The Social side of gaming

(Senyin) #1

I’m making a new thread and copy/paste here because I didn’t want to post
it in ‘dealing with quiters’.
So this quote is from that thread.

Indeed! That’s why it’s important you play with pleasant company
and be pleasant company yourself.
Then strangers can become “friends” or some sort of “gamebuddy’s”.
They become people you actually enjoy playing with.

And it is exactly this that fades things like you mentioned to the background
and brings fun and good sportsmanship to the forground.
I think people really underestimate the importance of the social side of gaming and how
it dramaticly increases the chances of good games.

When you play with people you ‘like’ it generates
more willingness, less whining, less laming, less (rage)quiting.
And ofcourse more fun.
I strongly believe that.

What are your thoughts on this?

(Jamieson) #2

If you are playing with people you know then I would agree that it makes the exerinence more fun. Communication is better and they are more likely to help you and vise versa etc.

If your gaming with clan mates then even better. Comp team mates (best you can get) I have played with my current comp teammates (5 others) for over 14months, We have played many matches and bonded well and are now very close. We will be playing comp in Brink together etc.

However also I try to keep an open mind when pubbing. There are always new people to meet that you can become friends with. Be vocal on VOIP and try to work with your teammates and you may be suprised now and then to meet a really good person who you can add to your friends list.

Just be friendly, polite and mature and people will usually responde in the same way, I say Usually, you do get the odd idiot every now and then but that is quite rare (speaking from experience of PC community)

Sometimes though people just don’t want to repond or interact and I respect that.

(H0RSE) #3

I like to play with friends, but I don’t prefer it over playing alone. I like to keep my friends close, but not too close. I enjoy my solitude. A good way to sum me up would be, “I’m my own best friend.” I frequently appear offline on Xbox just to be left alone. When I play on pub servers, I’m not there to make friends or be social, I’m there to play a game. I prefer type chat over voicechat, because hearing other people talk ruins my gaming experience. If I frequent a server, there may be players I see a lot and I might think to myself, “that guys good” or whatever, but I’m not going out of my way to make any online buddies.

(Nail) #4

To me, “The Social side of gaming” is called a LAN party.

(tokamak) #5

It’s far more fun to play with people you at least know a bit than having random one night stands.

(SockDog) #6

Totally agree Senyin, don’t think it can be said better than that. You get back what you put in.

The few small lans I’ve been too have always been made up of people I’ve met and played with/against for months or years. I can’t imagine that happening if I treated my online team mates as some on-tap resource there for my sole enjoyment.

What smokes my Gouda is when people say, “hey I’m just blowing off steam, don’t take it so seriously, it’s just a game”. Like everyone else paid $50/60 to deal with their personal issues. I don’t take gaming seriously but I do expect to get some enjoyment out of it and nobody has the right to drag their social baggage into my fun. Go get a drinking problem or something if you feel that way.

(signofzeta) #7

If I join a pub match with random people I don’t know, it is more often that I will dick around, and win in my own way. If I start up a match with people I met face to face, then it is more probable that I will communicate with my teammates, and this is typically in a lan party. Because it is so embarrassing for someone to see your actual real life face, and scold you for being a dick in the game.

(H0RSE) #8

I will always be a team player, regardless if I know the people I’m playing with or not, I’m just not very sociable.

(signofzeta) #9

yeah, but isn’t being sociable make you a better team player? Because you have better communication between you and your teammates?

(H0RSE) #10

yeah, but isn’t being sociable make you a better team player? Because you have better communication between you and your teammates?
I have general and social anxiety, along with borderline Asperger’s Syndrome.

(MILFandCookies) #11

Not always signofzeta. Especially on pubs, it can be more annoying than helpful.

(signofzeta) #12

but isn’t in pubs, they are typically people playing against people that they don’t know face to face? Which is why the best teams would be those who communicate with each other, and those who actually know each other or have seen each other face to face at least once? I’m sure some competition teams have seen each other face to face at a quakecon at some point.

(Nail) #13

We’ve had an ET server or 3 for 6 years, it’s hard enough to keep type chat in English, I couldn’t handle 6 different languages on VOIP. Team communication can be easily handled with vsays only.

(MILFandCookies) #14

Oh right - sure with people who you know on your team… talk it up. They arent going to tell you youre annoying :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: But generally on public servers… talking it up with a bunch of rands isnt really warranted imo.

(SockDog) #15

Right so you see no problem being a dick as long as you can get away with no real repercussions for doing it. Another +1 for the power of internet anonymity :confused:

I don’t think you need to be sociable in a wider, lets get some beers, sense but within the scope of the game it should certainly be encouraged. As has been pointed out, perhaps VOIP isn’t as necessary as other aspects of the game to be successful but occasionally it is and perhaps then it’s worth considering that your decision to not engage fully is affecting others.

(LyndonL) #16

I have no problem with voice chat in a game so long as it serves a purpose (unless you’re playing with friends and want to chat).

What I can’t stand is the nerdy geek voices that CONSTANTLY speak 24/7 on games - you get it a LOT in TF2 :frowning:

Basic chat from time to time is very helpful in coop games ie L4D2… and will be definately useful in Brink … ie Player 1: “We need an Engineer to get the crane working. Any volunteers?” Player 2: “Yep I’ll go Engineer” etc etc.

When there’s a lot of action, typing just doesn’t cut it as it’s too slow, and requires you to leave your mouse.

Having said this… I am a big believer that you should use P-T-T not Open Vox… Hearing some dude coughing his guts up is freaking annoying.

(brbrbr) #17

Social side of gaming is Brink…erm, i mean Bright !

(INF3RN0) #18

I hate everyone :). (T-bagging is the key to new e-friendships)

(SockDog) #19

Oh yeah. Nothing worse than playing with TV, Music, screaming mammals of some description and heavy bloody breathing. :slight_smile:

It’s made even worse as the VOIP also mutes the game down so you end up twice as worse off.

(Nail) #20

[QUOTE=LyndonL;215012]I have no problem with voice chat in a game so long as it serves a purpose (unless you’re playing with friends and want to chat).

What I can’t stand is the nerdy geek voices that CONSTANTLY speak 24/7 on games - you get it a LOT in TF2 :frowning:

Basic chat from time to time is very helpful in coop games ie L4D2… and will be definately useful in Brink … ie Player 1: “We need an Engineer to get the crane working. Any volunteers?” Player 2: “Yep I’ll go Engineer” etc etc.

When there’s a lot of action, typing just doesn’t cut it as it’s too slow, and requires you to leave your mouse.

Having said this… I am a big believer that you should use P-T-T not Open Vox… Hearing some dude coughing his guts up is freaking annoying.[/QUOTE]

that’s why we have vsays

v24, v6