Exodus to the virtual world

by Russ Roberts on January 7, 2008

The latest EconTalk is Edward Castronova talking about his new book, Exodus to the Virtual World. He argues that people will increasingly spend time living in the virtual world, playing these large-scale multiplayer real-time games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life. Very interesting. He then explores the implications for the "real" economy. I was skeptic at first, but I think he is on to something that most of us who don’t play these games are missing.

The book is superb, full of interesting observations about this world and the virtual one.

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vidyohs

Personally I made a prediction some 11 years ago that when virtual reality has progressed to the point where stimulus can be applied directly to the appropriate centers of the brain so that connected with vision virtual sex can be as exciting and stimulating as real sex, or even within a close proximation, then we will see an addiction like none ever witnessed on Earth before.

Frankly as an religiously ambivalent man, God help us!

If it is too loud I am too old and I am, so I guess something similar could be said about me vis a vis video games. I simply can not get wrapped up in playing lkife when I can go find my wife and live it, or go out the door and live it.

Mortal Kombat.....drive the freeways of America in rush hour. Exciting enough for most people, I think.

But then I guess a machine may humiliate you, but after all it is only a machine and you can turn it off and cheat it of gloating.

Change is coming, no one can predict where it will take humanity, I may not like it per se, but I am going to live with it for awhile longer I suppose.

Randy

Billy,

Yeah, I kind of figure that taking a turn over is not really cheating if the purpose is to correct an injustice - like losing a battle I really should have won :)

Billy

Randy, you can also back up just a little bit, rather than starting over completely, and undo what might have seemed at the time like a good decision, like playing nice with Montezuma, axe-rushing Mansa Musa, or not destroying the Romans before they could get that iron deposit hooked up. Not that I'd encourage that, of course.

Agree on the second part, too. In all the incarnations I've bought, my total spent is well upwards of $39.95, but I can't think of anywhere that I've gotten more for my entertainment dollar than the Civ franchise.

Ron

I don't quite buy it. There are gamers and there are non-gamers. Gamers spend less time socializing (whatever that means) and they will increasingly take the game to virtual worlds. Non-gamers won't.

I fail to see any significant change.

M. Hodak

I recall the article about the guy who got "married" in his virtual world, and his real world wife was not amused.

It's easy to see how these MMP games can draw you in, especially if you don't have much going for you in the real world, and how they become more exciting to more people as the (virtual) white sands of the Caribbean and handsome avatars frolicking about become more convincing and perceptually complete. It will soon begin to raise serious questions about what it means to be on vacation. Soon afterwards, it will begin to raise serious questions about what it means to be alive, first for disabled people who have much more freedom of action in a virtual world than in the real world, then for the rest of us with our imperfect lives.

I wish I had the time to actually explore such questions as they are arising now, but I don't, though unfortunately not from spending time playing games.

Randy

It has occurred to me while playing Civ that the major difference between my life and that of some old world king is that I can spend more time at the game and that I can start over if things go wrong. It has also occurred to me that one good game costing $39.95 has saved me an untold amount of money on the things I would probably be buying if I was still bored.

Martin Brock

I don't play the nominal "online games", but my kids do. I listen to podcasts and play at this web forum and similar forums. Is there a difference? Yours is most excellent by the way. Thanks for that.