Online Communities Have Positive Effect
eToychest has the results from a three year study, showing the effect of online gaming communities. Overall, the study found, such communities have beneficial results. From the article: "'Our study shows that the online gaming communities are complex and highly developed, acting as training grounds for the transition from school to work' Nic continues: 'When playing, gamers are undergoing a complex process of work related learning - learning how to cope with work scenarios - which is far removed from the traditionally held negative view of gaming. Put simply, these games have a central - and positive - role to play in the development and education of young people.'"
Am I the only one not surprised that when you put a group of people in an entertaining environment with common goals, they develop a positive social structure that emphasizes cooperation and just generally being a good sport?
I mean, seriously. This has been documented plenty of times in real life, is it really all that astounding that people behave the same way in multiplayer games?
120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.