COMMENTARY - MMORPG's: The final nail in the Geek's social coffin

FACT: Geeks usually suffer from a serious lack of a social life. FICTION: Playing games online is the best way for geeks to correct this inadequacy. For those not familiar with the lingo, MMORPG stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. It's a perpetual online fantasy world, a game that never ends. These games are beginning to come in a variety of flavors, from fantasy to sci-fi to reality based worlds, from role playing to first person shooter styles. It is my belief that games of this nature will single-handedly destroy the geek's hope of ever becoming accepted in the real world. To the geek, it seems like the perfect solution. A way to interact and have fun with members of the outside world, without having to go to the trouble of leaving their house. Wrong. All you are in fact doing is socializing with other geeks who also think this is the perfect solution to their social shortcomings. Like lobsters in a tank, they only keep pulling each other back to the bottom. Then the addiction sets in. Soon this fantasy world becomes more real to them than the real world. They play the game with every spare moment of their life, and when they're not actually playing it, they talk about playing it. They start speaking a different language, using some absurd vernacular that has evolved out of their fantasy world. They then cease to socialize with what friends they had in the real world that don't play the game as well, as they are incapable of communicating with them in this new dialect which has become their common tongue. Now not only have their chance at gaining a social life diminished, but they are also destroying what connections they had with the real world to begin with. Then there's the money sinkhole. This is assuming you haven't quit your job or even had one to begin with, of course. You are shelling out a monthly fee to play these games. Not too big of a deal if you have a decent job, but if you're already working for low pay or not working at all, this is the difference between your own studio apartment and moving back into your parent's basement. It's kinda hard to get a date when you don't have any money to pay for dinner, not to mention it's difficult to seat two on your bicycle, and you can't exactly take her back to your place and expect any privacy with your parents there. Let's recap. MMORPG's take up all of your free time, limit your social interactions to only those that are also familiar with it, and rob you of all your money. So there you have it. MMORPG's have all of the effects of a woman on a man, without any of the real benefits. Do yourself a favor. Ditch the game, get out into the real world, and find yourself a girlfriend. While you'll be in the same predicament, at least you'll be getting more out of it in return.