Almost a good ending.
All things being equal, playing an online game is a way that people choose to
spend their leisure time - like watching television, reading a book, or going
to a bar. The fact that many of us find this strange is an ongoing sign that we
still relate to the experience of cyberspace as something novel, as something
out of the ordinary. If the gist of this column was that social interaction in
cyberspace is no different than social interaction in our pre-internet lives,
this would have been a logical place to bring it to a conclusion. But I've said
that enough times in previous columns, which is, perhaps both an advantage and
a disadvantage. It's an advantage because it forces me to strive to find something
more interesting to examine. But it's a disadvantage because it means I have to
keep on writing (though you, dear reader, will decide for yourself whether you'll
continue to read).
Go to: or why they stay, or
Go to: Someone's certainly doing it, or
Go to: It's all in the game.