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In my experience, console gaming takes the social experience of online gaming and turns it ass backwards. Instead of selecting servers from a list, which is es

by tvon 17y ago

In my experience, console gaming takes the social experience of online gaming and turns it ass backwards. Instead of selecting servers from a list, which is essentially like picking what community you want to play with, you are thrown in with a bunch of anonymous strangers who in all likely hood are going to act like juvenile asshats. I believe there is a social theory that relates to this, and I think PG wrote something on it, the whole "as groups get bigger they get less personal and more people are asshats" thing. Well, online console gaming has short circuited the process there... Do you recall those stories about people who became life long friends or got married after they met in Everquest or WoW? I don't expect you'll hear many stories like that about xbox live or playstation online.

potatolicious 17y ago
How is EQ or WoW different than "you are thrown in with a bunch of anonymous strangers"? It's not as if MMOs really allow you to choose servers anyways (yes, you can choose realms, but that's still tens of thousands of total strangers, not friends you play with constantly). In fact, you will find these stories about WoW marriages and such come from guilds and other organized social groups within these games... these still exist in "random match" FPSes like Modern Warfare (in the form of clans, or just plain social gaming groups that play together). I suspect we will hear more about such relationships in the future, not less. For me though, I still prefer picking my servers... it's good to know that there's an admin out there to swing the banhammer decisively and quickly when necessary. It's also nice to log onto the same server and see the same familiar faces (er, nicknames rather) without having to commit to joining a clan of some sort.
camccann 17y ago
I believe there is a social theory that relates to this, and I think PG wrote something on it, the whole "as groups get bigger they get less personal and more people are asshats" thing. Well, online console gaming has short circuited the process there... Perhaps you're thinking of this... ah, theory? http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/ http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/
CrazedGeek 17y ago
Of all ways that Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection gets online gaming wrong, at least it's hard to be an asshat on there. No voice chat actually makes for a better experience in ranked play, in my opinion. (Incidentally, you can get sorta get around the community issue by setting up games to be friends only, or setting up a dummy account that all your community members are friends of and using the friends of friends feature)

by tvon 17y ago

potatolicious 17y ago

How is EQ or WoW different than "you are thrown in with a bunch of anonymous strangers"? It's not as if MMOs really allow you to choose servers anyways (yes, you can choose realms, but that's still tens of thousands of total strangers, not friends you play with constantly). In fact, you will find these stories about WoW marriages and such come from guilds and other organized social groups within these games... these still exist in "random match" FPSes like Modern Warfare (in the form of clans, or just plain social gaming groups that play together). I suspect we will hear more about such relationships in the future, not less. For me though, I still prefer picking my servers... it's good to know that there's an admin out there to swing the banhammer decisively and quickly when necessary. It's also nice to log onto the same server and see the same familiar faces (er, nicknames rather) without having to commit to joining a clan of some sort.

camccann 17y ago

I believe there is a social theory that relates to this, and I think PG wrote something on it, the whole "as groups get bigger they get less personal and more people are asshats" thing. Well, online console gaming has short circuited the process there... Perhaps you're thinking of this... ah, theory? http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/ http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/

CrazedGeek 17y ago

Of all ways that Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection gets online gaming wrong, at least it's hard to be an asshat on there. No voice chat actually makes for a better experience in ranked play, in my opinion. (Incidentally, you can get sorta get around the community issue by setting up games to be friends only, or setting up a dummy account that all your community members are friends of and using the friends of friends feature)