GameDev.net hat einen 3 Teiligen Artikel verfasst, in dem die Evolution des neuen Spielegenres MMOG analysiert wid. Die getroffenen Aussagen werden durch aktuelle Interviews wie mit Jeff Butler von Sigil Games Online bekräftigt.

PART I: An Introduction MMORPG* is a huge acronym that stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game. Unlike its name the genre began very small. But then most things do. In the seventies a few students at universities the world over began to develop some of the first online games. Initially entitled MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons) these games were the domain of the hobbyist. They were special because their world was persistent. Players would always return to the same world they left and every player would share exactly the same resources. The genre was remarkable because the games were bigger than any one player. The focus of this paper is to examine the current state of this "new" genre and to attempt to divine its future in this volatile time.