A NEW ERA OF SOCIALISATION ONLINE GAMING

In an era where online communication is at an all-time high, Will asks: is developing online relationships through gaming is the future?

Cast your mind back to 2020. Everyone was online. Freedom was lost. I started hoarding bottle caps, assuming the worst was still to come. However, along with developing the largest collection of tango toppers, many of us were also playing excessive amounts of games. It was a childhood dream for many. Online gaming helped maintain friendships made at university and rekindle those from back home. I reconnected with one of my closest friends, Josh, who I hadn’t spoken to in two years. However, maintenance of friendships through online gaming isn’t a new concept; we all did it everyday after school for over ten years. But what about making new relationships, platonic or romantic?

Nearly every online game has a voice chat, and the surge of randomly-assigned-team-orientated-pvp-battle… basically Fortnite, means that over a couple of hours, players wind up meeting hundreds of new people (some more polite than others). Anyone who has played a competitive online game has experienced the ecstasy of meeting someone who shares your skill and talent and then spending the next few hours queueing together to get absolutely slaughtered by cheaters and hackers. After so many losses you call it a night, wallowing in self-pity and anger, never to speak to your new friend ever again (everything was going so well until you started duoing with him). But on a rare occasion, the elusive friend request is sent and just like that you have a new duo buddy for Hunt Showdown

It doesn’t have to be just competitive games; I’m sure most people remember how both Pokémon Go and Animal

Crossing: New Horizons SWAT raided their way into the cultural zeitgeist. Kicking down the societal door, flipping the bed of civilisation, and holding a gun to the cultural child’s head, screaming about bell loan repayments and Pinap Berries. Excessive metaphors aside, people made new connections through the pretext of online gaming.

Connections facilitated by the games are obvious, but even online communities that develop to discuss games can garner new relationships. Forums to discuss strategies, discord servers to talk about patch notes, and Twitch channels to chat about shared experiences promote new connections. I can testify first-hand how streaming has introduced me to new people, be it in the chat of a stream, or streaming on my own channel. Friendships are made between roasting the streamer or, in my case, being roasted. I have developed a strong friendship with a fellow student from Germany. We shall never meet in real life but the friendship suffers in no way. All because he wanted to watch me cry as I streamed myself failing to conquer Dark Souls

There are more efficient avenues to meet people and form new relationships than online gaming. Although, at least gaming provides an exit route for dry conversation: be it turning attention to the game or burning their (online) house down. Zuckerberg wants everyone to exist in the Metaverse. No thank you. The fact is we’ve all got to touch grass every once in a while. Online gaming might not be the beginning of game socialisation, but it is more normalised than roping in willing strangers for a quick squash game. - Will Stead