Since the economy has been bad, the new buzzword sort of thing is to have a staycation. It reminded me of the whole talk we had it TINST207 about online community. I think a staycation can be a vacation. You can get away, relax, and have a good time while staying at home or close to home. However, I don't like the idea of an online vacation.
I've never played a MMOG, but my boyfriend David has, and my 14 year old brother is way into gaming as well. I've seen how obsessive they get about games. At one point David was staying up like all night playing Star Wars Galaxies. He totally had friends, and they would all get online at the same time and do missions and stuff. Right now, as I type, he's playing like his 3rd hour of Fable2 (this is the second time he's played it through). For him, it goes in waves. Anyways, I understand that for him, these games are a way to relax. For me, video games are frustrating, and I think vacations are for relaxing.
David and I have both a Wii and an XBOX360, and when I get into video games, I am guilty of getting a little obsessive. It goes in waves for me to- I will play for a couple hours each day, and then not. I don't think I've played Wii for a month.
While online worlds are real, and they exist, they're just no substitute for for real life friends and family. That's why I'm gonna go visit my sister and her husband tonight :D