Facebook Gets Its First MMORPG

Oxygen Games' Duels allows Facebook users to challenge each other to battle, gaining experience and loot along the way.

As if Facebook didn’t already have enough of a reputation as an addictive timewaster, it’s now getting a dose of the most notoriously addictive and unproductive of online pastimes: role-playing. On Thursday, Oyxgen Games announced that its existing game Duels will become the first massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) to integrate with Facebook.

Like most MMORPGs, Duels is based on character development and amassing equipment. Where it shies away from the traditional RPG is in its short-term form, which allows players to dive into character for 10 to 30 minutes at a time without having to commit to longer sessions.

Its creators believed this nature would make it ideal for Facebook, so they set about developing a version that would operate on the Facebook platform. Since the game is all about challenges, Facebook allows players to track down other Duels players and engage them in battle. Like its original version, Duels for Facebook is completely free.

Duels has only been online since early August 2007, but the game has already amassed 50,000 players.