The Psychology of Games podcast recently did an episode on forming attachments to places in video games.
“Have you ever become attached to a place in a video game?” host Jamie Madigan asked. “A virtual environment that you’ve obviously never visited in the flesh but which you start to think of […] like a real place?” It’s common and normal, and I suspect it’s inevitable in MMORPGs specifically, as they’re designed on purpose to feel like virtual worlds.
I’m super attached to specific zones in LOTRO, for example, and my homes in Star Wars Galaxies Legends actually make me feel happy when I’m in them. It’s definitely not just places I built a myself, however; there are lots of these pixel areas that I think of as “places I can go” rather than like landscapes I can look at.
Is there a place in an MMO that you’re sentimentally attached to?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
