I have always enjoyed videogames, but I have never been able to enjoy the same game over a long period of time without a multiplayer function. Even when I was a little kid playing on my DS Lite, I did not normally play a lot of videogames because I could not play with any friends over the internet. The only time I felt truly hooked was when I was in person with my friends and could utilize the multiplayer features of games like Mario Cart or Pokemon. I remember valuing the time I could spend playing with my friends so much that I missed my races at swim meets because I was so encapsulated by my games. The multiplayer function of videogames has always been so important to me that if it did become commonplace to connect players through the internet, I don’t think I would still consider myself a gamer today.
Unfortunately for my sleep schedule, as the infrastructure for connecting people through videogames has grown, so has my love for videogames. When I first started playing videogames, I only interacted with people I already knew. However, once I started playing games that match you into lobbies with random people, videogames weren’t just a way to spend time with friends but a way to make friends as well. Especially when I found games that none of my friends from school wanted to play with me, random matchmaking was very important. Eventually, I found Discord and “Looking For Group” websites that made it even easier to play with new people. These people were also more likely to be good teammates than random players because they went through the extra effort of finding someone to queue a game with. Perhaps the infrastructure I am most thankful for is UChicago’s gaming club. In K-12 school, class sizes are much smaller, making it much more difficult to find someone who enjoys the same games as you and that you want to be friends with. Through UChicago’s gaming RSO I have been able to find a lot of people that enjoy the same games as me and make some of my best friends. Getting to enjoy games with people I am closer to than online friends has made videogames even more enjoyable for me. It is interesting to me that game developers have no direct control over some aspects that have enhanced gaming so greatly, such as clubs or looking for group platforms.
I also do not think I would have kept playing videogames if it were not for the competitive aspect. A small and evil part of me enjoys knowing that I am better than the people I play against when I win. More importantly, the competitive aspect of multiplayer games gives you another reason to keep coming back to a game. Your best chance of winning a team-based competitive videogame is by playing with teammates that already know your playstyle, so you are encouraged to play and improve with the same group of people. My favorite part of gaming may be getting to share the experience of improving at a game with a group of friends that are just as addicted to the game as me.
What is this — an advertisement for the gaming RSO?! Jk, jk. I think that’s a really interesting point. I mentioned this in class, but I’m really curious about the social life aspect of videogames. Socializing has moved so online from the forced migration due to COVID but also to the prevalence of social media apps (incoming UChicago student Facebook groups, anyone?) that allow you to stay in touch with people you already know, but also to meet people around a shared interest. As someone who has spent hours and hours talking online to people, solely online relationships are a valuable sort of relationship. I’m intrigued by gaming communities in the “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” sense. Like does the game build the community or does the community build the game?
I always found the interaction between video games and sociality to be very interesting. I’m a little like you, in the sense that I don’t really play that many single player games anymore. I think this multiplayer effect is being understood more and more by the industry as well. Almost all of the most popular games have some kind of multiplayer functionality and AAA games frequently seek to add a multiplayer experience of some kind. I think CoD is the best example of this right now: there is a main story, and I know some people play the story mode and don’t explore the multiplayer forms, but CoD is mostly a multiplayer game now with the single player story mode as an afterthought. They now have the standard multiplayer modes, as well as a battle royale mode and a Tarkov-like mode.