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Furcadia is a strange combination of chat room and online game officially known as a MMOSG or Massively Multiplayer Online Social Game, and is apparently the longest running of its kind. Furcadia is based in a strange and malleable fantasy realm populated by anthropomorphic animals (or animals that walk and talk like humans, to the layman).

The aim of this social game, is just that, to socialise. The players control characters called furres (relating to the fur of the anthropomorphic animals) and move about a landscape comprised of different realms with different themes in each, encountering other players and talking and role playing with them. The species of furres available to players include, canine, lapine, feline, equine, musteline, sciurine, rodent, bovine, and ursine; as well as the male, female, and unspecified genders. The species of the furre affect the characters figure in the screen where it walks around the landscape, and the gender and species combined defines which small portrait of the character is displayed when they are clicked on or viewed.

Furcadia is free to download and play and includes several programs that allow the player to construct their own areas within the game. These areas are termed dreams, and players have the options to upload their dreams into the appropriate realms, creating their own virtual space for social interaction.

However, not all the options in the game are free of charge. Virtual markets called Digo Markets within the game allow players to use real money to purchase options such as altered portraits, wings, and other such additions, called Digos, to alter the standard furres with to a players tastes.

The main realms within the game are:
Nexus - An access point to the other realms.
Naia Green - Community centre.
Challenges - Games
Acropolis - Socialising
Furrabian Nights - Exotic (16+)
Hawthorn - Violent/crude (16+)
Allegria Island - Uploads
Meovanni Village - Persona play
Imaginarium - Role Play
The Wylde - Ferians (animal like furres)

The different type of interactions in the game include: Out of character (OOC); In Character (IC), when a player is in the role of their fictional character; Persona, much the same; Role playing, interacting with others to create a combined fictional paradigm.

It is the nature of this social interaction which causes some concern for Furcadia. While some areas are child friendly and encourage the making of online friends, other areas are intended for more adult interactions. Apart from a parental control (which means parents must a) know their child is using Furcadia, and b) active the parental control) there is no restrictions on minors using mature areas apart from in game warnings.

The adult social interactions would seem to tend towards the explicit in many cases, and are highly unsuitable for viewing by any minors. Where the term role play appears innocent for the younger players, many of the adult players appear to take the term to its most extreme limit (as shown by some of the web sites which have built up around Furcadia to facilitate the interaction of individuals with similar sexual predilections and the animal or furry' nature of the in game characters).

Another risk is that, like the more advanced MMOSG Second Life, players may risk becoming addicted to their virtual world in Furcadia. While some people will see it as harmless fun, for others there is the risk of Furcadia become an escapist release from real social interaction. So while Furcadia is a neat game in that it facilitates virtual social interaction, it remains questionable whether this social interaction is suitable for younger gamers, or healthy for older players.

Learn more about this author, Nicholas Cockayne.
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