No! Not THAT Community!
In
this day and age of online gaming we have begun to see gamers build a
sense of community online. From Halo to COD, Warcraft, gamers are
meeting total strangers from all walks of life and building friendships
just from playing together. Groups of people create guilds and/or
clans, or just get on around the same time and shoot the shit. So the
misconception that gamers are loners or hermits gets thrown out the
window. Yes, they in their day to day lives some gamers might just be
anitsocial or keep to themselves, but when day ends and they come home
to the recesses of their rooms or man caves or what have you, they have a
group of friends awaiting them online.
But
what is it that drives this sense of community? Why is it that some
games have this great sense of community, whether competitive or just
good ole comradery, and some just fall short? Well for me to answer
this question I should define, or give my personal opinion, on what
makes a good community.
1) A GREAT GAME
- Kind of an ubaduh, but needs to be said nonetheless. How could you
ever have any community if your game is absolute trash. Bad games seem
to have the worse communities, if any at all. How could there be a
common bond if we just don't like playing the game. If it is trash you
still will have a community on your hands. There will be a common bond:
an online community who will dog your game in various message boards,
reviewers, people with pitchforks and torches, etc.
Bring us the heads of Lucy Bradshaw and everyone else at MAXIS!!!!!!!
2) PLAYERS -
When I say players, they can fall into several categories. The
casuals, the hardcore, the MLG's (yes I have to have a category for MLG
itself because they're just a whole 'nother level so I'm not even gonna
get started on that one). Point being, these specific types of players
will gravitate towards others like themselves; sort of like a high
school cafeteria (jocks, nerds, band members, etc.). Sure you have the
gamers who will get online by themselves just to play, but the majority
of people are in parties (well....... on Xbox, yeah; PS3 they'll just
find each other). If a game ever gets critical acclaim, the people they
thank first, 8 out of 10 times, are the fans, the gamers. The gamers
make or break a game, period.
3) WHY ARE WE HERE? -
When you get online there's a reason that you and your friends are
doing the same exact thing, besides the fact that you might be similar,
personality-wise. You all probably have something already in mind going
in. "You feel like doin some CTF or some regicide?", "wanna do this
raid with us?", "Super GT's at Fuji?" Sure, sometimes we just like to
fool around online and do some random playlists, but the majority of
community gamers stick to their guns when it comes to playing online.
For example, MsHeartAttack
plays nothing but Search and Destroy on COD; nothing else. Its not a
bad thing, she just knows what she likes, and while doing that makes new
friends as well (plus the fact that she's a youtube celebrity doesn't
hurt, but still makes friends, regardless). When I play GT5, I spend
the majority of time on Nürburgring, not because I'm not good at any
other tracks (You should see me at Cape Ring and La Sarthe!), but I just
love it; its the most difficult track and I wanna continue to push
myself at that track. For the games we love, and we do love the whole
game, there are some specific gametypes that we just tend to stick to.
We'll venture out every now and then, but we all know why we're gettin
on in the first place.
That's
it. To me, these are the things that make a great community in
gaming. And just from this criteria we have a lot of games with great
communities. Halo? In FPS's the Halo franchise has defined the
community; has been the template, in my opinion, of how to create a
great FPS community. Look what has come out of it. Forge, Red vs. Blue
and many other Machinimas, thousands of clans, the list goes on. COD?
That one's a little tricky. If this was strictly a numbers game then
COD would have a better community just out of the sheer number of people
that get on. And COD has got the same things going that Halo does as
well. But, to be honest, Halo is a bit more relaxed, an everyman's
game. I can go in by myself or in a team and not worry about anything.
But with COD there's more dedication, not to say that Halo doesn't have
dedicated players, but with COD there's just a lot more of them.
That's their main community; the hardcore/MLG (do you even MLG?). I
feel like if I sucked ass in a game of Kill Confirmed my 12 year old
teammate would be telling me how bad my K/D is. Community, yes, just
not my kind.
See these kids? They just got a K-9 Unit and a VTOL Warship and are kicking your adult asses.
I'm
a racer, so naturally Gran Turismo 5 is my game (as I have stated and
will continue to state). But Gran Turismo, a little too often, gets
compared to the Forza franchise. Forza 4 was the better game in the
year those two came out (and this is coming from a GT fanboy). But all
in all, Gran Turismo still has the better community. Why? Simple.
Gran Turismo is a driving simulator, and with every incarnation one
thing has remained the same. Gran Turismo actually teaches you how to
drive. They give you tools and techniques to tackle any race. I felt
proud knowing that I got gold on every single license test so that when I
do go online I won't be a complete noob wrecking everyone on my way to
1st place. While Forza, visually is the better looking of the two, and
has many customization options, it just puts you in races. Yes there's a
driving line you can use as a guide but nothing else. Its not going to
break down the Nürburgring into sections and coach you into tackling
the Green Hell. Its just gonna stick you in a race and say good luck.
So when I did go into online lobbies in Forza, all I got where a bunch
of people who'd wreck each other without a sorry or anything. The GT
community is a serious yet relaxed one. We take our shiz seriously, but
we also have fun and keep the gentlemanly spirit of racing. That's not
saying that GT doesn't have its fair share of douches. Every game
does. But the majority of us are serious racers. Hell, we have a site
dedicated to our glorious franchise were we can talk cars, share tunes,
organize races and series, etc.: GTPlanet.net (Shoutout to Jordan Greer, the owner. A great man who gave GT fans a virtual home away from virtual home.)
I'M GOIN FAST! AND MY CAR'S STILL PURDY!
If
you're an online gamer you have a friends list. The reason you built
that friends list is because you play the same game with someone else in
the same lobby. If it was an even better experience you added a bunch
of friends. Congratulations! You have your own community amongst the
game's community. Its that damn easy. For a lot of us we have
different perspectives as to what makes a great community. My friend
Ash says a great gaming community is made of "passionate and
enthusiastic gamers that are always willing to help and offer a hand to
their fellow gamers. As long they are mature (to some degree), open and
non biased (I hate fanboys) I'm happy" And I agree, (maybe not the
fanboy part, because until Kazunori Yamauchi makes a terrible GT, I'm
gonna be drinkin his Kool-Aid lol) But I also believe that it's a healthy
balance. The games make the community, and the community makes the
games. Without one there is no equilibrium. I have met a lot of great
friends thanks to Xbox Live and PSN and will continue to do so as long
as I have great games to share. So venture on gamers, and build our
communities up, not down (you f*#*ing trollers).