Study Shows that MMOGs Promote Sociability

chrisb33 writes "After studying several MMOs, University of Illinois researchers have concluded that the games 'promote sociability and new worldviews.' The study found that the games did not foster social isolation, but actually encouraged meetings between players of differing backgrounds, supplying the 'social horizon-broadening...sorely lacking in American society.' While they caution that, in extreme cases, fixation on internet gaming could diminish offline relationships, the tone of the press release with regard to gaming is remarkably upbeat compared to that of most recent news about gaming."

WTS good stuff for a fair price - PST

[spyrochaete]

I must say my negotiating skills have improved vastly since I started playing Guild Wars. I just don't feel as shy to express my opinion of a fair deal. When I started playing the game I was too intraverted to assert myself to even sell any of my hard earned lewt, but as I learned the game and the economy I drew strength knowing I had some background on how things worked. It's really improved my life and I look forward to putting my new skills to the test when my salary is renegotiated at work in a couple of weeks!

Re:I'll agree with this to a point...

[dc29A]

There is plenty of normal interaction of MMOG guilds. One of my best friends, I met online in EQ. I've been playing various MMOGs with a group of about 40 or so people for many years now, we get toghether regulary every year for a weekend in some random city. Ironically, lot of "normal" human interaction happens, couples broke up because of infidelity! There is plenty of drama and good times you can have with people playing the same MMOG.

MMOGs help break down age barriers also, you might no socialize with a 50+ year old person (dumb stereotypes like: old man!) but thanks to MMOGs you get to know this person and you realize he is not too different from you, just older.

And if you decide to do some serious gaming like leading guilds, pvp raids, pve raids, you can improve a lot your leadership skills and teamwork. Ability to listen to other people's ideas and opinions vs your.

Re:So talking about what you want to get is social

[kinglink]

My point is there's a difference between giving us something to talk about or actually creating a social environment.

Let's take this in a different situation. If there was no game play would the same socializing be found? The answer is no because most of the socializing on the game is about the game play. In this case the MMOG is the subject of socialization, and it gives a good medium for it.

Let's go one step further. Imagine that there's a really amazing advance in science and we suddenly have VR. Now when you enter VR you'll go to a room, you'll have the ability to create what ever you want in the room, and do what ever you want. After the first three years after we all have spent the required amount of secretions we actually start exploring the physics and find it to be interesting and anyone can use it and play it and explore it. However the game is not social. At the same time the game itself creates millions of chat rooms, and discussion groups. Are we to call it social because of that?

And if you don't see the difference, let's look at something that promotes socialization. Assume the same VR system is around, except there's a second room you can go in, it's a room where you can sit around a table and talk to people from all over the world. To help socialize it allows you to show websites, pictures, videos, music, and so on.(assume not copying of files is allowed) In this situation the system is promoting socialization as you can now effectively talk and share stuff you're seeing.

The point I'm trying to make is that MMOG arn't "social" in that you talk about what ever happens. MMOGs are subjects of socialization, and provide a easy to utilize system to talk about that subject in themselves? They don't "create" socialization, they don't promote it, they just give a sufficiently large, and varied topic for people to talk about.

I'd like to say one thing though. My point is to say that MMOGs arn't promoting socialization, I've clearly said they could be used for socialization but at the core of them they are just giving us the topic to socialize about, and a simple way to socialize. That's not to say no one socializes on it, but for the most part the socializing isn't the same value nor is it quite the same as offline conversations.

Re:Umm, ya, sure

[Sage Gaspar]

They said it promoted broadening social horizons. The internet is filled with diverse people from all over the world with all sorts of opinions, but it's even more potent in MMOs, where you can spend hours every week playing with the same friends, who have personalized avatars and such. It's a deeper contact than in your typical forum or chatroom. And while the internet can be great for shut-ins that like to lock out the rest of the world, let's be honest here for a minute, reality can be even more insular.

Look at high school -- a group of confused adolescents form a weird little shared reality that reinforces homogeneity as normalcy, raising a predictable counterculture that conforms to all the stereotypes you'd expect. Or living out in the country, where asshole parents can raise their kids to say things like, "I don't hate black people, I mean I'd save one if they were dying, but man are they dirty sons of bitches," and the kid doesn't really have any black friends to defeat the stereotype. And this is largely possible because our little social circles don't tend to include an incredible amount of diversity, either by choice or chance. Teh Internets and MMOs help defeat that somewhat.