"this is a new thing for me but I'm passionate and willing to learn"

By "this" you mean programming in general? game development?

If you're new to programming and/or game development you're project is out of your capabilities right know, forget about it for a while (a few months at least). There's not such thing like "small MMORPG", you can make as few features as you want, but making a network game is already a really complex task. Supporting a high count of players is also a really complex task on it's own.

Even experienced programmers will have problems with a project like that, and even the best programmer in the universe will have problems solving other aspects, like game design, visual art, sounds, server maintenance, etc, etc. It's a expensive project.

Start at the beginning, make simple singleplayer games, when you're confortable with that, make simple local multiplayer games. By the time you're confortable with that you'll understand why an MMORPG is not a project you want to do by yourself. And check the "For beginners" subforum, specially the "Frequently Asked Questions" pinned thread.