As a gamer girl who remains highly entertained when her teenage nephew’s friends get boners for her when she picks up a controller and says, “Let’s play some Halo.” there’s a social utility.

I am a semi-casual player. I raid one night a week with friends whom I know from Real Life(TM) and live too far away for me to actually see in person. I get SOME of the same satisfaction from it as I would from grabbing a beer with those same people.

When WoW first came out, there was a wave of addiction, divorces, and job-loss linked to it. Fair enough. But now, there’s a new wave of people who will tell you: I play because my friends play.

I play because my friends play. It provides a useful function in that sense. That said, I need to fucking get out of the house more.

Reb