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The first graphical MMORPG was Neverwinter Nights by designer Don Daglow and programmer Cathryn Mataga, which went live on AOL for PC owners in 1991 and ran through 1997. The project was personally championed and green-lighted by AOL President Steve Case. Both Club Caribe and Neverwinter Nights cost $6.00 per hour to play.
During the early-1990s, commercial use of the internet was limited by NSFNET acceptable use policies. Consequently, early online games like Legends of Future Past, Neverwinter Nights, GemStone III, Dragon's Gate, and Federation II relied upon proprietary services for distribution such as CompuServe, America Online, and GEnie.
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. The name was then changed from TSN to the ImagiNation Network.
As the NSFNET restrictions were relaxed, traditional game companies and online services began to deploy games on the internet. The first commercial text-based MMORPG to make this transition from a proprietary network provider (CompuServe, in this case) to the Internet was Legends of Future Past, designed by Jon Radoff and Angela Bull. It was also notable in that it had professional Game Masters who conducted online events, now a common feature. The game was offered through the Internet for $3.60 per hour in 1992 and ran until 2000.
World-wide MMORPGs
Access to one unified internet allowed game companies to accumulate truly "massive" playerbases, profit, and popularity. In addition, they became open to paying customers all around the world. As a result, some players of these games found themselves interacting with strangers from different countries and cultures for the first time.
Meridian 59 (launched by 3DO in late 1996) was one of the first modern MMORPGs. Its 3D engine, a first for online RPGs, allowed players to experience the game world through their characters' eyes. Even at the time, it was significant for several other reasons; it was the first Internet game from a major publisher, and was the first MMORPG to be covered in the major game magazines. Finally, it introduced the flat monthly subscription fee. It quickly grew a cult following, which still exists today.
The Realm Online was a successful early internet MMORPG launched by Sierra Online just after Meridian 59 (though the beta was active several months before Meridian 59's release). It had fully animated 2D graphics, both in and out of combat situations, which made it far more accessible to a wide variety of audiences compared to the uglier graphical MUDs on which it was based. Its play and interface made it comfortable for those accustomed to graphical adventure games, such as those previously popularised by Sierra. Still, like its predecessors, it had simple turn-based combat and a basic user interface. It, too, is still running.
Ultima Online was released the following year, and is now credited with popularizing the genre. It had 3D isometric/third-person graphics, and was set in the already popular Ultima universe. It was also a more complex game than many of its predecessors.
Meanwhile, commercial online games were becoming extraordinarily popular in South Korea. Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds, designed by Jake Song, began commercial service in 1996 and eventually gained over one million subscribers. Song's next game, Lineage (1998), was an even bigger success. Lineage reached millions of subscribers in Korea and Taiwan, and gave developer NCsoft the strength to gain a foothold in the global MMORPG market for the next few years.
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What is a MMORPG ? 
