Multiplayer online game

A multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which can be played via a game server over the internet, with other players around the world. Some prominent examples of this include fighting games (e.g. Street Fighter IV and Marvel vs. Capcom 3), sports games (e.g. NHL 14), older online games (e.g. Sega Meganet titles), first-person shooters (Battlefield 2, Resistance 3, Counter-Strike, Unreal Tournament, Quake 3, Team Fortress 2 and Call of Duty), strategy video games (e.g. Warcraft 3 and StarCraft or II), and a subgenre of strategy games called multiplayer online battle arena (e.g. Defense of the Ancients, Heroes of Newerth, League of Legends, Dota 2).

These games differ from massively multiplayer online game (MMOGs) in that they do not create a persistent world, but create a playing arena for the purpose of a single game or round. In other words, they rely on a game listen server used only for that round, and there can be numerous servers all around the world. MMOGs on the other hand, rely on dedicated servers, as these games must be running continuously.

Multiplayer game

A multiplayer game has several players, who may be independent opponents or teams. Games with many independent players are difficult to analyse formally using game theory as the players may form coalitions. The term "game" in this context may mean either a true game played for entertainment, or a competitive activity describable in principle by mathematical game theory.

Game theory

John Nash proved that games with several players have a stable solution provided that coalitions between players are not allowed. He won the Nobel prize for economics for this important result which extended von Neumann's theory of zero-sum games. Such a stable strategy is called a Nash equilibrium.

If cooperation between players is allowed, then the game is more complex. Many concepts have been developed to analyze such games. While these have had some partial success in the fields of economics, politics and conflict, no good general theory has yet been developed.

In quantum game theory, it has been found that the introduction of quantum information into multiplayer games allows a new type of equilibrium strategy which is not found in traditional games. The entanglement of players's choices can have the effect of a contract by preventing players from profiting from betrayal.

Online and offline

The terms "online" and "offline" have specific meanings in regard to computer technology and telecommunications in which "online" indicates a state of connectivity, while "offline" indicates a disconnected state. Common vernacular extended from their computing and telecommunication meanings and refers specifically to an Internet connection. Lastly, in the area of human interaction and conversation, discussions taking place during a business meeting are "online", while issues that do not concern all participants of the meeting should be "taken offline" — continued outside of the meeting.

Definitions

In computer technology and telecommunication, online and offline are defined by Federal Standard 1037C. They are states or conditions of a "device or equipment" or of a "functional unit". To be considered online, one of the following may apply to a system: it is under the direct control of another device; it is under the direct control of the system with which it is associated; or it is available for immediate use on demand by the system without human intervention.

Game

A game is structured form of play, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements. However, the distinction is not clear-cut, and many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such as jigsaw puzzles or games involving an artistic layout such as Mahjong, solitaire, or some video games).

Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational, or psychological role.

Attested as early as 2600 BC, games are a universal part of human experience and present in all cultures. The Royal Game of Ur, Senet, and Mancala are some of the oldest known games.

Multiplayer video game

A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time. Video games are often single-player activities, pitting the player against preprogrammed challenges or AI-controlled opponents (which lack the flexibility of human thought). Multiplayer games allow players interaction with other individuals in partnership, competition or rivalry, providing them with social communication absent from single-player games. In multiplayer games, players may compete against two (or more) human contestants, work cooperatively with a human partner to achieve a common goal, supervise other players' activity or e), co-op and objective-based modes assaulting (or defending) a control point. Multiplayer games typically require players to share the resources of a single game system or use networking technology to play together over a greater distance.

History

Non-networked

Some of the earliest video games were two-player games, including early sports games (such as 1958's Tennis For Two and 1972's Pong), early shooter games such as Spacewar! (1962) and early racing video games such as Astro Race (1973). The first examples of multiplayer real-time games were developed on the PLATO system about 1973. Multi-user games developed on this system included 1973's Empire and 1974's Spasim; the latter was an early first-person shooter. Other early video games included turn-based multiplayer modes, popular in tabletop arcade machines. In such games, play is alternated at some point (often after the loss of a life). All players' scores are often displayed onscreen so players can see their relative standing.