TechCrunch discovered a new take on the multiplayer online experience -- GameLayers' "PMOG," which stands for "Passively Multiplayer Online Game." It's a Firefox add-on, apparently, and it allows users to interact with one another on websites they have both visited.

For example, they can group websites under a single theme to create "missions" for their friends to check out upon their visit -- controls pop up to allow users to navigate among the sites included in a mission.

It gets a bit more complicated, too; you earn points by visiting unique domains, and can use the points to buy mines to trip up your friends and armor to protect yourself. TechCrunch found that users can leave mines on websites for their friends to trigger, and tripping a mine causes loss of points and damage to protective armor. The item shown in the picture is a "St. Nick" -- attaching it to another player will spell damage for them if they try to use a mine. Finally, you can level up by completing missions, and pick a character class for yourself -- play the punk who leaves tons of mines, or be the good guy who helps maintain order.

There are background storylines, too -- here's an explanation of the overall idea from GameLayers' site:

"This unconventional massively multiplayer online game merges your web life with an alternate, hidden reality. The mundane takes on a layer of fantastic achievement. Player behavior generates characters and alliances, triggers interactions in the environment, and earns the player points to spend online beefing up their inventory. Suddenly the internet is not a series of untouchable exhibits, but a hackable, rewarding environment."

[Via TechCrunch -- Thanks to LevelUp for the tip!]