So, a few months back, I returned to the MMO world, when Lord of the Rings Online went "Free to play". I used to play when it first came out, and left due to needing to cut back costs. Anyway, I've always liked MMOs, from Everquest to Asherons Call to LOTRO.

For the past 2 months I've played LOTRO exclusively. Today, I had the urge to fire up MW on the Wii for some online battles. It took me a minute to get used to having to manually aim and swap weapons, etc and be more covert in my battles.

It got me thinking, are MMORPGS proper games? I mean, sure its a virtual environment with goals, etc. Yet, the strategy is just gearing up your character, standing there and pressing a few keys on a keyboard. As long as you're facing the general direction of your target, you'll eventually hit it, based on the probability of your character stats and levels. In a FPS, you have to plan strategies, try not to get hit, hide, snipe, driveby, etc. It just seems that a lot more goes into the actual player skill in other games that arent MMORPGs.

Don't read this as any bias, as I do still love playing LOTRO, but I feel more mentally stimulated by games like MW.  So, what about you?  What's your take on it?

Yes, MMORPGs are real games because what do you do for fun? You play a game. Some find MMORPGs fun. Some do not. Doesn't make it not a game.

Other than Im not sure what you mean by Drive by you need to do everything you listed in some MMO's so....Yes? Though they are still games even if you didnt. You dont have to do all that stuff in a lot of games. That does not make them not games it makes them a different kind of game.

Yes, they are real games, the ability required to play them its not based on the reflexes and quick reactions but creating and evolving your character, finding teams and other type of skills.

I consider them more timesinks than games but yeah I consider them real games.

yea their real games their just meant to be played differently with a different skill set than say a fps game.

Dribeby - run past opponent and mow them down, aka "runnin' and gunnin' " =)

I'm tempted to say define what a "real game" is but let me answer this way.

Of course, because the principle you invoke is that a game such as tennis, which is real time and here you must interactively respond correctly in real time, is a real game, whereas a game like chess, where nothing happens until you make a move and it's all about the correct choice, is not.

So, clearly, the principle seems flawed and MMORPS must be "real games" just ones with different gaming mechanics.

This is basically what I would say. Although I agree that many MMOs today might be a bit dated in design, but you shouldn't have to look too far ahead to find some change in that regard.  They are still very much games though.

I consider them troughs of shit to feed hopeless fools