by Evan Lee

Created on: August 13, 2008

The interactive entertainment industry, better known to most people as video games, not only has a much more impressive title than it has in the past, but grossed around $9.5 billion in 2007. Despite humble origins as an odd niche for children and social outcasts, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are seen on every channel in prime advertising spots, and inhabit every electronics store. Celebrities like Mr. T and Verne Troyer (whether or not they constitute celebrities can be argued another time) can be seen discussing their characters in the immensely popular MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role-playing game) World of Warcraft, and they are joined by people of every class, age, and character. People in these MMO games can spend months or even years acquiring virtual equipment, clothing, and housing for their online avatars, and can be found performing tasks that range from assembling an army to fight fantastical monsters or storm areas, to collecting mushrooms in an imaginary forest. It is easy to see at least some of the appeal in swashbuckling adventures that are not only inaccessible because there aren't dragons in the world as know it, but because doing so outside of a computer server would involve a great deal of bodily harm. But is that all these games offer? Would the subscribers who pay fifteen dollars a month for an online experience be just as happy bungee jumping or sampling fugu? The success of online games would suggest that there is something greater at stake and the appeal of these games can be easily seen in not only the convenience and expediency with which they deliver their visceral thrills, but in the way they are calculated to do so.

Obviously, not all MMO games are exactly alike, but their basic goals are generally rather similar. There is generally some story, although it is often highly overshadowed by the gameplay itself, but the basic objective is usually to get more and more powerful over time as you complete tasks, quests, in the game which are often doled out by the game itself. There is rarely an ending of any sort (after all, they want you to keep on paying your monthly fee) so you simply continue gather more and more armor, weapons, spaceships, or whatever it is your character uses in his various quests. Of course, while you are accumulating all of this virtual clout, other people in the game are doing exactly the same thing and this arms race is a major component of the popularity of games like World of Warcraft. Online gaming

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