The very first time that I was exposed to the idea of MMORPGs was when I watched the first episode of an anime series called ".hack // sign".
I was probably 15 years old back then, and I didn't even know that games like World Of Warcraft or Maplestory even existed. The idea of a huge and open world for you to explore, full of players from around the world that you could interact and play with seemed extremely awesome! And since then, I wished I could have a broadband Internet connection in order to be able to play one of such games (back then I had a 56 kbp connection and a "Windows 98" computer... so you can figure).
I eventually got a better computer and my first broadband Internet connection. It was exciting finally being able to browse the world wide web all I wanted to without worrying about the telephone bill. I eventually learned about World Of Warcraft and the official name of the genre that I thrived to play: MMORPGs - Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, for those unfamiliar. However, as I learned about the game from the web, videos and even the news and newspapers, I also got to know about the heavy addiction that WoW and other MMOs can cause on certain individuals. That information about people letting a game destroy their lives discouraged me from even look for a MMO to start playing, as I feared that I would get addicted too... but I wanted to try; I really wanted to get that feeling of exploring a huge world, leveling up and meeting my friends in the in-game world!
2 years ago I was talking with a friend of mine about this kind of games, and he told me back then that he was into a free-to-play one called "Holic", but that it got closed down, and that a new version of the game was released for the Colombian & Latin American audience; it was called "Expedición Holic" (it was released a year later in the U.S. as Cloud Nine). He told me his little cousin already started playing it, and that he though about joining the game too. It occurred to me that we could both start playing at the same time, in order to level up together, and he accepted. A couple of weeks later I had upgraded my computer, installed the game, and was ready to immerse myself in an experience that since I was 15 years old I wanted to feel!
So, I chose Ganav Libero as my faction and a Seneka (human) male rouge as my character. Then I was introduced to the game by a little cinematic, I met my friend in the town where I just spawned, I walked around town, and was introduced to a dynamic that I didn't know existed but that is primordial to the MMORPG genre, which was questing. After that, my friend typed something like "what a nice vice is this, isn't it?". I told him he was exaggerating... but he wasn't; it DID become a vice (an addiction) for the two of us.
On one side, playing Expedición Holic was an experience that gave me lots of pleasure: I met a lot of players, from a lot of different countries, that I shared with, chatted with, and even made me laugh uncontrollably at times. We fought epic battles together, completed quests, explored, and goofed around. The game also gave me a very high sense of accomplishment; everyday I played I felt progression, advancement... I felt I was growing. Every level I "dinged", every new piece of rare equipment I got, every new place I could now explore without the fear of being killed by creatures stronger by me... reinforced a feeling in me of achievement and continuous success, even if I had been killed several times, or had to quest for hours to no end...
Now, on the other side of the coin... the sad, but real side... is that everything was just what it was: a game. An illusion. I could have spent the summer vacations when I started playing in actually improving my social life by going out and meeting new people, interacting and sharing with them face-to-face; but instead, I spent literally all days (except maybe for one or two) of those vacations in front of the computer grinding and sharing with my virtual friends, leaving real-life interactions and physical activity "in the shelf".
Not only that, but I kept playing even after I started my next semester at University. I used all the time I could have used to study and strengthen my knowledge to kill monster after monster and hang out with my virtual pals. Eventually my mother "lost it", and screamed in my face (literally) that I was an addict. I pondered about that, and about all the stuff that I have just written: what I read about MMO addiction, how the game "emulated" real life feelings but were just an illusion, etc. I was lucky that I was not as hooked to the game that I couldn't live without playing it. I called my friend on the phone (I constantly met with him in-game), told him to meet me at my mother's house, and with him I uninstalled the game, and explained to him why I decided to do so. I eventually deleted my character when I visited him, but he wasn't able to drop out from the game... he was too hooked. He eventually quit the game after reaching a certain level, but at the expense of wasting massive amounts of time.
Was Expedición Holic fun, and are MMO's fun? You bet they are! They give pleasure, and as I said before, "emulate" emotions that humans crave for, such as progress and human interaction. But are they actually worth your time? Can they be damaging in the end? Well, that totally depends on you. I believe that as long as one applies true discipline, a little bit of MMO fun during the week is not terribly destructive... just like what happens with alcohol and tobacco. -->
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