Massive multiplayer online games (MMOGs) allow large groups of people—ranging from several hundred thousand to 1 million—to play a single online game simultaneously. Such games include EverQuest, Ultima Online, Asheron's Call, and Dark Age of Camelot in the US, as well as Lineage in South Korea. Other games, such as The Sims Online and America's Army, are played by equally large numbers of people but in smaller groups at one time. Games that involve role-play are also known as massive multimedia online role-playing games (MMORPGs). New games become available at frequent intervals. Users typically pay a monthly fee to play. 

The basic goal of MMOGs is character improvement, which is often achieved through cooperation in achieving common goals. The games are usually set in a "persistent" world that continues to exist in cyberspace even when a player leaves. They are extremely addictive and time-consuming, and they have spawned an entire economy of supplementary tools that can be purchased by participants. 

[Modified from Prensky, M. (2003). Digital immigrant remedial vocabulary. Retrieved April 30, 2003, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-Digital%20Immigrant%20Remedial%20Vocabulary.htm]