Online wedding
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Something most often seen in massively multiplayer online role-playing games, online weddings date all the way back to the beginning of online communities and early online games such as The Shadow of Yserbius. Two people who wish their avatars, or characters, to be married will create an event that resembles a standard wedding. This became very popular with the introduction of Ultima Online which not only provided rings, outfits and decorations, but sometimes even Gamemasters to officiate. This tradition has carried forward into several other MMORPGs and virtual communities. The online weddings have been recently been released in the Indian edition of Ragnarok. Some Games, such as Maple Story, offer special Bonuses to players who participate in a virtual wedding.
It is interesting to note that in many cases the participants do not know each other outside the virtual community. Some couples may not even know each other's true name, gender, etc. Some do, in fact, extend this union outside the virtual, but many do not. Many will celebrate a real-life union in this way.
Sometimes virtual weddings are performed because the couple is genuinely in love, and wish to express that love in a public way. In order to conform to many of today's interpretations of marriage, some MMORPGs, including Ragnarok Online, or servers of MMORPGs, allow homosexual and bestial marriages under certain provisions.
There does not appear to be any legal recognition for such "virtual" marriages. Some couples have joined in what appear to be legally binding unions through other mediums such as instant messaging or videoconferencing. These ceremonies are presided by the same appropriate officials and witnesses needed for a standard union. Some of these unions occur across state or even national borders.
[edit] World of Warcraft
For online marriages taking place in the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft, it is customary to have a member of the priest (healer) class preside over the wedding, due to the name and the Prayer of Fortitude buff which the priest can use to symbolize the bonds of holy matrimony.
[edit] RuneScape
In the popular MMORPG RuneScape, weddings have become a popular event. These are supported ingame by the presence of prayer equipment, which can be useful. There are churches across the game world within which players can recharge their prayer, complete with altars, and it is in these that ingame weddings most frequently take place. The individual conducting the ceremony dresses in the clothing of holy people of the god whose name the wedding is taking place in, and if available, with a prayer book of that god. Such prayer books can be used to perform weddings, among other things. The ceremony also normally takes place at a church of that god. During such events, couples normally exchange diamond rings, as well as receive wedding gifts from others attending the event. Cake is also distributed. Many have criticised such unions, stating that it is improper to violate the sanctity of marriage by attempting to replicate it in a game; However, it continues to be a popular style of roleplaying within the game, with same-sex marriages also taking place.
