VIRTUAL SOCIAL LIFE AND RELATED MARKETING EFFORTS IN THE WORLD OF ONLINE GAMES
As the Internet and the World Wide Web proliferate, a new form of communication and interaction has been made possible. People live increasingly hybrid lives where the physical and the digital, the real and the virtual interact. Massively multiplayer online role - playing games (MMORPGs), i.e. online role playing games, are a special medial and social phenomenon of our time and experienced a massive growth of players. Studies reveal that mmorpg players compose a heterogenic population and spend considerable amount of time in the virtual world. Extensive interest in the virtual world makes way for a new entertainment market and supplementary environments such as game forums, chat points and specialized web sites. On the other hand while the market shares of game based networks are increasing dependence and addiction become an important issue. This research concentrates on game oriented social life and related markets in this phase and tries to describe the framework of internet based virtual communications, game based online markets, game memberships, forums and virtual chat points with regard to effects on social life in the global frame as well as mentioning Turkey’s position.