MMORPGs meet real life

In what seems like an endless spate of mainstream media hate towards videogames of all shapes and sizes, it's nice to see the International Journal for Science and Tech take a look at how MMORPGs are impacting everyday life for lots of people in a positive way.

Most people probably think of MMORPGs players as hardcore gamers the way we usually picture them: young, mostly male, with little if any social life. In other words, not normal people. Most early players may have had such a profile. These "no life" players, as gamers themselves label them, may still account for a significant part of the population of MMORPGs players.

Yet, with more than 6 million people worldwide -- the equivalent of the population of Finland -- playing "World of Warcraft" (WoW), the most popular of all MMORPGs, online role-playing games are more than the obsession of a few video game addicts. This skyrocketing popularity of MMORPGs was made possible because what they offer is incomparably more valuable than just a game: MMORPGs provide players with a second virtual life, in addition to their real one. Such is the case with a growing number of people around us: white collar employees, school teachers, even company CEOs in real life may hold a second identity as dwarves, sorcerers, or knights in virtual life.

Read about how MMOs are mainstreaming their way into society at OhmyNews.