<s>
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
is	O
the	O
very	O
first	O
massively	B-Protocol
multiplayer	I-Protocol
online	I-Protocol
first-person	I-Protocol
shooter	I-Protocol
(	O
MMOFPS	B-Protocol
)	O
ever	O
created	O
and	O
holds	O
three	O
Guinness	O
World	O
Records	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
in	O
active	O
(	O
continuous	O
)	O
development	O
by	O
Playnet	O
,	O
Inc.	O
'	O
s	O
internal	O
game	O
studio	O
,	O
"	O
Cornered	B-Application
Rat	I-Application
Software	I-Application
,	O
"	O
and	O
it	O
was	O
originally	O
released	O
on	O
June	O
6	O
,	O
2001	O
(	O
D-Day	B-Application
)	O
,	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
with	O
a	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
version	O
being	O
released	O
in	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
was	O
re-released	O
in	O
2006	O
under	O
the	O
new	O
name	O
of	O
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
:	O
Battleground	B-Application
Europe	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
summer	O
of	O
2017	O
,	O
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
was	O
released	O
on	O
Steam	O
Early	O
Access	O
where	O
it	O
once	O
again	O
returned	O
its	O
name	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
"	O
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
"	O
because	O
it	O
resonated	O
with	O
its	O
players	O
more	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
is	O
set	O
in	O
1940	O
–	O
1944	O
World	O
War	O
II	O
in	O
Western	O
Europe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
is	O
played	O
in	O
real	O
time	O
alongside	O
or	O
against	O
other	O
players	O
as	O
either	O
German	O
,	O
American	O
,	O
British	O
or	O
French	O
forces	O
in	O
a	O
persistent	B-Protocol
world	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
players	O
working	O
together	O
in	O
large	O
numbers	O
have	O
the	O
greatest	O
success	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
simulation	O
in	O
it	O
of	O
itself	O
to	O
the	O
way	O
real	O
battles	O
in	O
war	O
are	O
won	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
is	O
team-oriented	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Smaller	O
military	O
units	O
of	O
heavily	O
themed	O
squads	B-Application
are	O
independently	O
managed	O
by	O
players	O
and	O
can	O
use	O
their	O
own	O
tactics	O
,	O
but	O
follow	O
the	O
brigade	O
and	O
strategic	O
rules	O
set	O
by	O
the	O
high	O
command	O
players	O
and	O
cooperate	O
with	O
other	O
squads	B-Application
and	O
non-squad	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Being	O
a	O
squad	B-Application
member	O
is	O
optional	O
but	O
encouraged	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
squads	B-Application
have	O
vigorous	O
membership	O
rites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Anyone	O
that	O
has	O
a	O
paid	O
account	O
can	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
form	O
their	O
own	O
squad	B-Application
,	O
solicit	O
members	O
and	O
register	O
the	O
squad	B-Application
with	O
the	O
high	O
command	O
for	O
brigade	O
assignment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Detailed	O
statistics	O
are	O
tracked	O
by	O
the	O
server	B-Application
,	O
and	O
made	O
available	O
through	O
a	O
web	O
interface	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
''	O
,	O
or	O
CSR	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Default	O
channels	O
are	O
Target	O
(	O
players	O
will	O
communicate	O
with	O
others	O
whose	O
missions	O
target	O
a	O
town	O
and	O
its	O
linked	O
facilities	O
)	O
,	O
Mission	O
(	O
all	O
players	O
who	O
chose	O
a	O
mission	O
created	O
by	O
the	O
same	O
person	O
)	O
,	O
squad	B-Application
(	O
a	O
voluntary	O
group	O
similar	O
to	O
a	O
clan	O
in	O
other	O
online	O
games	O
)	O
,	O
Brigade	O
(	O
not	O
commonly	O
used	O
)	O
,	O
Operations	O
(	O
for	O
Tactical/Strategic	O
information	O
and	O
discussions	O
)	O
and	O
Side	O
(	O
for	O
more	O
general	O
and	O
sometimes	O
off-topic	O
chat	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
squads	B-Application
who	O
often	O
play	O
together	O
use	O
specific	O
channels	O
for	O
inter-squad	O
communication	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
particular	O
coordinated	O
effort	O
between	O
many	O
the	O
side	O
's	O
High	O
Command	O
,	O
players	O
,	O
various	O
squads	B-Application
and/or	O
various	O
military	O
branches	O
may	O
decide	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
specific	O
numbered	O
channel	O
,	O
as	O
their	O
Target	O
channels	O
may	O
be	O
quite	O
different	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
has	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
playable	O
equipment	O
,	O
each	O
modeled	O
with	O
data	O
from	O
historical	O
references	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
damage	O
model	O
in	O
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
is	O
realism	O
based	O
,	O
as	O
explain	O
in	O
this	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
sides	O
in	O
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
have	O
player-run	O
groups	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
High	O
Command	O
(	O
HC	O
)	O
,	O
responsible	O
for	O
strategic	O
management	O
of	O
the	O
side	O
's	O
forces	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
is	O
commonly	O
recognized	O
as	O
the	O
first	O
MMOFPS	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
the	O
purchase	O
of	O
Interactive	O
Creations	O
of	O
Grapevine	O
's	O
WarBirds	B-Protocol
by	O
IEntertainment	O
Network	O
in	O
1999	O
,	O
several	O
of	O
the	O
developers	O
departed	O
the	O
company	O
and	O
formed	O
new	O
gaming	O
companies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
went	O
to	O
form	O
Hitech	O
Creations	O
,	O
others	O
went	O
with	O
John	O
"	O
Killer	O
"	O
MacQueen	O
,	O
Jonathon	O
"	O
Hoof	O
"	O
Hoof	O
,	O
Chris	O
"	O
Mo	O
"	O
Sherland	O
to	O
leverage	O
their	O
experience	O
on	O
WarBirds	B-Protocol
and	O
Raider	O
Wars	O
to	O
develop	O
an	O
online	O
gaming	O
network	O
(	O
G2	O
Network	O
)	O
with	O
a	O
massively-multiplayer	O
first-person	O
WWII	O
simulation	O
for	O
both	O
PC	O
and	O
Mac	O
as	O
the	O
showpiece	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
a	O
lengthy	O
closed	O
beta	O
stage	O
,	O
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
went	O
live	O
on	O
June	O
6	O
,	O
2001	O
under	O
the	O
campaign	O
title	O
Blitzkrieg	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
release	O
was	O
timed	O
to	O
coincide	O
with	O
the	O
anniversary	O
of	O
the	O
D-Day	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
most	O
online	O
games	O
,	O
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
is	O
a	O
continual	O
work	O
in	O
progress	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
has	O
a	O
history	O
of	O
updates	O
that	O
are	O
frequently	O
released	O
to	O
add	O
new	O
features	O
,	O
fix	O
problems	O
and	O
improve	O
existing	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
developers	O
worked	O
feverishly	O
behind	O
the	O
scenes	O
to	O
complete	O
other	O
promised	O
features	O
and	O
fix	O
the	O
software	B-Error_Name
bugs	I-Error_Name
on	O
the	O
gold	O
CD	O
,	O
even	O
more	O
updates	O
became	O
necessary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Three	O
days	O
prior	O
to	O
release	O
,	O
the	O
colocation	B-Application
network	O
facility	O
had	O
a	O
bad	O
fiber	B-Architecture
optic	I-Architecture
cable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
failure	O
reduced	O
the	O
player	O
capacity	O
of	O
the	O
server	B-Architecture
cluster	I-Architecture
,	O
from	O
10,000	O
players	O
down	O
to	O
only	O
1200	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
solution	O
lasted	O
for	O
several	O
months	O
while	O
the	O
developers	O
resolved	O
the	O
server-side	O
issues	O
,	O
after	O
which	O
all	O
servers	O
were	O
merged	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
game-world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
completed	O
a	O
third	O
retail	O
release	O
in	O
2005	O
under	O
the	O
new	O
campaign	O
title	O
Battleground	B-Application
Europe	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
new	O
title	O
was	O
chosen	O
because	O
of	O
legal	O
considerations	O
with	O
the	O
old	O
title	O
of	O
Blitzkrieg	B-Application
,	O
whose	O
trademark	O
was	O
owned	O
by	O
another	B-Application
game	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Battleground	B-Application
Europe	I-Application
re-release	O
was	O
distributed	O
across	O
Europe	O
in	O
late	O
2005	O
and	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
in	O
early	O
2006	O
by	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
new	O
publishers	O
GMX	O
Media	O
(	O
Europe	O
)	O
and	O
Matrix	O
Games	O
(	O
USA	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
:	O
Battleground	B-Application
Europe	I-Application
was	O
largely	O
a	O
compilation	O
of	O
fixes	O
already	O
available	O
through	O
patches	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
summer	O
2017	O
,	O
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
was	O
released	O
on	O
Steam	O
Early	O
Access	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cornered	B-Application
Rat	I-Application
Software	I-Application
has	O
a	O
long	O
tradition	O
of	O
honoring	O
those	O
who	O
participated	O
on	O
the	O
development	O
team	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WWII	B-Application
Online	I-Application
and	O
the	O
Battleground	B-Application
Europe	I-Application
release	O
received	O
an	O
average	O
review	O
score	O
of	O
73	O
and	O
an	O
average	O
player	O
score	O
of	O
8.3	O
.	O
</s>
