| Slimebeast said: I understand your point. Perhaps you should have reworded your OP, because judging from the defensive tone of the replies, many people thought you were questioning the whole concept of multiplayer, not just the anti-social or frustrating aspects of it. About the anti-social problems with multiplayer. Well, spontaneously I am thinking that it's a very difficult problem to solve. It's like we're seeing an evolution regarding this topic by gaming companies: First they invent online multiplayer, just the ability to connect to a game and play together with other people. But everyone is out there by themselves, the company doesn't interfere with that in any way. Then came services who tried to make sure people didn't cheat. Services who could scan the network for hacking software and who could ban cheaters. Games and matchmaking services with continious support with updates and patches. The next step is what we're seeing now with MS and "intelligent matchmaking" for the Xbone. It's supposedly going to sort based on player skills and basic decent social behaviour. MS is promising that abusive people will be sorted out from your games if you are a sophisticated player. At the same time they're trying to make it equal for everybody. A problem with clans and real tight communities is that it all of a sudden becomes crucial what social skills an individual has, what networks he has access to. You always have a superior advantage if you can co-operate with people with the same interests, your friends or a clan. The elitism aspect. It seems MS is primarily improving the service for random, unorganized players. The next step would perhaps be to try and integrate the two somehow. That's where your mind is now, that's how you are approaching this thing. A matchmaking service that connects random people as well as communities, that takes care of both groups, takes care of all types of people. A service that encourages random players to find communities and enables them to take part of the advantages that come with communities. A service which feels fair and just for all players. I don't know if it's possible. What do you think? |
I would try to reword the initial post, but not sure best way to do it. What is expressed in it is the frustration I feel.
I would also note that I do online community organizing and management around casual, retro and indie gaming, and use Facebook, and have a group there. My interests are in pleasant user experiences online. I run into all these issues online and offline, witnessing meetup groups near where I am dying and so on. Part of it comes out of how weak my own professional network is, my being a non-conformist and trying to get stuff going also. So, my biases lie there, and not just the normal side of things.
What you lay out would be cool. Who knows if we ever get there. I am personally feeling some stuff is seriously missing for me. Heck, I even have wanting to just drop off here completely. So, I do have biases.
Ok, I can try to add something to the initial post to clarify a bit.
