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I don't dabble with video games very much because I find it to be mostly a solitary experience and they tend to have addictive game mechanics. Board games on t

by Axsuul 9y ago

I don't dabble with video games very much because I find it to be mostly a solitary experience and they tend to have addictive game mechanics. Board games on the other hand force you to become social and is often times responsible for bringing your groups of friends together more frequently as well as being a toehold into new social circles.

CobrastanJorji 9y ago
There are quite a few video games out there that are fun for groups and don't focus on replay. A good example is "Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes," a fun exercise in team bomb disposal.
- Axsuul 9y ago
  You're correct that there are exceptions but it's much more endemic to board gaming.
b0rsuk 9y ago
Computer games used to be social, they just found out more profitable ways to milk people. Dedicated servers in shooter games were social and more exciting. Every server was a mini community for players who frequented it, usually because they had "good ping" there. All skill levels mixed together, so on one hand it could be frustrating when a very good player mopped up, but at the same time you could learn from the best. You don't learn much from people just as good as you. Local multiplayer (same computer), even split screen games were a thing. Basically all multiplayer games made before the Internet took off were social. Playing DooM in 4 player deathmatch required bringing 4 computers together.
- lazyjones 9y ago
  > Dedicated servers in shooter games were social and more exciting. Every server was a mini community for players who frequented it, usually because they had "good ping" there WoW was even more social before they changed things for worse by allowing character transfer between servers and random groups over all realms. It went from getting to know other players by stumbling upon them frequently to being able to experience the whole content while avoiding social activities altogether.
dragonwriter 9y ago
> I don't dabble with video games very much because I find it to be mostly a solitary experience and they tend to have addictive game mechanics. “Addictive game mechanics” are more typical of (superficially, at least) casual, often F2P, games whose monetization model is pay-to-win in-game purchases. That's a fairly recent phenomenon in videogames, and while it's a huge slice of the market now, there's a lot of other games out there.

by Axsuul 9y ago

CobrastanJorji 9y ago

There are quite a few video games out there that are fun for groups and don't focus on replay. A good example is "Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes," a fun exercise in team bomb disposal.

Axsuul 9y ago
You're correct that there are exceptions but it's much more endemic to board gaming.

b0rsuk 9y ago

Computer games used to be social, they just found out more profitable ways to milk people. Dedicated servers in shooter games were social and more exciting. Every server was a mini community for players who frequented it, usually because they had "good ping" there. All skill levels mixed together, so on one hand it could be frustrating when a very good player mopped up, but at the same time you could learn from the best. You don't learn much from people just as good as you. Local multiplayer (same computer), even split screen games were a thing. Basically all multiplayer games made before the Internet took off were social. Playing DooM in 4 player deathmatch required bringing 4 computers together.

lazyjones 9y ago
> Dedicated servers in shooter games were social and more exciting. Every server was a mini community for players who frequented it, usually because they had "good ping" there WoW was even more social before they changed things for worse by allowing character transfer between servers and random groups over all realms. It went from getting to know other players by stumbling upon them frequently to being able to experience the whole content while avoiding social activities altogether.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> I don't dabble with video games very much because I find it to be mostly a solitary experience and they tend to have addictive game mechanics. “Addictive game mechanics” are more typical of (superficially, at least) casual, often F2P, games whose monetization model is pay-to-win in-game purchases. That's a fairly recent phenomenon in videogames, and while it's a huge slice of the market now, there's a lot of other games out there.