Study: One in ten MMO players gets physical

A new survey shows that the stereotypical massively multiplayer online role-playing gamer as socially inept is in fact, massively incorrect. Researchers at Nottingham Trent University in the UK have found that three quarters of online role-players become close friends with others in their online worlds, with almost half meeting up in real life. Furthermore, one in 10 have--how do we put this?--had a "physical relationship."

The study, titled "Social Interactions in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Gamers," also found that females were more likely to fancy and/or go out on a date with people they played games with, and that 30 percent of all players found themselves attracted to someone else online. However, offline relationships didn't fare so well when MMOs became involved, with one in five gamers saying that they thought online gaming had a negative effect on relationships if their partner wasn't also into it.

The reasons men and women play MMORPGs were different, with women saying that they played for "therapeutic refreshment," whereas men said they played due to "curiosity, astonishment, and interest."

Almost 1,000 MMO gamers were quizzed for the study, with World of Warcraft being the most popular game, and the average time spent on an MMO per week being 22.85 hours.

Professor Mark Trent commented on the findings, "Previous research has suggested that gamers are socially inactive, but MMORPGs are actually extremely social games, with high percentages of gamers making life-long friends and even partners. As well as making good friends online, 81 percent of gamers play with real-life friends and family, suggesting MMORPGs are by no means an asocial activity, nor are the players socially introverted."