Table of Contents: MMORPG (MMO)

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Part I — Foundations of the MMORPG

Unit 1: What Is an MMO?
1.1 Defining “Massively Multiplayer”: Scale, Persistence, Shared State
1.2 The MMO Spectrum: MORPGs, Social Worlds, Survival, Lites
1.3 Core Pillars: Progression, Cooperation, Competition, Economy

Unit 2: History & Genre Lineage
2.1 From MUDs to Moderns: Milestones & Turning Points
2.2 Regional Lineages: KR/CN/JP vs NA/EU Traditions
2.3 Subgenres: Theme-Park, Sandbox, Hybrid, Extraction-MMOs

Unit 3: Player Motivations & Behaviors
3.1 Bartle, Yee, and Modern Segments
3.2 Intrinsic/Extrinsic Loops & Long-Term Engagement
3.3 Social Identity, Belonging, and Retention

Unit 4: The MMO as a Service
4.1 Live, Persistent, Evolving: Weekly, Seasonal, Expansion Cadence
4.2 Content Velocity vs Quality: Sustainable Pipelines
4.3 Ethical Design & Player Trust

Part II — Systems Design & Game Mechanics

Unit 5: Progression & Power
5.1 Levels, Item Level, Vertical vs Horizontal Progression
5.2 Stats, Ratings, Diminishing Returns, Caps
5.3 Gear, Sets, Enchants, Sockets, Legendaries

Unit 6: Combat Systems
6.1 Tab-Target vs Action: GCDs, Animation Locks, Inputs
6.2 Roles & Trinity Variants: Tank/Heal/DPS and Beyond
6.3 Encounter Mathematics: TTK, HPS/DPS Checks, Enrage

Unit 7: Classes, Specs & Balance
7.1 Archetypes, Class Fantasy, Talent Trees
7.2 Balance Methodologies: Metrics, Sims, A/B, Telemetry
7.3 Hybridization, Support Roles, Metas & Counter-Metas

Unit 8: Non-Combat Systems
8.1 Crafting, Gathering, Processing, Housing
8.2 Mounts, Pets, Collections, Cosmetics
8.3 Mini-Games, Life Skills, Professions

Part III — Content Design & Encounter Craft

Unit 9: World Content
9.1 Zone Structure, Level Bands, Biomes, Wayfinding
9.2 Quest Design: Beats, Choice, Replayability
9.3 Events, Fates, Public Quests, World Bosses

Unit 10: Group & Raid Content
10.1 Dungeon Design: Roles, Mechanics, Replay Loops
10.2 Raids: Phases, Soft/Hard Checks, Lockouts
10.3 Matchmaking vs Premades, Cross-Realm LFG

Unit 11: Competitive Play
11.1 Structured PvP: Arenas, Battlegrounds, Seasons
11.2 Open-World PvP: Flagging, Karma, Safe Zones
11.3 Risk vs Reward: Full-Loot, Partial-Loot, Opt-In

Unit 12: Narrative & Worldbuilding
12.1 Macro-Lore, Factions, Timelines
12.2 Narrative Delivery: VO, Cutscenes, Text, Environmental
12.3 Seasonal/Episodic Storytelling & Retcons

Part IV — Economy & Player-Driven Markets

Unit 13: Currency & Sinks
13.1 Soft/Hard Currencies, Inflation Control
13.2 Taxes, Repairs, Teleports, Crafting Costs
13.3 Seasonal Resets, Deflationary Levers

Unit 14: Trading & Market Structure
14.1 AH vs Player Shops, Binds, Tradability Rules
14.2 Price Discovery, Arbitrage, Market Bots
14.3 Anti-Fraud, Dupes, Exploit Response

Unit 15: Crafting & Supply Chains
15.1 Resource Nodes, Rarity Curves, Spawn Logic
15.2 Recipe Trees, Tiering, Specializations
15.3 Player Logistics: Storage, Mules, Transport

Unit 16: RMT & Trust/Safety
16.1 Real-Money Trading: Risks & Controls
16.2 Anti-Bot, Anti-Cheat, Detection & Deterrence
16.3 Policy, Enforcement, Appeals

Part V — Social Structures & Community Health

Unit 17: Guilds, Clans & Alliances
17.1 Structures, Permissions, Progression
17.2 Social Goals, Calendars, Shared Assets
17.3 Cross-Guild Ecosystems & Diplomacy

Unit 18: Communication & Tools
18.1 Chat, Voice, Ping Systems, Emotes
18.2 LFG Tools, Calendars, Recruitment UX
18.3 Safety: Mute, Block, Report, Filters

Unit 19: Social Systems Design
19.1 Positive Friction: Dependencies & Cooperation
19.2 Reputation, Mentorship, New-Player On-Ramps
19.3 Toxicity Mitigation, Behavioral Nudges

Unit 20: Events & Live Community
20.1 Live Events, Holidays, Rotators
20.2 Player-Created Events, Roleplay Support
20.3 Creator Programs & Community Spotlights

Part VI — Client, Server & Network Architecture

Unit 21: MMO Architecture Topologies
21.1 Shards, Realms, Channels, Megaservers
21.2 Instancing vs Seamless Worlds
21.3 Single-Threaded Boundaries & Simulation Authority

Unit 22: Netcode Fundamentals
22.1 Tick Rates, Interpolation, Lag Compensation
22.2 Anti-Cheat on the Netcode Layer
22.3 Bandwidth Budgets & Prioritization

Unit 23: Scalability & Reliability
23.1 Load Balancing, Match-Placement, Autoscaling
23.2 Persistence, State Stores, Snapshotting
23.3 Fault Tolerance, DR, Rollbacks

Unit 24: Platform Integration
24.1 PC/Console/Mobile Inputs & Performance Profiles
24.2 Cross-Play, Cross-Save, Entitlements
24.3 Voice, Friends, Commerce, Compliance

Part VII — Tools, Pipelines & Production

Unit 25: Content Tools & Editors
25.1 World Editors, Encounter Scripting, Data Tables
25.2 Build Systems, Branching, CI/CD for Content
25.3 Modularity, Prefabs, Procedural Aids

Unit 26: Data & Telemetry
26.1 Event Taxonomy, Sessionization, Privacy
26.2 Dashboards, Alerting, Experimentation
26.3 Data-Informed Design vs Design-Led Data

Unit 27: QA for MMOs
27.1 Test Plans for Live Worlds: Load, Soak, Chaos
27.2 Exploit Hunts, Economy Safeguards, Security QA
27.3 PTRs, Betas, Bug Triage, Release Gates

Unit 28: Cross-Discipline Collaboration
28.1 Design–Engineering–Art–Audio–UX Handshakes
28.2 Producer Craft: Scope, Risks, Dependencies
28.3 Remote/Distributed Live Teams

Part VIII — Launch, Live Ops & Monetization

Unit 29: Pre-Launch & Beta
29.1 Alphas, Tech Tests, Closed/Open Betas
29.2 KPIs: Retention, CCU/DAU, Conversion
29.3 Go-No-Go, Queueing, Day-1 Playbooks

Unit 30: Live Operations
30.1 Patching, Hotfixing, Backfills
30.2 Seasonal Models, Battle Passes, Rotations
30.3 Incident Response & Postmortems

Unit 31: Monetization & Stores
31.1 Subscriptions, B2P, F2P Hybrids
31.2 Cosmetics, Power, Convenience, Ethics
31.3 Pricing, Bundling, Regionalization, Compliance

Unit 32: Marketing & CRM
32.1 Positioning, Trailers, Community Beats
32.2 CRM: Email, Push, In-Game Messaging
32.3 Re-Engagement, Win-Backs, Churn Prevention

Part IX — UX, Accessibility & Art Direction

Unit 33: MMO UX at Scale
33.1 HUD Density, Information Hierarchy
33.2 New Player Experience, Tutorials, Tooltips
33.3 Controller & KB/M Parity, Input Remapping

Unit 34: Accessibility
34.1 Visual, Auditory, Motor, Cognitive Considerations
34.2 Color-Blind Safety, Text Size, Captioning
34.3 Difficulty Accessibility & Assistive Options

Unit 35: Visual & Audio Direction
35.1 Readability in Crowded Scenes
35.2 Style Guides, Material Language, VFX/Audio Hooks
35.3 Performance-Aware Art: LODs, Budgets, Streaming

Unit 36: Localization & Culturalization
36.1 Text, VO, Fonts, UI Layout
36.2 Cultural Sensitivities, Symbols, Content Rating
36.3 Regional Events & Partnerships

Part X — Security, Policy & Governance

Unit 37: Player Safety & Moderation
37.1 Codes of Conduct, Enforcement Tooling
37.2 Automated vs Human Review, Appeal Systems
37.3 Child Safety, Legal Compliance

Unit 38: Exploits & Cheating
38.1 Botting, Scripting, Packet Editing
38.2 Dupe/Gold Exploits, Map Hacks
38.3 Detection Pipelines & Rapid Response

Unit 39: Privacy & Data Governance
39.1 Data Minimization, Consent, Retention
39.2 Regional Laws (e.g., GDPR-style)
39.3 Transparency, Player Data Requests

Unit 40: Platform & Third-Party Risks
40.1 Account Security, 2FA, SSO
40.2 Payment Fraud, Chargebacks, Market Abuse
40.3 Integrations & Supply-Chain Security

Part XI — Case Studies & Comparative Analyses

Unit 41: Theme-Park Exemplars
41.1 Expansion Cadence & Raid Cultures
41.2 Class Design & Encounter Lessons
41.3 Economy & Social Structures

Unit 42: Sandbox & Hybrid Worlds
42.1 Emergence, Territory, Player Governance
42.2 Risk/Reward Economies & PvP Culture
42.3 Live-Event Innovation

Unit 43: Mobile & Cross-Platform MMOs
43.1 Session Length, Controls, Monetization
43.2 Tech Constraints, Netcode Tradeoffs
43.3 Cross-Play Ecosystem Lessons

Unit 44: Postmortems & Pivots
44.1 Launch Failures, Recovery Patterns
44.2 Sunsets: Ethical Wind-Downs
44.3 Reboots, Relauches, Classic Servers

Part XII — Capstones, Toolkits & Appendices

Unit 45: Capstone Design Studio
45.1 Pitching an MMO: Vision, Pillars, Risks
45.2 Vertical Slice Scopes & KPIs
45.3 Live Roadmap & Content Plan

Unit 46: Practitioner Toolkits
46.1 Checklists: Encounters, Classes, Economies, Events
46.2 Telemetry Starter Schemas
46.3 Incident Response & Comms Templates

Unit 47: Research Methods & Further Reading
47.1 Academic Frameworks, Player Research Ethics
47.2 Competitive Analysis & Teardowns
47.3 Annotated Bibliography & Glossary

Unit 48: Data Tables & Reference
48.1 Balance Baselines & Tuning Ranges
48.2 Netcode & Performance Budgets
48.3 Accessibility & Localization Standards