  Although it never saw the success of World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI was the bestselling game in Japan after its release and continued to maintain spots in the top fifty games years later.

For some reason these games are incredibly addicting.  It can be very fun to gain levels and equipment, but at the same time there are things that can become extremely frustrating; especially considering the time and effort that ends up being put into the game.  Fortunately, I was able to keep my cool throughout my time playing the game, but I heard plenty of stories of people ending up with a broken laptop screen because of something frustrating happening in the game.  In fact, there should be a section on Blizzard Entertainment’s (the creator of the game) website that has broken laptops for sale from people who weren’t able to maintain their sanity.

Despite the addiction and frustration, these can be some great games to play.  Just keep in mind how frustrating the game can get and make an attempt to stay calm regardless of what happens.

Last Modified : March 3rd, 2010 Filed under : Entertainment Navigate : Previous post / Next post