Lesson 16 - Close study of a MMORPG

MMORPGs – Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games – are some of the most popular videogames available with millions subscribing at any one time.

What is also interesting for us is the audience who play these games: a larger number are female and usually older than the players of conventional games.

TASK:

• Select a MMORPG of your choice and prepare a study on it on your Blog.

Popular MMORPGs - Pick one from the list

World of Warcraft
Aion GLobal
Lineage
Runescape
Age of Conan
Second Life
Lord of the Rings Online
Everquest
Star Wars The Old Republic
Ultima Online
The Sims Online
Guild Wars 2

Answer the following questions to gain some background knowledge about the game and identify the institutions involved in developing and distributing it.

-          What is the genre of the game?

-          How much does it cost to subscribe?

-          How is the game different from a console-based game?

-          Who makes the game?

-          Is the game global or only available to certain regions, such as Europe?

• Now research the audience for the game. Identify some fan sites, art works and message boards relating to the game. What do these tell you about the players of your chosen game? Survey each of your selected sites and make notes on the following:

What do the players discuss? Tactics, locations, general chat?

How do the players represent themselves on the message board? Do they have game names and personal icons?

How many people are members of the message boards?

Does the page have links? If so, what to?

• Structure your case study so that it summarises your main findings as clearly as possible. You should include screen shots and other images to illustrate it.

TO BE POSTED BY THURSDAY'S LESSON

TBBT_MMORPG from Gc Howard on Vimeo.