Wikipedia:Peer review/MMORPG/archive1

MMORPG

Article has been cited in a source by the BBC three times. It was previously nominated as a featured article but failed. The problems noted have been rectified and a peer review would be helpful to work out any problems before it is submitted again. Kevin 20:39, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

There are no inline citations. {{inote}}s can be used, or see Wikipedia:Footnotes. AndyZ 23:10, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

Overall, it is well-written. I found the history section to be a bit long, though. It might help to break this up into sub-headings; perhaps 'early history', 'commercial development', and maybe 'recent developments', or something like that. The part about the Chinese bans and regulations could almost be expanded and spun off into a separate main section.

The images with the article appear a little small. Perhaps enlarge them a little bit. The Daimonin image never even loaded in my browser (Firefox).

There seems to be a bit too many external links and none of them seem to stand out for me. Most of them look like just regular links to popular gaming sites that people put there - possibly linkspam? The MMO Markets link would be interesting if the site would come up - perhaps this site went dead? The Daedelus Project and MMOGCharts links are interesting. The 'Open Directory Project' is nothing but a linkfarm. Dr. Cash 03:05, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Here's a few areas where I think things could be stronger:

• The references need to have inline citations, as mentioned. Given the size of the article, more references might be needed. (It's a little hard to tell without the inline notes.)
• The history section might be better broken by important shifts rather than arbitrary dates. For example, the start of the "big three" seems to be a major turning point that could start a section.
• (Moria should not be confused with the later VAX VMS based game, Moria.)

  Don't confuse Moria with Moria? That's confusing.

I made this less ambiguous: (Moria for PLATO should not be confused with the later VAX VMS based game, Moria.) --Naha|^(talk) 01:18, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

• In Pardus, the player controls a character who owns a spaceship and gains XPs through trading or fighting, in a way similar to the classic game Elite.

  Terms like XPs can't be introduced like this without explanation.

I corrected this, including a definition in the introduction for Experience or XP. Please let us know if you see other ill-defined terms like this. As a gamer I see these terms all the time and they are so ingrained in my brain that sometimes I fail to notice if they are used without explanation of what they mean. --Naha|^(talk) 01:18, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I changed XP to experience points, since it is so far from the section where XP is explained. I also am a gamer and knew what this meant, but I fully understand your problem. --Pagrashtak 01:57, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the help :) --Naha|^(talk) 02:10, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

• In one instance, a private server had more than 50 000 players registered. Some even have 1000 accounts in 1 day (the opening day). Among such cases are Mu Online which is one of the most popular private server games in the world, with a total of over 10,000 private servers.

  This needs a rewrite. Without more specifics (in one instance?), this is a weak example. Also, there is no context to give this example weight - I'm assuming 50,000 is a lot, but I have no idea how much more than the average server this is. Same for 1,000 in the opening day. How many servers for Mu Online are not private?

• In the academic attention section, there are mentions of several studies, but no indications of what sort of findings resulted. Did these findings impact public attitude towards MMORPGs? Did MMORPGs have any reactions?
• Virtual economy and virtual crime are fascinating new concepts with unknown implications, I think they deserve more mention in the article than see also links and the minor reference in the academic attention section.
• There is mention in the history section of a shift from an hourly fee to a monthly fee. Perhaps there should there be a mention of "microtransactions", as this appears to be another profit source shift.
• Following Neverwinter Nights was The Shadow of Yserbius, a MMORPG within The Sierra Network (TSN)which ran from 1992 through 1996. The game was produced by Joe Ybarra. The Shadow of Yserbius was an hourly service, although it also offered unlimited service for $119.99 per month, until AT&T acquired TSN and rendered it strictly an hourly service.

  There are a few games mentioned in a manner similar to the above example. I really didn't learn much about Shadow of Yserbius; what makes it notable, how similar/different is it to/from Neverwinter Nights? --Pagrashtak 00:28, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

• The article covers commercial MMORPGs fairly well. Unfortunately it neglects the parallel grass roots (open source, nonprofit) movement. Fails to define MUD, MUCK, MUSH etc. Durova 09:00, 9 January 2006 (UTC)