Getting married in a virtual realm
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 11th 2007 at 2:30PM
WorldofWar points us to this forum thread by Fabraz, in which he shows off a video of his WoW wedding. The video is all in German, but you can tell what's happening as two Night Elf druids stand together in Darnassus as onlookers kneel. They finish their vows, and then a party goes down, and gifts are even given.It's not the first time this sort of thing has been done, of course (that's another German vid, though-- are Germans more likely to do a virtual wedding?), but it is a strange little collision of our social gestures in the real world with the virtual one. Does it mean any less or more (in terms of social meaning-- of course it doesn't mean anything legally) when two people commit to each other in virtual space rather than physical space? We've seen funerals held for players before, and of course there's the famous Serenity Now incident, with my favorite music cues of any WoW video ever. It's interesting that it's these two rituals, perhaps our most important and symbolic, that have made it into Azeroth. I've never seen a virtual graduation, perhaps congratulating the recent class of 70s, but maybe that's the next big ritual to make the jump.
As a player, it's not really my thing (I find social interactions like weddings and funerals much more meaningful in the real world, and would rather leave the virtual world for things like fighting dragons and melting faces), but there is obviously a draw for this kind of thing-- in almost every MMORPG, it pops up at one point or another. Do meaningful social rituals like this belong in the World of Warcraft, or are they just a waste of time?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Events, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Odds and ends
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John Jul 11th 2007 2:48PM
In FFXI you can get married to another character.
Aziraphale Jul 11th 2007 2:51PM
Personally, I think its ridiculous to have something such as a wedding or a funeral in an online space. I can understand if the people who want to get married "in game" are both avid players of the game, but a marriage is a pretty serious commitment. To have a ceremony in a game seems to me like taking the matter a bit too lightly.
and God forbid... children. sigh...
As an aside, being an avid WoW griefer/douchebag, if I ever caught wind of such a ceremony I would make it my personal goal for the day to devise some manner of douchebaggery with which to delay the proceedings.
/em pees in the punchbowl
/em gropes bride's maids
mark Jul 11th 2007 2:53PM
Just a little too heavy for my tastes. Although that Serenity Now video is absolutely hilarious. I bet all those RP'ers cried for days.
Large funeral? Try mass grave.
My favorite part is watching how fast the HKs pop up on the screen- it's as fast as 3 a second at some parts haha.
Pingmeister Jul 11th 2007 3:06PM
Bringing "marriage" into an MMORPG is like putting Larry King on TV during sex.
PyroAmos Jul 11th 2007 3:09PM
Lineage 1 (not sure about lin 2), had in-game marriage as part of the game. Could buy charged wedding rings that instantly teleported you to your spouse for 1 mil adena (aprox same as 100g in wow). Not many people actually did it, but occationally someone would. I was the minister once, did it in dark elder poly, was prty cool hehe.
Combatc87 Jul 11th 2007 3:11PM
Having a wedding in WoW serves the same purpose as a church wedding, to bring your friends together, celebrate, have fun, and get free stuff.
Aziraphale Jul 11th 2007 3:39PM
Yea, weddings in RL have nothing to do with yknow committing your life to that person. It's all about free stuff :P
Tylenol Jul 11th 2007 4:41PM
I think some of you are taking this too seriously. Its a game and and an in game marriage. You can call it off as easily as it happened. Log off and you are no longer married.. till you log back in and you see "Hi honey how was your day".
I would not mind marrying someone in game. Heck it would be fun.. it would make the game more interesting. Always have someone following you everywhere. It would be like having a pet with awesome AI... eats and drinks on its own. Try taming it LOL. I would have a pet unmatched by any hunter or Warlock... My pet can beat up your pet!!... :P
Tylenol Jul 11th 2007 4:48PM
Of course one thing I look for in a wife is Uber PVP skills.....Don't mess with me or ill tell my Wife.. Yup... shes a Mage with a really really bad temper...
d_ruiz27 Jul 11th 2007 4:47PM
I think its pathetic.
anonymoose Jul 11th 2007 5:11PM
On my old server, Korgath, 2 characters wedded in recent months. It was incredibly fun, as horde crashed the wedding.
I think it's a fun thing, why not?
Combatc87 Jul 11th 2007 6:28PM
@7
In this day and age, yeah, it's starting to seem that way.
What I meant was, a church ceremony is just a big party, because all the law cares about is your marriage license.
Zareena Jul 11th 2007 6:47PM
So, from what everyone keeps saying, they seem to think that players are marrying other players that they don't know in real life. This may be true for some and that is a little weird, but some aren't. Some friends of mine got married in real life and then to celebrate they're marriage with the guild, they also had an in-game wedding. It was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed it. My fiance and I are thinking about doing the same thing after we get married.
Zomg Jul 12th 2007 3:32PM
I'd like to point out that Fabraz's wedding is a complete joke, Just a bit of fun. At least I would hope so. I know Fabraz in real life and he's only half way through high school.
Juliah Jul 19th 2007 4:56PM
I wouldn't do it, but I'd certainly respect the privacy of anyone who did do it in-game. I can see some kinds of roleplayers whose interactive stories could take them down that road. It doesn't mean anything for them as people, just for their characters as a plot point.
#2: Why do you get pleasure from ruining someone else's good time? What does it have to do with you? Whatever happened to people minding their own business?