# Question for Gamers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801 "2006-04-30T02:09:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/1 "2006-04-30T02:09:32Z")
This is probably a really dumb question but what do the terms RPG and MMO games mean? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/2 "2006-04-30T02:14:29Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > This is probably a really dumb question but what do the terms RPG and MMO games mean? RPG is Role Playing Game in this Context The MMO part is for \*\*massively multiplayer online \*\* The MMORPG refers to online games with 1000’s of players interacting. Jim ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/3 "2006-04-30T03:54:03Z")
MMORPG also stands for “I never see my friends anymore because they’re all playing World of Warcraft.” ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/4 "2006-04-30T04:07:14Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > RPG is Role Playing Game in this Context > The MMO part is for \*\*massively multiplayer online \*\* > The MMORPG refers to online games with 1000’s of players interacting. > > Jim MMORPG is really just a subset of MMO although usually an MMO is some form of MMORPG. RPG = Role Playing Game and are characterized by you (the player) assuming the place of a character in the game world who is able to grow in ability over time. For example, you might start the game as a simple farmer who is forced to defend the town from invading bad guys. You then set about finding the mencae that is directing these attacks. Over the course of your adventure you get to choose how your character grows in ability by opting for various skills and weapons and armor. You might finish the game as an armor plated warrior swinging a sword as big as you are while your friend playing the same game ended up a fireball nuking mage. Note that fantasy RPGs are usually what is thought of when “RPG” is mentioned they are not all swords and sorcery games. This differs from action games (such as Quake) in that while you may get better weapons in an action game over time you do not really decide how your character develops. You pretty much have the same skills at the beginning as you do the end and merely find better stuff as you advance. MMORPG means all of the above except you and a few thousand other people populate the same world and can interact in real time. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/5 "2006-04-30T04:15:28Z")
Also, of course RPG is used to refer to tabletop games as well, these vary widely but can include Vampire: The Masquerade and the rest of the World of Darkness settings, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Shadowrun, Warhammer, GURPS and quite a few others. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/6 "2006-05-04T20:27:41Z")
In a modern-era RPG (Role-Playing Game), your character can be a mild-mannered computer programmer by day who uses RPG (RePort Generator language), and by night be an elite mercenary who can shoot an RPG (Rocket-Propelled Grenade), who plugs his headset into an old-fashioned telephone network and therefore must make his calls by using an RPG (Rotary Pulse Generator). ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/7 "2006-05-04T20:33:16Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > In a modern-era RPG (Role-Playing Game), your character can be a mild-mannered computer programmer by day who uses RPG (RePort Generator language), and by night be an elite mercenary who can shoot an RPG (Rocket-Propelled Grenade), who plugs his headset into an old-fashioned telephone network and therefore must make his calls by using an RPG (Rotary Pulse Generator). NitPick: Originally, RPG was an acronym for **Report Program Generator** , descriptive of the purpose of the language: generation of reports from data files, including matching record and sub-total reports. Sorry for the nitpick, but it is my primary Programming Language. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/8 "2006-05-04T20:46:21Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > Sorry for the nitpick, but it is my primary Programming Language. > > Jim Yeah, but what I really need is a droid that understands the binary language of moisture vaporators. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/9 "2006-05-04T20:52:01Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Yeah, but what I really need is a droid that understands the binary language of moisture vaporators. I can’t help you, but I know a Linux nut that cracks HVAC controls to reprogram them. I bet he could help you. Jim The sad part is, I think he really could. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/10 "2006-05-04T20:52:08Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Yeah, but what I really need is a droid that understands the binary language of moisture vaporators. _applause_ Just to put RPG into context, some most famous examples would be; World of Warcraft, most of the Final Fantasy series, most of the Pokemon series and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1&2. ---
**Author:** ![Endless\_Flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e480ec/32.png) [@Endless\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Endless_Flight)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/11 "2006-05-04T21:42:41Z")
I wasted some of my late 20’s playing Diablo online. That was before the common practice of asking for your credit card number. Ah, the memories. For the last year and a half, I’ve owned and operated a play-by-post roleplaying message board, where guys and gals play pen and paper rpgs over the internet. It’s nowhere near the size of this board, modest, but it’s got it’s fair share of activity. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/12 "2006-05-04T21:49:40Z")
Yes, but while Diablo was an RPG that you could play online, it wasn’t MMO. Only a limited number of players could share an instance of a game. There are plenty of online games that don’t require a monthly fee, because the games aren’t hosted on servers owned by the publisher, but rather on servers owned by players, and the publisher doesn’t maintain a persistant game world. ---
**Author:** ![Endless\_Flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e480ec/32.png) [@Endless\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Endless_Flight)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/13 "2006-05-04T22:01:46Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Yes, but while Diablo was an RPG that you could play online, it wasn’t MMO. Only a limited number of players could share an instance of a game. There are plenty of online games that don’t require a monthly fee, because the games aren’t hosted on servers owned by the publisher, but rather on servers owned by players, and the publisher doesn’t maintain a persistant game world. Yeah, that’s true. In Diablo, you could only play with three other people at a time, wasn’t it? I haven’t played in a few years. It was revolutionary when it came out. I guess Guild Wars is doing ok, and there’s no fee for that one. ---
**Author:** ![Tappi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@Tappi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tappi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/14 "2006-05-04T22:10:08Z")
The fees paid for MMORPGs don’t just cover the cost of running the servers/shards/realms, they also pay for further development of the game such as adding new areas to explore and new quests for players to take part in, they basically continue to make the game after it has been finished. It isn’t uncommon for developers to release expansions as well though, and they make players shell out more money for these. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-gamers/354801/15 "2006-05-04T23:18:59Z")
> [@Endless Flight](#): > > Yeah, that’s true. In Diablo, you could only play with three other people at a time, wasn’t it? > > I haven’t played in a few years. It was revolutionary when it came out. If you were talking about the gameplay itself, yes, but the online aspect not so much. MUDs [Multi User Dungeon/Domain], the precursors to MMORPGs, have been around since the 1980s. The distinction between the two is mainly technological - MUDs were/are primarily text-based, and somewhat smaller in size than the modern MMORPG. They do essentially the same thing, though I suppose you could make other distinctions. MUDs were mostly created as games in and of themselves. MMORPGs seemed to grow out of playing the same sort of game you were already playing, but online with other people (in the same way multiplayer is considered to be an alternate means of playing a particular game). Obviously they also built on the MUD model as well to create a more interactive game. Not that there aren’t exceptions, of course.