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Comparison of massively multiplayer online role-playing games
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The factual accuracy of this article is disputed.
Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (March 2008) |
This article contains an almost full table comparison of current massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs).
General information
| Name |
Creator |
Genre |
Client sale method |
Client purchase price |
Monthly fee
Lowest possible - largest possible |
Real money for game advantages? |
Release date(s) |
Platform |
Still updated regularly? |
| Anarchy Online |
Funcom |
Science fiction |
Retail sale[1] or Download |
Free |
Free w/limited access / US$14.95/month full access |
Yes, Paid points allow premium items |
2001-06-07 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Asheron's Call |
Turbine |
Fantasy |
Download |
US$19.95 |
US$12.95 per month. |
No official scheme |
1999-10-31 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| City of Heroes and City of Villains |
Cryptic Studios |
Superhero comic book genre |
Retail sale or Download |
US$19.99 (for download) |
US$11.95 (10 months) - $14.99 |
No official scheme |
2004-04-28 |
Microsoft Windows[2] |
Yes |
| Conquer Online |
TQ Digital |
Fantasy |
Retail sale or Download |
Free |
Free |
Yes, codes can be traded for a premium currency to buy premium goods. Can also be sold for in-game gold. |
2005-11-14 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| DarkSpace |
PaleStar |
Science fiction |
Download |
Free |
Free w/limited access / US$9.99/month full access. |
? |
2001 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Dark Age of Camelot |
Mythic Entertainment |
Fantasy |
Retail sale or Download |
Free |
US$14.95 per month. |
No official scheme |
2001-10-10 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Dofus |
Ankama Studio |
Fantasy |
Download |
Free |
Free w/limited access / US$7/month full access. |
No official scheme |
2005-09-01 |
Operating system independent (Adobe Flash) |
Yes |
| Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach |
Turbine |
Fantasy |
Retail sale or Download |
US$29.95 (for download) |
US$14.95 per month. |
No official scheme |
2006 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Entropia Universe |
MindArk |
Science fiction |
Download |
Free |
Free |
Yes, full RMT, buy and sell |
2003-01-30 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| EVE Online |
CCP Games |
Space simulation |
FTP download |
Free |
US$10.95/€10.95 (on 12 months base)
- $14.95/€14.95
Subscription time can also be bought for in-game currency from other players
|
Subscription time can be sold for in-game currency |
2003-05-06  
2003-05-23  |
Microsoft Windows[2], Mac OS X, Linux |
Yes |
| EverQuest |
Sony Online Entertainment |
Fantasy |
Retail sale |
? |
US$14.99 per month
Part of Station Access (US$29.95) |
Legends of Norrath cards can be bought for the chance at minor loot cards |
1999-03-16 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| EverQuest II |
Sony Online Entertainment |
Fantasy |
Retail sale |
US$19.99 |
US$14.95
Small discounts for 3/6/12 month advance
Part of Station Access (US$29.95) |
Yes, on exclusive servers
All servers: Legends of Norrath cards can be bought for the chance at minor loot cards |
2004-11-08 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Final Fantasy XI |
Square Enix |
Fantasy |
Retail sale |
US$19.99 |
US$12.95 + $1.00 per extra character |
No official scheme |
2002-05-16 |
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 |
Yes |
| Flyff |
Aeonsoft |
Fantasy |
Download |
Free |
Free |
Yes, buy bonus items |
2004-09 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Guild Wars |
ArenaNet |
Fantasy |
Retail sale or Download |
US$9.99, $49.99 (for retail sale) |
Free |
Yes, buy faster skill unlocks |
2005-04-28 |
Microsoft Windows[2] |
Yes |
| Hattrick |
Hattrick Ltd./Extralives AB |
Sports simulation |
Browser-based |
Free |
Free[3] |
No official scheme |
1997-08-30[4] |
Operating system-independent (Web-based) |
Yes |
| Knight Online |
MGame Corporation and Noah System |
Fantasy |
Download |
Free |
Free |
No official scheme |
2004 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Lineage II |
NCsoft |
Fantasy |
Retail sale or Download |
Free |
US$14.99 (2 months) |
No official scheme |
2003-11-01 
2004-04-28 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar |
Turbine |
Fantasy |
Retail sale |
US$49.95 |
US$10 pre-release deal (1 month), $200 pre-release deal (lifetime), $15 release (1 month) |
No official scheme |
2007-04-24 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| MapleStory |
Wizet |
Fantasy |
Download |
Free |
Free |
Yes, buy bonus items |
2002-05
2003-11 
2004-12 
2005-07-04 
2005-05-11 (Global)
2005-06-23 (SEA) |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Minions of Mirth |
Prairie Games |
Fantasy |
Download |
Free - US$29.95[5] |
Free |
No official scheme |
2005-12 |
Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X |
Yes |
| Perfect World |
Beijing Perfect World |
Fantasy |
Retail sale or Download |
Free |
Free |
Yes, Item mall |
2005-07
2006-12
2007-03
TBA 2007 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| PlaneShift |
Atomic Blue |
Fantasy |
Download |
Free |
Free |
No official scheme |
2002 |
Microsoft Windows, Linux, BSD and Mac OS X |
Yes |
| Ragnarok Online |
GRAVITY Co., Ltd. |
Fantasy, Steampunk |
Download |
Free |
US$12.00 in the U.S., varies in other countries |
Yes, item shop |
2002-08-31 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Rappelz |
nFlavor |
Fantasy |
Download |
Free |
Free |
Yes, item shop |
2006-11-03 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Regnum Online |
NGD Studios |
Medieval fantasy |
Download |
Free |
Lowest ximerin (points) possible 15 Argentine pesos; highest ximerin possible 60 Argentine pesos |
Yes, paid points allow premium objects |
2007-04-24 |
Windows, Linux |
Yes |
| Rise: The Vieneo Province |
Unistellar Industries |
Science fiction, Space simulation |
Download |
Free |
US$5.95 |
No official scheme |
2006-04-01 |
Windows |
Yes |
| RuneScape |
JAGeX Ltd |
Fantasy |
Browser-based |
Free |
Free / US$5/month for existing subscribers, US$5.95 for new subscribers. |
Yes, Membership for added content. |
2001-01-03 |
Operating system-independent (Web-based Java applet) |
Yes |
| Ryzom |
Ryzom |
Science Fantasy |
Download |
Free |
Free |
No official scheme |
2004 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Second Life |
Linden Lab |
No theme enforced |
Download |
Free |
Free - Unlimited[6] |
Yes, full RMT, buy and sell |
2003 |
Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux |
Yes |
| Shadow of Legend |
SmartCell Technology |
Fantasy |
Download |
Free |
Free |
Yes, Item shop |
2007-12(Open Beta),
Update to 2.5D in Oct. 2008 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Star Wars Galaxies |
Sony Online Entertainment |
Science fiction, Star Wars |
Retail sale |
US$14.99 |
US$14.99 (Single month) - $12 (Year)
Part of Station Access (US$29.95) |
(coming soon) SWG Trading Card Game cards can be bought for the chance at minor loot cards |
2003-06-26 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| Tabula Rasa |
NCsoft |
Science fiction |
Retail sale or download |
US$49.99 |
US$14.99/month |
No official scheme |
2007-11-02 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| A Tale in the Desert |
eGenesis |
Historical |
Download |
Free |
US$13.95/month |
No official scheme |
2003-02-03 (First telling). 2006-05-30 (Current telling) |
Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X |
Yes |
| Tibia |
CipSoft |
Fantasy |
Download |
Free |
Free[5] |
Yes, Membership for added content |
1997 |
Microsoft Windows, Linux |
Yes |
| Toontown Online |
The Walt Disney Company |
Classic cartoons |
Retail sale or Download |
Free |
£4.16 - £6.99 |
No official scheme |
2003 |
Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X |
Yes |
| Ultima Online |
Origin Systems |
Fantasy |
Retail sale[1] or Download |
US$29.99 (free download) |
US$9.99 - US$12.99 |
No official scheme |
1997 |
Microsoft Windows |
Yes |
| World of Warcraft |
Blizzard Entertainment |
Fantasy |
Retail sale or download |
US$19.99 (free download) |
US$79.99 (6 months), $14.99 (single month) |
Trading Cards can be purchased for a chance at an ingame code which can be used for otherwise unobtainable ingame items |
2004-11-12 to 2006-08-01 in different countries, see article for more details. |
Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X[2] |
Yes |
| World War II Online |
Cornered Rat Software |
Historical |
Retail sale or download |
? retail price.
Free download
|
US$1000 (lifetime), $8.33 (5 year builder), $10.83 (1 year), $12.50 (6 month), $14.99 (1 month) |
"Builder's Program" |
2001-06 (Original version)
New releases: 2005–2006
|
Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X |
Yes |
| Name |
Creator |
Genre |
Client sale method |
Client purchase price |
Monthly fee
Lowest possible - largest possible |
Real money for game advantages? |
Release date(s) |
Platform |
Still updated regularly? |
Statistics table
|
No. of players |
No. of players per server / shards / worlds |
No. of servers / shards / worlds |
Common peak of players |
Contains Instances |
| Anarchy Online |
00012000 12,000 [7] |
? |
3 |
? |
Yes (Missions) |
| Asheron's Call |
00000010 ? |
? |
9 |
? |
Yes |
| City of Heroes and City of Villains |
00200000 200,000 [7] |
? |
11 (American version), 4 (European version) |
? |
Yes (Missions) |
| Conquer Online |
00000000 ? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
| DarkSpace |
00000000 ? |
? |
One (?) |
? |
? |
| Dark Age of Camelot |
00125000 125,000 [7] |
? |
6(?) |
5,000 (America), 6,000 (Europe) |
Yes |
| Dofus |
00500000 500,000 active subscriptions [8] |
? |
17 |
20,000 per server |
Yes |
| Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach |
00000000 ? |
? |
5 |
? |
Yes (Entire world) |
| EVE Online |
00200000 200,000 [9] |
All |
One (+ test server) |
33,000 Live shard, 100 Test shard |
No |
| EverQuest |
00200000 200,000 [7] |
~8,000 |
25 as of August 2007 |
~4,000 |
Yes (LDON, Plane of Time, Post GoD Raid Locations) |
| EverQuest II |
00185000 185,000 [10] |
~8,000 |
27 as of March 2008 |
~2,500 per server |
Yes |
| Final Fantasy XI |
01500000 1,500,000 [7] |
15,000-20,000[11] |
32 servers[12] |
Generally 1500–2000 per world |
Expansion only |
| Guild Wars |
05000000 5,000,000 [13] |
All |
One |
8 in PvE |
Everywhere except towns and outposts |
| Hattrick |
00934000 934,000 as of 2007-3-5[14] |
? |
? |
? |
No |
| Knight Online |
04250000 4.25 million |
1-2 million |
12x3(subservers) |
30,000 per subserver 30kx36 total |
? |
| Lineage II |
01300000 1,300,000 [7] |
? |
10 |
? |
No |
| The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar |
00000000 ? |
? |
38 |
? |
Yes |
| MapleStory |
05000000 5,000,000
(Global version)[15]
|
? |
89 (All versions) ; 7 (Global version) |
? |
No |
| Perfect World |
00000000 ? |
? |
? |
? |
Yes |
| PlaneShift |
00400000 400,000 |
All |
1 |
200 |
Yes |
| Ragnarok Online |
00000000 ? |
? |
? |
? |
Announced for a future update |
| Rappelz |
00000000 ? |
? |
7 |
? |
Yes (Dungeon Siege) |
| Rise: The Vieneo Province |
00004000 4,000 |
4,000 |
1 |
100 |
Entire world |
| RuneScape |
08200000 8,200,000 [16] |
2,000[17] |
Approximately 160 |
250,000 as of 2007-6-6 |
Yes |
| Second Life |
01761927 1,761,927 (Actual figures may be lower) [18] |
All |
1 |
32,000 |
No |
| Star Wars Galaxies |
00100000 100,000 as of mid-2006 [7] |
? |
12 |
? |
Yes |
| Tabula Rasa |
00000000 ? |
? |
5 [19] |
? |
Yes |
| Tibia |
00067397 67,397 [7] |
? |
72 as of 2006-9-28[20] |
Close to 50,000 as of 2006-9-28 [20] |
? |
| Ultima Online |
00000000 ? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
| World of Warcraft |
10000000 10,000,000 (active subscriptions) [21]. |
Avg. 36,000 as of 2007-2-18 |
222 as of 2007-2-18 |
? |
Yes |
| World War II Online |
00012000 12,000 (active subscriptions as of 2005, substantially increased since) [7]. |
All |
1 |
Few hundred? |
No |
|
No. of players |
No. of players per server / shards / worlds |
No. of servers / shards / worlds |
Common peak of players |
Contains Instances |
Engine table
Minimal system requirements
The minimal system requirements are, unless otherwise noted, the minimum requirements given by the game publisher.
|
Platform |
CPU |
RAM |
Video card |
HDD space |
Software |
Connection |
| Asheron's Call |
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP |
733 MHz |
256 MB (256 MiB) |
32 MB graphics card |
3 GB |
DirectX 9.0c |
56k |
| Dofus |
Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux |
Intel Pentium III 700 MHz (or Mac equivalent) |
128 MB |
32 MB graphics card |
100 MB |
Lecteur Flash 7.0 |
56k |
| EVE Online |
Windows 2000 SP2/XP, Mac OS X, Linux |
Intel Pentium III 800 MHz or AMD Athlon 800 MHz |
512 MB |
32 MB graphics card |
2 GB |
DirectX 9.0c |
56k |
| Final Fantasy XI |
PlayStation 2[24] |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
7 GB |
N/A |
56k |
| Windows 2000/XP[25]/Vista |
Intel Pentium III 800 MHz |
128MB |
32MB graphics card |
6 GB |
DirectX 8.1 |
56k |
| Xbox 360[26] |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
8 GB |
Xbox Live |
Cable/DSL |
| Guild Wars |
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP |
Intel Pentium III 1 GHz |
512 MB |
64 MB graphics card |
3 GB |
DirectX 9.0c |
56k |
| The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar |
Windows XP/Vista |
Intel Pentium 4 1.8 GHz or equivalent |
512 MB |
64 MB NVIDIA GeForce 3 or ATI Radeon 8500 |
7 GB |
DirectX 9.0c |
56k |
| MapleStory |
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista |
Intel Pentium III 1GHz |
64 MB |
3D acceleration card |
750 MB (depends on version), preferably 1.5 GB |
DirectX Direct3D, DirectX 8.1 |
56k |
| Perfect World |
Microsoft Windows 98/SE/2000/NT/XP/Vista |
Intel Pentium III 800 MHz |
256 MB |
64 MB graphics card |
3 GB |
DirectX 9.0c |
56k |
| PlaneShift |
Microsoft Windows 98/SE/2000/NT/XP/Vista, or Mac OS X or Linux |
Intel Pentium III 1 GHz |
512 MB |
64 MB graphics card |
500 MB |
OpenGL |
56k |
| Ragnarok Online |
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP |
Intel Pentium II 500 MHz or equivalent |
128 MB |
8 MB graphics card |
1.67 GB |
DirectX 8.0 |
56k |
| Rappelz |
Windows XP/Vista |
Intel Pentium III 800 MHz or equivalent |
512 MB |
128 MB graphics card |
4 GB (fully patched) |
DirectX 9.0c |
56k |
| Rise: The Vieneo Province |
Windows 2000 SP2/XP |
Intel Pentium III 800 MHz or AMD Athlon 800 MHz |
512 MB |
128 MB graphics card |
3 GB |
DirectX 9.0c |
56k |
| RuneScape[27] |
Java Platform |
300 MHz |
64 MB |
8 MB graphics card |
Not officially stated (~ <50 MB) |
Java Platform |
56k |
| Second Life |
Windows 2000/XP, or Mac OS X 10.3.9, or Linux |
800 MHz (PC) or 1 GHz (Mac) |
256 MB (PC) or 512 MB (Mac) |
Unknown |
75 MB + Adjustable cache size |
OpenGL 2.0 |
Cable/DSL; wired local connection |
| Star Wars Galaxies |
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista |
Intel Pentium III 1 GHz |
512 MB |
32 MB 3D graphics card with Hardware Transform and Lighting (T&L) Capability |
2.14 GB |
DirectX 9.0b |
56k |
| Tabula Rasa[28] |
Windows XP/Vista |
2.5 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent AMD processor |
512 MB |
128MB ATI Radeon 9600 or NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 series video card |
5 GB |
DirectX 9.0c |
Cable/DSL |
| Toontown Online |
Windows 2000/XP, or Mac OS X |
? |
256 MB |
32 MB 3D graphics card |
2 GB |
DirectX 9.0 |
56k |
| Ultima Online |
Windows |
Intel Pentium 200 MHz |
32 MB |
4 MB graphics card |
383 MB |
|
28k |
| World of Warcraft[29] |
Mac OS X 10.3.9 |
933 MHz G4 or G5 or Intel Macintosh |
512 MB |
32 MB 3D graphics card |
6 GB |
OpenGL |
56k |
| Windows 2000 or XP |
Intel Pentium III 800 MHz or AMD Athlon 800 MHz |
512 MB |
32 MB 3D graphics card |
5+ GB |
DirectX 9.0c |
56k |
| World War II Online[30] |
Mac OS X 10.4.5 or Windows XP |
1.2 GHz CPU |
512 MB |
128 MB video card
(OpenGL v1.2 compliant)
|
1 GB |
DirectX 9.0 or OpenGL |
56k |
See also
Notes and references
- ^ a b Though it is unlikely to find a retail edition today.
- ^ a b c d Can be played under *nix systems using Cedega.
- ^ There is a "supporter" pack available with additional statistic pages and features (but all without in-game advantages). This is a yearly fee, approx $33, and the supporter status is lost when the funds runs out.
- ^ Most users cite Season 11, which began October 15, 2000, as the beginning of Hattrick as it is today.
- ^ a b There is a "premium account" available with more additions to the game and gameplay for the players. This is a one-time fee.
- ^ A "premium account" is available costing between $6.50 and $9.99 a month. Beyond this, the monthly fee escalates with the amount of land a player owns, and there is no limit on this. Some in-world land dealers pay monthly subscriptions of US$19,500 or more. Some players also offer services similar to those offered by the premium account at different prices.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Woodcock, Bruce Sterling. "MMOGCHART.COM". Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
- ^ [1] Ankama Games press kit dated 2007-07
- ^ CCP Games Press Release:EVE Online Appoints In-World Economist
- ^ MMOGData.VOIG.com Online Data About Online Games
- ^ "Protecting Final Fantasy XI From the Gil-Sellers". Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
- ^ "FINAL FANTASY XI ONLINE Server Status". Retrieved on 2007-01-09.
- ^ "Guild Wars Sells 5 Million". Kotaku. Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
- ^ Hattrick
- ^ ""2007 warp up"". Maple Story Global (2007-12-18).
- ^ "RuneScape has an audience of 6m users." (2007-05-04). Retrieved on 2007-05-04..
- ^ Wagner James Au (2008). "RuneScape Moves to Come Out of the Shadows" (in English). GigaOM. Retrieved on 2008-07-14.
- ^ Number of registered characters [2]. Since a character can at present be created without giving any verified real life information, it is impossible to know how many actual players this may correspond to. As of 3. June 1,761,927 have logged in the last 60 days, which is approximately 4 times less than the total number of players.
- ^ http://www.rgtr.com/index Server Status tab
- ^ a b http://www.tibia.com/statistics/?subtopic=serverload&period=week
- ^ Blizzard Entertainment (2008-02-02). "World of Warcraft Surpasses 9 Million Subscribers Worldwide". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
- ^ Allows the game to be played in a window while running in a desktop environment.
- ^ Windowed mode was added with the 2007-11-19 update; however, it has been reported as being buggy and still having an error if Alt-Tab is used.
- ^ "The Adventure Expands to PlayStation 2". Square-Enix. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
- ^ "Final Fantasy XI for Windows". Square-Enix. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
- ^ "Final Fantasy XI Startup Guide for Xbox 360". Square-Enix. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
- ^ "Getting started". Jagex. Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
- ^ System Requirements for Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa
- ^ "What are the game's system requirements?". Blizzard. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
- ^ "System requirements". Cornered Rat Software. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
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