Friendship On-Demand?
So even when I’m taking time away from games, a few times a week I hop onto the different Ventrilo servers where old friends kick back and talk smack. Ventrilo, for the uninitiated, is a mix between a conference call and a chat room. My buddy Cheese and I got to talking about the friendships that you make online and off. He suggested that in games, we have “on-demand relationships.” If you’re not familiar with On-Demand cable, it’s where you use your TV remote to browse between shows that different channels offer up for you to watch at any time.
On-Demand
Part of this conversation had to do with the way offline relationships work. Someone suggested that we don’t always live by the people we’d prefer. As the conversation went, at times people who live in a proximity to one another are obligated to give support during hard times when they might not even like these people. Are these the gesticulations of people who are perceptive, sith masters or just spoiled by WoW?
“ALL I WANTED WAS A CUP OF SUGAR!!!”
Relationships online are with people who we literally pick and choose to socialize with. Does that make them more lovable, or is there a consumptive element? Or is it both? As soon as we’ve gotten our fill of that “on-demand channel,” we can flip channels or just turn them off.
“The force is strong with you. Let’s be friends.”
Obviously gaming empowers new types of connectivity, which some people really take advantage of in finding enjoyable conversation. On the other hand, when we turn off the game or, as I have done, “take a break,” what happens to those relationships? It seems that there’s really no platform that compares to “let’s grab a beer,” or “see ya at church.”
Is it the ’same as it ever was,’ or are new dynamics in play?
Neils Clark :: May.23.2008 :: Games ::
Interesting idea…
I’ve always felt that these ‘on-demand’ gaming relationships are like the sort of relationship you develop at a conference or camp. While they don’t have the stability and strong support of ‘real’ relationships, they are fun, relaxed, and no less genuine. You may meet up with the same person again, or you may never see them. Just because these are about the ‘now’ moment and not a long time, doesn’t make them any less important.
Does that make any sense?
I used to really love that fun, relaxed element in speech and debate tournaments. Armed with a purple velvet suit I’d go from school to school, clique to clique locating then kicking back with all sorts of people. It was a place beyond the embedded cliques and relationships of my own Highschool. I liked a lot of the people at my highschool, but there are inherent barriers that somehow spring up once you choose your clique.
In debate, from what I’m hearing in your WoW experience as well, you get a similar phenomenon.
What I like about the high-end raiding - once you have suitable gear and knowledge to hit a variety of raids - is the pug scene. You get introduced to all sorts of different Vent/TS servers, with all sorts of crazy people. Most recently, back when I was doing a little WoW binge maybe a couple months ago, I was the only American in an Australian guild run.
It’s a little different because of the goal structure in WoW (some people are just there for the gear, which shows). Then again, at conferences or camps those people stick out a bit as well. There are people who care about the experience, the people and what their doing - while others are completely focused on the bottom line.
Thanks for the comment squashling.