The MMORPG web-sites have quickly evolved into one of the busiest and technologically advanced web based pages available. MMORPG's were created in the mid-late nineties in that time this technology has become the new "cash cow" for gaming companies, hence their web-sites reflect this monetary flow.(See History page for more details).

Genre is defined as a distinctive type of communication action, characterized by a socially recognized communicative purpose and common aspects of form. (Orlikowski and Yates)

I have further broken down the MMORPG genre into 3 parts. The parts I call the 3 “experience points” of MMORPG websites. Experience points are defined as follows. In most MMORPG’s there is a way to record your progress through the game. In most cases the “experience” point is the way in which characters learn. Experience points are the basic building blocks of development in most MMO’s, just as the following through criteria of are the “experience” points of a good or bad MMORPG web-site.

There are 3 related "experience points" which make up MMORPG sites:

• Credibility
• Reliability
• Usability

Credibility is the power of a developers name and presentation of content within an MMORPG. What credibility gives a developer is higher sales, better reputation, and a larger following from an extremely avid and intense consumer. The customers who frequent an MMORPG web-site are going to judge game based the information gathered and the name developer. Thus, breaking into this market as an upstart requires an ingenious concept and proof of that concept. You can be sure that if any piece of information is published to the web-site that a reader will find, read, and remember it. Information should be factual, to the point, and already published information should be changed as little as possible. Which also makes information reliable.

Reliability for an MMORPG is the number of updates that occur on the web-site and presenting accurate factual information. Reliability is most prevalent in the With the insatiable need for information from the MMORPG consumers, a constant flow of information is imperative to maintain interest and happiness within the community following a games development. If a game caters to a unique niche market or there is very limited competition constant flow of information is necessary. The limiting factor on these updates is that they have to be as factual and accurate as possible. Presenting information that is then later altered or changed has an extremely negative within this community. Gamers feel cheated by promises that are changed at a later date. Reliable information makes or breaks the sales of an MMORPG. As well, reliability creates or breaks a community. The community is also based on usability.

Usability is how an MMORPG web-site is accessible to the people who are going to use it. A key factor to making a good MMORPG web-site is creating a community around it. Thus, the accessibility of a web-site should have the interests of a regular community viewing it. Interaction between people from all over the world should be readily available and developers would be wise to facilitate this as much as possible. Interest in a game is initiated through the users first look at the site. Usability dictates that an MMORPG should have key features blatantly in the face of the first time user. Graphical representations are the best way to present the game to the first time user. The entertainment value and interest value based on the graphics and technology of a site is what draws the first time viewers to an MMORPG site.

There are standards on each site which facilitate these 3 "experience" types, let's look at these standards:

STANDARDS OF MMORPG WEB-SITES