World Of Warcraft - Fantasy Vs Reality

I have had the opportunity to play many different video games. The violence in some is just incredible, and in many ways very scary and worrisome. For the most part, I have grouped video games into two categories for myself. One is Fantasy and the other is reality. Reality games are games that have been created from an event such as a war that actually took place or a certain type of group such as the police, or maybe simply playing as a gang member. Let's not forget the road racing games and sports, which are a few of the games we can classify as non-violent.

The second types of games are fantasy games, which are best described as science fiction Themes. They can be space games, or they can be a witches and wizards type of games, which is where World of Warcraft would fall into.

Both games, if played enough with enough focus and with enough intensity can make you believe that you are actually in the game or part of it, the actions you make the game make are actions you are really doing. This is the scary part because I believe a reality game can make someone mix the game with what is going on right in front of their face. A fantasy game, sure you can believe you're in it, but it's harder to believe that when your walking around in the park that the game is in front of your face.

Case in Point: a good example of a reality game is Grand Theft Auto, which is a very controversial game. I'll admit it, I've played it, and I've had fun, but it really concerns me what the meaning is behind the game and how real it truly is. I work in Law Enforcement now and for anyone who has played that game they know that the police are often killed. I can't play that game anymore because the reality of that fact is too real for me.

If I had to choose between the two types of video games reality or Fantasy I would much rather watch someone, or more specific a younger person play a fantasy game than a reality game because sure, it probably still has violence, but it still is a problem solving game, which are the ones I like to play, and it does not connect reality to the actions you are playing.

There have been a number of violent crimes that have been at least attempted to be connected to the perpetrator playing some sort of violent game. Most of the games I have heard about involved in these types of cases would fall into the reality type of games. I can't say I have ever heard someone in court say "I killed someone because I played World of Warcraft"
 
It's a problem that honestly is not going to go away because violence is an unfortunate part of human nature. Violent games sell, so as long as people are willing to buy them, people will be willing to make them, and as technology keeps getting better than the reality of games and the violence included in them will keep getting more real.

The only solution is to monitor the people who play them such as children. If something just isn't right about how they are acting, maybe its time for a game adjustment. World of Warcraft is great so if you have to choose between games, I would suggest to stay in the Fantasy types or non-violent games all together.