Study says MMO's Promote "Sociability."

[Graham Templeton]

Study says MMO's Promote "Sociability."

Researchers from the universities of Wisconsin and Illinois find that massively mulitplayer online games can "promote sociability and new worldviews."

The study [http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-08/uoia-sov081706.php], based on Lineage 1 and 2, and Asheron's Call 1 and 2, finds that MMOG's serve as virtual "third places." Defined as "the physical places outside the home and workplace that people use for informal social interaction." The researchers argue that this can make the social experience in MMO's akin to that in a local pub, and that the diversity of the players can introduce "new worldviews."

"Game play in MMOs is not a 'single solitary interaction between an individual and a technology,' but rather, is more akin to playing five-person poker in a neighborhood tavern that is accessible from your own living room ... Spending time in these social games helps people meet others not like them, even if it doesn't always lead to strong friendships. That kind of social horizon-broadening has been sorely lacking in American society for decades."

Lineage and Lineage 2 are estimated [http://www.mmogchart.com/Chart1.html] to have a combined population of almost three million players. The Asheron's Call games are estimated [http://www.mmogchart.com/Chart3.html] to have as little as ten thousand, between them.

Raph Koster, co-lead designer of Ultima Online and avid gaming pundit, praised [http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/08/18/shocking-study/] the study, and noted that both of the researchers involved are avid MMOG gamers.

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[Stric9 [deprecated]]

One thing about FFXI that still amazes me to this day was the in game translator. Basically you could start typing a phrase and then hit the tab button. If the characters you typed in matched anything in their database it would bring up a list of the matched items and you could select the appropriate one. Once you got the hang of it you could actually communicate and group with people that spoke other languages pretty well.