Author: Obed Pen-Ogbolu (Page 5 of 11)

Multiplayer games are a very common thing so you would think that they don’t make that much of a social impact on people, but they make much more of an impact than I had originally thought. A lot of children play games at an early age, and a large group of them play multiplayer games. Thinking back on that, we interact with a lot of people early on in our lives, and the way we see those people interact with others or the way we interact with them ourselves is something that heavily shapes us. Something that did surprise me is the fact that gamers have a lot more options of interaction than I had originally thought. From face to face encounters in arcades to forums and online messaging systems provided by our gaming services, there are many ways to meet new people and interact with already established friends in the gaming world. We, as gamers, have opportunities to improve our social skills almost everywhere. I honestly find it crazy how I’ve never seen this before until now, and I’ve been using these services without any thought to it at all.

Learning all these things are beneficial not just to me, but to gamers everywhere. It is not an understatement to say that games are a big part of human culture, so if these games had a negative impact on us, then that would mean a loss for humanity. Of course there could be some negative impacts when it comes to interacting with people who rage in video games or just flat out want to spread negativity in a community, but the benefits and opportunities for growth outway that. You don’t even need to be a gamer to be honest. If you are someone that just wants to improve your social skills or wants to meet new people, multiplayer games are a way to open a gate to new people. And the best part is that these games branch far from just meeting people in game. These connections can lead you to youtubers, people to follow and interact with on twitter or other social media, discord servers filled with people to talk to and learn from, and much more. For all the gamers that enjoy competitive play or just playing fun games with other people, this is your chance to make new connections and not only grow as gamers, but as people. To all those looking for ways to improve themselves socially, give games a try. Not only can you meet new people, but you can find new interests, hobbies, and more ways to have fun.

When it comes to multiplayer games’ on people socially, we have to consider not only their interactions with non-gamers but also their interaction with people in their own community. What kind of interactions do gamers have with other gamers that leads them to gain some of these social skills? Of course there is the online aspect, where gamers communicate with anonymous people online and create relationships under a different name, but there is also the aspect of face to face confrontation, back in the past when online gaming wasn’t a thing, or wasn’t the primary source of competitive play. For that, I took a look at a documentary about one of the biggest competitive communities when it comes to gaming, the Fighting Game Community, also known as the FGC.

 Martinez, Esteban “FGC: Rise of the Fighting Game Community” | https://youtu.be/AkdCdrzj7Ik

FGC: Rise of the Fighting Game Community is a documentary that dives into the competitive scene of fighting games and the motivation and feelings of the players that make up that competitive scene. These are fighting game players that are enthusiastic about fighting games, whether is players that spend their time creating and honing techniques in practice mode or players that work hard to get better and compete in tournaments. These players connect with each other, whether it be through tournament matches, practice, or just running into each other while attending an event for their specific fighting game. These gatherings show the true connection and interactions between fighting game players. Seth Killian, a game designer and commentator for fighting games, has experienced the connections gained through these fighting game events and states that “arcades were a perfect illustration of that because a lot of those people became friends, a lot of them became enemies, but  it also engendered a certain kind of respect and a certain kind of attitude because you were sharing a physical space with them.”(Timestamp 14:47) Arcades were the first form of competitive play in fighting games. Players had to sit right next to each other and spend money in order to play against each other. They would spend more money and rematch over and over, and in that was a connection slowly being nurtured. Seth Killian believed that through these battles settled in arcades, in an environment where players are forced to fight in a closed pace right next to each other, these people were able to form relationships, whether it be friendships or rivalries. Through arcades people gain competitive personalities that can change depending on the people they fight. To the people they fight, they can gain respect or hatred. If there is any place where gamers will truly gain the social skills that they use in society, it is here, where their competitive spirit is tempered and their ambitions and motivations are honed.