'Nuff said!
MMPORGs are becoming increasingly popular, and taking over more and more people's lives. If you extrapolated the current trends into the near future, just about every person on the planet will be spending long hours on these things. It's a true story that there are people that actually make money by playing these games, as in enough to live off of. Just do a search on eBay for WoW gold if you don't believe me, though I know not the exchange rate.
As user interface technology increases, it won't be long before you can just plug yourself in to the WoW universe, and experience it like your real life. Since that is also your source of income, it might even BE your real life. Is there any reason to leave your mom's basement at all?
Since this game is all the world expeirences at this point in the future, people will begin to reject the sugared up fantasy, and Blizzard will loose entire batches of customers. In response, game manufacturers will come out with newer games, with incredibly real graphics, game play indistinguishable from real world physics, and the true-to-life hardships that define human life. I mean, who wouldn't want to be plugged into this massive, err... 'grid' 24/7, interacting with billions of other people at once?
Now, with all the world's populace making their living in this fantasy world, some smart-*** might ask who remains to keep the real world economy going. Who's going to produce the food we need, and make sure our real bodies stay healthy and comfortable? But that smart-*** is worrying too much. You see, in the future we'll have machines that do all this for us.
And contrary to popular opinion, I don't think there will be any sort of war in the process. If current trends continue, this transition will actually go quite smoothly.
And that's more or less why I LARP. Sorry to admitt that I love WoW too, though I don't own it yet. Monthly fees. bleh.
Anyway, you've got to read this artical:
http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/games/wowworld.html
