Monday Night Musings: Online Play
I don't know about all of you, but like many of the youth of my suburbia growing up I was subjected to peewee soccer. I vaguely remember the first day of practice: sweaty palms, staring at ground, and trying to figure out why the ball was colored like a panda. Luckily (or unluckily) my dad was the coach of the team, so I made friends (and enemies) quickly enough. It turned out I really grew to like soccer, in part due to the friends that I made while playing the sport. Not surprisingly enough, community related activities survive or die by how that community interacts with its own members. What's my point? Well, as I see previews of more and more games, a very common feature in almost all games coming out is online gameplay, which means more and more of our game experience revolves around the inclusion of other people.
While these online features may be an exciting thing, at the same time it brings to mind the famous Penny Arcade F-wad Theory. In an article last week on Gamasutra, Fixing Online Gaming Idiocy: A Psychological Approach, that very theory was invoked to help drive home the point that with online gaming comes people that can make the experience horrible. We've seen this in the not so distant past when we posted the video of xxxGayBoyxxx and his experiences on Xbox Live. As a lot of people noted in the comments on this and other sites, "that's just the way that Xbox Live is"; however, as Bill Fulton of the Gamasutra article notes, this very attitude does have an effect:
Some gamers might be thinking "If he's so thin-skinned that he can't take the online banter, maybe he shouldn't play online." Unfortunately, many people do just that -- they stop playing online.Even more gamers go online a few times and then never play again . . . I have seen convincing data from two different sources that the biggest problem with online gaming is the behavior of others. The biggest problem isn't the cost; it isn't connectivity issues, or even the quality of the games -- it is how people are fuckwads online.
There lies the crux of the problem, people being turned away from gaming by bad online experiences. While we can try to chalk up annoying online behavior to 'the way things are', it doesn't change the fact that many people might be driven away from playing games just due to the online experience, much like I would have possibly grown to dislike soccer if my teammates constantly belittled me. Bill Fulton goes on in the article to discuss, from a psychological stand-point, the ways in which we can change the social environment within online games to help decrease unwanted behavior.
It's great that these environments can be made better to help foster a better community, but I wanted to focus more on people's experiences (both positive and bad) with online game experiences and communities. Have you ever felt discriminated/welcomed while playing a game online? What type of friendships/animosities have you established in an online community? How do you feel about the different online portals available on both consoles (Xbox Live, PSN, Wii Friend Codes) and PCs (Forums, Steam, Online Communities)? Have your non-gaming friends be turned away or drawn to a game due to its online offerings? How do you feel about the gay communities (such as gaygamer.net) that exist currently?
To see some of my viewpoints and experiences on this, follow the jump.
A recent example I have had is with Super Smash Bros. Brawl (SSBB). As anyone who frequents the gaygamer forums will know, the release of SSBB caused a large wave of people to sign-up to the forums and post friend codes so as to play together. I have actually participated in battles with a number of gaygamers who frequent the gaygamer IRC channel and have to admit that there is an awesome sense of satisfaction in getting your butt whipped by someone you know online.
At the same time I have had my fair share of frustration with the 'friend code' system that Nintendo seems adamant to use. I never really played Animal Crossing: Wild World with anyone online, due to the need to have friend codes, so the trading aspect of the game was never really experienced by me. When I played Tetris DS with random people online, it was fantastic in its matching system, yet nearly impossible for me to easily add people to my friend's list from random matches.
As for gay gaming communities, part of the reason I was drawn to the gaygamer.net site was the community. I can say that I really feel like I can be myself here in my posts, on the forums, or in the IRC chat without fear of how others might react, which is a pleasant change of pace.
Overall, I'm very excited by the varied prospects of online multiplayer offerings, but part of me worries that the current state of the online communities may hinder, and possibly deter, many from entering into our folds. As for how we can fix well that seems to be a daunting task that game developers will be needing to take a closer look at in the year to come. I guess fielding that problem is a lot like playing goalie on a peewee soccer team, no one wants to do it, but someone has to step up to the bat, usually the coach's son. *sigh*
I look forward to reading your experiences and thoughts on the subject too.
PixelPoet
Posted to Hot Stuff, Miscellany on 14 April 2008
· Comments (8)
Other stuff like this: friend codes, monday night musings, online play, psn, xbox live
Whenever I first got into online gaming, it was from the peer pressure of my old crew back on other forums. They were all awesome people, and I loved chatting with them, and we really had good chemistry on cracking jokes.
When I played against random people, generally I don't talk much and don't have a good time. Because you have to deal with idiots and trolls 90% of the time.
However the best part is you establish a crew with your pals on a site, and you all get together for that and form a team. Doesn't matter so much whether you win or lose then, because we'll rag on you later regardless.
Theres assholes everywhere in the world.
But friends help, make it less terrible
I've generally not played online for this exact reason. The only game I do play regularly online, in fact, is Team Fortress 2, because I've managed to find a few servers with strict rules about player behavior (racist/hate speech/profanity not allowed, etc).
The rare times I've gone on Xbox Live I've not been terribly impressed with either the matchmaking or the other players (it's still better than PS3 online experiences, however), and honestly I wonder why I bother paying for a Gold account.
I'm with Shin Gallon. If it weren't for the downloadable content factor of Xbox Live, I'd barely argue I'm getting my money's worth. I've given most of the games on Live w/ a good multiplayer draw a try. Halo, Gears of War...had a really good win streak on DOA 4 before I got tired of random children screaming racial slurs into the Interweb... but after a while I just got tired of feeling like the only rational guy in the room lecturing snotty out of touch suburbians about why hate speech is wrong. At this point, I only play online matches when invited by people I actually don't find annoying (and I don't even do that very often).
This is exactly right, I don't play Halo 3 or COD4 online, or RSV2 for that matter because of the fucktards who feel the need to mic spam and generally annoy the living crap outta everyone, I speak for at least 3 people I know who've stopped using live for the same reason, I use it to coop with my friends and don't bother with any online modes outside from that..
Unlike most, I am utterly horrible with people and the slightest inkling of annoyance tends me to just cut them off completely, that extends to real life as well, I have voice completely disabled accross all my Steam games as well, and only use Teamspeak on a private server which 3 people whom I'm great friends with have access too..
Planetside I only join other squads for the EXP, and like now leave it open to leech their EXP before my friends come on, find a place nobody will ever look and then go to gym, as I am about too..
I agree with the survey findings, the best part of online playing is cooperation, the worst part is having to play with other people in an annoying roundabout catch 22 way..
Racism and homophobia were the main reasons I stopped playing Xbox Live on the original Xbox a few years ago. Things have been okay since I started back playing on Live last year, but I don't play games like Halo and CoD4
I don't play multiplayer online games all that much, but the one MMO I currently have a subscription for is City of Heroes/Villains... It's a pretty good example of how online games can actually limit the idiot factor among players. There are still some isolated pockets of stupidity, but for the most part, people will help newer players, remain fairly civil to each other, and break up fights between other players (which usually only happen in the lowest level zones).
I can't quite say what CoX is doing right compared to other online games, but it really makes the game a lot more fun to play.
I tried playing random matches on Forza Motorsport 2 when I first got xbox live, and it pretty much proved that the xbox live stereotype is true.
The online gaming I do over live that isn't with friends is Viva Pinata: Party Animals. And even then I don't use the headset :P
well, my best friend was over, Katie [GIRL GAMER! lol], and she was playing online halo 3 with me (shes not that bad, but shes not amazing either) and when she had to leave to go back to her house i told my online friend that i had to walk HER down to her car and let her out.
so i came back on the mic and said im back. and then my friend online said, "you gonna get your mack on with her?"
i mean, i know what hes asking and i know what to tell him, "no i'm gay." but i cant. i dont know the guy and hes really cool too. i dont say that. i tell him that shes just a really cool friend and thats what it will ever be. its hard to have to say that but it seems like i have to. im just afraid that he will be like "oh, dude you're gay?" then delete me as a friend or something. and then you just hear it all the time, "that was really gay dude!" or "what fag!" just by hearing my voice. I CAN'T HELP IT! but i know that its going to happen so i just brace myself for whatever may happen.
idk, but it is hard. that is my only experience of that ever happening to me though.