When people find out that I play video games, specifically MMOs, they just kind of look at me with that look. You can tell it's them judging me for wasting my time. And yes, sometimes that's exactly what I'm doing, because no one wants to be doing homework 24/7. But it's fine, absolutely fine. Why? Because there's a good chance that one of your friends will be online, regardless of time of day, because who the heck has a good sleep schedule anymore?
In MMOs, you meet hundreds and thousands of people. You may not ever interact with them for more than two seconds, but you're still coming in to connection with people who live wildly different lives from you. Standing two feet from your character could be someone halfway across the world.
If you're like me, you'll find an incredible group of friends through these video games. At first, you'll be intimidated by them because they've been around longer than you have. And then, somehow, you'll find yourself 7 years later surprised that you haven't met them in person yet. You'll have countless inside jokes. You'll spend many moons joking about how you need to go to bed for real this time, and continue to stay up until the sun rises. You'll talk about politics and memes, restaurants you want to try, and places you want to go.
Maybe you'll develop relationships that last a life time. Maybe they'll be there for two weeks and disappear for the rest of your life. It's fine. You could be part of a research study, or just someone's end of the day wind-down routine.
When you think about it, it's just like joining a forum online. It's like making friends off of Twitter and Tumblr and any other website that allows you to connect with strangers across the world. The only difference is that video games give you the option to 'physically' hang out and do stuff together.
Soon, it'll be less about playing the game and more about just logging on to socialize. It'll be looking at the clock and knowing your friends just got home from work. It'll be something to look forward to after a long, terrible week of classes. They'll send you animal pictures to cheer you up.
Basically my point is - it's an overlooked resource. You don't have to be living in your parents basement and 34 years old in order to play video games. You could be a nursing student, or a construction worker. It does not matter. Just enjoy the company you're in, and let people have fun.
