Why Online RPG Games are so Addictive?

Popmundo, Zwinky, Sims, Renaissance Kingdom... all examples of role playing games (RPG). People spend hours and hours playing games such as Petville, Frontierville, Farmville and Cafe World on Facebook. Those are also examples of role playing games. In this day and age, people are becoming more addicted to these kind of games than to action and adventure videogames.

In RPG, the players 'become' their characters in a fictional setting. Many role playing games are fantasy, others are realistic. There are written role-playing games but in this hub, a s a request of my good friend LizzyBoo , I will be talking strictly about online RPG.

But what makes these games so addictive? It's quite simple really - I've narrowed it down to 2 reasons (yes, this is a short Hub).

Obviously these games are fun. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people so into it. For those who prefer action games, role playing games may seem boring but for some reason, these games can quickly go from boring to ridiculously entertaining. This is just my opinion of course and it depends entirely on your definition of fun.

When I was younger, I loved action videogames - although they frustrated me to frightful levels of violence. I began playing pokemon when I was about 8 years old and from that point, I was stuck on role-playing games. For those who have played pokemon, they may not have realised that it is a role-playing game but it is. 

We can deny it until our faces turn blue, but RPGs are ways to escape reality. Think about it: you are creating a whole new virtual world - a dream world almost... You can be having the hardest time of your life in reality, but in the game, you can be a billionaire with different houses in different countries, several expensive cars, a family and a job where you don't have to do anything.

I think that is the most addictive aspect of the game. You can 'live' the life in the game that you can't live in the real world. It's almost therapeutic. When my friend and I are chatting and either of us aren't in the mood to talk about real life, we simply talk about our characters. That is when I realised that RPG is an escape mechanism. It is quite an interesting realisation, don't you think?

Role-playing games enable you to be someone you are not. In role-play, you can be who you always wanted to be or you can express your 'alter-ego.' Maybe you are a good girl who plays it safe and you decide to be a little adventurous and risky in the game world. You want to live in Europe? Maybe RPG will allow you to.

Currently, I am playing a game called Popmundo - a game that LizzyBoo introduced me to. My first impression was that the game was boring but that quickly changed. The game is wonderful. You assume a character, chose where you will live and you start living your life. In the game, you can form relationships - friendships and romances. You can get married and have children, keep up a job and learn skills to get ahead professionally or for personal reasons.

Popmundo is the best example I have of an addictive RPG; mainly because I am terribly addicted to it.

Popmundo allows me to do things I only WISH I can do in real life. I live in London but I have a house in Amsterdam where my sister lives and currently I am vacationing in Rio de Janiero where my sister and I have a beach house. It's an awesome way of living, don't you think? I must mention that I make over 6000 US$ a week for doing absolutely nothing! Wow! Oh and by the way, I'm 16 years old in the game right now.

This game is free but you can become a VIP by paying a fee. With a VIP membership there is a lot more you can do and that is the way the website keeps ads off the game page. Of course, without a VIP membership you can still enjoy the game.

It is really a lot of fun. To join go to: www.popmundo.com. Oh and if you join, look me up: my character's name is Rosa Rosewell-Barthel.

So, to sum things up, online role-paying games are addictive because they're entertaining and an escape from reality. Face it, we all need to escape reality sometimes! :)