With the introduction of the first commercial massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) in the mid-1980s, the gaming world has grown and changed substantially, creating an online universe for millions of gamers.
MMORPGs are distinct from other role-playing games (RPGs) by the number of players and the game's virtual worlds.
MMORPGs have worlds that are constantly changing and maintained by the game's developers. The virtual world will continue to change and grow even if the player is not gaming at the moment.
According to independent researcher Bruce Sterling Woodcock on his site mmogchart.com, in 2006, there was a combined subscription and non-subscription global membership for MMORPGs exceeding 15 million players.
Among the most popular MMORPGs are Dungeons and Dragons with 20 million worldwide players and World of Warcraft with eight million worldwide players.
The fantasy-based role-playing games are sometimes believed to cause a disillusion between reality and the virtual world.
The players that one interacts within the game are real people that gamers can become friends and quest. The games create a virtual playground for gamers to meet up with friends and family and participate in the fantasy world of superhuman powers with the ability to slay evil.
"Some of my favorite games right now are spy games like Splinter Cell," said online gamer Nate Dunne, 22. "I like it because the artificial intelligence is incredible and the storyline in the game is different from any other type of spy story.
"It's even better than James Bond and Mission Impossible. You are trying to uncover this worldwide terror plot in Korea. What you do in the game, the choices you make, influences the way the game changes. It's kind of like an RPG, you take on the role of the spy."
Due to the shrouding between reality and fantasy, gamers may become highly emotional during game play.
According to Nick Yee, Ph.D student at Stanford University, at nickyee.com, the emotions that occur online can be so overwhelming that 10 percent of male and 33 percent of female gamers have engaged in an online marriage.
Gamer Holly Baysinger, 22, found her present boyfriend while playing the anime-based game Rose Online.
"I was playing Rose a lot," Baysinger said. "One night when everyone was doing a timed quest, I met my boyfriend. We quested together that night and afterwards he would wait for me every evening so we could quest together."
Perhaps one of the biggest concerns regarding gaming is the violence and the risk of becoming addicted.
Fourth-year SCSU graphic design student Jahan Vafaei, 21, plays online games for roughly 70 hours a week.
"It's probably possible to become addicted to gaming, but only if you're a complete tool," Vafaei said. "I stop when it gets boring or I'll play in spurts. Most games are repetitive so they can get boring quickly. And gaming can sometimes get in the way of school, work and shaving."
"I set aside time for gaming," Dunne said. "I still play sports when I get a chance and make sure I have time to do other important things besides game."
Other concerns regard the censorship of games for certain aspects, such as age-limits and language.
"I would like to see more people respect the language rule," Dunne said. "I don't think age has anything to do with it, unless the game is unsuitable for certain age groups. Gaming should be available for all ages, but the language has to be watched."
"An age limit would be nice," Baysinger said. "There are a lot of little kids that kind of ruin the gaming experience because of their maturity level, the Barrens Chat in World of Warcraft. But it doesn't matter cause they'll find a way to play anyway."
Adult gamers were often introduced to video games at a young age when Atari, Nintendo and Sega were in many family households during the 1980s and early 1990s. Such games as "Pong," "Super Mario Brothers" and "Donkey Kong" quickly became well-known. By the end of the 1990s, home gaming consoles such as Sega Dreamcast and the Playstation 2 were common placed items in the American home.
"I started gaming when I was eight because I was bored and my dad and brother gamed," Baysinger said. "We had an Atari so I played 'Pong' and 'Castlevania,' 'Dungeons and Dragons,' and 'Toejam and Earl' on the Genesis."
As computers became more attainable in the early 90s, families began to have access to PC and Macintosh gaming.
Today, many MMORPGs are available strictly through PC and Macintosh, but during the last five years, the Playstation and X-Box home consoles have offered games and hardware to allow massive multiplayer gaming on the Internet. For Macintosh and PC games, computer enhancements, specialized software and online subscription fees can become expensive.
"If you're going with game consoles, the newer ones are expensive," Dunne said. "For computer gaming, depending on what type of game you're playing, the graphics card can get expensive. A really good graphics card can run you anywhere from $300 to $400. And if you're playing a flight simulator, you're going to need to purchase a joystick."
Vafaei said gaming for a PC can be cheaper than with Macintosh, but he prefers to game with the Mac.
"If you have to have the best of everything than it can become expensive," Vafaei said. "The performance between the best and the second best isn't that different so it's not necessary to have the best."
From it's birth as a text-based, non-graphical RPG in the late 1970s to the astonishing multi-million player games of today, online gaming has influenced the lives and hearts of people all over the world.
Today, the influence is only growing, as more people become part of this ever growing, ever changing virtual world of MMORPGs.
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