Why People Try Dating in MMORPGs
Forget services that try to find your perfect love match or help you create that special harmony with your true love. Internet dating can be a real let down, especially if customers go into it hoping for the happily-ever-after featured in a cleverly scripted middle of the night television advertisement. If you’re truly interested in finding someone compatible with your deepest desires, look no further than your nearest Iron Realms role playing game!
Physical appearance
Everybody knows the photos used for internet dating sites are staged. Even if someone does look that good on camera, there's no guarantee their fairer features will carry over into real life. So what if you’ve been playing rpg games for 30+ hours and look like death’s third cousin? Thanks to the ability to customize your rpg game character you can look as stunningly beautiful (or as unspeakably ugly) as your heart desires. And the best part is, nobody has to know that you’re still in pajamas, haven’t showered or combed your hair, or that you have a last night’s dinner of fast food tacos gracing the front of your shirt.
Social status
Here’s a chance to boast to all your friends about your long-distance rpg game lover who is head of an inter-regional corporation that promotes organic healing products. Why ruin their awe and cease their well wishes to you by telling them the truth -- that he’s thirty-four, between jobs and spends his free time playing the leader of a forestal house in an online role playing game environment? And don’t worry if it doesn’t work out. In a virtual realm, everything can be altered. Goodbye, stigma associated with divorce because for a one-time fee it can be removed from your rpg game record.
Low risk of disease
Unless your computer catches something from the relationship being taken outside the role playing game to instant messages, web cams or emails, it’s fairly certain that a sexually transmitted virus isn’t something on your list of concerns.
Less expensive
Don’t let minor obstacles like the Atlantic Ocean prevent you from having a torrid affair with an exotic foreigner. Thanks to Iron Realms role playing games, the opportunities are not only endless, but they’re also really inexpensive, especially when you consider all the rpg game classes that possess some kind of cool insta-travel ability. Why waste real time and real money on a relationship outside the realm when you can delve into a perfectly good roleplaying game adventure for free?
Unlikely risk of a hidden past
One of the many benefits of a close-knit roleplay community is that everyone knows someone that knows someone else. If not, obtaining public knowledge about another rpg game character is as close as their HONOURS information. And if worst comes to worst, you can always peruse the forums.
In summary, love doesn't come with a guarantee in any realm, regardless if you’re living just across town or halfway across the world from one another. Regardless of your situation, finding love is a bit like playing the Iron Lottery. If you don’t make the effort to enter the contest, then you’re sure to wind up losing every time the winning tickets are selected.
Penelope Swain is a role playing enthusiast who enjoys the best rpg games from Iron Realms!
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Comments
More fun
It's also less risky and more fun!
Agreed, within reason.
Agreed, within reason.
haha
yeah
should be mentioned
there is a higher risk of Brandy's real name being Randy in online rpg game dating
Celibate
Well, personalities abound, but I always role a celibate character and try to be friendly to everyone.
But either way, it's fun.
-You- being celibate should
-You- being celibate should not matter at all. So you're trying to say that oh since im celibate who cares if my in game wife "Brandy" is really Randy?? Wake up and smell the roses dude! This world is crumbling because of this crap
World crumble
"This world is crumbling because of this crap"
lol What world, what crap?
And Brandy is, most likely,
And Brandy is, most likely, feeling very randy.
Best to assume
I met her hunting frogs down in Balach swamp
Melting their minds with notes from her viola
v-i-o-l-a Viola
She walked up to me and she asked me to bash
I asked her her name and and in a raspy voice she said "Lola"
L-o-l-a Lola
I checked her description and it was absurd
It as all double D's and feminine curves
She took my hand and dragged me under a tree
She said dear boy won't you mudsex with me
Well I'm not the world's most masculine man
But I know what I am and I'm really a man
And so is Lola
Lo-lo-lo-lo-lola
Bahahaha. Yes. Obligatory
Bahahaha. Yes. Obligatory facebook like.
Haha
I likes this!
Haha
Oh dear! I must admit that I did grin when I read this.
Cute article. Nice to have one that is so tongue-in-cheek.
Exscept, it's true...
Exscept, it's true...
LOL
funny!
lol'd
lol'd
lmao
hahahaha, this gave me a good laugh. well written!
^
Yessss.
Can't stop, must breath
I cannot stop laughing, I love this article and that song +100 *brushes some crumbs off her pyjamas* >.><.<
*lollol*
Had to chuckle at that one.
And no, I am not a man :P
Oh that's VERY nice,
Oh that's VERY nice, heh.
That's the big risk to hooking up with somebody in a game of course, but I don't think I've ever heard it put so... poetically, before.
Stratas wins,
Stratas wins, comprehensively.
You.. you...
You win a cookie. Hell, you win a whole city built from cookies!
As for the article itself... there's an almost saddening level of truth in it. I, for one, have met far too many awesome people, and quite a few of those people have turned ties to one another via IRE's games into something more substantial in that strange place called 'real life'. The benefit in that regard is that... people are rarely putting all their effort into 'maintaining appearances' amidst the OOC chatter that goes on behind the scenes surrounding these games, and it's just as likely to get an earful of someone's bad day at work as anything else. Of all the contradictions of terms, the fact that the people you get to know over time here tend to be more 'real' than the facades of those you meet outside of this place... is amusing. This all, of course, assumes there's more time spent getting to know the person than happened with Lola there...
Awesome.
Awesome.
^^ Brilliant!
Haha
Excellent
Great Parody there Stratas. I think you should get more that one credit for that. Thanx for the laugh this morning
lolol
lolol
Hehe...
Kind of reminds me of a joke I used to tell:
After each line, the reply is "I am a man."
You wake up.
You go to work.
You come home.
You head to a bar.
You pick up a stripper.
You f*** her in your car.
When you wake up in the morning, she whispers into your ear.
Awesome
It's been said countless time already, but you, good sir, win. Truth in poetry...
ha!
That is way to true!! Way to true
haha
s
so true
Hehehe
Hehehe
:)
:)
:))
I concur with Mort!
:)))
And I with Rinzai.
:))))
I'm with Oceana
xD
i'm with genocide
wait...
smilie for a credit. comment
smilie for a credit.
comment for a credit :)
Hmmm
Interesting way to look at achaea.
To laugh or to cry...
Not sure if I should laugh or cry at the irony that, aside from the fact that it says 'he' and I'm about 2.5 months from being 34, that the person in the 'social' section actually describes me currently *peer*.
They're watching you.
They're watching you.
This was delightfully
This was delightfully hilarious.
I'd have to agree about the
I'd have to agree about the HONOURS comment - you can immediately know that you should stay away from a potential mate when it says "She has been divorced 47 times"
Thanks to a new artifact, you
Thanks to a new artifact, you can hide all those pesky 10000+ divorces !
Funny
Go go online dating. :D
both sides
there are a lot of good points to dating in a game. however, there has been way too much drama over game love. maybe becuse i don't take game love seriously. it's fake. it's just played. so when people get butt-hurt that i don't really feel that way for their character in real life, that's just lame.
fun
so much fun to read! I really enjoyed this.
Internet Dating
So many people try to use this mud to connect irl, it IS internet Dating for a lot of people :S It seems like almost every other character who begins dating another character tries to go and be with the player irl.
Eh. I met my current partner
Eh. I met my current partner outside of the game, and he's expressed little interest IN the game. Likewise, most of the people my character(s) have dated/been engaged/married to have been, at best, just friends outside the game. Still, I've seen a lot of people take it outside.
Online Dating
People just need to take a chance, climb out of their hole, and go meet someone. Do it the real way.
Couldn't agree more, but that
Couldn't agree more, but that argument probably won't work with this population..
RE: ^
Sorry but actually, I don't want to 'get out and do it for it real'. If my guy didn't play IR i would hate him.
He would hate me.
Almost true
Quite funny, and almost true. I'm pretty sure I've spent more money on achaea than I have on every girl I've been with combined.
Imma scared
Of those diseases you may get! This was a wonderful read.
divorces
Ha. My divorces are all from the same girl. Get em mad, divorce you. They come back and hand you something to reengage you. Ha! Live and learn!
interesting
read
that was my favorite article
that was my favorite article so far. seriously
Very true
its a funny but all true.
Oh boy...I facepalm'd... then
Oh boy...I facepalm'd... then began laughing at this article. I give it a +1
Ha haha haha
Ha haha haha
Oh, no credits? Why?
Oh, no credits? Why?
Because I took your creddies!
Because I took your creddies! That's why! Muahaha!
Well written
It's nice to see these articles not taking themselves to seriously.
Yes
This. And lol'd.
:)
:)
>Unlikely risk of a hidden
>Unlikely risk of a hidden past
This is because everyone took the same newbie intro tour. "Oh, you escaped from Slaver's Isle? Me too!!"
I've seen some logs and I
I've seen some logs and I think just reading them can give you a disease.
Cannot be unseen. :(
Cannot be unseen. :(
Mudsex is like fanfic.
Mudsex is like fanfic. Ridiculous, mostly unreadable, and quite unfulfilling.
ehhhhh
tough call
Laughing my...err...bum off.
Ok so I thought maybe it was going to be serious because c'mon, everyone knows rpg dating is the same as the real thing these days! ...Or wait, is it the real thing these days?
...
*shudders* Scary thought there.
Anyway, I laughed. Loved the article. It was cute.
RE: RPG dating
Lol kayy...
Logs?
Of what? Internet dating? >.>
...
Allright then.
heh, I like that
heh, I like that
Why its grand
Dont forget the other advantages! Depending on the realm you can have kids RIGHT THEN. And lets be honest everyone (at least the mothers) would rather have text kiddos than real ones. Yay for not having labor!
haha
too funny :)
Online relationships
As a social network, IRE does offer the opportunity to meet people that I would probably not do so in real life especially since I would have zero patience for their personality.
In regards to relationships, it gives people the chance to 'test' things out in a bubble which can gauge how something -might- work out in real life. Of course, there are other variables like meeting the rl parents which all happen after the transition from online to rl occurs.
I still don't understand why people would need an online game to meet... Just learn how to dance...
Hahaah
Hahaha, nice. Good for a chuckle!
Nice wardancer art. Doot, doot.
Funny, yet..
It does encourage people who shove the rules of 1,3 and 4 into your face and expect 'that' kinda stuff just by managing to invite you into their house.
Funny article to be sure
Funny article to be sure
The comedy articles are
The comedy articles are fantastic
these articles are getting
these articles are getting weirder and weirder.. :p
Love the tongue in cheek articles
At least I hope it's tongue-in-cheek...
MUDsex
No wet patch afterwards. Well, yaknow, unless you...
I guess I should also point out the rise of e-bigamy and e-adultery, but honestly, who carez?
Relationships add colour to
Relationships add colour to the gameplay, I find. Nothing like a good romance (or scandalous affair) to shake things up. I find they also lead to some great RL friendships too!
I know why I suck at this...
It's because I use doffing as a greeting instead of smiling or waving (And that makes me look too formal) . But I just can't stop after having searched for ages and spending so much gold on the hat. :(
Ahh...
I've sported the fedora a fair bit in past lives... and the trick, don't be so formal as that, set up a little alias to smirk, incline your head faintly, and just lightly flick the brim of the hat. It serves to show informality, as well as a touch of blatant overconfidence... and that really doesn't get the 'right, shove off.' reaction it should most days. (also, anyone who recognizes me from merely that, I might die laughing...)
Thanks!
Why didn't think of an alias! I'll make something a little more demure to suit my character.
P.S: Did you ever get the "shove-off" reaction?
An because IRE games double
An because IRE games double up as an online chat with features on occasion :D
I know I'm going against the
I know I'm going against the grain here, but there have been people who have met their future wives or husbands on IRE games. In all seriousness, it CAN be a good way to meet interesting, like-minded people, whether you're looking for it or not. I know I have.
*straightens the creases out of his pyjamas*
Then again marriage from IRE
Then again marriage from IRE games is so last season since there's been people who made president of IRE by playing IRE games...oh wait!
Then you'll eventually get
Then you'll eventually get the 'should we meet up in RL? question.
I traded..
'should we' for 'hey, wait you're *where*? Holy crap... that's actually doable... so, sushi?"
To be fair..
I do agree that IRE games are better internet dating/matchmaking sites than those offered elsewhere. I know many couples who have met each other and connected through IRE games.
Commercials
I feel like somebody should make a commercial in the style of online dating sites, but for IRE games.
Playing IRE games can be as
Playing IRE games can be as expensive as a RL relationship if you take into account the time commitment.
hah
online dating isn't nearly as fun as becoming a whole different person in a virtual world
Please...
PLEASE... tell me that was as tongue in cheek as much of the article was aimed to be? *chuckles*
LOL.
LOL.
I am impressed by the RL
I am impressed by the RL couples that can roleplay a relationship with other people. I would be so jealous !
This
This
Jealous of what? Cheating?
Jealous of what? Cheating? Because it is cheating.
Our couple story
I met my girlfriend on Achaea. We've been living together for over 2 years. We maintain roleplay in-game and at one point her character was Mhaldorian while my character was Shallamese and we didn't share top secret org information outside the game with eachother. Okay, we did, but we never used it IG against eachothers orgs.
If you break the barrier and
If you break the barrier and go real life with it. That is pure and sweet. I like your story :D But saying "Oh, but I cant let you know who I am in real life" Is just scarey. There is no reason to be afraid to let anyone know anything about the real person unless you do have something to hide. Not only that but it isn't healthy. What is healthy is what you have. I am smiling because of this. Congratulations :D Cherish what you have.
mhmm
makes sense
It's true
I have met my girlfriend through Lusternia and we are very happy, even though we took the more expensive route outside of the game. We're happy :)
You are truely happy and that
You are truely happy and that is what matters because it is real. Congratulations. :D Cherish that and never let it go.
Daem
Met through an ironrealms game? Nice
Don't really
like articles like this :/
or you could meet someone in
or you could meet someone in person...
Haha
Clever.
meh
Who knows?
*ponder*
I've always enjoyed roleplaying romance, but often run into the problem where my partner thinks that its real...
What happens in IRE stays in
What happens in IRE stays in IRE.
Why don't you try something
Why don't you try something real for a change? Like go find your romance in the real world. Take a chance! That is part of real life. you're taking an even bigger chance doing it in an online game where they don't care about you or your dreams. Nor do they know the real you. Meaning, they won't know how beautiful of a being you really are. Etc. Etc.
*Boggle*
Nothing about IRE is real, apart from the admin running it and we the players behind the screens, everything else is surreal and fake. You play a game to have fun, not to conform to someone's ideal way of RP. Tough luck.
make believe
roleplay, make believe, stories, imagination = fun
crossing over into real life = painful
hilarious
hilarious
Interesting thoughts. Not
Interesting thoughts. Not quite sure the best relationship to boast about, but certainly amusing.
Across nations, across time zones
On top of the benefits already explained, Iron realms provides a platform where people across the world in different timezones can congregate together in a RPG. Doing away with human's naturally judgemental character, the legitimate masking of one's real identity allows one to forge real friendship that has the batter and not just the cream (using the analogy of a cake).
It is not real if you do not
It is not real if you do not know the real person. What you are forging is a fantasy (fake) Friendship. To forge real friendships, you would get to know the real person behind the character. People are having a hard time these days seperating the real from the fake. It is sad :(
Tried
Tried it a few times, and frankly I either can't get it right, or dating in an rpg isn't for me
Exotic foreigners
Exotic foreigners do not exist unless you go OOC.
I have tried my fair share of
I have tried my fair share of the pointless fake IC dating. And let me tell you....It is completely unhealthy for you. The reasons is ...it is not real. It is nothing like online dating. Online is real. Real why? You ask? Because you get to know the real person. You are not hiding behind a character that does not exist. Saying things like Oh, but I don't really care about the person so it must be okay. I don't even know the person behind the character because I keep things IC is just...Then why do it? There is no reason for it. You can be friends with someone in game. Sure but why waste time and energy to be with a text character. Or any video game character. This is what our world is coming to. We are having trouble seperating reality from the fake. It is unhealthy to ourselves and it does hurt us, whether we see it or not.First off, for all you that are married in ReaL Life. Think about it...It is not fair to your spouse that you are spending any amount of time trying to get to know a "character" when you can be spending time with your Real Life spouse. It -is- a form of infidelity. Cheating is cheating. There are no loop holes. It doesn't matter that you don't care about the person in the game. You are still putting out energy for it. And if you really don't care about them, then why be with them? Just be "fake friends" As I call it. Honestly, that is unhealthy too. If I was to put energy into a relationship, I think I'd rather have it in real life and take a chance at catching a disease because that is part of real life. People who are not stupid, won't catch the diseases. Period. Know your roll people. I can keep going on and on, but I won't. So take a hint and stop wasting your beautiful, valuable lives over something that is not real and learn to enjoy the real world. It is a beautiful place and the only place where you really can date exotic women. You just need a passport and plane ticket. What a thrill it is just to fly in a plane!
lol
Excellent retelling of events...so I'm going to bite the bullet here, I'm a married woman, my character is married to someone...pssst guess what!?!? My husband plays the same game to, he introduced me to the game and he is friends with my char's husband on MSN! wadda ya know! (It really is called having 'fun' and not getting your knickers in a twist, sorry to say) If you have problems with realising IG relationships are not real, then sorry buddy you have already lost the game, not everyone has your same problem...it really is a bit like playing sims to an extent, and I do like playing sims, not as much as I used to. Sadly, I actually think dating sites are for the desperate and the psychotic. Get away from the PC, walk out of your front door and take a look at the humans. If I ever caught my daughter on a dating website...I would thorougly throttle her.
LOL. I do get out and go out
LOL. I do get out and go out in the real world. That's the point I'm making is that I do those things. You obvisouly do not do it enough to have to have a fake game relationship as well as a real one. That means your real marriage doesn't cut the cake for you. Get a life
A real one. I don't waste my time with fake crap like this.
Well aren't you just a
Well aren't you just a negative stereotyping nancy.
Haha
Never mind, nothing to see here.
Why are you playing an RPG if
Why are you playing an RPG if you don't want to roleplay? Of course it isn't real, that's the point. People play games to experience something different from their usual lives. As long as you're mature and make your OOC/IC separation clear, there's not reason you can't have perfectly healthy in game relationships, romantic or otherwise.
change your lover
And, if she / he is agreeable, you CAN change your lover. (or have them change themself for you).
lol, this is much safer
lol, this is much safer indeed!
Lawl
This article made me laugh. Thank you for brightening my day :P
I've never been a fan of
I've never been a fan of in-game dating, marriage or mud-sex.
On the other hand, I also never used online dating.
I've never heard of someone playing Muds because of the girls :D
really?
I thought this WAS internet dating!
Personally I find any kind of
Personally I find any kind of online dating to be silly, who knows who you're talking to.
Personally I find any kind of
Personally I find any kind of online dating to be silly, who knows who you're talking to.
Wd
Another awesome picture, she's kind of the sterotype wd. She's supposed to be all for the bloodlust ^^
Not Dating?
This ISN'T dating?
OMG!!?
"This ISN'T dating?"
My old freind met his real life wife in achea. They got married moved to hawaii and I never heard from them again..so I guess it takes all kinds.
funny read :P
funny read :P
works out sometimes
I met my wife on achaea.
IRE games tend to attract
IRE games tend to attract certain types of people. I've had 3 real life relationships stem from them, and many friends I've kept longer than RL friends. Of course, people can and do misrepresent themselves, but they can in real life too.
Thanks for the article
Thanks for writing this article.
gaming AND dating
ever get drunk on a first date? in Achaea, NO headache!
My problem.
My problem is I would get too attatched, then I would break my heart to see one leave
if she gets really mad
you can always role a new character
rofl
I luv IRE but on this topic i'll keep it RL
the moral
perhaps the moral of the story is that both internet dating sites and MUD dating leave something to be desired
come now
who hasn't made a character of the opposite sex?
Marriage!
I met my husband on this game, actually. We are very happily married.
Good times
Even if it's not a romantic relationship. They are all still fun, and it's nice to have good friends online!
Tons of other reasons
too
this made me laugh XD
this made me laugh XD
I'd go with..
IRE gaming AND dating >_> Nothing can replace a good woman in RL, no matter how imaginative in game.
I agree. I'll choose option
I agree. I'll choose option number 3 and take both, as well. There is nothing like curling up next to a significant other in bed at night, or taking a long walk in the park on a nice day. Games are all fun and well, but the world at large is far and beyond something more magical.
If you like romance books,
If you like romance books, text games are a great opportunity to give yourself that cliche description and live your own romance book in the game!