Massively multiplayer online role-playing game

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are a combination of role-playing video games and massively multiplayer online games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual world.

As in all RPGs, the player assumes the role of a character (often in a fantasy world or science-fiction world) and takes control over many of that character's actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player online RPGs by the number of players able to interact together, and by the game's persistent world (usually hosted by the game's publisher), which continues to exist and evolve while the player is offline and away from the game.

MMORPGs are played throughout the world. Worldwide revenues for MMORPGs exceeded half a billion dollars in 2005, and Western revenues exceeded a billion dollars in 2006. In 2008, the spending on subscription MMORPGs by consumers in North American and Europe grew to $1.4 billion.World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG, has over 10 million subscribers as of November 2014.World of Warcraft's total revenue was $1.04 billion US dollars in 2014.Star Wars: The Old Republic, released in 2011, became the world's 'Fastest-Growing MMOG Ever' after gaining more than 1 million subscribers within the first three days of its launch.

Although modern MMORPGs sometimes differ dramatically from their decedents, many of them share the same basic characteristics. These include several common features: persistent game environment, some form of level progression, social interaction within the game, in-game culture, system architecture, membership in a group, and character customization.

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