Introduction

" ...  I found myself rather swept away.  In fact the two consummated their relationship in a secret corner of Surefall Glade." [f, 56]

It sounds like an overused plot from soap operas - girl falls head over heels for guy, but something is very different here. This relationship happened in a virtual game-world. The two who are in love are virtual characters controlled by two people in real life who are not in love. Sitting in front of their computer screens, they are typing "emotes" as they watch the story unfold visually in rendered polygons. They may not be in the same state or country. They may not be from the same generation. In fact, they can't know for sure what the gender of the other character's player is.

And suddenly, this sounds like the furthest thing away from a normal soap opera episode you can possibly imagine. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of what happens every moment in a world known as Norrath - a computer constructed world that lives in a multiplayer, online game called EverQuest.