Tactical Role-playing Game - Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming

Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming

Role-playing strategy games are often described as massive multi-player role playing games which incorporate strategy elements, however the subtle difference between mmorpgs and mmogs are often over-looked. The Phantasy Star Online (2000) series was the first to deviate from its elements of role-playing with mini-games and recreational activities such as soccer and dozens of downloadable challenges to even a battle mode. However close it may be to an role-playing strategy game it still incorporates the objective mode as the primary method and story to the gameplay and most consider it to be an mmorpg rather than an mmog. Games such as Happy Wars (2012) are very similar however, they have a turn base platform. Although they are very similar to an RPG game in story mode, the objective has no exploration elements and are too short by combining references to action rpgs. These thin difference barriers in gameplay at times are able to change the genre completely, due to the overwhelming way the game feels, but really due to the fact that the major function of the game plays as a tactical rpg. Most online games are considered mmogs because they have strategic elements to the gameplay such as capture the base, or a turn-based platform as opposed to exploration as a major aspect of the developer's game.

Several MMOGs have combined multiplayer online gaming with tactical turn-based combat. Examples include, Dofus (2005), The Continuum (2008), and the Russian game Total Influence (2009?). Tactica Online was a planned MMORPG that would have featured tactical combat, had development not been cancelled. Strugarden is a Japan/Korea-exclusive 3D MMORPG which uniquely employs separate movement and attack rounds. Gunrox (2008), Poxnora (2006) and Wakfu (2012) are some other recent examples.