by Kasey Endsley

Created on: December 03, 2008

MMROPG's, or, to the uninformed, 'massively multiplayer online role-playing games' are as addicting as any other stimulating substance.

I have played World of Warcraft once in my life on a friend of mine's account. I, myself, didn't like it. I prefer Guild Wars, not only because it has no monthly fee, but because I enjoy the game play better, even though the two games are almost the same. I may not have experienced the addiction myself, but I have seen first-hand how consuming these games can become. Just today, a friend of mine was asked how many hours he games a month. He said somewhere around 350, and he was absolutely serious. That's about 14 days worth of gaming. Needless to day, he doesn't get very much sleep.

My friends will often play WoW on through the night, ignoring the fact that they have duties to get to in the morning. They are completely engulfed with everything about the game, down the point where they know every attack. At an outing where we watched Pirates Of The Caribbean 3, three different moves from the game were said in different contexts, but my friends still went into a geek session. Frankly, I see no more than average appeal for any MMROPG. This game is honestly becoming a true replacement for real life. People are disregarding their real friends, and making new ones online. The boy who plays 350 hours a month? He's from Holland, and happened to be in our state when he met my friends over Guild Wars. Now, he drives up to our town every couple of months to chill before he has to return to Holland. If I didn't know my friends, I would think this the most awkward thing in the world. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of friends online; some people just take Internet relationships to the extreme.

The appeal of these games is basic. Everyone loves to feel powerful, to battle the 'environment' or make battle with other players via PvP. Magic, physical, etc. attacks are gratifying. When you come home from a job or from work, what's better than killing something, whether it's real or not? (Thank god it's not!) You can build your character, but items, goon misions to make more money to buy the items, and talk to everyone you encounter. It's a stress outlet, mainly, in my opinion. The other things people like are their ability to shape themselves into anyone they want to be. People will perceive you based on what race you choose your character to be. Most of all, when you converse with other players, you can tell them anything, and they'll believe it. You really have to be careful about this, and be cautious about meeting people in real life you've met online.

The pros are great, the cons are horrible. The point is, this game will never cease to be, and it's up to every user to decide how they will spend their time, whether it be on the real life or thier fake one.

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