Fellowship of the online gamers

Through guilds, players form social circles of similar interest and game style. They help one another complete quests that require extra tools or experience. A certain amount of trust and camaraderie is developed, and these bonds can feel closer than those in real life (see chart).

Because online relationships tend to form during times of heightened tension, they are often driven by necessity and trust. It's useful, Yee says, to think of these relationships as very real but in a form most people are simply unaccustomed to in real life. "Thus, in a strange way," he adds, "it is unfair to stigmatize or question the superficiality of online relationships because we seldom stop to wonder how superficial our real-life friends are."

Much of the draw of these multiplayer video games, he adds, is the ability to try on someone else's shoes for a while. Gamers encounter a wide range of characters - beasts and bards, ogres and elves.

When Darrel created his character, for instance, he chose to make him a shaman because learning the art of healing is more challenging than learning how to fight. "I've had Kelldal for about one and a half years," says Darrel, who earns mostly A's at his private Christian school in Connecticut. "I really like him because he's a pure caster, which means he's not meant for hand-to-hand combat but for spells."

Adam, on the other hand, confesses to enjoying the rare dose of extreme power. "When I was younger I played Doom for hours at a time because I liked feeling I was saving the world and fighting for a cause," he says.

In a way, role-playing may be a sort of rite of passage, a substitute for heroics in a culture that doesn't celebrate crossing the threshold to adulthood.

"Let's say I gave you the power to create a creature ... that reflected your values and beliefs, your likes and dislikes about the world as it is, and then you got to live the life of that creature for a while," Gee says. "Such games allow people to think about their real-world identities and the nature of social interaction in everyday life. Surely you would learn something about yourself."

The potential impact of MMORPG role-playing on learning, Gee says, is limitless. "Would that schools used such power to recruit scientists or social workers."

Decoding the language of video gamers

Agro: Aggressive

Buff: To cast skill- or ability-enhancing spells

Clarity: A spell that increases mana (i.e. power) regeneration

Debuff: Decrease the "stats" of a player, such as quickness or resistance

DOT: Damage over time, cast as a spell over an opponent

HOT: Heal over time

IMHO: In my humble opinion

Land the root: Force an opponent to freeze

Land the slow: Force an opponent to slow down

Nerf: Reduce the abilities and strength of a character

Powerlevel: Heal a lower-level friend while he or she gets experience

Res: Resurrect a character back to life

Rest: Sit and meditate while revitalizing one's stats

Stats: Short for statistics; appears on a player's screen to track his or her character's skill and energy levels

Zoning: Moving through zones via teleport

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