Online gamers: recent article, your thoughts... I saw this article this morning and thought it might be interesting to discuss: ... One in 10 people who regularly play online computer games starts a physical relationship with a fellow enthusiast, a new study reveals. Researchers say their findings dispel the myth that gaming addicts are introverted loners, claiming many gamers meet life-long friends and partners in their virtual worlds. A study by Nottingham Trent University found nearly 50 per cent of players meet up in real life and many of these embark on a relationship. Read the remainder of the article here. Please respect the opinions of others, even though they may differ from your own, and please keep all comments clean, thanks.
Well if you count WorldSims towards that then I'll agree; not just towards physical romantic relationships but friendships. SBW, Sach and I have met up several times now IRL. I would love to get together with several of the other members and there are several people from here I chat with online (when I actually log into YIM) Brandon and I met online, not about gaming, but still online. I find nothing wrong with it. You're meeting over an interest that you're both passionate about and already have something in common. I think it's great!
I think meeting on the INTERNET is great! A real blind date. On the INTERNET you get to meet the mind before the body. You can have very interesting conversations and get to know the person over time. I'm not buying a drink at the bar to hinder my judgment. . And if people take the usual precautions then there is no problem. When you meet someone out of cyborworld, you are so busy worrying about first impressions. But on the INTERNET that don't happen with me. I get to know people over time. Good post Hugz
Well, I met my fiance online too, in the Maxis Simchat in 2002. The funny thing is, he never actually played The Sims - he bought the game, logged online to check out an installation issue but found the chatroom and never looked back. Through talking in the chatroom and on MSN for a long time, we knew we had feelings for each other and meeting in real life confirmed that immediately. As moon says, when online you meet the mind before the body and, through talking to someone for hours almost everyday, you really can get to know a lot about a person and their personality. As well as typing messages, you can use webcam and skype calls to really enhance communication. Of course, it's no replacement for real life physical contact and meeting an online buddy is just amazing. Me and my fiance have met (ex-SimMaster) MacBraveheart and her family, SimMasterFrannie and hubby, a very close chat friend (we flew to the USA for her graduation) and eventually I wanna be able to meet Josh. Some people view the online situation as 'virtual', but I always say that although it's not real life in the sense of being physically close in location, it IS real life because talking for an hour on the phone with a 'real life' buddy 2 miles away is no different from talking on skype with a buddy who is in another part of the globe. I also think that when you think about an online buddy during your 'real life' day, when that person is in your thoughts, they are part of your 'real life'. I agree with the article regarding being able to tell online buddies about sensitive issues. Both myself and my online friends have done it, and the trust that exists between 2 close online buddies makes it easy to open up your feelings. Nothing shocks me in online conversations, but I guess if it was in real life, I would maybe find it awkward to convey feelings or my responses to someone's feelings. I do find it easier to talk to people online than in real life, and as a kid in school I was always the shy one. I guess I was always self conscious and worried too much about what people thought of me. The internet has all the tools and applications to allow you to really express yourself. The social networking on MMORPGs, forums and things like Facebook/ MySpace, really allow you to be a social butterfly. It's easy to find people with similar interests, goals and values. It's also easy to find people with different views than your own, and the diversity in personalities is good too. Mostly I find people online to be respectful of your individuality. I guess that spending so much time in your daily/weekly schedule to talk with online buddies HAS to affect your real life to varying degrees, and the only danger is that it 'becomes' your real life. Some MMORPG fans spend most of their day and night online, for example - they are not the sort of games that you play for an hour or two every few weeks. They are almost daily activities. It's inevitable that online buddies may want to meet in real life if they have the opportunity, because there's only so much talking that you can do before you want to meet the owner of that wonderful mind in person. There's nothing like being 2 feet away from the person who has spent so much time with you online. It's good to be able to see the person, smell them, hug them and share a laugh together.
