What are the positive aspects of MMOs?

• As a Christian, there a tons of ministry opportunities in these games! I’ve even blogged in the past about some of the ministry opportunities I’ve had in Guild Wars. It is an incredible way to meet unsaved people and share the gospel. I’ve lost count of how many opportunities I’ve had to talk with people about tough real-life situations and share the difference Christ could make in their lives. One person I know is even actively involved in church now because of it.
• It provides a great sense of release, especially during stressful times in life.
• Highly entertaining.
• Community is valued and interaction therein is required for success.
• It requires reading, strategy, critical thinking and puzzle solving. (Compare to movies and TV, which are both very passive forms of entertainment.)
• It provides a mental and emotional escape from reality that we all need from time to time. (Again, TV and movies also provide this escape.)

What are the negative aspects of MMOs?

• It provides a mental and emotional escape from reality, which is very dangerous in excess.
• They have the potential to become all-consuming, replacing everything else and becoming the #1 priority in our lives.
• In rare cases, reality and fantasy become confused.
• It’s easy to spend more time developing a virtual character than our own personal character.
• Self-worth may become wrapped in the identity of a virtual world rather than in our real world.
• There may be a lot of foul language by other players in the game. (Usually chat can be turned off.)
• People who do not have a strong personal identity, healthy relationships, sense of purpose and appropriate ways of exerting power in the real world will instead form them in a virtual world, usually with harmful results on real-life self-identity and social interaction.

People who do not have a strong personal identity, healthy relationships, sense of purpose and appropriate ways of exerting power in the real world will instead form them in a virtual world, usually with harmful results on real-life self-identity and social interaction.

Real-Life story of the negative affects of World of Warcraft and MMOs
Here’s a story from a guy who was at the “top of World of Warcraft greatness.” He was a council member on what is now one of the oldest guilds in the world, the type of position coveted by many of the 7 million people who play the game today, but which only a few ever get. What follows in his story is a cautionary tale about the pull an escape from reality can have and why he ultimately quit the game altogether.

[ Read other “World of Warcraft FAQs for Christians” in this series ]

[tags]World of Warcraft, MMORPG, MMO, spirituality[/tags]