In this digital age many people have begun to look for relationships online. Sites such as EHarmony and Match.com have had a surge of users looking for love from the comfort of their computer. Even with matchmaking sites online, many people have begun friendships and even relationships through online gaming.
Online games such as World of War craft may be a better place to find a relationship then most popular dating sites. Match.com has a little less than 2 million registered users, while World of War craft has 12 million players. The number of people, who are playing online games, exceeds many online dating sites. What World of War craft provides that no dating sites can is something that two or more people can participate in together. People do not have to look at pictures, read “about me” bios and do not have to send emails to get to know one another. In role playing games users can interact while roaming the online world of the game with one another. People are already meeting someone with a common interest, which are video games.
Online games are offering users a new way to interact, Ramona Pringle, an interactive media producer and a professor of new media at the Ryerson School of Image Arts in Toronto describes it as; “It is a really primal experience. It’s about survival. It’s about needing someone.” This is something that cannot be offered in the “real world” it is a way of bringing people together, that only an online game can offer. Many people think that the online game world mainly consist of men, which is wrong as Stephanie of the New York Time Points Out “More than 40 percent of online gamers are women, and adult women are among the industry’s fastest growing demographics, representing 33 percent of the game-playing population — a larger portion than boys 17 and younger, who make up 20 percent, according to the Entertainment Software Association, an industry group.” People have even proposed to one another via World of War craft