With the continuous growth of popular social networks it was inevitable for companies to start integrating them into their gaming products. However, I for one am personally sick to death of every single game trying to get me to connect with other people for the sake of a few items or bonuses.
“Insert annoying friends name here” has just invited you to play “insert really crap game here”. That is currently the extent of my online social experience in relation to MMO gaming. It’s akin to having said friend repeatedly slam my face into a pile of human feces left behind by the Zynga CEO. I use MMO loosely as I’m sure you’re aware half of these games don’t even fit the definition, yet they’re happy to include it as a selling point. Why does every game company assume we’re all social butterflies just waiting to burst out of our comfort cocoon?
The Playstation 4 is taking this to new heights, even including a social button on the control pad. Plenty of other games, from console to MMO, all encourage players to share achievements across various social networks. “Your friend has just earned the complete lack of social life achievement”, wow; well done. Don’t get me wrong, nailing those tough achievements is a real reason to celebrate, but I don’t feel the need to plaster it across every persons profile that I know.
Do people only socialize with one kind of person nowadays? Do gamers specifically only friend other gamers? If I were to share a gaming status update I would guesstimate that about 2-3% of my social network connections would give a crap.
How do you feel about this intrusion in our social lives? If I’m honest, I think I’m just way out of the curve on this one. I don’t feel the need to Tweet the size of my last partners bust, nor do I feel the need to let everyone know I’m at hospital or on the toilet via location tagging. So maybe it’s just me, or do you feel social networks invade enough aspects of our lives without intruding on gaming? Leave your thoughts below.