Dangers of Mmorpgs and Social Media
Dangers of Technology. MMORPGs have become a huge entertainment phenomenon. These Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games have become an everyday life for many humans around the nation. But are MMORPGs healthy? Many people may say that these online role playing games help make friends over the internet and others believe that the games may not. Some say the games take away ones ability to socialize with other humans on a day to day basis. “Gamers themselves may see MMORPGs as just any other community, but when we look closer, we find that there are underlying differences.” (Schofield 595). However, the gamers share common interests, but have less interests in individuals well being. Although MMORPGs could be seen as a community, “True communities foster human interaction as a means of preserving our relationships to other members.” (Schofield 595). Don’t get me wrong, these gamers talk to other players, but MMORPGs do not have the physical face to face communication as in person. The gamers talk to each other through a microphone while looking at a computer screen and admiring other avatars. The MMORPG community can also lack a crucial communication skill, and that is being able to read the emotions and body language of other players. “Players who submerse themselves in this virtual world limit themselves to mere machine and fail to realize their own bodies’ potential as a vastly complex organism of multifaceted communication.” (Schofield 595). Although the teammates communicate, they do not call one another by their real name. Usually, many gamers only know their friends as their gamer tag, and a lot do not even know the ages of most of their teammates. These are not just problems, but dangers as well. These dangers usually develop when the gamer isolated themselves from their immediate community. Many get in these unnatural relationships with their online friends which may not be safe because there are many online predators these days. MMORPGs
Cited: Schofield, Rachel. “Isolated Community: Hidden Dangers of MMORPGs.” Inventing Arguments. Third Edition.2006.Print.
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