Hello everyone,

My name is Alex and I'm currently in the research stage of a documentary film about online gaming. I've played a fair share of MMOs myself so I'm in no way out to demonise the hobby!

I can't give too much away at the moment but we're not making another Second Skin and I don't intend on following a good/bad tangible/intangible thread for the film.

I'm starting off as simply as possible with a single question: why do you play?

Of course, the most obvious reply would be because it's fun! But if there are any of you who would like to consider that question a little further, then please feel free to get back to me at the email below.

I'd much prefer that you email me as opposed to replying to this thread because I want you to be able to speak about it as frankly as you are comfortable with, without public scrutiny.

All of your emails will be held in the strictest confidence. You can say as much as or as little as you like, and I'll read whatever stories you want to share - I just want an answer to this question.

So please feel free to email me at avatardocresearch (at) gmail with your country of origin (if you are happy to disclose it) and a response to this question.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from some of you,

- Alex

tl;dr: just read the bold bits!

P.S. I realise that I've effectively killed the thread by asking people not to reply to it, so if you do find this in any way interesting, I would very much appreciate it if you could throw a simple bump up so that others may have the chance to read it. Thankyou!

---------- Post added 2010-12-28 at 09:17 PM ----------

Thankyou everyone for the replies so far! There's still a lot more research to be done, so please keep them coming!