Sci-Fi MMO

Let’s talk about Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (or, MMORPGs)…

What exactly is an MMO?
What’s the difference between an MMO and MMORPG?
What’s an RPG?
Which is better, MMOs or MMORPGs?
What’s a “Social” MMOs?
What are some well-known MMOs?
What is “the Best” MMO?!?

What exactly is an MMO?
Any kind of online game with hundreds, thousands or more players at any given time, interacting and playing together.

What’s the difference between an MMO and MMORPG?
MMORPGs are a subset of MMOs. Where an MMO is any kind of online game at all, an MMORPG is one that uses RPG (Role-Playing Game) mechanics.

What’s an RPG?
True to the name, you take on the “role” of one or more characters and “play” out their actions. The sort of character you choose has an effect on the actions you can take, how the game will play for you, and so forth. Sword-and-sorcery settings are very popular for RPGs, but anything from science fiction to farming to crime fiction can make a good RPG.

Short answer: You get to be, say, Bilbo or Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings. Cool, huh?

It’s also common for MMORPGs to have an evolving storyline – events occur, enemies change and developments arise, just like in the ongoing seasons of a television show.

Which is better, MMOs or MMORPGs?
Not for us to say, my friend. That’s all up to you.

What’s a “Social” MMO?
A Social MMO is one that emphasizes getting together and chatting, making friends and so forth. There are still game mechanics, of course, but the main focus is on the social atmosphere instead of focusing ALL your mental energy on not exploding or saving the day.

What are some well-known MMOs?
There’s a LOT of famous ones out there – City of Heroes, World of Warcraft, EVE Online, Farmville – ask around and you’re bound to find something that’ll suit you.

What is “the Best” MMO?!?
Again, that’s up to you. But we DO love Star Pirates very much. Why not give it a try?

“What IS the best MMO for me, the bored office worker?”

That’s a question we get a LOT. For the answer, ask yourself these questions…

1) How much time do you have to play about at work?
2) Do you want to KEEP playing when you’re done work?
3) Do you want a little social interaction, or a lot?
4) Downloadable or browser-based?

We’re guessing you’ve got some time to kill (but not TOO much, don’t want to get in trouble) and you want to be able to keep playing if you feel like it.

If you’ll be using a smartphone, bear in mind your phone make. An iPhone can’t play Flash games, so Farmville’s out. High graphics or loud games are probably a nono as well, phone or not. Bang goes World of Warcraft.

And unless you’re officially the Social Media Expert, something that doesn’t need you to be on Facebook a lot is probably best. Browser-based games in general are an especially good choice if you want to be discrete.

All this still leaves you plenty of options. For the social type, you want something with threads and twitter-style streaming. Guilds, Factions, those clubs, also a plus. There’s a couple of games like that we can recommend

One is Mafia Wars, a dystopian crime sim game from Facebook’s biggest game company. Playing and levelling up is easy, and you needn’t pay a cent if you don’t want to. The real cost is having to build up your gang – ie, your buddies – and then tossing THEM out for more powerful players. Previously only available on Facebook, there’s now a standalone version. While Zynga seems to have cleaned up its act compared to the past, we wouldn’t blame you if you exercised a little caution.

Even better is the free casual broswer-based game, Star Pirates. The creators frequently joke that Bored Office Worker is their key demographic – and sure enough, the experience is engaging without overwhelming, community-oriented without pressure, accessible from anywhere, PC or mobile, and good for a few minutes or several hours. Why not give it a try?