THE BUZZ: Trion Worlds has released a video showing off Rift‘s new support for in-game character marriages.

EGM’s TAKE: So, I know the reaction that some will have to this video: That it’s very creepy. Or sad. Or both.

But I’m going to stand here and support things like this. Look, video games aren’t real life–we all know that. Or, at least, most of us who are still sane do.

However, video games do allow us to adventure into worlds of fantasy beyond anything we could experience in real life. We get to be the big sports star making the winning touchdown, or the tragic hero surviving the horrors of an infected city, or the steroid-popping space marine who takes out an entire alien armada completely on their own.

MMORPGs are games that rely on the idea of role-playing—hell, it’s part of the name of the genre! We make characters, we give them personalities, we care about how they look, how they act, what path they take in life, and also who they befriend. If we already allow ourselves to have fun playing make-believe in all of those ways, why can’t that then also extend to things like romance for those characters?

Plus, it brings up some interesting potential—such as changing the dynamics of gameplay between characters who are married, versus those who are simply teammates.

So, for me, I love seeing updates like these—aspects added to games that add to their depth beyond just giving us more ways to kill or destroy. I was also glad to see that, near the end of the video, it was shown that marriage equality is alive and well in the world of Telara.

Now that you’ve heard my thoughts—what are yours on ideas like character marriage in video games?