[Game Genre Story] MMORPGs That Dreamed of a Shared World ①

Heroes grew alone, defeated the demon king alone, saved the world alone -- players were protagonists of their own stories. But at some point, people began imagining: what if the person in that village is not an NPC repeating scripted dialogue but another player logged in at the same time? What if that traveler on the road is someone performing quests, trading items, and forming parties like me? That imagination combined with online technology to establish MMORPG as a genre. MMORPG evolution through WoW era: Ultima Online (1997) pioneering persistent world; EverQuest (1999) defining the 3D MMORPG template; Final Fantasy XI demonstrating console-PC cross-platform MMORPG; Lineage 2 showing Korean MMORPG world-class competitiveness; EVE Online creating a player-driven economy ecosystem; World of Warcraft (2004) synthesizing everything and bringing MMORPGs to mass market with 12M+ subscribers. The Korean market case: Aion was one of the few MMORPGs that could be compared directly with WoW in the Korean market -- for a while demonstrating "even after WoW, Korean-style MMORPGs can create large markets." Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning illustrating the "WoW killer" trap -- despite strong IP, large publisher backing, and innovative RvR systems, initial interest didnt sustain; shut down in 2013. Lesson: the "WoW killer" label is more burden than blessing -- players compare every feature to WoW rather than evaluating the game on its own terms.