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 | This page in a nutshell: One theory that explains the addictive nature of Wikipedia and its tendency to produceWikipediholics is that Wikipedia is amassively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). The following article explains how Wikipedia shares many characteristics with MMORPGs. |
Wikipedia is a sequel to the gameNupedia, anencyclopedia-themedMMORPG in ahack and slash and "article roaming" style. It was released forweb browsers by theWikimedia Foundation in 2001, and was developed bythe community.
Wikipedia has an immersive gameworld with 49,861,280players and 7,079,988unique locations, including 55,484undiscovered secret areas, 42,810fully excavated dungeons, and 6,806legendary dungeons. Magicalitems andpowers can be found scattered over these locations, whose navigation is aided bymaps of the game world. Some of these locations, as well as items and powers, becomeproblematic andunbalance the game world.Players will generallydislike these, andGame Masters respond byremoving them or, if they areheretical, byvaporizing them.
The in-game universe can take several years to explore completely, with severalregions to explore. Dungeons within the game vary greatly in size. Some are solarge that they can take hours to explore, whereas some are sosmall that players can see the entire dungeon at a glance.
Players can accumulateexperience points (EXP), allowing them to advance to higherlevels andclimb up the ranking ladder. Some playersfocus too much on increasing EXP and, despite their extremely high levels, they are not valued in the community.A special fairy always tracks EXP. Players develop a unique distribution ofstatistics, and can choose between a number ofclasses, such asGunner,Spy,Wizard,Sorcerer,Archer, andPriest, or can choose to be multiple classes at once. Players can choose from one of severalraces, such asgnomes,ogres,dragons andimps. Other players can forgo choosing a race, and may instead be just a regularperson. In some cases, a player may choose to play withexcessive summons, or play with multiple warriors at the same time. This provides an additional challenge, because they must avoid being caught byBounty Hunters, who are tasked with rooting them out and destroying them.The in-game currency (WikiMoney) has largely fallen out of use, and most players prefer to accumulate collectables given by others, includingstars,question marks,green medals, and even legendarybronze stars. Players can take onquests, fightboss battles, enterplayer versus player battle arenas, and even takeclass change trials to becomeGame Masters. It is also possible to stumble uponrandom encounters that allow for fights with viciousmonsters.
Non-player characters (often abbreviated as "NPCs"), or minions, can also be found in the game.Wikipedia differs from other MMORPGs in that ordinary players maydesign their own NPCs, andsubmit them to be approved for inclusion in the game world. NPCs can be seen throughout the game world, doing tasks such as slayingmonsters,cleaning uptaverns, and other helpful tasks.
Afteracquiring ten EXP in four days, gamers gain additional powers, such as the ability tochange the names of caves, bypassweaker magic chains, andimport art into the game world. Afteracquiring 500 EXP in 30 days, gamers unlock the ability to bypassboosted chains and undergotrials to becomeGame Masters.
Everyunique location in thegameworld has atavern whereplayers have the opportunity to interact with any other player in real time. Players often become friends with other players, and some have even arranged tomeet offline. Players may even build their ownhouses withfurniture andreceive messages from other players. On the darker side, some players becomeaddicted, unable to leave the game, and spend all their waking hours on the site. It is often themost experienced players who end up spending the most amount of time in the gameworld.
Players with similar ideals will group together to formguilds, andraids may form to tackle exceptionally difficultquests andadventures.
People tend to play a given MMORPG for six to eighteen months at a high level of involvement; asimilar pattern has been noted in hardcoreWikipedia players.
Trolls are one of the most commonenemies in the gameworld, and often turn up inskirmishes. Orcs, the natural enemies of the Trolls, fight their enemies using methods which are equally unethical or destructive (such asbaiting).
Weapons such asswords are used normally, buthandguns andheavy artillery can be used to defeat anundefeatable enemy. Many players also carry ashield to help protect dungeons they are guarding. Often, players willmonitor dungeons that they are (or have been) involved with special cameras, which are connected to a private area which belongs to that player and that only they can access.
Weapons can be used for purposes other than fighting enemies, but breaking thethree hit rule may result in anIce Block.
Barbarian-fighting is a common form of combat that has many similarities to a variation ofspawn kill.
Illegitimate battle strategies are abundant. Malicious and sneaky Trolls like to useexcessive summons andminions to trickGame Masters.
There are also enemies such asWikiPorcupines, which shootToxic Spikes from their heads andgang up against players. There are a similar species calledWikiHedgehogs, but instead act asTrolls' pets. They areveryblamey about newer players entering their territory.
Players can also attempt todestroy,mangle ordisrupt parts of the game world.Player-killing is strongly discouraged, but nevertheless happens.New players are most vulnerable.Game Masters attempt to control disruption by placing offending players inice blocks, freeze locks, or obliterating them using theban hammer. Troublemakers may occasionally be brought before theSuper Game Masters, who have the final say in dealing with them.
SomeWikipediaplayers who successfully complete aclass change trialmanage to becomeGame Masters, a secretiveclan[2] whose members have access to additionalspells and items such as:
Wikipedia players can be promoted to Game Master (or demoted!) by even more powerful users known asOverlords, who, in addition to having the power to appoint new Game Masters and Overlords, can summon many powerfulminions to aid them in their adventuring.
Gunners are required to be bothcareful and quick. To assist them, they have a wide variety ofweapons at their disposal, includingmachine guns,sniper rifles,heavy artillery, or a general multi-purposehandgun. Despite all these weapons, some players chose to fightenemies with old-fashionedswords.
Archers wander around newly createddungeons, where they hunt unwelcome creatures such asvenomous snakes, clean uptoxic slime, andmark dangerous areas before newer players can venture inside. If a dungeon turns out too poorly designed to be included in the game world, Archers can send amessage to Game Masters and alert them that a dungeon needs to be caved-in. Archers are required tobe kind towards newer dungeon builders, and must encourage them if the intended building didn't come out as designed.
Artists are known for their ability to turn theworst most disorganized looking dungeons intoworks of true beauty.
Builders have the ability to turn the smallest dungeons into the most complex ones. Some increase dungeons' size, other increase their complexity, both are vital. After all, what's the point of an oversized dungeon with no mazes?
There exist several classes of users which have even greater powers and spells than already mentioned.
Priests are a special class ofGame Masters with the ability to enter dungeons protected by red chains and modify other players'inventories, and even thedefault inventory for the entire game. Only the most trusted Game Masters can become priests; there are only15 priests, and one of them is a minion summoned by an overlord.
TheSGMs are a clan of Game Masters with additional powers and spells. They can be asked to battlesuper-hard bosses that ordinary users may find difficult to defeat, and also deal with misbehaving players when otherstrategies fail. One must be elected to be a Super Game Master, and can only serve for a limited time before re-election is required. Super Game Masters are automatically made Bounty Hunters, and they approve which other players get to be Bounty Hunters. The Super Game Masters, if a majority of them agree, canbanish a player from the world for either a year or forever, and can remove Game Master status for any misbehaving Game Master; in the process, they can also disqualify the former Game Master from reattaining Game Master status without their permission.
A clan of Game Masters (or visiting Game Masters from other worlds, due to their nomadic nature) with even greater powers and abilities than their colleagues. One must be elected by other players to be aKnight, and can only be a Knight for a year before a re-election is required. Knightsmust be present in all worlds and be at least 18 years old and the age of majority in their area of origination. Knights have the following abilities:
Knights act as Bounty Hunters, Overlords, Game Masters, and the like for worlds who have not chosen any of their players to do such tasks.
The master and founder ofWikipedia and its related worlds. He patrols the game world, and in former times he has had complete and total authority, including being the only one besides the Knights who is allowed to change any user's user classes (including Knights) and also formally appointing the Super Game Masters. His powers have diminished, as he first became reluctant to use them, and at last relinquished them voluntarily. However, he retains indirect authority as the head of the game's governing board and remainsthe most observed player. If you feel the game has treated you particularly unfairly, you can create free amusement for other players byasking the Dark Lord for assistance.
Outside the culture that the community has made,Wikipedia's development, update pathway, etc. is run bya team of staff members, developers, and the like. Their accounts are easily identifiable thanks to the (WMF) tag appended to them. While itis possible to contact a specific staff member directly using their in-game accounts, this is very unlikely and you will have more options for reaching out using either thecommunity contact page or by following the instructions oncontacting Team WMF.
There are multiple branches of Team WMF that contribute in some way toWikipedia, such as developers that code and releasenew updates, quality assurance that makes sure thatWikipedia works as smooth as possible, etc. They may sometimesoffer to hire as well.
