Even table games before that served much the same purpose, similar with sports and some hobbies. It’s much easier to talk about something or over something while engaging in an activity. They provide a default topic, a medium, a space and a diversion from unwelcome topics when needed; an agreed upon means of social interaction.
Plus, for people that maybe are a bit awkward in social situations, tabletop games provide an easily digestible set of rules for interacting with other people. You say and do certain things at certain times, you take turns, it follows a predictable scenario, an understandable framework for interacting with other people.
Compare that with being at a party or something where you’ve got however many variables to account for: Socio-economic backgrounds, religion, politics, sexual preferences, relationship status, jobs/careers, topical news, music, movies, personal quirks and shared history, (to name a few). You can talk about anything and everything, but you have to keep people’s interest and not be too weird and/or offensive. You’ve got to be able to read emotions and pickup on social cues, multiplied out by however many people are there. There’s no written rules, but somehow we’re just supposed to know how to navigate.
Playing games with other people simplifies the experience down and makes the experience easy to handle.
I have three close friends who are abroad and we game once every weekend but we never really talk about what’s going on in the game. We just chat
So?
Man, you can’t have shit nowadays.
I’m having a shit right now … talking to other men.
It’s no different than being at a pub or sports really. A focused activity to keep the mind engaged and allow for other unrelated things to surface as the conversation evolves
Not sure about whether anyone needed an excuse, but yeah. Gaming is social. It’s funny how some people don’t really know, and think about gamers “isolated in their rooms playing video games!” when it is often a very social activity.
Not disagreeing with anything you’ve said but I think the Tweet was meant to be taken with a little tongue-in-cheek attitude.
I get that. I was just commenting on a related side issue about people who don’t get that games are also communication platforms.
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ironically the game i’ve enjoyed most is deep rock galactic, where the whole schtick is that you just pop into missions with random people and communicate almost solely via pointing at things and shouting about minerals.
every single time i’ve been in a voice call with someone online it has been absurdly uncomfortable and i’ve just wanted to jump out of my skin and run away, i cannot fathom how people even tolerate it.
Got to have the right kind of game to foster that kind of online friendship. Talking in game is generally the precursor to going to a discord. DRG and your example miss that step
DRG is the perfect game for my friends to remain connected because it’s low stakes and fun. We can shoot the shit.
Right, but I’m talking in the context of meeting new people, not maintaining current ones.
Yeah I don’t mind voice calls with people I know well or in game chat, but I’ve had friends that could just pop into a VC on like the apex discord to find teammates and that idea just fills me with so much dread lmao
Rock and roll and stone, brother.
Mushroom! Mushroom! Mushroom!
Pffft I’m a dude and I talk to my bestmate on the phone for hours every day, his wife calls me his mistresses.
Hmmm, interesting theory. I think that is a big reason I don’t do the headphones/multiplayer games - the idea of having to argue with other guys all night long. Life is aggravating enough. But then again I don’t even really use my cellphone because I hate the idea of checking it or having to call people. I guess I’m a hermit. But I still love video games, I just do them solo so I can do my own thing.
You can always be an antisocial online gamer like me. Headphones off. Other people are basically just advanced AI
Lovely
and some of us play like a below-average ai.
I play like a Bethesda NPC
That escalated quickly
What’s that? Must’ve been the wind.
Walks into wall again
I am as antisocial as humans get, frankly. Why am I online posting absurd comments then. Also, I like to argue with myself. My doormat says “Unwelcome, go away!” If I could move my apartment to mars, I’d be video gaming from there. Or would I. I feel another argument coming on.
I usually fall into the same category but I think the difference is that when I do play online it’s usually with actual friends not random people. Random people suck.
Used to do this in my late teens. Now almost 40 and miss it very much.
We have a weekly D&D/rpg session that we’ve kept pretty consistently since the pandemic hit however many years ago. It’s sometimes the only chance I get to socialize outside of work or family during the week. I really don’t care for just “hanging out” and talking randomly, I need something else to be going on, some other excuse to be talking with people, gaming gives me that.
