Virtual Love

by Nicolette Bond
Illustration by Feras Khagani

Encouraged by sites such as Match.com, Facebook, and Friendster, more people than ever are meeting in virtual spaces. The allure (and repulsion, for some) of these non-traditional methods of connecting may lie in the buffer they erect between oneself and the real world. None blur the boundaries as effectively as MMORPGs, or Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. If you have not heard of them yet, you will. There are 10 million MMORPG users in the world, and their population is doubling every two years. Taken together, the virtual economy is roughly equivalent to that of Namibia. These games are no longer being designed and populated by "computer nerds"; the allure of alternate realities has extended to all types.

The basic idea is that your avatar, or virtual representative, participates in activities within the game. Your appearance depends on which game you choose. In World of Warcraft, one can be anything from a long-toothed jungle troll or a muscular dwarf, to a regular ole human. In Second Life, the options are even larger, as the player can adjust physical traits themselves, or visit a virtual surgeon to have any augmentation they desire.

Although some claim that meeting online diminishes prejudices, many players spend a lot of time choosing and designing the look and feel of their avatar. This could be because it is difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. Just as in real life, any initial attraction or impression is based mostly on physical appearance. Consider the woman who met her "handsome wood elf" boyfriend in EverQuest while wandering around in the Oasis of Marr. They have gone on many virtual quests together since then, and have cultivated a relationship outside of the game.

Players say that microphones and chat capabilities allow the connection to transcend the "physical," and that personality can be further revealed through actions and choices a person makes in the game. A couple in China met while playing the online game Legend of Mir 2, after his game