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Computer and online gaming are extremely popular now - so much so that they have become huge multimillion dollar businesses. There are different games for different audiences - for children and for adults - and new games are being designed every day. The two main kinds of games are Role Playing Games, or RPG - they can be played by a single player or a number of players, depending on the features of each game - and Massive Multi-Player Games, which are played by many players.

Participating in a role playing game means you assume the role of some fictitious character, often available in a specific collaborative storyline. While there are rules to follow, the player is given the freedom to choose from different actions, according to which the game will take shape and the results will occur. Improvisation is allowed within the rules and because of this, role playing games make for a great pastime.

The primary objective of role playing games is having fun. This makes them quite different from the usual card, puzzle, arcade and other games. More than competition, RPG lean towards collaboration and socialising.

These Role Playing Games work like a series on TV - they are like episodes, or sessions, running from one to the next. You can either play against your computer, or you can play against other gamers in your network. Each session has to be played out, and can take a long time - weeks or even months, depending on which game you are playing and what your strategy is.

These role playing games always have specific characters and a developing plot, usually spanning over all the related sessions. New characters can be introduced as you go to higher levels in the game and the play intensity will grow too. Some RPG are based on creative imagination, such as Dungeons & Dragons, while others are sophisticated simulations of real-world happenings, such as Call of Duty.

All characters in a RPG are predefined and act in a certain way, with specified abilities. If you take a game such as X-Men, you’ll notice how the characters show exactly the same abilities as in the comic book. You can only choose a predefined number of characters and use their abilities accordingly. Interaction is very much a part of every role playing game.

Compared to RPG games, Massive Multi-Player Games (MMP) need hundreds and thousands of players to achieve the game objectives. Complex and highly challenging, these MMP games are definitely not for individuals or two players.

The biggest differences between RPG and MMP are the number of players, subscriptions involved and the fact that you must be online to play MMP games. EverQuest, a popular MMP game, is a 3D fantasy game based in an alternate universe. MMP games are also commonly known as MMORPG or Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games.