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Game communities vs real life communities


creationlist

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Hello everyone,

I recently thought about my gaming days.

What I noticed was, that I really play those games where a good community was arround more frequently and also had more competitive thought with those games.

Even if I could choose between different games, and the one I did like the least had the best community I would still continue to play that bad game.

Do you have the same experiences? What are your game community stories?

What is the biggest different to real life comminies you noticed in gaming communities?

Did you notice a pattern of behaviour in gaming communities compared to real life communities?

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On 12/18/2019 at 8:55 PM, creationlist said:

Even if I could choose between different games, and the one I did like the least had the best community I would still continue to play that bad game.

Do you have the same experiences? What are your game community stories?

Pretty much every game I have been playing had about an equal amount of toxic people. Only one game might be an exception where most people were surprisingly kind in general.
To me it does not make much of a difference, whether I play solo or regularly in a group of people. I can enjoy playing solo just as much as I enjoy playing in groups. That's how I am in real life too by the way. Loneliness bothers me sometimes, maybe once or twice a week, but most of the time I enjoy being "alone".

However, I do think that the bonds I formed while playing, kept me interested for a longer time into the game. It extended the duration I stayed with that particular game. Meeting and voice chatting with the guild/team members felt similar like talking to colleagues or even friends. If I had been stayed solo throughout the entire time, I would've probably played that game less; shifting my attention to additional games.

On 12/18/2019 at 8:55 PM, creationlist said:

What is the biggest different to real life comminies you noticed in gaming communities?

One big difference I am aware of is, that I (usually) don't know how they look in real life. I only know their created in-game character.
Also, in most online games you get some kind of competitive vibe, since there is almost always a certain goal to achieve which the players within the communities strife for.
 

On 12/18/2019 at 8:55 PM, creationlist said:

Did you notice a pattern of behaviour in gaming communities compared to real life communities?

When voice chatting without seeing peoples faces, we tend to laugh a little bit less I believe. This is being accounted, for the most part, to us not being able to see and read each others facial mimic and gestures. Players also tend to talk and interact less at peak situations when concentrating while performing demanding tasks in-game. In these scenarios, I like the analogy of competitive games and sports in real life, instead of comparing gaming to all aspects of real life.

Another thing that comes to my mind is, the sense of "anonymity" can make people show their bad side. People being assholes and so on, who on the other hand know how to behave in real life.

There are patterns that differ, but I don't think there are a whole lot of differences.

Edited by Silent3d
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  • 2 weeks later...

Keep in Mind that this text reflects my own experiences. This text should not be generalized since there are also cool people arround in gaming communities or there are real assholes within a community you meet in real life. You always have the option to walk away or meet the people you like more. Regardless if they are online or offline.

On 12/22/2019 at 10:28 PM, Silent3d said:

Pretty much every game I have been playing had about an equal amount of toxic people.

Enjoying a game is a general topic in gaming communities I'd say. And toxicity is a general problem with gaming communities. I did notice that myselve. In special what always bugged me with gaming comminities is that you are not that worth if you play less than other people. Or if your not that good than other people.

Your whole social status is mostly determined by your skill and how much worth it is for the group. It mostly does not matter if your a nice guy or if you have other gifts who make the people within the gaming community more, say human, for example.

I was in tons of gaming communities and the above was always a big problem for me. It was also the reason I quit games several times becouse I was not the guy "getting to addicted" over a game. So my progess was slow which always held the group of gamers back.

The biggest difference I noticed was that in "reallife communities" it's not that difficult for people who do not have advantages (are not funny for example, are not rich etc) that make them better than someone else, to stay in a group and are not excluded that hard like in gaming communities. Becouse you find more people with simple expectations in real life with real life friends than gamer friends.

Another difference I noticed is, that the respect for people is much lower in gaming communities. You get offended more often becouse it's only virtual I think. There is no real consequence being an asshole. Also the jokes are mostly dull.

That was always a problem when I meet my real friends (who I still meet) who told me more than once to shut up already. Thats becouse you do have more will to change yourselve to fit in and find out that these changes make you also feel better. Compared to gaming communities where your own changes make you only the same like everyone else and do not give you a self improvement.

On 12/22/2019 at 10:28 PM, Silent3d said:

However, I do think that the bonds I formed while playing, kept me interested for a longer time into the game.

Thats exactly what I noticed by myselve. But after a while I always think about "wasting time with gaming" so I quit, since the topic in all gaming communities is just... gaming. Or nerdtalk. Don't get me wrong. You can find nice people online who you love to interact with, but the general layer of activity is always the same.

On 12/22/2019 at 10:28 PM, Silent3d said:

When voice chatting without seeing peoples faces, we tend to laugh a little bit less I believe.

This is also something I noticed it may be a reason jokes are more simple within gaming communities. People tend to be "the crazy guy" more often and being clowns most of the time you talk to them. There is no real calming down here.

On 12/22/2019 at 10:28 PM, Silent3d said:

Players also tend to talk and interact less at peak situations when concentrating while performing demanding tasks in-game.

This is one by product you learn when meeting real people. If your overreacting or talk endlessly you annoy people. In gaming it's the endles repititive dull tasks you force yourselve to do, until you get to the point where you have tasks that are demanding. Those tasks are the real bonds between groups. I met gaming communities where people meet in reallife, but those meetings where not the important aspects of their relation, they always talked about their gaming progression.

On 12/22/2019 at 10:28 PM, Silent3d said:

There are patterns that differ, but I don't think there are a whole lot of differences.

I can always count on my real life friends. Never and really never met people in gaming communities who where willing to step back for one member of the group. Thats one major difference I noticed.

I never had dull racsist or idiotic conversations with my real life friends, compared to gaming communities where it's the norm. Granted there are exceptions, but I look on the "general behaviour" you find in most gaming communities.

Non of my reallife friends think they are the center of the universe. Almost all people in gaming communities think they are.

And the major aspect: If I am out meeting real people, I can see positive effect for myselve. Even if I just drink a beer with someone and talk about dull stuff. Compared to the virtual alternative where your decisions and behaviour does not matter.

And the final major difference is, if you try to be the normal guy within a gaming community, who priorizes friends or work, you get excluded hard.

Edited by creationlist
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  • 1 year later...
On 3/10/2021 at 8:00 AM, Notaproblem said:

I think game communities resemble real-life communities in the sense that they both provide support, information, friendship, and acceptance between strangers. By the way, I love WoW Classic community, you can join it.

I totally disagree. Becouse of the text I written above.

Short:
Gaming communities have the problem of being anonymous.
I never had someone in a gaming community helping me to move my furniture.
I never had people in the gaming community being honest.

Compared to real life friends, gaming friends are not real friends. There are exceptions, but those are so rare.

Even real friendships get destroyed by computer games often.

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