>_>; xD He just sort of seems lost in the game at the start. He'd have probably made a greater listen if he'd talked about more of a social-constructed game and less of an RPG-esque video game, like Second-life or something. Though they discuss a lot about the idea of social status being affected by game items and progress. He's right that you do feel more respectful of people in games based on how much more advanced they appear or based on items on their person. They go way too much into specific details about his character, though. There also are a number of behavioral processes tied to these people such as game-based encouragement to continue playing combined with social interest, desire for exploration, fighting, etc.
As a psychologist who's done a great deal of research and who has even experienced, first hand, MMORPG addiction, I do think social discussions about this sort of thing are great but more focus needs to be placed on the physiological and neural processes behind guiding social construction. It is interesting, nonetheless, that people are at least examining these things and discussing them. Here's to more researchers looking to things gamers consider everyday to better understand exactly what it is that drives players to play. Don't forget that with more knowledge better games could be constructed to cater to such drives, as well.
