Relationships in MMOs

[Raiju]

Yes Yes NOOO

And yet here I am again in another one... maybe. Who knows. They never work but not like I was lookin'

[xenogear3]

That is how I meet my 3 children's mom.

Although Russia dating service is more direct and cheap ...

[Kiteh]

Right? But, what's that got to do with how the relationship between you and them ... never mind, it's 4am, I'm either tired or someone's confused.

Yep, you are 100% correct. You won the discussion.

[Zoaric]

I have not. I HAVE made lots of RL friends in-game though.

As has been said, it's not how you meet, it's what you do after. I'll take a wild stab
in the dark here and say that most relationships started in real life don't work out. So,
it's not surprising to see that most online-started relationships don't work out as well.

If you find someone you like and really hit it off with, why not go for it?

[Deleted]

I wouldn't suggest it is all I'm going to say to you OP.

I'm not planning on doing it, just interested is all

[Grinderofl]

Most people I consider friends come from MMO's. In fact I think most of them are from WoW... The two exceptions are from a dating site. I've met most of them IRL, too. All of my GF's I've met over WoW. We split up due to reasons you'd split up if it was all offline. My two roommates are who I met in WoW... I'd say it's as normal as non-online. In fact if anything, odds are I would have never been awfully interested in any of them had we met in a bar or something first because people tend to be shy.

[Tastyfish]

I think the bad overshadows the good when you talk about this kind of thing.

[JAKACHAN]

I think the bad overshadows the good when you talk about this kind of thing.

People are always touchy about this subject because they feel it could never work out or they see it as a desperation act when neither are true. I know multiple people who have had successful online relationships. In fact, one of my close friends just moved from the US to Australia after 3 years of being with her BF. The point is it can work you just need to have the willpower to carry on with it.

In general, I believe an online relationship can be one of the strongest once it has been turned from online to in person due to the even stronger bond and trust you have to form in dealing with such a long distance relationship.

[Hyve]

Currently dating a girl I met through World of Warcraft. Can't really say if it's working out because it's not been long enough to determine if it'll be a life-long thing, but we've met, I've met her family and friends and its a very serious relationship to the two of us.

[Deleted]

My friend did that they got married last december and seems like the're happy with their relationship. My friend is so lucky. Right now i'm playing an MMORPG name Eclipse War Online. Hope i can find my wife as well. Haha.

[Mormolyce]

So what you're asking is, are relationships puggable?

[Soulzar]

I personally have never had an in game relationship, but I understand how they can be so successful. Especially when it comes to something like wow, a past time that often causes friction between significant others who may not share the same passion (or time dedicated to the hobby). Finding somebody who has just as strong of a passion for something like this can be the strong bond that keeps folks together. People get quite emotionally tied to the game and those they play with, having somebody truly understand and share that with is important.

Not the same type of relationship the OP is speaking of, but my cousin and I developed a much closer friendship via our shared interest in Wow. Before he started to play we didn't really speak much outside of Holiday gatherings, now we chat all the time.

[stripesrus]

I, personally, would be embarrassed to admit that my relationship started via an online game...

[foxHeart]

Really depends on the nature of the relationship. Did you meet and hang out for a bit before you went exclusive? Or did you just meet someone online, chat with them on Skype for a few weeks, and then decide you were exclusive? The first, while kind of unusual imo, is fine. You're spending time with them, so who cares where you met? You're cultivating an actual relationship. The second is just a convenient farce and an illusion of true intimacy. People spend years and years getting to know the other person even after their married and you think you can just casually maintain a so-called relationship with someone you've never met in-person or physically been around? I mean, sure, you can kind of get a feel for who they are, but everyone harbors secrets and bad habits they don't show other people and you'd never really know unless you hung out with them. Sure, you may never know even if you did spend a little time with them, physically, but all in all I consider dating someone's avatar a very, very bad idea. People get lucky, I'm sure, but there's always the chance you're just virtually courting some serial killer with a collection of heads in their freezer.

Basically, just be careful and mature about how you cultivate relationships, as when you're careless about them, things can go very, very wrong and put you through a lot of needless heartache. I'd know.

[Rheckameohs]

Met my wife in WoW. Been together for 7 years.

So yes.

[Ehwall]

Met my wife in wow. Her and her bf she was living with at the time recruited me into their guild. Fast forward 6 years and I moved 3000 miles from Canada to California and we are expecting our second child in September.

I can honestly say that meeting someone online at a distance forces you to really get to know them on a personal level and it tests your level of commitment and trust. If you can survive all of that, you will have one strong, meaningful relationship.

And as a side note, we used to hide the fact that we met online because we were embarrassed. But now when we tell people it is an instant conversation starter and people are amazed with how crazy that is. They all get a giggle out of it but they admit how much more interesting and fun it is compared to how they met their significant other.

[Tenjen]

any medium where people can interact. the net, across balconies, letters, letters that take weeks or months to reach. THey all have the potential for relationships.

[Deleted]

Yes! I met my other half through WoW in 2009, still happily together. I even moved to another country to be with him.

[Deleted]

Really depends on the nature of the relationship. Did you meet and hang out for a bit before you went exclusive? Or did you just meet someone online, chat with them on Skype for a few weeks, and then decide you were exclusive? The first, while kind of unusual imo, is fine. You're spending time with them, so who cares where you met? You're cultivating an actual relationship. The second is just a convenient farce and an illusion of true intimacy. People spend years and years getting to know the other person even after their married and you think you can just casually maintain a so-called relationship with someone you've never met in-person or physically been around? I mean, sure, you can kind of get a feel for who they are, but everyone harbors secrets and bad habits they don't show other people and you'd never really know unless you hung out with them. Sure, you may never know even if you did spend a little time with them, physically, but all in all I consider dating someone's avatar a very, very bad idea. People get lucky, I'm sure, but there's always the chance you're just virtually courting some serial killer with a collection of heads in their freezer.

Basically, just be careful and mature about how you cultivate relationships, as when you're careless about them, things can go very, very wrong and put you through a lot of needless heartache. I'd know.

My relationship is one of the second kind. Why would it be "a convenient farce and an illusion of true intimacy"? What if one of a couple is in the army and needs to go to some country far away? Isn't that the same by your logic?

[lunchbox2042]

Cheers for the replies guys! I was thinking about writing an article about this matter because of how interesting and unorthodox finding love in games really is.
I've never done it myself but I've heard of dozens of people who have met in-game.
Why do you think this happens so much?
I have my own theories such as having a huge hobby in common and people find that they can open up more because of the anonymity but I'd be really interested to know what you guys think

You need to do some research. It's not really that uncommon to meet people online or in online games anymore.