SYNWORLD: Do you have a sense of a 'character' when you're in the gameworld? Or is it just you, or an extension of you?

Jarom Severson: When I'm on-line chatting, playing, or just messing around, I do not feel that my on-line character is any different than I am in real life. My demeanor is the same, I get upset just as I would in real life if people act or say stuff in an obnoxious manner. I'm happy and polite to my friends and acquaintances on-line. I joke and laugh at jokes just as I would in real life. So all-in-all, I feel that I represent my true self when involved in the gaming world. The only times I can say that I feel I am fulfilling the position of another character are in fantasy type games, where you're actually controlling or being another character in some sort of fantasy story line. Since these aren't the types of games I normally participate in, I can't say that I play the role of another character when I'm on-line.

In terms of the type of relationship I have with my on-line name, I guess it is the same as the relationship anyone has with oneself. And when I lose, or die, in my games, I do get upset, but I wouldn't say that I get emotional. I'm able to separate real death from simply the loss of a game, so I don't get melancholy or anything. I normally just get upset at myself for a stupid error or mistake I made on my part that caused me to lose.

SYNWORLD: What attracts you to the gameworld environment? What would you like to be able to do in it that you can't?

Jarom Severson: In one word, it's competition. I live for competition, and the on-line gaming industry is just full of it. That feeling you get from winning a close, hard fought battle is what keeps me coming back time and time again. I particularly like the feel of two players coming together head-to-head, both equally as confident and determined to win as the other. Then, through strategies and tactics, the two players try to establish an edge over the other and eventually use that edge to succeed in battle.

If there was anything I could change, it would be a way to better regulate the on-line gaming environment. As it is right now, it's very hard to determine if players are playing fairly, and even if players are playing as themselves. So, if there was any way, a constant video or identification method that prevented any kind of cheating, it would make the environment much more exciting.

SYNWORLD: What is it about your profession as a gamer that attracts you to it? What makes your kind of gaming you?

Jarom Severson: Well, as mentioned in the previous question, I live for competition. Starcraft provides that type of atmosphere where a player can emerge himself in all kinds of serious competition. It also has a large element of strategy to it, which has always particularly intrigued me. Like other strategy games such as chess, it's like a battle of the mind. Having a more life-like interaction with the NPC's has yet to be accomplished, so I can't really say whether or not I like it more. I think in some ways it would be really cool to associate with the NPC's as if they were life-like, but then again, the biggest reason I am here is for the competition, not for a virtual experience that is as close to reality as possible.

SYNWORLD: How does the large amount of time you spend in the game world affect the rest of your life? Do you dream 3d mazes?

Jarom Severson: In general, I really don't think that it affects the rest of my life other than the fact that my social life suffers a bit more than it would did I not spend time in the game world. From time to time, if I spent an extreme number of hours playing that day, I will have dreams similar to that of the virtual world I was immersed in all day long. They are usually VERY strange, but they only disturbed my sleep when I first started having them. I'm more than used to them now, and so I'm able to just sleep right through them, and even enjoy them sometimes. I never mistake RL for VR. And I have yet to get in a gun fight, or find an alien civilization in real life, so I haven't been able to actually use my skills I learned in the VR in RL.

SYNWORLD: Can playing computer games teach us anything? Are there particular prejudices or attitudes that you would like to see change in games?

Jarom Severson: The future of gaming looks bright. It grows every year, and every year more money gets poured into it. I am probably too old to take gaming seriously enough to consider it a life long endeavor. I don't think it's playing computer games in particular that teaches us a lot, but the activities associated with playing games does. For instance, the exposure and computer knowledge most gamers have due to the amount of time they spend gaming is enough to get their foot in the door of a good company. Companies are always looking for people are adept with computers and have a large knowledge of how computers function. Almost all gamers run into computer problems now and then, and every time they fix those problems, they've learned another marketable skill. All of this comes from personal experience as well.