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There can be no question that MMORPGs (Massive Multplayer Online Role-Playing Games) have affected the gaming community. The question is, of course, whether these effects have been positive for the gaming community of whether they have been negative. In all reality, there have been both good and bad things that have happened to the gaming community as a result of massive multiplayer online games.

Let's take a look, first, at some of the positive effects massive multiplayer online games have had on the gaming community:

* Massive multiplayer online games have given gamers more options. At one time, for example, a gamer had to stick to table top roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons if she wanted to experience a Fantasy RPG experience. Today, she can jump on EverQuest, Lord of the Rings Online or World of Warcraft and enjoy all sorts of fantasy roleplaying experiences.

* Because of massive multiplayer online games, traditional tabletop roleplaying games have been forced to modernize. The mana system in EverQuest, for example, has had a profound effect on the tabletop gaming community as they seek to get away from the Vancian spell memorization system that has dominated tabletop fantasy gaming for three decades. The success of massive multiplayer online games has also spurred companies like Wizards of the Coast to try to update their tabletop games to include more and more online components and computer-based tools.

* More people, today, play tabletop roleplaying games. This is due, at least in part, to the success of massive multiplayer online games. Players of massive multiplayer online games find that they enjoy other parts of the gaming community, like tabletop games.

Unfortunately, massive multiplayer online games haven't been all good news for the gaming community. There are some negative effects massive multiplayer online games have had on the gaming community, as well:

* Gameplay in massive multiplayer online games tends to focus more on combat and quest fulfilment, rather than good roleplaying interactions. This has made tabletop gaming more strategy-based, rather than role-based.

* New versions of tabletop roleplaying games may start to seem more like a massive multiplayer online game than a regular tabletop game. While this will be fine with some players, there is a segment of the gaming community that will not appreciate the influence of massive multiplayer online games on tabletop games.

Whether or not you believe that massive multiplayer online games have affected the gaming community in a good way or a bad way, you cannot deny that there has been an affect.

Learn more about this author, John W. Paulus.
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