Complex “Play”

In the article by Nick Yee he discusses the many complex roles that players have taken on in MMORPGs. From ” geologists in Star Wars Galaxies” to “pharmaceutical manufacturers.” MMORPGs such as Star Wars Galaxies offer players numerous roles to fulfill without directly steering each and every player to one distinct role. MMORPGs can act as an escape from the real world and provide different roles for players to play that they would never be able to do in the “real world”. One question that came to mind reading this is how far does can this immersion and role playing go? Yee even talks somewhat about how far it has already gone in his article. He writes, “Interesting social and cultural phenomena also emerge in these environments. Weddings take on new cultural roles.” It is hard to think that virtual weddings have become a real thing, but to some people this plays an important role in their everyday lives.

This article about the different roles that players choose to play in video games made me think of several articles that I had read before about the unique roles that some players had taken on in various video games. For example in the game Elite Dangerous, there is a group of players known as the “Fuel Rats.” Travels far into the void of space to rescue players who have been stranded with no fuel. Here is a link to a good article that describes a mission the Fuel Rats took upon themselves that took them 42 real world days to complete.

Yee talks a little bit about in game marriage in his article. However, what if this in game marriage could lead over to a lifetime of happiness in the “real world”. For example this article discusses how the game World of Warcraft has brought couples together and even lead to lasting relationships and eventually marriage. It is pretty interesting considering that most of these couples met online without any idea about each other outside of the game. However, even with meeting this way they were able to develop a relationship and eventually become married.