Computer and online gaming are extremely popular now – so much so that they have become huge multimillion dollar businesses. There are different games for different audiences – for children and for adults – and new games are being designed every day. The two main kinds of games are Role Playing Games, or RPG – they can be played by a single player or a number of players, depending on the features of each game – and Massive Multi-Player Games, which are played by many players.

When you take part in a Role Playing Game, you will take on a new character and persona, a role you will play in the game. There will be rules in each game within which you have to function, but within those rules, you can choose your actions and your actions will decide the direction the game takes. This can make a very interesting hobby and pastime because of the freedom it gives.

The primary objective of role playing games is having fun. This makes them quite different from the usual card, puzzle, arcade and other games. More than competition, RPG lean towards collaboration and socialising.

A role playing game can be played against your own computer or actual players in a network. They are played in sequence, somewhat like how television shows have episodes, role playing games also have sessions for play. Completing each session can take weeks or months, depending on the game and how you play it.

Again like a TV show, the plot as a whole will evolve over several sessions. There will be twists and turns along the way. As you advance through levels, you will find new characters being introduced, new angles – the works. Different Role Playing Games are different: ones like Dungeons & Dragons are very imaginative and creative, while others like Call of Duty are based on simulated versions of real life.

All characters in a RPG are predefined and act in a certain way, with specified abilities. If you take a game such as X-Men, you’ll notice how the characters show exactly the same abilities as in the comic book. You can only choose a predefined number of characters and use their abilities accordingly. Interaction is very much a part of every role playing game.

With Massive Multi-Player Games, you need more than hundred people to play, and the games, rules and plots are a lot more complicated. There are much bigger challenges to get through, and the levels and level of competition and interaction are much higher.

MMP is played in a much bigger scale than RPG. You have to be connected to the net to play it, and you can only play if you pay the monthly subscription. You also need a whole lot more people on your network to play it – take, for example, one of the most popular of MMP (also called MMORPG or Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games), EverQuest – it usually has up to thousands of players in its fantasy world, set in another universe.