I recall a conversation I had with someone not too long ago. We were talking about social media and it shifted towards online gaming.
One of the things that caused me to remember this conversation was when he said that games today try very hard to have an active online community playing and interacting with one another.
A very good example is 'Clash of Clans', where, in order to progress well, a player should find a clan and participate in organised 'wars' against other clans. The player would also ask for and receive units from their friends and clan members to further their cause.
I never played the game precisely because of what seems to me to be an over-reliance on other players. If I wanted to play a game on my own, I should be able to do so without being penalised for it. As such, I refuse to play community-driven games like these.
Yet, what my conversational partner was telling me was that this is the direction that online gaming is taking. If it's not a community-driven game, it wouldn't do well and people don't take to it. I find it ludicrous but it seems to me that he is almost certainly right.
It got me wondering why I don't like participating in community events in a game. I figured that I already have enough community events in real life and don't need to be forced to be take part in yet another one when I'm gaming at home or on my phone (which I very rarely do because many phone games "encourage" communities).
It is rather an odd thing, too, that games are going the way social media is heading - towards large communities of acquaintances who barely know one another. I can't say that I'm pleased about this, yet I can't say that I'm surprised.
Copyright belongs to Clash of Clans by Supercell