For most people in the real world, fantasies stay as fantasies and fears are respected. In cyberspace, real world limits can be pushed. Whether in the social MUDs or adventure RPGs, participants live vicariously through their characters. The constraints of the physical world, such as gender or race, are taken away. T here are consequences that go along with giving people a choice to take accountability for their actions.
Anonymity opens the doors to online stalkers and spammers.
It is unfortunate that people abuse the freedom of speech online by harassing others. Besides the evasion of responsibility online, another negative effect is the weakening of the meaning of physical reality. MUDs and RPGs present a space that seems extremely real. The relationships and interactions between people are similar to ones in real life. The virtual communities inhabited by real people, though still conceptual, are very animate and responsive.