A friend at work told me about how he met his wife when they were both active players of Worlds of Warcraft, a massively multiplayer online game (mmog). I guess as part of the game play you get to know one another. And, I suppose, in real life one thing leads to another.
It's nice I'm sure because right off the bat you find out you have something in common. It's not much different than meeting someone in a running club or a painting class. It just so happens that what you are doing when you meet is not real.
They are a happy couple and I wouldn't be at all surprised if there are thousands of other examples of the same things happening in this and other games. And yes, it does make me think that in some way perhaps the gameplaying community could recognize this and perhaps do something about it (maybe cross the functionality of match.com into the game).
Of course I bet that an idea like that would leave the majority of gamers howling about selling out.
Then again I also bet that there's also a huge number of those howlers who wouldn't mind going on a date and haven't done so in quite a while.
I just find it fascinating and in some ways a little heartwarming. Nice to hear how technology can actually connect rather than seemingly further divide us at times.
My cousin met her husband on a mu* (can't remember if it was a mud or a mush) about ten years ago.
Posted by: Jackie Danicki | November 21, 2007 at 06:30 PM
Gaming Passions (http://www.gamingpassions.com) was created about 3 yrs. ago, and is for anyone interested in video gaming. Groups within the site allow members to find others based on their preferred console, game type, etc.
Posted by: Gaming Passions | November 21, 2007 at 07:41 PM
My friend met her husband on a dating site I recommended to her. But I still think that these are exceptions. I have two sisters who both go on dating sites and believe you me, the amount of nutters outweighs the amount of nice men they meet through the internet. So you can actually say that the whole internet dating scene is a huge gamble!
Posted by: Franziska | November 27, 2007 at 05:35 AM