Social gaming could really leave you Anti-Social

You would think that with all those guild members, a massive list of friends, and everyone begging you to join their group, that none of this could be detrimental to your social life. Think again! That massive sum of popularity you attained could very well be giving you a false sense of social qualities that could leave the feeling of having no friends at all.

A student at Ohio State University has discovered that all of your hours of earning DKP and being the most l33t main tank on the server are actually hurting those IRL (In Real Life) social qualities. In reality, you’re giving yourself a false sense of social interaction, which is causing you to be anti-social in the real world.

It can be difficult to admit, but most gamers can easily attest to having better on-time DKP bonuses than class attendance, and work is no different. You eventually find yourself tired at work all the time in an effort to nail that “Server First” with your guild mates in the late hours of the evening. Wanting to spend more time with those online-friends is a great way to say goodbye to those dreams of higher education and company CEO.

I’m not the internet papacy. This isn’t a sermon on the dangers of over-gaming or an attempt to tell you to ditch all your gaming buddies. Although scaling down play time and creating realistic goals around your schedule is a more satisfying approach for the busy gamer. It is important to remember that you’re in-game friends will understand (well, maybe) and that it is better to be l33t in the real world (hypothetically speaking).