[Labyrrinth]

The Wall Street Journal has an opinion piece up on a different, but positive aspect of gaming and quite frankly I’m a little shocked This article suggests that it’s possible to find love, to make friends, that believe-it-or-not, healthy relationships can arise from gaming! This needs to stop! The past stereotypes and social stigmas that have been attached to gamers and gaming are time honored traditions, and if we can’t rely on those, we may someday be looked at as…normal!


Someone better call Jack Thompson!

Nick Yee, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication at Stanford University who studies online games, found in a survey earlier this year that 29% of women players and 8% of men said they had gone on to date someone they met in a game. He says the games are filled with scenarios that shed light on players' personalities. A risky raid on a dungeon, for example, can reveal whether someone is a team player. "These are trust-building exercises," he says. Players "are constantly having to make decisions like, 'Do I run out and save myself or help the others survive?' " Situations that reveal so much about someone's character are less common in the real world, he thinks.

Click here to read the article in it’s entirety.

[Abigale Seashadow]

How nice to see these stories!

I've been fortunate enough to be able to see lots of great stories like these played out in person. I have met so many people that can tell you about the mate or friends they've met in games and how their lives have been enriched by them. But it isn't often that the media focuses on positive aspects of the industry like this.

Thanks for pointing out this story!

[Skarlath]

That's cool, but i'm a little taken aback by one of their statistics - 29% of women have been on a date with someone they met in a game?! That's a massive figure! Nick Yee is the guy running the Daedulus Project, right? I guess I'll just have to trust him on this one.

[Razorwire]

I met Scarlet via online gaming and now I am happily married to her and have a lovely family.

Gaming is good++

[Labyrrinth]

Originally Posted by Skarlath

That's cool, but i'm a little taken aback by one of their statistics - 29% of women have been on a date with someone they met in a game?! That's a massive figure! Nick Yee is the guy running the Daedulus Project, right? I guess I'll just have to trust him on this one.

I think that number is actually representative of the number of women that actually responded to his survey and if that survey was geared or biased towards "love online" or something similar, it's going to attract a specific subset of people. Does that make sense?

So 29% of the women that he surveyed have been on a date with someone they met in game, not 29% overall

[Wave]

Originally Posted by Labyrrinth

I think that number is actually representative of the number of women that actually responded to his survey and if that survey was geared or biased towards "love online" or something similar, it's going to attract a specific subset of people. Does that make sense?

So 29% of the women that he surveyed have been on a date with someone they met in game, not 29% overall

What about 29% of women gamers? Could that be it?

[cloakas]

Originally Posted by Labyrrinth

So 29% of the women that he surveyed have been on a date with someone they met in game, not 29% overall

Yea 29% surveyed it seams a little high for that mass population though i have had two relationships that developed from a MMO so its posible. To bad neither of them worked out, having a gamer for a companian would be sweet. O well here for hoping that it works out somewhere down the road.

[armsakimbo]

The 29% vs. 8% might just be representative of gender ratio in the gamer population he surveyed. That is, perhaps it takes 29% of the female population to match up with 8% of the males (in these games). Certainly it's always seemed as if guys heavily outnumber gals in my MMO experience.

[Navid]

Yeah I read this off of slashdot, its funny how more and more of these are coming out...(like the brain development and job skills ones as well)

[Kalthanan]

Met my to-be wife online back in 2000, started dating and moved in together in RL in 2001, and got married a little over a year ago, 2005.

If you meet someone doing something you really enjoy (like gaming), you've already got some pretty solid common ground.

Unless you like to hang out in bars for the sake of hanging out in bars more than a couple days a week, not because you're trying to score, why would you expect to find a long-term relationship in a bar? It's completely random.

[Divinefist]

Originally Posted by Skarlath

That's cool, but i'm a little taken aback by one of their statistics - 29% of women have been on a date with someone they met in a game?! That's a massive figure! Nick Yee is the guy running the Daedulus Project, right? I guess I'll just have to trust him on this one.

Yea, like a Wave and Lab have noticed, its not 29% of women overall. The quote in the article says 29% of women gamers. This means that, of the population of women who play online games, 29% of them have dated someone they met via the game.

That's still a pretty shocking figure. The difference in percentages between men and women is likely caused by the difference in absolute numbers of gamers who are men verses how many gamers are women. However, that over a quarter of the women who online game have dated someone they met through the game, raises many interesting questions (as students of social phenomena, not as moralists) regarding why and how such a fact exists.

D

[Vordox]

I had a couple relationships with women in game But they usually go sour because I grew to dislike the fact that they always felt I should wait and group only with them.I learned I really didnt need the drama in game as well as in real life.

My in game best friend dated a ingame girl for 2 years only to find out in the end it was a He not a She,he quit and I've not seen him since.

I really think that alot (not all) of game girls really Love to play romance games with guys,more so then the other way around. I've seen many a good player leave a game out of heartbreaks,guys n girls.

My philosophy now is Friends are much better and last longer then most relationships ever will.

[darkarius]

Originally Posted by Abigale Seashadow

How nice to see these stories!

I've been fortunate enough to be able to see lots of great stories like these played out in person. I have met so many people that can tell you about the mate or friends they've met in games and how their lives have been enriched by them. But it isn't often that the media focuses on positive aspects of the industry like this.

Thanks for pointing out this story!

UM, the second story is not all that positive. I mean I don't think it is good news for someone to leave a relationship they have secretly developing behind their boy/girlfriend or spouse's back to hook up with someone in game.

I am not saying that I don't think that their are positive experiences in game but promisquity and infidelity is certainly not one of them.

[Crimson]

Originally Posted by darkarius

I am not saying that I don't think that their are positive experiences in game but promisquity and infidelity is certainly not one of them.

I'd say this strongly depends of one's moral standpoint, hmm? I myself hat an in-game romance with a female player's (female) char in pen-and-paper with her boyfriend being the GM. Do you count that as her cheating on him?
I'd advise to separate in-game and out-game relationships.

C.

[Nishua]

Originally Posted by Razorwire

I met Scarlet via online gaming and now I am happily married to her and have a lovely family.

Gaming is good++

Congratz, and I happy for you (sincerely). Woot!

[Mack Bolan]

I have met about 30 people that were in my guild while playing eq. Granted only 4 of them where female. Great people, and if i wasnt dating someone i would have dated one of them. Its nice to meet great people that you have something in common with.

I knew these 2 people that were dating online, and they broke up. It was hard to pick which person i liked to play with cause they were both great people.

I think its great that they are doing stories like this, because it does happen a ton in gaming. My good friend is living with a girl he meet playing eq.

But there is the darker side of guys playing girl characters and starting something with someone. That is the sick part of the game.

[Divinefist]

Originally Posted by Crimson

I'd say this strongly depends of one's moral standpoint, hmm? I myself hat an in-game romance with a female player's (female) char in pen-and-paper with her boyfriend being the GM. Do you count that as her cheating on him?
I'd advise to separate in-game and out-game relationships.

C.

Well, I think that we are distinguishing between ingame and RL relationships already, and that the article is as well. From the stories, it looks as if the ingame relationships can then lead to RL relationships, but the 2 are clearly described seperately.

D

[reefus88]

I'm 26 and pretty much every guy I know plays or has played video games.

I think alot of the social stigma towards gamers is a bunch of BS that the gamers that are actually like that like to spread to feel different or whatever.

As for relationships, never had one in game. tho I've flerted with girls and even found out one lives close to me, I think I'd prefer to meet someone in person first.

I mean, as cool as someone can be online, there RL personality can be way different. Not just that, and I know this may sound shallow, but I dont care how cool or nice a girl is, if i'm not attracted to her at all, it just wont work.

[Wizzel Wizzleton]

One of my guild leaders was interviewed for this article. The one who moved to Guam. She and her guy are two of the three leaders of the Shadow Guard, on EQ2's Venekor PvP-RP server. They are both extremely active roleplayers and great guild leaders.

[Skarlath]

Hehe, that's cool.