The Trouble with MMOs @ Digital Trends
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OwnerDetroit Icrontian
The author questions whether MMOs push immersion too far.
Source: Digital TrendsAs if it weren’t obvious by now, allow me to reiterate: Like many gamers, I’m a giant, raging geek. Hand-drawn pictures of griffins and manticores on the high-school notebook? Been there, done that. Years spent poring over Dungeon Master’s manuals and Star Wars role-playing game (RPG) supplements? It doesn’t take a saving throw against dignity to discern such sordid highlights are also on the resume. But spending hours exploring Internet-only worlds that exist and evolve 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in the company of fellow players via massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) like Guild Wars and PlanetSide? That’s where even I draw the line.
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sad.
Take a stereotypical 90-100 lb kid who is constantly labeled a geek, nerd, dork, (I fit these descriptions in high school) or whatever the going insult is for someone different nowadays. Now create a place where their physical appearance, physical strength, and actual intra-person social skills are not necessary. A place where they become whomever they want to be, where intellect and intelligence is just as important as what high school who’s who list they’re on.
Of course some are going to get lost in a MMO, or its like, the appeal to those labeled as social outcasts in the real world is palatable. Does that mean all who play these games can be labeled as such, of course not. MMOs are like alcohol or drugs, some don’t use them, some use them recreationally, and some go to the extreme.
Its my theory that when Virtual Reality achieves a “realness” within a few shades of reality, you will see a significant number of people jacking in, and forgetting about the real world.