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You enter the dank, darkened cave you saw from the road. Unsure whether or not this is the right place, you ready your weapons and tell the other members of your party to ready their own weapons, and ask the magic users to get their attack and healing spells ready. For all you know, this cave could be completely uninhabited, or it could be the den of a band of bloodthirsty orcish raiders who have been preying on the inhabitants of the nearby village, the magistrate of which has sent you to track down, slay, and bring the head of their leader to him, after which he'll give your party a handsome reward for ending the threat to his otherwise peaceful home. Suddenly, from your left, there is a blood-freezing cry. You turn to look and see out of the darkness, the first wave of orcs rushing at you, axes and swords held high, heading right for you. You tighten your grip on your sword and prepare for battle.

As much as it may sound like it, this isn't a scenario from the massively popular online role-playing game, World of Warcraft, although it easily could be. Actually, it's from a session of Dungeons and Dragons that several friends of mine and I participated in back in high school, and situations that evoke fond memories of times like that are one of the reasons that I'm an avid player of World of Warcraft today.

In everything from races, character classes, spells, monsters, and even in interaction between players, Dungeons and Dragons is a huge influence on the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (or MMORPGs) of today. Indeed, without Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson's table top role playing game from the 70's, it's hard to imagine there even being an Everquest, a World of Warcraft, even a Diablo. You can see the influence in almost every screen as you play anyone of the games I just mentioned, as well as many others.

The influence D&D had on today's MMORPGs was even easier to see a few months ago when Gary Gygax sadly passed away after a long illness. The Internet was awash in tributes and remembrances, not just from the people that play D&D and MMORPGs, but also from the people that actually make games like WoW. The day after Gygax passed away, there were several testimonials and statements from the people who work for Blizzard entertainment about how much Gygax and D&D had influenced them in their lives and careers.

While it is true that without JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, there may never have been a Dungeons and Dragons, the same can be said for most, if not all of today's MMORPGs. Without Dungeons and Dragons, there probably wouldn't have been a World of Warcraft, and myself and many others would have had a lot less fun in our lives.

Learn more about this author, J. Andrew Carmody.
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