SultanOfSuave: Come back and ask this question again in the future, when it is more commonplace that a fabricated entity cannot reasonably be differentiated from an actual person by the majority of intelligent people.

.Keys: Taking the thread to a more philosophical level instead of just criticizing the guy's love for woman characters in games :P (jk.)

In a way, to like a character in a game, be it man or woman, is to like the effort the devs placed in creating such character.

As we all create art based on our own feelings or past experiences or a mash up of everything we love/lived/experienced before and now, such developers, when creating a character, they're pouring a bit of themselves in said character.

So, in a way, what you're really loving is not a digital version of a simulation of a relationship with a person, but in fact, I'd say, the developers way of conveying their creations and how they view and understand how real relationships work or should work.
Thus, in that way, you're appreciating how good (or bad) a developer team is able to convey how they view relationships and people around them and even how that should be, in their view.

A created character is nothing more than other humans experiences poured down in a bottle.
That bottle can, or not be, based on or inspired, in many ways, by real events and real emotions.

To say that loving a digitalized character is a pathology is to say that loving a character from a book and wishing that relationship were real is also a pathology.
You can appreciate all kinds of art and still transfer that to real relationships, while learning from them.

So my two cents here are:

There's no problem in wishing those characters were real because, in a way, they are.

The problem here is, I think, when we value digitalized or any kind of created character (say, from books, for those that like to read and value books characters.) more than real people and real relationships.

On a side note: Don't get me started on the Companionship AIs being created for that purpose. That's bizarre because it distorts all kind of human relations and the way human psyche even understands what is to be human and to relate to another human. This is a big problem for the future generations.

I'd say we can all learn how to understand real life relationships with digital characters, if we understand that there's an abyss there as a NPC will never be as complex and in depth as a real person in real life. It can be the best character of all time - a real human being evolves, changes, understands, have real emotions and react based on how they are, while a NPC don't.

A NPC is nothing more than a painting, created with the devs passion, experiences at the time, feelings and wishes.
But a paint do not change, not evolve. Its static. You can find new ways to interpret it, yes, but will still be the same painting, as created piece of code with assets, a NPC.

Humans are so much more richer and complex and fun to deal with.. when you understand some basic rules of engagement and social ethics of course. Also, from a ex-hyper timid: You can learn to deal with people with some courage, trial and error, and maybe, even, counselling from professionals.

That's why I think humans are the most beautiful art creation of all time. God being the "painter". :P

So why not try? You may learn many things you haven't even thought about before. Of course depending on your past experiences, this may be hard, so receiving help from a professionals, friends and family does not hurt.

Anyway... Hope we can all manage to learn from digital characters, but also to understand the HUGE importance of real relationships in our lives.