Online games are among the few entertainment activities that can fill emotional voids and provide a sense of accomplishment at a low price. They have therefore become the star of this recessionary period. According to a report issued by the Market Intelligence Center (MIC) of the Institute for Information Industry at end of October 2008, revenues for Taiwan's online gaming industry broke the 10 billion barrier for the first time in 2008, reaching an eye-popping NT$10.414 billion, for a record annual growth rate of 9.38%.

A-Hao, who works for a computer networking company, says his favorite thing to do after coming home from work is to hole up in the simulated world of the online game World of Warcraft. Sometimes, even after working all day in front of a computer until eight or nine at night, he still can't wait to turn on his computer at home and escape into an imaginary world.

"What I like best about World of Warcraft is forming a group with other players to run an instance. In instances, you can usually find formidable bosses. The players have to discuss tactics and play their roles: some may lead the assault, while others play support roles. The slightest mistake and the whole thing collapses. It's thrilling and gives me a sense of accomplishment," says A-Hao, barely containing his joy at the mention of his much-loved WoW.

A-Hao says that online games are more fun than traditional console games. With these games, once you've played through all the levels, you're done. But online games are different: each new expansion offers more objectives and equipment, giving the player endless challenges for endless amusement.

"My co-workers make fun of me: 'You hurry to work to clock in, then rush home to log in,'" A-Hao laughs.

(facing page) The popular online game World of Warcraft features ten playable races and nine classes. Each race has a different storyline and each class offers various skills and spells, giving players the chance to create characters that suit their personalities.

Online games rake in the cash

In the last six months, the number of die-hard online gamers like A-Hao has risen appreciably. In November 2008, Blizzard Entertainment, developer of the popular World of Warcraft, released the new WoW expansion Wrath of the Lich King. Afterwards, the game's popularity shot up, and the number of people online in Taiwan jumped to a new high of 130,000 people, some 20,000 higher than in the peak gaming period of July and August. And in November, Chinesegamer International's Taiwan-produced games Wulin Qunxia Zhuan and TS Online 2 reached new records of 126,000 and 110,000 players respectively.

The increase in the number of gamers has brought high profits to the game companies. According to the latest MIC figures, the revenues of Taiwan's online game companies reached NT$10.414 billion in 2008, an annual growth of 9.38%, far outpacing the 2007 figure of 8.74% when the economy was doing well. The average monthly expenditure of an online gamer was about NT$300, 7% more than in 2007.

Looking at the vocational makeup of gamers, 28.9% are office workers. Though this is less than the 34.1% of college and university students, they are the demographic that is most influential and most willing to spend money on online gaming, paying an average of NT$390 a month, NT$137 higher than what the average college student gamer spends, making them the biggest contributors to online game revenues.

(right) Many people with problems at work can gain a sense of achievement by role playing in online games as they vanquish opponents in a simulated alternate world.

The joy of cheap

Reaping the rewards of the booming gaming industry, Taiwan's largest gamer information website, gamer. com.tw, earned revenues in sight of breaking the NT$100 million mark in 2008, a new high for the site in its 12 years of existence.

According to the analysis of Bahamut Gamer's Community's vice director Carson Chen, one of the reasons why online games are able to buck the trend in this poor economy and make money is a change in the way fees are collected. In the past, most online games employed a monthly subscription system, in which subscribers pay a monthly fee of NT$200 to NT$300 to game companies, giving players basic equipment to play as much as they want.

But in the last two years, acknowledging player thriftiness, many game makers have adopted free systems or two-tiered free/pay systems, like Soft-World's Legend of Mir, JX Online, Ragnarok Online and Sango Online. Players don't have to pay monthly fees, but they need to pay anywhere from a few NT dollars to over NT$1000 to buy equipment, and can unwittingly end up paying even more money on gaming.

Another prime reason for the popularity of online gaming has to do with the so-called "otaku economy," which involves at-home consumption.

What is the otaku economy? It refers to business opportunities created to meet all in-home life needs for the so-called otaku who are reluctant to go outside. However, as people's pocketbooks shrink, at-home consumption may no longer be the sole province of the otaku.

Chen gives an example: many players tell them that when they take their dates out for dinner and a movie on the weekend, they easily spend over NT$1000, a costly sum. But when spending time at home playing games together, they only pay between NT$300 and NT$500 a month. This is quite a savings.

"And you'll never be bored with it, even after playing for a long time. You can kill time too. This naturally evolves into an excellent distraction during times of recession," he says.

Role playing cures the blues

Besides providing low-cost entertainment, online gaming can also help vent frustrations.

The gaming giant Game First International found that many of the Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG) it hosts, such as World of Warcraft and Wulin Qunxia Zhuan, experienced significant increases in player logins during daytime office hours in the past several months. For instance, the number of Wulin Qunxia Zhuan players online during the low period of 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. rose from 60,000 at the time of its launch in July to 90,000 by the end of the year, a surprising jump.

Game First public relations specialist Hu Zhiping says that, according to customer service analysis, many of these new daytime players were forced to take unpaid leave or were even victims of layoffs.

"Though they may have received short shrift in the workplace, in the game they might instead be a 'guild master,' leading an attack. By role playing, slaying monsters in an alternate life can give them a sense of accomplishment that they couldn't otherwise gain in real life," says Hu.

On top of this, in the chat channels featured in online games, employees who are having problems at the office can meet other players in similar situations who are facing the same pressures.

WoW player Nikki says she often complains online to other gamers about displeasing topics like working overtime or being too busy at work.

"If I complain to friends or family, they give me well-meaning but anxiety-inducing suggestions, like 'You should cherish your job. Don't complain or you'll be fired.' But what I really need is someone who will listen and not lecture me on what to do. With online anonymity, you can speak your mind more easily. If people share similar experiences, they'll feel, 'So, there are others who are worse off than me; I'm not alone,'" says Nikki.

Though the majority of game makers and gamers agree that online games provide a certain level of emotional healing, Chen points out that some players take the game too seriously, causing themselves new anxieties and problems.

He brings up an example: in 2008, Bahamut Gamer's Community set up a "complaints department" to discuss games. The number of posts voicing complaints has surged upwards. Often these were complaints that teammates didn't work hard enough when killing monsters, bewilderment at how others could have taken loot despite the player's own vigilance, or suspicion that others had hijacked their accounts. Sometimes these evolve into serious infighting.

"Gaming is a recreational activity intended to be an escape from stress. If players cause themselves new problems by taking the games too seriously, then the game loses its original function," says Chen.

This flourishing wave of online gaming is an achievement of these heroes of recessionary times. But the virtual world of gaming is only a relief from pain, and when you're feeling down in the dumps, things will eventually get better with positive thinking. Perhaps this is the true path toward healing.

(left) Popular online game "World of Warcraft" continues to build momentum with its realistic scenes and addictive gameplay.

Wulin Qunxia Zhuan (lower right), set during the turmoil of the last days of the Yuan Dynasty, and TS Online 2 (right), based on the history and legends of the Three Kingdoms period, have recently shown a jump in the population of online players in Taiwan to between 110,000 and 120,000 players, some 20,000 more than during the peak summer playing season.