An MMO parable

GTwander

Not too long ago, the genre used to be akin to a classroom, or if it fits, going to your workplace.

You'd recognize faces, maybe remember a couple names. Eventually all the people on the server, similar to any environment where you would share space with others, started to become familiar.

~But where are we at now?... a trip to the grocery store.

A place where you share the same space, but try to "get it over with" as quickly as possible, in order to save yourself from having to deal with anyone. It's the kind of place where if you try to spark up a conversaion with somebody, they will silently mutter "why is this guy talking to me?", and immediately pull out their cellphone to pretend they are preoccupied.

I do believe this is why the genre is moving in the direction it's going, and there is nobody I would like to blame more than modern society.

Trionicus

Whenever I talk to someone new in a game I tend to get the feeling they're freaking out, like you said "Why is this guy talking to me". In the event that the meeting is to their immediate benefit they seem equally alarmed, like they just won the scratch and win.

 

I still manage to form friendships through games, mostly due to the fact that I tend to level a character that has a vital and in demand role for gameplay mechanics (Healer or Tank). Players seem to remember the name of a good tank and sometimes a decent healer.

Gaendric

I do think that how games are designed has to do with this too.

We are playing solo-MMOs nowadays, so we end up with a solo oriented playerbase. 

Even in the parts of the game where you do have to group up, like warfronts and PvE group content, you get shuffled around every 10 to 15 minutes and meet a new bunch of strangers you don't really care about.