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In our lives, we find many reasons to log on to the internet and cross paths with other people.  Checking our email online, reading a forum that we have bookmarked because of its lively discussions, instant messaging with friends and family in far places.  There are many ways we communicate with others and build on relationships … new or existing …  it’s just a fact of our lives in this new age.

But how does that impact our daily lives in a way that we might have never expected?

There have been many articles and studies since the advent of the World Wide Web about the ramifications of this scary new tool.  Scientists have studied human behavior time and time again in some lab where they read reports and let five or ten people interact with each other online.  We have become rats in a maze for many studies, many stories, and musings of how the internet has changed us.

Yet the one thing that I don’t believe gets enough attention is just how much of a personal impact our fleeting relationships in an online world can have on us.

When we game, we sometimes take on a new persona.  We create a character that looks like we see ourselves in another time… another world.  Then we go out there and choose to either build a whole new identity, or share parts of our real selves with others.  Many people open up more to those they will never meet face-to-face than they would a casual acquaintance like their next door neighbor.  Is it the anonymity that the internet provides?  Or the security that we can delete that character and make a new one when things get too tough?  Unlike our living, breathing world where there are bills to pay, relationships to maintain, jobs to perform… online, pulling the plug is much easier and a lot less messy than it is in reality.

There are some people who met online and eventually formed lasting bonds.  Lifelong friends… long-term relationships… even marriages.  On the other side, there are people who fall into depression, in some cases so far as to commit suicide… or completely withdraw from society and become one with their online character in all facets.

For me …  I take my online relationships personally.  Absolutely!  I’m a trusting soul, and I feel it in my gut when I find out someone that I only know as a few pixels in a fantasy world lies to me, or hurts me in some way.  I also laugh out loud at my desk with people about their lives, their families, their worlds.  I consider these people as friends, those I let in enough to know my a/s/l in a world driven by class, level, and gear.  I have met a few of these friends in the real world over the years, and I’ve been lucky.  While they’ve not all turned out to be long-lasting relationships, I’m able to say I am fortunate enough to cross paths with some very awesome people.

Online gaming for me is a passion, not just a job.  And I’m thankful every day for the real world and the internet coming together to provide me with the ability to log in and meet new people from around the world.  I hope to keep meeting people and forging relationships that, even though they might not last forever, will definitely have an impact on my life in some fashion.

Tell us about your stories... Email me to share how your MMO has impacted your life.