Violent video games have always been viewed negatively because of the influence that may make individuals to be violent in real life. For the longest time, people have speculated that they are the reason why violence in kids, teens, and even adults to increase. One of the reason behind this is the interaction they have within the game such as endorsing violent behaviours. However, there are many people who disagree since they view violent video games as an outlet of something that they cannot do in real life. My personal experience with interactions that I could not do as easily in video games is very positive. One of the things is talking about having people understand what I truly like within the video game without judgment which is very nice. Although certain communities can be toxic, people’s experience can vary. Another is immersing yourself into an environment that you may not be able to do like in real life due to finance and etc. Even though you are just staring at a monitor screen, it is still quite an experience with advanced graphics these days, it is unique and pretty to look at. Not only that, depending on the game you play, you can become someone that you are not, using abilities and skills to guide through the videogame. These experiences help players to do things that they can never do in reality. You cannot teleport around in real life, but you can achieve those things in a video game and I think that is the unique part of being inside an imaginative world. When we talk about these things, we cannot forget about the moral choices we are given when playing videogames. We tend to make choices that we may not be making in the real world because of how hidden we are to others. Our identities are not revealed unless we choose to do so. However, players are still human and we feel what kind of choices we make towards others, such as altruistic behaviours can feel rewarding for many of us because those are the human thing to do. However, we can also choose to ignore those around us, making others feel isolated or even bully in certain way because of how videogames protects our identity. These moral values determine what kind of people we might be dealing with online, and can sometimes be annoying in general. Hence the communities within the videogame world. Social structures are constructed where genuine or non-genuine people are divided among the world, being able to tell the difference between them almost right away. We humans may be moral as we want to be, but that morality boundaries can easily be broken within the game world society and that can divide as well as create communities.

There are many social aspects to Guild Wars 2 including chat, guilds, and trading. Not only that, but you can interact with anyone and anywhere in the game as long as they are online.  The game’s communication aspect was well present since there were many players approaching and completing the same quests, however, I did not have much interaction with any of them. I felt that this was because most of the time people were very focused on advancing to the next levels. Due to the lack of engagement of other players and them ignoring the requests and etc, I was not able to part take in guilds or voice comms. The game was very complicated when it came to the lore. Even though you were emerged within the environment, I started to question where and how the game elements got there in the first place, meaning I would have to look other sources in order to understand the origins of the environment, monsters, structures and etc. There are programs out there called trainers that allows players to “hack” into the game such as no clipping where a player can go through walls and etc. I think going online and searching for answers outside of the game is a great way to be associated with the game itself because you get to know more information that might not necessarily be provided in the game. Even though developers want people to find information by themselves in game, it is often difficult for people to do since it requires heavy investments and easter egg hunting. When it comes to players assistance when playing MMORPG, players are very helpful because one of the reasons why they are even in the game is they are devoted to it. When I was confused about something, I would often reach out to a visible player and ask about what is required to complete certain quests when some of the requirements do not really make sense. Players would often respond back, telling me what the best route and options I have in order to complete the quest. I have never had an encounter where anyone would offer their weapons or anything like that mostly because it was a hassle and they knew that in time I would get better weapons as I level up and etc. Report player function in chat felt awkward because anyone can report anyone and even though the management of reports would see the conversations since everything’s recorded, anyone could potentially be offended to certain things. Sometimes without even trying to resolve the situation, they would resort directly to the report function which can give wrong ideas of the report itself. My anonymity did not really matter in the end because I was forced to continue the game regardless of what the player would think or comment on specific characteristics of my avatar. Even though this never happened, conversations never really happened which goes back to the whole premise of doing your own thing to achieve your goals within the game. Responses to reading supportive comments would be very surprising since with my encounters within videogames in general, a lot of trolls come and go, and my immediate response would be either ignore or mute the player in any way I can. The game tries very hard to have everyone included, but with many years of playing MMORPGs, I have come to realize that overtime it gets very boring. One of the examples is that when I used to play MapleStory regularly in elementary school all the way to highschool. I realized how much I have attached myself to that game not because of the gameplay of it, but the social aspect of it. However, as time went on, it was the community that mattered the most and the gameplay was rather dry after awhile since MMORPGs are very grind based. Guild Wars 2 gave off the same vibe but more intensely because I did not grow up playing this game. Although the combat system and gameplay was different, it still had the core element of that grindy feeling which made me detach from the game. I genuinely think that people play these games to belong and to become someone who they are not, and they all experience loneliness at some point in there lives, and these games are one of many outlets to fulfill the loneliness.