For all that people sometimes tell me that MMOs are so much less social than they used to be, my experience honestly isn’t all that different now from what it was years ago. In Final Fantasy XI (my first MMO, don’t you know) I figure I probably had about six or seven people that I was close to in the game and a couple dozen acquaintances I talked to sometimes and hug out with, and that was a game with aggressive social dependency just for leveling. In Final Fantasy XIV (indisputably my main MMO these days) I probably have… about six or seven people I’m really close to and a couple dozen acquaintances. Not much has changed.
Of course, hey, maybe I’m an outlier. Maybe you have way more close friendships than I do. Maybe you have far fewer. The plural of “anecdote” isn’t “data,” but it can be interesting to learn nonetheless. So how many people are you close to in your MMO of choice? How many people do you count as a good friend, whether those people came with you to the game or just were people you met through it?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
