With domestic broadband capabilities increasing and the ever lucrative gaming industry going from strength to strength, internet gaming has become an increasingly attractive avenue of entertainment. A vast audience that is ready to play on demand, without the boundaries of geography, time or culture has become far more appealing than traditional multiplayer gaming methods. This is only reflected with the online gaming capabilities that the newest generation of games consoles are starting to provide, a facility that has previously been restricted to PC.
With this change in gaming culture it is no surprise that we have seen the emergence of massively multiplayer role-playing games (MMRPG’s), computer role-playing games that enable thousands of players to play in virtual worlds via the internet. Providing more than a simple online gaming environment that MMROG games spawned from, these games now have complex social networks that evolve within the game, often mimicking those of reality.
Gaming is social by nature and the communities within these MMORG are strong as a result. Acting as a corner stone, players have a common interest in the game and a common goals to complete within it. Although founded by a common interest these communities grow as players continue to work and socialise together to achieve different objectives within the game.
Gamers play with an avatar; an online representation of ones self. It is possible that gamers can become so engrossed within the social networks built within MMRPG’s that a reality shift occurs, and a person’s avatar actually becomes more real than the gamer. The gamer exists, but more so in the virtual world of the MMRPG than the real one, stopping only for physical needs such as food and water. The online characters become them, and social networks within the game replace those in reality.
It doesn’t come as a surprise that there have been documented cases of players being so engrossed in the social networks within MMRPG’s that they have died whilst playing, neglecting the requirements of their physical bodies. An extreme case but documented none the less.
It is also the case, although less extreme, that MMORG environments often develop into a state where life within the game does not only reflect reality, but become a part of it, with artefacts within the game developing real commercial value. Such things as game currency begin to have a real life monetary value, and objects within the game are bought and sold as commodities through real life commercial outlets.
There was a documented story about a player who purchased a virtual island within an MMORPG as real estate for a real life $50,000. This proved to be a successful commercial venture, as he then sold plots within the game to developers paying real money, who in turn build virtual homes and business on them. This simply shows how virtual economies within MMRPG games can have a real life economic value too.
To back this up further there are certain industries that have been formed to accommodate MMRPG players who don’t wish to spend time doing the time consuming mundane tasks within the game, necessary to build up creditable characters. Players can instead purchase characters or levels from people who have instead completed these tasks for them. An article in the economist case studied Chinese businesses that have been established and consist solely of workers who play MMRPG’s only to sell characters on in such a way. For this to be commercially viable time within the virtual worlds of MMRPG’s must be more valuable than real life time, the cost of paying someone somebody to play.
When examining the concept of communities within MMRPG’s, we can see how they can develop to do more than simply reflect reality. Thanks to such things as a developed commercial presence virtual worlds effectively become embedded within reality. Resulting industries that are set up around virtual worlds make characters and artefacts within them commodities in the real world, and consequently there is a blurring of the borders of where the actual world ends and virtual worlds within MMRPG’s begin.
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