How the Multiplayer Online Gaming World Has Evolved

Featured article by Calvin Paige, Independent Technology Author

If you don’t really play online much or you stick to one genre as a gamer, you may find yourself a bit confused by all the acronyms flying around in the gaming world right now.

Even Pro Gamers Love These Games

You may wonder, for instance, what the difference between a MOBA and an actionRTS (or sometimes, ARTS) is, or what on earth DOTA stands for. What you may know, even if you are struggling with all of these terms, is that many of the games in the online multiplayer sphere now are played at a professional level, falling under the broad title of e-sports. But what is it that makes these games so good people want to actually develop professional careers playing them?

What Do All Those Acronyms Mean?

Even a lot of seasoned gamers, if they don’t dabble in the online multiplayer world, find themselves with just a vague idea of what a lot of the terminology followers of these games use means. Here is your handy guide to online multiplayer speak:

– MMORPG – Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game. This refers to online games where a whole world pretty much exists on every server, with an abundance of real people’s characters as well as non-player characters (NPCs) created by the game’s logic and rules. The most famous example of this is World of Warcraft, though there are many examples of popular games in this genre.

– MOBAs – Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas. There are games where there is a map and you, or you and your team (depending on how many players are involved) fight against others. Good examples include League of Legends and DOTA, however you can find all kinds of great MOBAs even for mobile games – for instance check out this Arena of Valor Wiki.

– ARTS – Action Real Time Strategy. This is a similar style of game to a MOBA where the focus is on both strategically placing your team and fighting. It has a three-quarter down isometric view, and while it is similar to a MOBA, tends to be more focused on planning, hiding and strategy than battling.

Why Are Multiplayer Online Games So Fun?

Whether it is your style of gaming or not, it is hard to deny that playing in real time with either friends or gamers from all over the world is cool. Whether you are building up a character to take on adventures in an RPG or simply battling it out in a MOBA, it is the mix of real people and fantasy worlds that really captures the imagination of players.

It will be interesting to see how the advent of things like mainstream VR gaming and advances in mobile gaming will help these game genres evolve, however it is already clear that this is a niche that is getting a lot of investment both from studios and players. The future certainly looks bright for the industry.