Video Games and Communitas - Josh Osteen

Ok, you'd think that this really would be a dumb post, but i'm serious. Video games are a great way to experience things such as communitas. In games that are classified MMORPG's (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) the entire basis of the game in a sense require the feeling of community and sometimes communitas. A very very very popular one of these games is the online game of WOW (World of Warcraft). I do not play these games, however, because I choose to have a life where I am socially accepted by my friends (sorry for the bias). The people in these games form guilds and communities in order to complete various quests throughout the world. I have never been a part of this game or a guild, but I wonder if the feeling of one of those communities is extremely awesome? I have been a part of athletic teams basically my entire life and I can consider that to be almost of the same caliber as an online "team". Being on one of these teams really opened my eyes to how informal communitas can happen in certain situations. Growing in relationships and being part of a dynamic structure that is part of athletic teams is a wonderful way to experience the ebb and flow (not really in relation with the class version of flow) of the relationship structure. The way in which the guilds and the athletic teams have to break down walls of comfort and status in order to help each other creates a series of limitless and boundary-less relationships that are ever-evolving with each situation.