by Timothy Hoarwood

Created on: May 26, 2009   Last Updated: July 13, 2009

One of the most interesting observations one can make about an MMORPG, such as the phenomenally popular World of Warcraft, is that the core gameplay, when analysed in isolation, appears to be astoundingly boring. Completing a huge amount of errands, most of which are accomplished by visiting a certain area and pressing a simple key combination repeatedly, to kill someone/s is not any gamer's idea of fun. The majority of the average MMORPG is a skill-free exercise in slowly increasing the powers of your character, christened 'Grinding'. So how do these games make millions of people (including me, for a while) invest their hard-owned cash in monthly subscription fees?

Firstly, there is the social aspect. An MMORPG allows the player to enter a world containing thousands of of human players, all ploughing through the same sets of errands. Giving the player people to talk to encourages them to spend more time in the virtual space, cultivating friendships or even just chatting. Whilst the player is flying to the elven city of Darnassus to talk to someone and fly back again, they can talk to real-life friends or ingame acquaintances, taking their mind off the tedium of their task.

With the addition of human players, competition becomes a major factor in addicting the player. The player craves the virtual abilities of others - the right to swing the largest virtual sword, or the strength to vanquish hordes of foes. This urge to become the best keeps people hooked - especially those with a competitive edge. They can engage in 'Player vs Player' combat in game - a more skillful combat-orientated affair against human opponents. The rush gained from killing that orc just as he was about to stab your friend provides a tangible sense of reward.

However, once you've finished killing your fellow player, you can work together to achieve even greater rewards. The designers of such games deliberately create foes or areas which are too dangerous for a single player. Using ingame grouping systems, players can enter these areas and work together, sometimes in co-ordinated groups as large as 40, to 'destroy the tyrant of Deathknell Hall', or 'vanquish the Scourge', with suitably large and prestigious rewards, such as an enchanted flaming swords or magic wands. As there are only a limited amount of items available each time the 'dungeon', as such areas are called, is completed, the avid MMO player must play through it multiple times until they can obtain that priceless piece of armour.

To keep the player addicted as they delve deeper into the world, they can join player-run communities, or guilds, which work together to excel in the game. if the player has made no in-game friendships at this point, they will now be working with the same group of people on a daily basis, allowing friendships to flourish and giving the player yet another reason to stay in the game.

There is also the physiological difficulty involved in cancelling the subscription. It is extremely difficult to destroy a character that you've put so much work into. Even people who play an MMO extremely sparingly often keep their accounts fully active, as they cannot bear the thought of abandoning all their hard work.

Throughout all these areas of the game, one thing is evident - rewards and fame. A teenager or adult can achieve a level of virtual success which far exceeds what they feel they are capable of achieving in real life. They are fairly rewarded for everything they do and, in time, can receive the admiration of others in vast quantities. In real life, you can't receive a huge glowing axe for slaying a mythical beast, but in an MMORPG you can. It provides an often cripplingly addictive escape from real life.

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