MMO Players - Hidden Champions?

The fact that games can immerse the players in their environment has long been widely accepted. By getting involved in the gameplay and the world in an mmo, players detach their real life identity for a chance to create a new and improved image of themselves or role play a completely new persona.

I do not mean the typical role play present on RP servers but a much deeper variation of it where the player assumes a new personal story. According to Theodore Sarbin, a famous American psychologist, humans organize their experiences in terms of stories. We impose a structure on our daily experiences as an organizing principle of our psyche. Games, their online counterparts in particular, allow us to escape this structure, if only temporarily. A person is more likely to feel free and unintimidated to act and make decisions in an online world. The reason for that is the new identity assumed; i.e. I'm not Mike, a high school student who no one notices, I am Tyrael, a well known and respected fighter who keeps in touch with a lot of people on the server. This kind of attitude and environment alone already embrace a higher chance of personal progress and innovation which leads us onto the next point.

When playing online games, a person does not invest his personal ego and self-esteem as much as he or she does in real life. No matter how harsh the situation becomes, the player can always log off or even quit the game altogether with relatively few consequences. There is always the option of creating a new character, a new personal story. This advances individual development and interaction even more within a game as there are few risks to get physically and emotionally hurt. In real life, that is not usually the case.

In online games players are actually encouraged to socialize and form friendships, groups and alliances. At times we are forced to group with others to kill harder mobs or we need to be in a guild in order to own a battle keep. All these features help reinforce a more social environment, thus allowing players to shine. For this reason online worlds may also seem more stimulating than life for certain people as they encourage action and active involvement right here, right now.

Compare this to any other environment where socialization at various times and places is sometimes frowned upon or discouraged either by the person himself/herself or by general society principles. Think about approaching a girl you just saw at the bar. She immediately caught your attention, she is gorgeous and you would really like to get to know her better. However, as soon as you think about going over to her and striking up a conversation, your mind is flooded with protests. Wouldn't it look weird if I just talk to her, I mean I don't even know her. What if she doesn't like me? What if her friends think I'm boring? All these social excuses would never exist in an online game. Your real identity is safely hidden so human interactions are less personal and you do not depend on their outcome to affect your ego as much. The effect of negative feedback is greatly reduced. Thus, you are more likely to take action, assume responsibilities and experiment.

Another important aspect to look at is the way online games put most of its players on equal footing, regardless of their position in real life. Our day to day existence is largely governed by various status representations of ourselves. According to Davies and Harre (Positioning: The Social Construction of Selves), even the most routine interaction has some form of power play associated with it where people try to dominate the position of the other and attain a higher status. In a game, these kinds of mechanics are less important. One guild can house all types of players who can be lawyers, bankers, shop assistants, teachers, students, bus drivers, etc. Their real life statuses and achievements are not relevant and thus do not play such an assertive and influential role as they do normally.  That's why you can often end up in a situation where someone with a relatively high status in life (a successful businessman) would listen and follow the commands of someone with a relatively lower status such as a student. A similar situation rarely occurs elsewhere.

When you play a game, particularly an mmo; you often have to interact with others around you and the game world itself. This player-to-player and world interaction can take on a number of forms such as pvp, trading, chatting, raiding, questing, crafting, etc. Social structures such as parties, guilds and even player cities can be formed.

Despite the number of options available, this interplay is still limited to some degree by the games interface and mechanics. Sure this can be overcome by adding external features such as voice communication (e.g. Ventrilo), various feature expansions and some games even support mods. However, the achieved result will still be a long call from interaction in real life.

When you are talking to someone in person, there are many more factors to consider and digest. Research has shown that only about 7% of your communication is achieved through language. The rest is made up by your body language and the various signals your body sends out each nanosecond for your brain to digest and interpret this data in its own way. This naturally puts some strain on the participants. Emotions are much harder to hide and reactions of others can have a larger impact on your well being.

A person who thinks of himself as shy would naturally want to avoid the stress of a real life interaction so he turns to games where these types of processes and interfaces are limited. Here you can relax and be the person you know you can be without others having to influence you and your mood by external references such as your looks or any other aspect you may feel insecure about. In an online game, you will be judged only on the success of your interactions provided by the gameplay interfaces within that game, be it the social interactions (leading a guild), challenges (pvp and various arenas), finance (becoming a known trader and manipulating the economy), etc.

This allows a gamer to feel more at ease and let go of the pressure and worries associated with real life practices.  For example, by eliminating the need for visual interaction (such as knowing the look of another person or maintaining good body language), it allows the person to deem them irrelevant and thus be less vulnerable due to his inability to successfully manipulate the said interfaces. This lack of stress allows him or her to fully realize their potential in a game if they choose to; be it becoming a great team player who everyone trusts or a visionary leader who puts together a hardcore guild with people willing to obey his commands. Also, by reducing the variety of interactive elements, a game allows its players to excel in existing ones. It is much easier to progress and move on ahead if you have the goals and core processes laid out right in front of you and mmos achieve just that.

Fundamentally, playing is the core process by which humans learn about the world around them. It feels satisfying to complete a challenge, beat your personal score or win at a pvp match and it encourages further progression. Games can play a much larger role in personal development and understanding more about our own nature and growth if only we allow them to.