What brings us back to the screen?

By GAME.co.uk

Selling more than 3.3 million copies within the first 24 hours, Blizzard Entertainment's most recent expansion, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, jumped into the gaming market, and became the fastest-selling PC game to date (WORLD OF WARCRAFT...). With a constantly expanding user base of more than 12 million players worldwide, WOW is undoubtedly one of the more, if not most, popular computer game series in the world (World of Warcraft...). What this shows, however, is that for most, what used to just be a simple pass time, has now become an unquenchable addiction to an alternate reality. So what compels so many to play these massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG)? What keeps the over 50 million dedicated players coming back (Second Skin)?

Those two questions are easier asked than answered, because in reality it really all depends on the type of gamer. For starters, there may be some at low end jobs who are looking for ways to empower themselves, and online gaming is their solution. They feel that they can choose who they want to be, and what they want to look like, without anyone there to judge them. So, they log on several times a week to roam the virtual world, showing off their avatars -- idealistic images of themselves.

Or, a little less common than the empowering gamer, there are some looking to make a basic living off of long hours spent in front of the computer screen. Much like Julian Dibbell does in his book Play Money, some hardcore gamers will collect gold pieces (or another type of in-game currency), rare artifacts, homes, and so on, sell them on eBay, and make a quick profit, all from the comfort of their living room chair. That sounds a lot better than a typical nine-to-five, doesn't it? Yet, while it sounds easy, stories of gamers who make as much as a businessman aren't too common; the profit margins on some items are minuscule, if not nonexistent. So, in order to make the best of it, working gamers play for days on end in some cases, all so they can continue to pay the rent and keep food on the table.

This last group is the one that most people, including myself and probably many of you, fit into. We are the gamers who play solely for the entertainment, and while we don't play often -- maybe once or twice a week -- we get a lot of fun and new friends out of it. In fact, while the typical stereotype of gamers today depicts us as lonely couch potatoes that sit in front of a TV or computer screen, what many forget is that while we are there playing, there are others beside us in the virtual world, playing the exact same thing. So, in a way, playing Call of Duty creates a social scene ten times bigger than any other you could ever encounter on a small college campus.

So, while there are many types of gamers, they each have their own reasons for being drawn back to the game, whether it is to get their minds off of the real world, empower themselves, make money, or even meet new people. Yet, this brings me to one final question: If the world continues to shift towards online gaming, and people continue to devote increasing amounts of time in virtual worlds, where is the line drawn between the pass time gamer and agoraphobic addict?

Works Cited:

• Dibbell, Julian. Play Money. New York: Basic, 2006. Print.
• GAME.co.uk. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm for PC. Digital image. Flickr. Yahoo Inc., 18 Aug. 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/game_online/5240939484/>.
• Second Skin. Dir. Juan C. Pineiro-Escoriaza. Prod. Peter S. Brauer and Victor Pineiro-Escoriaza. By Victor Pineiro-Escoriaza. Warner Music Inc., 2008. YouTube. Pure West Films, 13 Sept. 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpYkPZC89dc>.
• "WORLD OF WARCRAFT®: CATACLYSM™ SHATTERS PC-GAME SALES RECORD." Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard Entertainment, 13 Dec. 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. <http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/press/pressreleases.html?101213>.
• "World of Warcraft Cataclysm Takes PC Sales Crown." BBC News. BBC News, 14 Dec. 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11991041>.