I hate when people say “World of Warcraft and other MMOs” because it makes it sound like WoW is just an MMO, when it is clearly not. Why don’t they refer to EverQuest as ,“another MMO”? See, it’s a marketing gag, people. The only MMO that I play is Eve Online. But that one gets boring. If you don’t want to lose your ship, all you can do is High Sec missions to make isk. So, Eve is an MMO. But World of Warcraft has an RPG element to it, which makes it clearly distinct from MMOs. In Eve you cannot roleplay, that’s a good way to get your ship blown up. But in World of Warcraft, you can roleplay to your hearts content. That’s distinct from MMOs.
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It’s an MMORPG, which is often abbreviated to just MMO. There’s no confusion…
Eve Online and Everquest are also MMORPG’s. Whether or not people choose to RP has nothing to do with it.
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“MMO” is just an abbreviation for MMORPG.
How people choose to play those games (and whether they actually role-play) is up to them.
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Do you fly around distant galaxies in real life?
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I can assure you that’s not what they meant. WoW is an MMO, just like other MMO’s.
Maybe not exactly 1:1 since every MMO does it own thing, but in the genre it resides in, it’s an accurate description.
…'Cept we do? 
Heck, to others, WoW is just another MMO.
I’m so confused. 
That’s like saying… “Oh Saints Row is another crime sandbox”. I mean… ehh? 
I guess, but that would put it in it’s sub genre which, still lies in that genre, were just getting in the specifics.
…I mean in any game you can Roleplay since it’s more or less a subjective term really, but i suspose in your case, you might possible be refering to the fact that Eve Online is either heavily PvP focused, or heavily action focused. And therefore less likely for RP to happen…
Though GTA online is also like that and it’s possible to RP there, despite not being a true actual MMO, despite having MMO elements.
… FF14, ESO, SWTOR, GW2, DCUO, Tera… Am i missing something here?
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Other than Eve I don’t bother with those “MMOs”. I play World of Warcraft.
WoW is more of a “with RPG elements” kind of game.
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That’s why it’s called an MMORPG.
I don’t understand this thread.
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Yes!!! /10
WoW is an MMO in the same way as an apple is a fruit.
WoW is an MMO-RPG
Destiny 2 is an MMO-FPS
Diablo 4 is an MMO-ARPG
All three of these games are distinctly different, like a pear and an apple and an orange are three different things, but they are all MMOs, just like a pear and an apple and an orange are all fruits.
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The problem with comparing WoW to other MMO’s is that no other MMO has ever achieved even close to the success that WoW achieved.
The MMO genre never really had a golden age. It was an illusion. WoW just happened to be the best multiplayer action rpg on the market.
Now the best multiplayer action rpg on the market is Elden Ring. If anything WoW should be copying that game, not other MMO’s.
The term MMO was created for games like WoW and Everquest and other rpg games in the early days of online gaming because they were the only games that had that type of large player base all in the game at the same time.
Back in those early days online gaming was mostly small team competitive PvP like arena shooters or RTS games. When games like Ultima Online started to become popular they were labeled MMORPGs because compared to a game of Unreal Tournament they were massive.
if WoW isn’t an MMO what is it?
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Its World of Warcraft. Eve Online is an MMO. So, if I tell people I play An MMO I am discussing Eve is what I mean. Not trying to confuse you. But WoW is not just “another MMO” when compared to Eve Online. I played EverQuest 2 one time! I instantly saw my mistake, and came back to WoW 
alrighty
Yeah, fully agree with this.
And, I mean, the industry figured this out awhile back. There’s a reason we stopped seeing major MMORPG releases being pushed after like 2014. Everyone realized the MMO market wasn’t actually that big – it was just WoW. And stealing players from WoW long term was a tall ask. Too much time investment for people to bail over an unknown.
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You can role play in pretty much any game. Idk a lot about EVE, but from what I’ve seen it is 100% something I’d role play in. Besides, whenever you do a thing in a certain personal way, you’re playing into the RPG element, whether you’re making canon in your head or not.
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Is World of Warcraft not a massively multiplayer online game???
They do.
A minuscule amount of it…
You can.
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Aion is the only one I can think of
To an extent, I agree that WoW is not JUST an “MMO”. It’s also an “RPG”.
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