Despite the fact that I have chosen not to play massively multiplayer online role-playing games, I do not disapprove of those who play within reason. Last week, as I watched the documentary “Second Skin,” I felt mixed emotions towards online gaming. I was appalled to see an online gamer, who plays World of Warcraft for six hours a night, move halfway across the country to live with three friends he met in a virtual world. I felt disturbed as I watched a man find virtual love in the world of Everquest. After a few months of dating online, the man traveled cross-country to meet the woman in real life. I felt concerned for the suicidal man who went to Online Gamers Anonymous as he had receded from his real life after he started playing Everquest. I felt sympathetic and inspired by a man with Cerebral Palsy whose entire personality is expressed through his engagement in the virtual world. After watching “Second Skin,” still with mixed emotions towards online gaming, I have come to the conclusion that for those who engage in MMORPGS, there needs to be a balance between real life and virtual life.
In determining the balance between real life and virtual life, where do you draw the line? How much online gaming is too much? It becomes problematic when people live and breathe MMORPGs as in they don’t just play to play it, they play to live it. Unfortunately, most of the people in “Second Skin” were addicted to MMORPGS and there was no balance in their lives. The documentary depicts most of the subjects as largely dysfunctional people who are out of touch with the real world and incapable of engaging in the real world. Thus, “Second Skin” portrayed the negative stereotypes about gamers. With the exception of the man with Cerebral Palsy, there are few positive aspects illustrated about playing MMORPGS. I feel as though the director should have included subjects who played online games but also had a life outside the virtual world. Without including people who balance real life and virtual life, viewers of “Second Skin” might perceive MMORPGs to be inevitably addictive.
I agree that Second Skin appeared to focus only on the types of gamers of the stereotypical and negative sort. Perhaps it gets eyes on the screen.
ReplyDeleteFormat Note: film and book titles go into italics and titles of short works, such as that of Birkerts' article or Doctorow's story, go into "quotation marks."