The Exploitative Push For Social Networking In Games (The Jimquisition)

'Course, if people complain about a game on a network that's built into the game itself, the company that made it can censor or punish them for it... But I'm sure that's just a side-benefit, I mean, a coincidence.

Kraken

For sure, as I say social gaming has its place. It's the cynical motivation behind its widespread adoption that I have an issue with.

Jim Sterling

Funnily enough I've actually been thinking about this lately. I brought it up in a Jimpressions or two, too.

Jim Sterling

I've met some of my most beloved friends through gaming, so it would be hypocritical of me to say that social interaction is not something games need. But as a person with crippling social anxiety, I greatly prefer single player games and usually get annoyed at games that try to push me into multiplayer interactions. No, Android Wilson. We do not need gaming to become its own social network.

Ben L.

I feel old. 😆 Brilliant episode Jim.

Perpetual Noob

Because I don't play games to get AWAY from the assholes I have to work and live around, like jerky customers and aggravating neighbors. No, I want to jump on to games to find MORE of them! Where's the 'scrape the bottom sludge of the internet for the worst human beings ever' button, sign me up! I wanna game with THOSE people, STAT!

Trevor Bond

So this is the part where Finnish people say "Suomi mainittu" ("Finland was mentioned") followed by "torilla tavataan" ("Let's meet at the [town] square") but this is a saaaad mention. Everybody stay in your homes, no one go to the town square. ( I didnt say anything about torulf jernström because I think he's not a finnish swede but an actual swede even if he's the CEO of a FInnish company)

Tommy Laukkanen

hey jim, i joined just so i could message you somehow. I draw parallels, for a living. thought experiment: have you ever played an emulated coinop arcade game, and noticed just how broken and basic the game is when you replace the heartpounding "real money" action of inserting a quarter to continue, vs just pressing SELECT or whathaveyou? pretty busted when you can just hit a button 99 times and be assured of completing a feat that should make you a demigod at your local arcade or pizza parlor. I see parallels whenever I play a game with forced PvP bennies, or whenever i buy a "complete edition" of a game that includes gamebreaking DLC, all of a sudden i've got an golden god bonus" gun at level 1, or the option to divert to some DLC realm partway through my gameplay, and I always have to be cautious as a consumer that I don't D/L DLC until I've progressed far enough in the game to know whether to risk it or not. Anyway. Parallel: games designed for $$$ exploit are lesser experiences. We're being robbed, in more ways than one.

I don't mind some social stuff on games like Destiny 2, but that sure as shit does not mean I want it in every single AAA game. The fact that single-player focused games are becoming rarer and rarer is the reason why i'm not too harsh on games like Crackdown 3, yeah it might not have evolved as much as some people wanted it to, but when you think about how certain franchises have "evolved" in exactly the wrong way(I.E. Rainbow Six going from single-player focused games to a live-service MTX infested piece of shit like Siege, man the single-player focused Patriots getting cancelled for a cynical cash-cow like Siege really did provide a perfect microcosm of what the industry as a whole is doing) then you get to thinking that maybe it's better that Crackdown 3 feels more old-school as opposed to feeling the need to be super-up-to-date, I don't expect every big-budget AAA game to have "evolved" with the times, you know the saying, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

RedBedroomRecords

I'm in a similar mindset these days. There's practically nothing slated for this year I can say I care about, and 2020 there's only a handful that has any interest from me. All single-player games as it turns out. I don't want to deal with a**holes in multiplayer lobbies, I don't want to "Get social" on Twitter or Facebook, and I don't want to "complete the experience" past the initial purchase price. I just want a good stories with good gameplay. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It has gotten to the point that I can't really think of a AAA game that I am looking forward to, every single one I can think to name is in the "Treat with Caution" column.

Neill Halpin