That gaming is not just a hobby for lonely nerds should be known by now. Especially MMORPGs often thrive on community that arises through the game. This is also known by MeinMMO author Linda B., who had her first relationship in the MMORPG ‘4Story’ as a teenager.
What is 4Story?
- 4Story is a classic free-to-play MMORPG from 2008, which is based on proven concepts from World of Warcraft.
- As a hero, the player’s task is to restore peace in Iberia – either on the side of the mage nation ‘Derion’ or the soldier people ‘Valorian’.
- While not much is going on on the official servers these days, there are private servers like ‘4Vision’ or ‘4Classic’ that are still actively run by the community.
Which 3 MMORPGs are the biggest in 2023? Find out here:
Others go to parties, I play 4Story
Admittedly, that sounds pretty cliché now and probably won’t surprise anyone, but I have always been someone who prefers to stay comfortably at home in the evening rather than going out.
However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to do something with friends. And how do you best combine that? Of course, playing online together.
As luck would have it, during my early teenage years (I must have been about 12), my friend’s older brother was playing this mysterious game called ‘4Story’. Naturally, my friend had to see what her brother was playing and convinced him to let her use his PC for a few hours.
For the right experience, she obviously needed teammates. And that’s where I came in, along with another girlfriend.
When I saw the fantasy setting and the ‘cool graphics’ (yes, to me it all looked totally realistic back then), I didn’t need to be asked twice. And just like that, I was in my first MMORPG.
Love at first click
Besides all the other things you do in an MMORPG – like questing, looting, and leveling – you inevitably meet other players in a multiplayer game.
And on a beautiful evening, when the sunset painted the pixelated sky red, I met him. And it was love at first click …
Well, okay, fortunately it wasn’t quite that cheesy. I don’t know exactly why (Was it the game? Is it still like that today?), but back then it was common to look for a ‘gf’ (girlfriend) in the game, or vice versa a ‘bf’ (boyfriend).
If you wanted to belong to the cool kids – and had hopes for an in-game wedding – you absolutely needed that.
‘Luck in the game, unlucky in love’, or something like that
I met my ‘dream prince’ through the ‘bf’ of one of my friends.
- ‘Will you be my gf?’
- ‘Okay.’
That’s roughly how my first ‘relationship’ came about.
We were together in a guild, leveling and raiding the opposing faction together. And yes, there were also pseudo-romantic dates in cozy spots, like way up on a tower where almost no player ever wandered.
Eventually, it was time to bring the ‘relationship’ into the real world. After some back and forth, and a lot of panic on my part, the first phone call via Skype took place.
We were only a few minutes into the conversation when the guy proudly told me how much he enjoyed kicking his cat regularly. I was so perplexed that I just hung up and never contacted him again. After that, I was pretty much done with guys.
Fortunately, not all online acquaintances were that weird. Especially in 4Story, my friends and I met a lot of cool people. My highlight was two French guys, with whom we regularly skyped and played, even though we could only communicate using hands and feet. Because they couldn’t speak English any better than we could speak French.
Have you ever had experiences with quirky internet acquaintances? Is there perhaps someone who went through something similar to me?
4Story is heavily influenced by World of Warcraft. Given the huge success Blizzard has had with the game, and continues to have to this day, that’s no surprise.
Of course, there are many other games that are influenced by WoW. Here on MeinMMO, you can find out which games are supposed WoW clones:
