acets of their identity that they do not express in their face-to-face world. Everyone in Jim's in-person world may not know that he is a romantic medieval knight in an online role-playing game.Something that is now being questioned is in comparing someones everyday personality with their fantasized. Which one is real? Many people go through life wearing masks that hide their true feelings and thoughts. Because these roles free users from the normal inhibitions of face-to-face interaction, it is hard to tell which more accurately displays an individuals true self. In fact, through this act, often hidden aspect of ones personality surfaces and they learn more about who they are as a person. It is also very likely that though role playing an individual might more accurately describe the person they would want to be in an ideal world. These games allow players to be whomever they choose. Not bound by the inhibitions of the real world, a person is not limited by finances, heritage, location, or personal strengths and weaknesses. This aspect alone is often the hook for RPG players.As everything, there is an extreme and this happens when one begins to draw away from the physical world and recede more and more into the virtual by spending up to 18 hours per day living in this reality (Kelly & Rheingold, 1993; Bruckman, 1994). MUD addiction, is being explored by Bruckman, (There have even been reports of Internet related deaths, such as cardiac arrests resulting from sleep deprivation and lack of personal maintenance or suicides due to Net related stress (Elmer-Dewitt,1993; Rheingold, 1994). Such obsessive behavior has become quite a problem on some college campuses where computer facility administrators have had to literally "pull the plug" on some addicted students (Cassidy, 1995). In fact, MUDing has been outlawed on the continent of Australia because of the excessive satellite link-up costs associated with such activities (Rhe...
