From Basement to
Boardroom
or Why Gamers Can Meet
in the Open Now
by Medeor
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Back in the day (oh, about a year or so ago) gamers typically met in
dark basements and away from the prying eyes of the public. The typical
"meeting" was held thousands of miles apart, with the players connected
by their computers and broadband (if they were lucky). Gamers
didn’t meet in public; heck, they didn’t go out
much. Part of that was our culture--gaming was frowned upon by
“people” and gamers didn’t want
to risk the ire of the “people.”
Fast forward a whopping 12 to 18 months, give or take. The gamer of
today can walk proudly into EB Games in the mall and walk out with the
latest hack-n-slash and not feel like they are strolling out in public
carrying porn. We’ve come a long way, baby. But this is not
an article about how games have become more mainstream, it is about how
gamers have become more mainstream, and that heading out to meet up
with fellow gamers is not only cool and interesting, it’s
better...oh yes, better. Now it’s almost accepted.
Have you met up with a fellow gamer? Five years ago most people would
have said “Eww, have you seen the people that play those
games?” Now they need only look in the mirror to see the
people playing those games. I have looked in the mirror, and you know
what? I like me, so I’d hang out with me.
The interaction in an MMO is so different from consoles that I
won’t spend any time discussing the way that a 3 minute Halo
match won’t build community. MMOs on the other hand, bring
people together for the purpose of a greater good–loot! Oh
wait, I mean...progression and accomplishment. I have seen it over and
over again. Heck, the military uses this tactic to bring the troops
closer, and the theory is that those groups who struggle, claw and
scratch their way through some heinous back-breaking experiences will
come out the other side willing to die for their group mates.
This is why I wouldn’t necessarily meet up with any of the
Halo l33ters who have fragged me, but I would meet up with my MMO
buddies. I don’t know many who would literally die for their
guild mates, but their avatars take punches for them every night. It is
really quite chivalrous. Maybe we could get that back into society,
hmm? Once again Shay is going to kill me because I am tangent
man and can’t stay on the point. [Editor's Note: Not yet,
Tangent Man. Not...yet. --Shay]
The point is, I have met fellow online gamers out in public (folks I
didn’t know before in real life) and we had a good time.
Storytime! There was a very good guild friend who we all hung out with
on Teamspeak during PvP nights and Raids. Together we killed more
enemies than I could ever count. He came to town on business and we
went out for a bee. I was nervous because I thought, Just because we
play the same game doesn’t mean we’re going to have
anything else in common. Wrong! We hung out for more than a few beers
(and boy did I get funnier!) You know what? He was similar to me in
that we’re both married with kids and jobs and have a lot of
interesting things going on outside of the game. We talked about all
kinds of things in addition to the game, our guild, and strategies.
I’m beginning to think we’re more the norm than the
exception. So the answer is: yes, I would hang out with someone I met
online. I don’t know if I’ll make lifelong friends,
but I’ve sure met some cool people along the way.
Some people have
met lifelong friends, and others have even met their partners. Many of
us have likely read the Wall Street Journal article talking about
gamers who found their mates by gaming: “To Find a Mate, Raid
a Dungeon Or Speak Like an Elf: Flirting in Online Games Can Lead to
Offline Love (Lord Krideldek's Ploy)” by David Kesmodel (June
9, 2006; Page A1). I think you need a subscription to open it, but here
is the
href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114980862872575564.html?emailf=yes">link.
In my last two offices, I have met couples who got together through
gaming and moved multiple states to be with their new significant
gaming other.
Another good article is from the BBC, and it really brings home a lot
of the examples I provided above: “
href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3758405.stm">Meeting
Your Online Gaming Pals."
"But Medeor," you say, “What will happen when our kids, who
are spending all their time gaming on their dern computers, grow
up?”
“Bah!” I say, "They're going to be more
group-oriented, mindful of others, and internationally wise." Check out
this little gem of an article: “
href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4774534.stm">Gamers
Make More Friends Not Less.” Here's one quote from
it:
“We noticed
that, rather than forfeiting existing friendships, teenagers logging
into the game environment are actually adding to their group of
friends. This was because they meet different groups in different
virtual meeting spaces."
And what will they do with all these online meeting skills? Call me
crazy, but I’ll bet $4.4B they start businesses and go on to
be successful. Yes, that was with a B. And all that money will
bring people together in ways we can’t even fathom: "
target="_blank"
href="http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/othercities/austin/stories/2006/08/28/daily13.html?b=1156737600%5E1338190">Online
Gaming is Serious Business."
So in the meantime, I’m still waiting for my Outlook to pop
up with the Meeting Invite that says: “Come to our board
meeting! Join us on WoW server Bronzebeard, in the Winterspring
(Neutral Site) Inn for drinks and discussion. (Raid to follow, and the
character that ends up with the Epic item must make coffee for all of
us at our next meeting.): "
href="http://www.ics.uci.edu/community/news/articles/view_article?id=57">Businesses
Find Real Uses in the Virtual World."
The ultimate question is whether or not any community members would get
together for a Ten Ton Hammer meet and greet. My answer is yes; I would
definitely go out of my way to hang out with the great people
I’ve met on the boards and on Vent and Teamspeak. Would you?
target="_blank"
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=4761#4761">Tell
us here!
style="font-weight: bold;">One last fun tidbit I found in
researching this article:
If you still don’t believe me, gaming is even making its
roads into academia, making the mainstream news, and it even makes web
conferences, who knows, I might "see" you there:
href="https://www.academicimpressions.com/web_conferences/0906-online-games.php">Exploring
the Learning Potential of Multiplayer Online Games: Web Conference
Share your thoughts and
let us know if you'd be interested in a Ten Ton Hammer meet and greet style="font-style: italic;"
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=4761#4761">here style="font-style: italic;">!
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