# An old review of "Outside", the first massively-multiplayer online role-playing game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 26, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726 "2017-11-26T03:18:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/1 "2017-11-26T03:18:51Z")
I stumbled across [this](https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?387561-MMORPG-Review-Outside) following a link from TV Tropes. 🙂 > [@](#): > > …how does Outside actually rate? The physics system is note-perfect (often at the expense of playability), the graphics are beyond comparison, the rendering of objects is absolutely beautiful at any distance, and the player’s ability to interact with objects is really limited only by other players’ tolerance. The real fundamental problem with the game is that there is nothing to do. > [@](#): > > In terms of game play the game sets few, if any, goals: the major one is merely “survive”. Best thing since the “Plot Holes in World War 2” thread! ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/2 "2017-11-26T04:03:05Z")
I’ve played this game…and I can’t say I recommend it. It’s marketed as “free to play”, but it is absolutely loaded with microtransactions, loot-boxes,and “pay-to-win” scenarios. Beyond that, it’s incredibly addictive. Whether you enjoy playing it or not, once you start, it’s almost impossible to stop. You’ll wind up spending most, if not all, of your paycheck on it…and before too long, it will consume practically every waking moment. In the end, it’ll suck the very life out of you, I guarantee it. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/3 "2017-11-26T04:13:39Z")
1 out of 5 stars. \*Inside \*is much better. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/4 "2017-11-26T04:40:38Z")
I found that it was almost as addictive as Minecraft. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/5 "2017-11-26T04:47:44Z")
Moving this to the Game Room. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/6 "2017-11-26T07:26:24Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Moving this to the Game Room. Somebody missed the joke. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/7 "2017-11-26T07:34:37Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Somebody missed the joke. Or got it perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/8 "2017-11-26T07:37:15Z")
Outside is basically a Sims copycat, but slower and all of it about grinding uselessly until you ran out of your one life. Wouldn’t recommend. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/9 "2017-11-26T08:25:29Z")
actually the first recognized mmorpg was aol’s AD&D gold box based neverwinter nights the now deceased leader of stormfront studios don daglow had a plaque from one of the federal science agencies recognizing that and the fact he created the first baseball pc/video game ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/10 "2017-11-26T13:22:08Z")
Looks like a copy of Gamespot’s much older review of “Real Life”. > **[GameSpot Presents: GameSpotting - GameSpot](https://web.archive.org/web/20030716031928/http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/gamespotting/071103minusworld/1.html)** > > GameSpot ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/11 "2017-11-26T13:28:06Z")
OK, it looks like **nightshadea** really didn’t get the joke. But if we’re going to go that route, MMORPGs existed before AOL, never mind AOL Neverwinter Nights. They just used to call them MUDs. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/12 "2017-11-26T19:41:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, it looks like **nightshadea** really didn’t get the joke. > > But if we’re going to go that route, MMORPGs existed before AOL, never mind AOL Neverwinter Nights. They just used to call them MUDs. Not really, none of them fulfilled the “Massively” part of an MMO. I loved MUDs back in the day but MMOs came after. For that matter, Neverwinter wasn’t an MMO either. Its claim to fame is that it was the first online multiplayer game built fully around graphics. It was a pioneer that led the way for the MMOs that came after. Meridian 59 is generally considered to be the first MMORPG, as it had the capability to host large populations of players together at once. Meridian 59 came out about a year before Ultimate Online. By the way, Meridian 59 is still an active game. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-old-review-of-outside-the-first-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game/802726/13 "2017-11-26T20:27:13Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Looks like a copy of Gamespot’s much older review of “Real Life”. > > [GameSpot Presents: GameSpotting - GameSpot](https://web.archive.org/web/20030716031928/http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/gamespotting/071103minusworld/1.html) Nice.