Video games as moral educators?

The growing interest in video gaming is matched by a corresponding increase in concerns about the harmful effects on children and adolescents. There are numerous studies on aggression and addiction which spark debates on the negative effects of video gaming. At the same time, there are also studies demonstrating prosocial effects. This paper focuses on how video games, particularly massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMOs and MMORPGs for short) that allow interaction with other players, can play a part in players' moral and character development. Although there are many games with moral content, the MMO game World of Warcraft (WoW for short) is used as an illustrative example because of its popularity, to demonstrate how players, through game content and game play, are confronted with moral dilemmas which demand decision-making, social obligations and responsibilities, perspective-taking and empathy, perseverance and delayed gratification.