Comment Who's to say Virtual isn't real or is Bad.... (Score 5, Insightful) 670
.. when you are dealing with real people.
With the advent of MMORPG, and On-Line gamming in general, there is another consideration for everyone who is talking about games. The definition of community. This article touches on the fact that the person as the character still interacts with real people and talks to them. This is not the fact that they physically interact, but the whole interaction of a community and communication.
We are talking about the change of a "Real" society to a "Virtual" society. In both cases you are interacting with real people. You talk to them ,you have to deal with them and in most cases you do things with them. The only difference is the mode of interaction. Instead of sitting down at a table talking to each other and playing a game of cards, game of chess, family or group game; you are individually sitting down at computers talking to each other, playing a computer game, any MMORPG or community based On-Line game. If you never interact with anyone while doing this then there is a difference, but the whole community interaction is almost exactly the same. You can make friends with people or learn that you really are not friends with someone when you are talking to them over a card table or over a computer connection. Are the situations identical... NO, but they are similar in the aspects of interaction... the major difference being what can happen physically. Both interactions can involve personal or intellectual content and can increase your personal "growth" if they are productive. There are a lot of "unproductive" conversations that happen every day that will never matter the next day regardless if your at a card table, at your computer or at your local bar.
Lots of hobbies that people have are just to give someone something to do.... some of them are self gratifying some are just to "waste time" and some 'might' be used in the future. I actually look at computer games as a hobby of mine... sometimes I spend a lot of time on them and sometimes I don't. Minus the personal interaction, the people I know from around the world and the country, there is a lot of things that will not help me with my day to day activities, but I can tell you that interacting with people is a lot easier on-line than in IRL and interacting with people on-line has helped me with interacting with people IRL. I have seen people work through problems talking on-line as well as IRL, both ways its mental change.
With the introduction of the internet to the world the whole definition of community has changed, or multiple definitions are being created, and I personally see a lot of people just really don't like that or don't want to deal with it. Some benefit from it and some donâ(TM)t. Real life is that way also. I see little difference in the end.
With the advent of MMORPG, and On-Line gamming in general, there is another consideration for everyone who is talking about games. The definition of community. This article touches on the fact that the person as the character still interacts with real people and talks to them. This is not the fact that they physically interact, but the whole interaction of a community and communication.
We are talking about the change of a "Real" society to a "Virtual" society. In both cases you are interacting with real people. You talk to them
Lots of hobbies that people have are just to give someone something to do.... some of them are self gratifying some are just to "waste time" and some 'might' be used in the future. I actually look at computer games as a hobby of mine... sometimes I spend a lot of time on them and sometimes I don't. Minus the personal interaction, the people I know from around the world and the country, there is a lot of things that will not help me with my day to day activities, but I can tell you that interacting with people is a lot easier on-line than in IRL and interacting with people on-line has helped me with interacting with people IRL. I have seen people work through problems talking on-line as well as IRL, both ways its mental change.
With the introduction of the internet to the world the whole definition of community has changed, or multiple definitions are being created, and I personally see a lot of people just really don't like that or don't want to deal with it. Some benefit from it and some donâ(TM)t. Real life is that way also. I see little difference in the end.
