MMORPGs or Massive(ly) Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games are a class of computer games that involve a large number of players who interact with each other through their game characters within a virtual world. Aside from the number of players, what distinguishes MMORPGs from single or small multi-player RPGs is the game's continuity. Games of this scale are typically hosted by the game's publisher to allow the game world or universe to persistently exist and enable characters to grow or develop even as the player goes offline.