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is also unique. Normally, game makers would charge an extra fee on top of the subscription one for MMOs. Not so in EVE. You pay once for the game, then you are charged a monthly fee. Once this is done, you get every expansion released for free.

It is also unique in that the game is nearly entirely player driven. A lot of the stories are player driven and created by their interactions in space, plus players can own entire solar systems. They're also free to war with other alliances in huge battles, scam people and be pirates or to play the economy to achieve dominance. The economy is also almost entirely player driven and there's a lot of crafting that can be done like building space stations. Basically, EVE players inhabit a cut-throat world and the designers intended it that way. It's also innovative in the sense that you don't need to be logged in to advance your character so that part of the grind is gone. You can train skills even while offline. The world is also comprised of some 5000 solar systems. Moving forward, the developers seem to want to give players the chance to colonise planets, control them and wage war there, which isn't possible right now. Also, they plan to enable you to walk in space stations soon.

Sorry for the long passage dedicated to EVE also but I think it just showcases what an MMO is capable of. To further its case as a benchmark title, everyone plays on one single server and there's never any queues. Currently, there's supposed to be around 250,000 subscribers with around 30,000 to 40,000 logged in at a time. There are also new players joining regulary.

Story based RPGs:

These are good for the people who want a reason to kill things and level up their character. Normally, the story is also decent and they are for one player most of the time. They come in two flavours: turn based and real-time based RPGs. The real time ones are for those who like to get into the action straight away. Some of these titles include The Witcher, Final Fantasy 12, Dark Cloud, Dark Chronicle and the Elder Scrolls series. There is also the Kingdom Hearts series.

The turn based ones are slower paced and are for more patient of players obviously. Some of these games are the rest of the Final Fantasy games, Lost Odyssey and the Breath of Fire series.

There is also a sub-genre of turn based RPGs, strategy based RPGs. These are good fun if you like thinking, have a story and involve you levelling characters like other RPGs. Standouts include: Disgaea and the other Nippon Ichi games, plus Final Fantasy Tactics

The last genre, hack and slash RPGs:

These really aren't RPGs in that you play a character who has a role in the story. I.e. The character has no personality. The sub-genre is more repetitive than the others though it is still enjoyable if you like killing lots of enemies and gaining items to boost your character's power or upgrade his/her appearance. They are also pretty decent played online. Standouts include: Titan Quest, the Diablo series, the Sacred series and the Champions series of games set in the Everquest universe on consoles.

So basically, the hack and slash games are about the item hunt.

Learn more about this author, Dan Cartwright.
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