Online Role-play Meets Creative Need
For many teens and 20-somethings, the internet offers a lot more than Myspace, Facebook, Photobucket, email and shopping. There is a phenomenon that is sweeping college dormitories and keeping young people online for a lot longer than ever before. This is the MMORPG. Massively multi-player online role-playing game. For some, these games offer an occasional diversion and allow players to interact with other players from around the world. This interaction is in the form of a "player-character" who is human in appearance but often has qualities that human beings lack. Players create a character with the desired attributes and/or skills as well as appearance. The player then takes the character into a make-believe world of fictional dialogue, storylines, and quests. One can become completely absorbed in this fantasy adventure... and choose to not interact with other players at all by merely making use of non-player characters who are part of the program... or one's character can become completely immersed in the role-play by interacting with other players and forming relationships with them.
It is this idea of relationships that intrigues me most. Before I continue, I must disclose that my online game of choice is EVE-Online. As I described it to one person, this is my "Bridge club". Instead of cards, I sit at my computer and engage in creative expression through a fictional world of EVE. In doing so, I have encountered many people from many walks of life... from Trekkies to Physics majors... to pirate-wanna-bes... to military officers. They all have one thing in common. A love of role-play. At $14.95 per month, EVE costs a lot less than many hobbies, and you won't get your re-enactment rained out.
The downside: In my experience of the game, there are a lot of teens and adults who lack positive relationships in their everyday lives. The players have real-life struggles and hurts that they often share with other players with whom they form a bond. In some cases, this bond has led to marriage. Sadly, for some, this virtual world may be the closest they come to any real intimacy. Online intimacy cannot possibly replace the need humans have for personal interaction. Still, the friendships that are forged are genuine, and can be a positive part of the human need for creative expression.
Other MMORPGs include World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Gunbound, Angels Online, Tabula Rasa, and others... Some require the purchase of the CD but then do not charge a monthly fee.
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