Eve Online is one of those games that if I was to start playing I would be sucked in. Eventually I would have to drop out of school and end up living in a basement. Thus I have to content myself to settle by playing X3: Terran Conflict. Unfortunately, I found it slightly alarming when I started to talk to my computer wingman so perhaps playing an online game may be better for my mental health .

In any case, Eve Online is awesome because it not only has a resident economist who produces awesome economic reports it also has some pretty awesome stories of deceit in which players infiltrate an in-game corporation (like a guild) and then assassinate the leader and take money. It has also happened again recently. There are even cases of bank fraud!

I mention these because a media professor from Loyola University (click title for link) ran an experiment on online social culture using City of Heroes. For those who don't know, City of Heroes is a game based on Heroes/Villains. They are supposed to be morally opposed to each other, thus fighting each other to the bitter end. Though when Twixt (alias for the professor) entered, he found that most were idly chatting in the city! Rather than living in some Bizarro world, he chose to smite the evil villains like the scum that they obviously are. In a sad unintentional parody to "Make Love, Not Warcraft," the villains found it impossible to beat Twixt in the game, even after ganging up on him, while Twixt's supposed allies (also known as the French) sat by like the sad pacifists they are.

Real problems arose of course when players posted death threats and other harassing comments towards Twixt, who was only playing the game as the designers intended, unlike one of my college roommates who enjoyed using the flashbang on Counter-Strike on his own teammates until either enemies killed us or it crashed the game server, Thanks Dan.

In any case, I have a message for the players of CoH, go play the Second Life. There you will only have to worry about annoying floating penises.

-Trevor