Forget "Facebook official" make it "MMO official"

Due to February approaching I thought it would be interesting to post on the subject of Valentine's day, well closely related to it anyway, that and the recent articles popping up about the subject in online games.  Now before I get ahead of myself I am posting this neither to encourage nor discourage, rather inform about the subject.  

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I am talking about marriage in online games and the recent trend for newer/recently popular MMORPG's (massive multiplayer online role playing games).   The popular fantasy mmo RIFT announced in an article, on the games forum community.riftgame.com, that they will attempt to break the world record for most in-game marriages on Valentine's Day.  While RIFT is a more recent mmo, it is just following suit with many others such as World of Warcraft, Lineage II, and Runes of Magic that have all introduced couple or marriage systems in the past.  Like these mmo's, a virtual community called Second Life gives users the opportunity to marry and even designate other players as family members and children.  

Some people may find this aspect a bit out of the ordinary but once you look at relationships of today you can see that many people are looking to the Internet and these online dating/compatibility sites to help find that type of connection.  Individuals on sites like eHarmony or Cupid.com can interact and chat with their matches but the differentiating factor is that online games can present the users with actual activities and events the can interact in together.  Obviously this is still not real life contact or actual events; however, the feelings and memories associated with them are equally real.

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I also found an older article, CNN.com, from 2008 about individuals that started relationships on Second Life and ended up meeting and marrying in real life.  The article goes into more detail, but the main points are the couple met and talked through the use of the virtual community where they bonded through interactions and virtual entertainment.  They then video chatted and decided to meet face-to-face where they then grew even closer in reality.

In an upcoming update 1.7, for the mmo RIFT, the new marriage system will be implemented which will give players the ability to hold in-game wedding ceremonies and be counted in the total for the world record.  The full article about the couple meeting on and offline through Second Life can be found here.

Having heard about events like this in the past I never really thought about it much, but now that it has been brought to my attention again I don't know what I think.  Is this showing us how our society can grow to become?  Will this use of digital media change how we interact with those around us or will it completely change the way we create and maintain relationships?  Like all new digital media concepts this one may seem strange now but in the near future, who knows, it could be a more prominent way of interacting.

Benefits From Online Gaming

As the Internet continues to advance and expand we find ourselves becoming more immersed with social networks and online games.  Online gaming has become most popular with the younger generation.  Time spent with online gaming has lead to a large amount of criticism, branding this form of entertainment as an addiction.  At times this can be true and some should be monitored; however, by taking a closer look at online gaming many positives can be seen.  With most people being constantly connected to the Internet it only takes initiative and optimism to see the opportunity to benefit from it.

Writer Scott Steinberg presents the benefit of such online games in an article on ABCNews.com:

A recent study from the Education Development Center and the U.S. Congress-supported Ready To Learn (RTL) Initiative found that a curriculum that involved digital media such as video games could improve early literacy skills when coupled with strong parental and teacher involvement. 

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Even adults can find positive aspects to online virtual worlds.  Communities like Second Life and Entropia give individuals opportunities to explore new ways of educating and learning.  Second Life was more popular several years back because it presented a way for the users to generate the world around them and connect with people from all around the world.  Entropia Universe has been used to educate people about careers in the fields of space science and teach their importance to school children.  Each of these communities also has and still generates interest among real world businesses.  By utilizing these worlds, companies are able to connect with a wide variety of people with varying interests, creating the perfect atmosphere for promoting and selling products.  

He explains that all age groups can learn from similar technology that is presented with online gaming.  Younger kids are using online gaming as means of entertainment, but in doing so they are learning to properly interact with others.  They also learn about strategy and teamwork, and in some more advanced massive multiplayer online games, MMOs, individuals can learn basic fundamentals of managing finances and corporate formation.  

In a similar article from Time by Alice Park, she explains that virtual games are now being presented to the elderly in nursing homes to help keep their memory fresh and mind sharp.  These games not only help elderly individuals physically but they can also bridge the generational gap between younger people.  This video shows some technology that is being used for these purposes:

While research on effects and benefits to online games and virtual communities is still somewhat new, the popularity of this media is constantly growing.  Some become outdated and others are just beginning but the technology and outlets are still there, we just need to mold them to utilize their full potential.

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