Maple Story Reveals Underbelly of Virtual Wedding Phenomenon in MMORPG Games

Have you heard of the Maple Story game? It used to be that those seeking to escape reality would simply pick up a book and lose themselves in a gothic novel, searching for the bare-chested hunk who was upholding the family honor by climbing crumbling parapets. With the advent of the computer age, escaping from reality has gone virtual, and MapleStory is a premier example.

Maple Story is a massive multiplayer game that relies heavily on the role playing aspect for appeal (MMORPG). As such, the Maple Story game is a widely popular online game that is played for free. Game Study reports that as of a couple of years ago, in China alone, the Maple Story game has found 18 million subscribers while in the United States 1.5 million gamers log on religiously.

Much like any other role playing games, Maple Story is big on defeating monsters, attaining ranks, honing personal skills, and gaining a reputation. After that, there is the town of Amoria, where virtual marriages are held.

Virtual Marriages in Maple Story?

It is this portion of the Maple Story that got a Japanese gamer in hot water. The New Post Online reports that the 43 year old woman was virtually married to another gamer - whom she had never met in real life - and when he got the virtual equivalent of a quickie divorce, she saw red.

The Maple Story gamer decided to hack into her virtual husband's account and delete him from the story line, virtually killing him. In a surprising twist, the enraged holder of the recently virtually deceased avatar contacted authorities and the lady in question is now being held by Japanese police on the suspicion of "avatar virtual murder" and of course hacking.

Virtual World Marriages No Isolated Incidents

Online gamers know, of course, that the Maple Story game is but one of the many massively multiplayer online role playing games that allow for virtual marriages to take place. The Daedalus Project reveals that 10% of surveyed male and 33% of surveyed female online MMORPG players have participated in a virtual marriage.

In some cases the virtual weddings mimic those in the real world - when gamers who actually know each other and may be planning a real life wedding are interacting online - while at other times virtual stranger who never met, and never will meet, tie the virtual knot. Then again, there are those stories where a virtual match leads to serious real life dangers.

Once again the News Post Online reports of an incident occurring in the United States when another MMORPG marriage - this one in the Second Life online game - let to a kidnapping plot that left the aggressor, the woman, in jail pending a $65,000 bail.

Sources:

http://www.maplestory.com/; http://gamestudy.org/eblog/2006/04/21/some-facts-on-maple-story/; http://www.newspostonline.com/world-news/dangers-of-net-addiction-japanese-woman-held-following-virtual-murder-2008102410744; http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/000467.php; http://www.newspostonline.com/world-news/second-life-virtual-world-lover-wanted-to-kidnap-partner-in-real-life-200808303575