So let me start by saying that I tend to be an antisocial. To me it's not a function of antisocial disorder (although it very well might be). Rather in my head, it is a lack of tolerance for society. In the real world I see a complete lack of politeness, respect, and courtesy. People block the isle at the supermarket to have a conversation and I see "fuck you. fuck your time. our conversation is more important than your ability to pass." People walk by with their cellphone on speaker talking into the microphone without it even being up to their ear and I see "my conversation is more important than any conversation you are having. I am going to talk as loudly as possible. Listen to how important I am."
The world I step out into every day is full of these little rude, annoying moments. I try to be courteous and respectful of my fellow humans, but it is almost always returned with the same self important arrogance. Most of the time, it leads me to wear the "don't you dare fucking try to talk to me" face when I'm in public and I am fortunate to be big enough to pull it off.
The online world isn't much different. Trolls, griefers, and malcontents run rampant on the internet and MMO's are a popular place for them to ply their trade. In any MMO, my patience eventually runs thin and I tend to play MMOs as a solo game...ish. Everything from a blaring voip to frequent afks, to a general lack of effort (read: lazy players looking to get carried) leave me with the same natural tendency towards antisocial behavior.
In the real world, my wife is my saving grace. She constantly challenges my comfort zone in this area. She disturbs my antisocial habits and "forces" me to interact with other people. In doing so, we keep a respectable social life and I am regularly steered away from my "everyone is assholes" outlook on society.
MMO's are a different story. There is no constant challenge. Most MMO's continuously move towards soloable content. Things get easier and easier. 40 man groups turn into 25. 25 man groups turn into 15 and 10. 10 man groups turn into 5 and 2. They start including group finders and raid finders. They continually find ways to make it possible to play without any meaningful interaction.
The do this because it works for the numbers. They make games solo friendly and people will tend to play them solo. That's because, without a driving force to group up, people won't. That's the problem. Some of my greatest MMO memories were created with long term groups. Some groups lasted for years. It was amazing, but hasn't happened in a while.
That's because games don't push people together anymore. They make the majority of your time in-game soloable. Instead of creating content that naturally requires a group effort, they make the group effort the "special occasion". Then, they make those special occasions possible without any meaningful interaction. So as a matter of default, players tend to play solo and never create those meaningful connections that were the entire purpose of the genre.
So what do you think. Do you think this is a function of society or game design decisions? Is it possible to go back to the group required content? Or have we gone too far into the world of antisocial societies to return? Does anyone really want to anymore?
The world I step out into every day is full of these little rude, annoying moments. I try to be courteous and respectful of my fellow humans, but it is almost always returned with the same self important arrogance. Most of the time, it leads me to wear the "don't you dare fucking try to talk to me" face when I'm in public and I am fortunate to be big enough to pull it off.
The online world isn't much different. Trolls, griefers, and malcontents run rampant on the internet and MMO's are a popular place for them to ply their trade. In any MMO, my patience eventually runs thin and I tend to play MMOs as a solo game...ish. Everything from a blaring voip to frequent afks, to a general lack of effort (read: lazy players looking to get carried) leave me with the same natural tendency towards antisocial behavior.
In the real world, my wife is my saving grace. She constantly challenges my comfort zone in this area. She disturbs my antisocial habits and "forces" me to interact with other people. In doing so, we keep a respectable social life and I am regularly steered away from my "everyone is assholes" outlook on society.
MMO's are a different story. There is no constant challenge. Most MMO's continuously move towards soloable content. Things get easier and easier. 40 man groups turn into 25. 25 man groups turn into 15 and 10. 10 man groups turn into 5 and 2. They start including group finders and raid finders. They continually find ways to make it possible to play without any meaningful interaction.
The do this because it works for the numbers. They make games solo friendly and people will tend to play them solo. That's because, without a driving force to group up, people won't. That's the problem. Some of my greatest MMO memories were created with long term groups. Some groups lasted for years. It was amazing, but hasn't happened in a while.
That's because games don't push people together anymore. They make the majority of your time in-game soloable. Instead of creating content that naturally requires a group effort, they make the group effort the "special occasion". Then, they make those special occasions possible without any meaningful interaction. So as a matter of default, players tend to play solo and never create those meaningful connections that were the entire purpose of the genre.
So what do you think. Do you think this is a function of society or game design decisions? Is it possible to go back to the group required content? Or have we gone too far into the world of antisocial societies to return? Does anyone really want to anymore?
