Massive multiplayer online role playing games are well known for their massive communities of gamers with custom avatars and distinct online personalities. Who you want to be or what you want to look like is only limited by your imagination and the game's engine. This part of online gaming is probably the main reason people around the world are spending an increasing amount of time in the fantasy worlds of MMORPGs - in particular World of Warcraft.
With this in mind, Robbie Cooper, a photojournalist working for the BBC, has captured images of the people behind online gamer avatars. The feature compares gamer's online personalities to their real life ones, and examines the differences between the two. He asks the gamers why they chose the particular characteristics of their online avatars and how they think their real life idea of themselves compares to their custom made self-created one. Anyone with an interest in the psychology and philosophy of online games will find this feature fascinating.
[Via digg]
