by Kathleen Malark

Created on: March 04, 2009   Last Updated: March 15, 2009

Although this article is supposed to argue that playing World of Warcraft is harmless, I'm taking the argument one step further - World of Warcraft, and other MMORPGS, are beneficial to the majority of players. Playing MMORPGS is a healthy way to interactively entertain yourself, and builds social skills such as leadership, teamwork, and bond with others.

I would like to begin by asserting my credentials when discussing MMORPGS by admitting I've been an MMO fanatic for nearly a decade. I started playing Everquest in 1999 and have been playing at least one MMORPG at all times since then, close to a decade now - and I'm only 20 years old. As someone who's spent roughly half their life playing an MMO, most people would expect me to be living in my parents basement, terrified of the sun and people who play football. In stark contrast, I'm a successful college student, I have friends beyond my laptop, and I even play football (with a real ball, not on my PS3, I promise) as well as World of Warcraft (WoW). The fact is that most college students either play or know someone who plays an MMORPG, and those kids are leading successful, fun lives.

If you won't take me bragging about how awesome my life is even with my "crippling WoW addiction" as evidence, let's discuss some of the benefits of MMORPGS, World of Warcraft in particular. WoW challenges players to accomplish various tasks. Although many of these tasks are fairly simple, many require complex thought into the best strategy of how to accomplish your goal. Others require complex teamwork to complete goals. This encourages the organization of groups of players, or more permanent, larger groups called guilds, that take on these complex tasks, often in the form of dungeons and large bosses. Guilds work together to organize times to play together and the best ways to achieve these tasks. They also devise internal systems to equally distribute the rewards of these accomplishments. All of these things teach players cooperation, team spirit (or guild spirit, in this case), conflict resolution, and leadership.

As players work together, they begin to build relationships and bond with one another. Often times, players are on opposite sides of the country, even opposite sides of the world. Players come from all walks of life, of different cultures, ages, and races, exhibiting different religions, political views, and life styles. This vast world of diversity gives players an opportunity to expand their world and experience

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