Cheating Relationships on MMOsFollow

I read and re-read this thread over and over again over the past hour, and been thinking (and listening to the music from the Sanctuary of Zi'tah ;).

I am sorry that I sounded a bit nihilist, for I was not intending to. I am a dreamer when it comes to the subject of love, and yet I confront it with realism. If you read my first post and the post before this one, you will see how I feel. It is confusing to try to understand, most of all for me.

I don't know if I am going to get married, or have kids. I don't ask for anything, and I will not expect anything to happen. I plan to take it as it comes.

...anyway...

About the masks, what can I say? Mail and Sig have pretty much covered it^^

In all the years I played MMRPGS people fall under 2 basic catagories. You can argue with me if you want but this what I noticed.

1. The way people act in game is something that they strive to be in RL....some people are extremly nice ingame way mroe then they are in RL. Some are much more bold and social outgoing in game then they are in real life. Some are just plain mean. Much more then they are in real life. Why much easier to express yourself over a keyboard then RL cause no one can see you so you take more chances.

2. The way people act ingame is there true colors. I had RL friends that have played MMRPGS with at first RL I thought they were the nicest people but the way I saw them treat people game was just plain mean. Yeah it is a game but it still affects real people. Most people are smart enough to realize that concept. And when I look at those friends of mine I thought were nice I start noticing that they act just as bad ingame as they do RL...if that makes sense.

Ah well thats my 2 cents ^^;

Here is just a part of my story.
Names have been omitted, because I'm just too damn nice, or stupid.

I have been an avid Final Fantasy player my entire life. So it came to no suprise to my wife when I went out and purchased a copy of the XI. I played for about a week before she decided that she would also like to play, she is also an avid FF fan. So we bit the bullet and bought a second copy and account for her use. This is where our lives began to change. She was a college student in graduate school and I just a regular PC support person. We both got the game in October 2003. Over the next few months she began to withdraw from our marriage. She spent more time in game than I did. Either because she was "in to it more" or because I just didn't play all that much. But I began to notice trends in game. She was always in zone with the same one player. At one point I had asked her "Who is this person?" her response "A friend from our LS, he just doesn't put his pearl on that often." I knew his name from out LS website and from seeing his name pass through LS chat a few times. But he tended to keep his LS pearl de-equipped and did most his chat through /tell. I did want any good husband did and went on with life thinking little of the fact that she has made a "friend" in game. The end of November or beginning of December is where life started changing. She stopped going to her classes saying that she did not like the teaching style of graduate school. This coming from a person who was bent on getting a Masters Degree just six months ago. She also cut her hours at her part-time job, which was also on campus at the school. So the semester ends in December and we have the usual holidays. After the new year she changes even more, with no school, she began to play XI even more. I would often go to bed because she was "in the middle of something" in game. The fact that I knew some quests and parties worked out, you don't want to stop in the middle. Then the fateful day came, I came home from work to find her crying at her PC. I was thinking something bad had happenned in game to her character. So I asked what was wrong. She told me that she was no longer happy in our marriage and that she wanted to leave. That was the last thing I had on my mind. This is mid-January, with no hints of problems with the marriage, I get a bomb dropped on my head. My marriage lasts exactly 6 more days from her announcement. She moves out the following week, to go home to her parents. I withdraw into my apartment, a shadow of my former self. I try and ask her to come with me to get some help, but she refuses everytime stating that there are too many differences that cannot be resolved. Now I know that every marriage has it's problems, ours was no exception. But I thought we had worked through many of our problems. It has been 6 months since I have seen my ex-wife. But I have learned many things from both RW and VR friends about my ex. She was not happy in the relationship as early as December 2003, but did not tell me, probably since she had people to talk with in VR. Remember the guy that she was always in zone with from the beginning of this post. She's been talking with him IRL, since the day she left me. She has also spent a week at his house in September. Mind you she has no job and no means to pay any bills, but she flew to the other side of the country to visit this guy. I also have it on the record from her family that she is planning to move to be closer to him.

I will admit that I am now a better person since she is gone. I have moved on and I am preparing to move to a new MMO. EQ2 is out today and I am going to give that a shot with some of my RL friends. I wish things had been different, I wish my ex all the luck. Because I know she will need it. Feel free to comment or send me a PM if you want to chat.

LOL

I'm me in this game.. if I smack you in game for doing or saying something stupid.. I would smack you in real life too.. to whoever has met me in game. I'm the same way in RL. Sarcastic.. outspoken.. funny.. kind of friendly, just depends on the first impression you give me..

Edited, Tue Nov 9 11:05:33 2004 by OmniscientUnlimited