It's a nice day for an 'EverQuest' wedding

(continued from previous page)

Now Ruggieri and his fiance are planning their real-life wedding, but at the urging of a lot of friends in the "City of Heroes" community, they're planning in-world nuptials as well.

"Once the 'City of Heroes' community found out about how we got engaged in-game," he said, "they all started begging that we have an in-game marriage. So we'll eventually have some sort of in-game ceremony as well."

To Alan Crosby, the global director of community relations at Sony Online Entertainment, which publishes such online hits as "EverQuest" and "Star Wars Galaxies," in-world ceremonies have been a frequent part of his job.

Crosby, who used to be a senior SOE game master, said he had been a part of at least 20 such ceremonies and that he and his staff were often called on to officiate.

"We'll bring (digital) wedding rings, cookies, milk, ale and wedding cake," Crosby said about the many ceremonies he's seen in "EverQuest." "Usually, we have them in a nice, scenic area. If they were evil (characters), you would often have them in Neriak, the dark elf city. And if they were good...somewhere nice with a waterfall...Then we would pronounce them happily elves or trolls or whatever."

Indeed, Crosby said many of the weddings he remembers involved at least one elf, and often two elves marrying each other. "My personal hunch," he explained, "is that a lot of romantics play elves, and they tend to marry other elves."

"Second Life" community manager Jeska Dzwigalski has seen an infinite number of oddball characters getting married in-world, so many that she has put together a mass wedding that will take place on Valentine's Day. She has gathered 10 couples who will take the plunge at a cathedral that was commissioned specifically for the occasion.

"We will probably have same-sex couples," she said. "And the gender of the real person (behind the avatar) is, of course, unknown. So that's an interesting thing, and it doesn't matter to us. It's kind of neat."

With so many couples using virtual worlds as a place to explore love, a lot of the virtual weddings involve couples with no real-world connection. But some, like the one Ruggieri and his fiance are planning, are about an extension of true love.

To Crosby, those are often the most memorable.

"Because you knew that they had already done this in real life, or were going to...it had some special meaning," Crosby said. "When two characters get married in-game, but not in real life, they're just goofing around. But it's really special when they're married in real life and they bring that attachment into the game world."

[itworker--2008]

Is it just me?

Or does anyone else find these people very odd? Wow, I heard and seen people get envolved in games, but come on, there's a real world just outside your front door.

Just too strange for me to think about virtual people online getting married in real life

[Fireweaver]

yeah, It's just you

Really, it's just you.
Why is meeting online any more unusual than using a dating service or any other method to meet?
Think of it as a tool that allows people to meet in an environment that makes them feel comfortable and avoids the hang-ups of looks.
Everyone has their own comfort zone and way to be happy. Play an MMORPG for a while- while a lot of the real does not apply, you may be surprised at how much of real world actually does.
If people can find true love and be happy the location and means seems pretty irrelevant to me.

[MarkBentley]

Not just you

It's odd, by the standards of social norms held by 97% of all people. But its not inappropriate. And let's face it, these people deserve each other.

I cannot suppose that what they are doing is wrong, psychoanalysis aside. But you wont convince me that its not odd.

[mrpeabody3119]

How do they get a divorce?

thats the real question

[Iohagh]

I think this was neat and I have a dreamscape perfect for this type of thin

Hi everyone.

While writing poetry at online poetry site, I met a 79 year old lady, Joy T. from UK who wrote me Pixie Faerie stories and a 52 year old lady from Croatia, Sonja S., who also wrote me faerie tales.

I was an orphan once so I adopted them as Empress Crystaldust of Joy and Queen Sonja of Tender Hearts. Then we started growing fast.

For them and my now increasing adopted online teenage dauthers, I created a dreamscape for a hundred ladies from all over the world who became Pixie Faeries of love and light or of sorrow and darkness.

From just a month ago I already have over 100 ladies and girls literally from all over the world Austrial, Puerto Rico, Phillipines, Iraq, Morocco, US, Canada and Europe all writing Pixie Faerie stories.

My online sister and aunt, Lepekaha Foehn, her site name, Pixie Duchess from Dixie in Texas set up the Pixies in Dixie and other far off and wonderful places.

So, they made me Iohagh, Crown Princess of Imps and Sprites just last month in a two week period I wrote a dreamscape in 9 tomes (full length rhyming stories) including a Pixieverse. Many Pixies change names and personas weekly but their stories remain eternally.

The dreamscape is called "Sherlock Gnome, Pixie Detective, Faerie Good Investigations". There are lots of domains and wars and Soul Eater becoming Mage Mohr threatening manlings (humans) and lots of imagery all from the Pixie Faerie perspective, well, we are all poets but written not to violate trademark since thats AP policy.

How do I get your game people to do for Pixie Faeries in my group what you talk about. We even have one Pixie Mystic Enchantress from Puerto Rico who is married to an American ElfLord, Brokenpen long distance and a real Irish Pixie married couple in Ireland.

We have nothing save the concept of Evermore and Nevermore in Pixieland copywrited in my published tomes.

We are creating interactive game teams now but we don't know anything. Anyway, I love the idea and though some scoff, Empress Crystaldust of Joy said her boarding school motto 60 years ago was "Love the world" I say "one person at a time".

Ciao Now.

[patterson69]

i think its cool

my husband plays everquest and i think this situation is awsome everquest is a very fun on line role playing game that takes so much creativity hope you both are happy and live a ling life together and i guess if they keep adding exspansion packs there well always be conversation in your home