by Brad Sylvester

Created on: May 30, 2008

The entire point of having an online dating profile is to find someone with whom you share common interests. If you leave out hobbies for which you have a strong passion, then the likelihood of finding a person who shares your interests goes down dramatically.

I know several people who have met people online and eventually married them. All of them are avid role-playing game fans. In fact, role-playing games (RPGs) are an effective way to meet people in and of themselves. Most online RPGs encourage players to form small groups in order to overcome larger obstacles. Within these groups there is often some chatting. People who get along will set times to play again, and one thing leads to another, and BAM - somebody's getting married.

Role-playing lets people be who they'd like to be and shows off their inner character. If you're shy or introverted, that may be more difficult in "real-life." It's a completely non-threatening environment in which to meet people. You can reveal as much or as little about yourself as you'd like. Until and unless you feel very comfortable with someone, there is no need offer anything of your true self if you don't want to.

Traditional meeting places like nightclubs are a much more intimidating environment in which to meet new people and actually offer much fewer options. At any given time there may be thousands of people online in any particular RPG. People who like to chat and meet new people will often congregate in specific locations in the virtual world, so it's easy to just walk up and say hello.

But again, coming back to the main question, if you are filling out an online dating profile, the entire point is to let prospective partners know who you are and what they can expect if they decide to meet you. Hiding key aspects of your personality is a recipe for a failed relationship whether online or not. It's deceptive and misleading.

There's no need to be self-conscious or afraid to show your true self. There are enough people out there that you don't need to pretend to be something you're not. There is someone just like you looking through the dating profiles hoping to find someone with similar interests. If you leave it out, they'll skip right over you and move on to another RPG geek.

Online dating is like regular dating, the best relationships are founded on honesty, common interests, and spending time together doing thins that you both like.

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