Virtual Worlds Don't Exist: Questioning the Dichotomous Approach in MMO Studies

Virtual Identity vs. Real Identity

I decided to look into the virtual world of MMO’s (Massive Multiplayer Online) this is because before entering the world players in modern MMO’s such as World of Warcraft players get to choose and customize their character according to how the player may want themselves to look like in this world.  For example in World of Warcraft you can choose to play as either the Alliance (who fight for the good) which consist of; Humans, Dwarfs etc or the Hord which consists of Orcs, Trolls etc.

Also players in the MMO world can be whoever they want to be as there is such a wide range of freedom to the player “virtual worlds give you a freedom that no one has on Earth: the freedom to whomever you want to be.”

Many players who play RPG’s or MMO’s tend to also bring along their attitudes into the game or world such as their education or knightly values of who they actually believe themselves to be or who they want to be e.g. A player who has been taught the morals of right and wrong would usually play as the hero or play with a heroic meaning making the kind choices, compared to somebody who hasn’t would normal play as the bad person. This also suggests that the two identities are never disconnected and that both of them are the same person in both worlds.

However this may not always be the case because some players who know the correct morals may want to be a different person in the game and break the rules which in the real world would be considered a sin because it doesn’t affect them in society.

“Identity also flows in the direction: Identity- forming experiences in an online game can shape one’s character.”

Another way of looking at the real identity against the virtual identity is that it is outlined as a “mirror” as the avatar is a reflection of the player’s body through which they express their identity through the world. This was shown as in Yee (2007) reported that player’s age and gender are linked to certain MMORPG character creation choices. This is due to most players wanting to create a digital double of their body. Although players tend to have many different avatars which are constantly at conflict with each other to maintain different peer groups which they all hide behind.

Relationships in a Virtual World vs. Relationships in the Real World

Along with players creating a new identity on MMO’s is the chance to be widely accepted in computer communities as it has been believed that friendships on the computer network can also be as deep and meaningful as in the real world face-to-face. However it can be equally recognised that distinguishing between “real world friends” and “virtual world friends” can be difficult. Due to the fact that MMO’s players interact in guilds and other community events such as raids helping create bonds in teams, players can also now invite you to join groups with a team leader and you can privately chat to them.  “Friends, family members and relatives spend time together on MMO’s”

It also was shown by Pinckard that business members socialized on WoW in their free time to discuss business terms and build a network similar to how some businessmen play golf to socialize and how relationships move freely between online and offline environments.

One specific reason to why some participants expand MMO relationships to the offline world is to do with the matter of trust and this also reduces the risk of co-operating with strangers. The example used in this case is EVE, which is a high- stakes game to where allies may possibly want to get intimate before they can rely on one another.

Such relationships are not easily described as either real or virtual. Another class of relationships that can expand outside the MMO are antagonistic


Resource : http://gamestudies.org/1001/articles/lehdonvirta