How Often Do You Play Video Games with Friends?

Faro on 01/12/2018 - 22:09
Last edited 01/12/2018 - 23:05

Genuine question. I know as people get older, lives take on different responsibilities, people work on different schedules, may not have the same system as you or even play games at all any more.

I'm personally finding it harder and harder to find when any of my friends:

  1. Have the same game as me
  2. Have it on a compatible system to play together
  3. Want to play said game even if they do have it
  4. Have the same schedule in order to play said games if all else lines up

Also lost a bunch of my friends, who would play fortnite together, to Red Dead when it came out and now that it has online mode, we're split across Xbox and PlayStation.

Aside from that we somewhat frequently still meet up once every week or two when people are available to play couch co-op or multiplayer games such as Super Mario Party or Rocket League. So at least there's that.

What are your perspectives on gaming with friends online or in person? Curious to see if anyone else finds it as difficult as I do

Poll Options

  • 9
    I frequently play online games with friends
  • 4
    I rarely play online games with friends
  • 1
    I frequently play local multi-player games with friends
  • 2
    I rarely play local multi-player games with friends
  • 1
    I play both local and online multi-player games with friends
  • 12
    I never play online or local multi-player games with friends
  • 43
    What are friends
  • 2
    I lost my friends to bikies
Gaming

Comments

  • Archi on 01/12/2018 - 22:23

    Ohhh video games… I was thinking something else.
    We have different friends for different games.

    Some friends we play games with outside…
    Some friends we play games with around a table.
    Some friends we play games without our partners and
    Some friends we play games with all together.

    • Faro on 01/12/2018 - 23:05
      +1

      This has confused me more than your initial confusion

  • p1 ama on 02/12/2018 - 00:15
    +2

    I think the only real way to play with friends is the good old split-screen on a big TV. The sad truth is that most modern games no longer prioritise split-screen play like old games used to do anymore. I had plenty of fun playing Halo multiplayer on the big TV years ago.

    I usually game on PC these days and play online quite a fair bit. I think that the demise of split-screen play is one of the worst things to happen to gaming. It's turned it from a broadly social experience to a very isolating experience. I completely understand the convenience side of things though.

    My view is that video game addiction and other social issues stemming from video games is because of online play. Unlike playing campaign mode, where you generally play for the story and the experience, online play is all about repetition and perfection of skills to the point where you have to be obsessive to even really stand much of a chance against players online in popular FPS games. Unlike split-screen play, you can't just hang out with mates and have a good time anymore.

    • Faro on 02/12/2018 - 08:08
      +1

      I'd say you're not too far from the truth, however my friends and I would play a lot of fortnite not to try and always win necessarily, but just to talk shit and generally catch up over the chat feature whilst also playing a game we enjoy

      • p1 ama on 04/12/2018 - 19:56

        That sounds like it's great fun. I think with games like Fortnite, it's genuinely becoming possible because it's free to play, so it's not hard to convince some mates to get it.

        I think what I was referring to was the bigger point. I think the gaming scene is great - I've always loved LAN parties, I've always followed tournaments and gone to conventions…etc. The people I've met at all of these places have always been social and friendly. Sure, I've met some very competitive people who were there to win, but they were always good sports. You win, you lose, but you can shake hands and have a beer after, you know.

        It's completely different to the toxic culture that's sometimes present with online gaming these days.

        • Faro on 04/12/2018 - 21:25

          Oh yeah for sure. Rocket League chat is disgusting on Xbox Live

          • p1 ama on 05/12/2018 - 11:49

            @Faro: Curious to know why you think that's the case?

            Personally, I think it's because when people play online, opponents are no longer people. It's different from actually knowing that the guy at a LAN party is a real human being who's had to work hard to get to where they are. Probably also to do with people less likely being dicks when it's face to face.

            • Faro on 05/12/2018 - 13:59

              @p1 ama: That's exactly what I think as well. It's just like cyber bullying and road rage. People use keyboards and vehicles and whatever else as a sort of shield from reality when it comes to their emotions. As long as they don't have to be face to face with the person that causes their annoyance they feel like they can do whatever they want without consequence.

  • Faro on 02/12/2018 - 11:12

    For those who do frequently play online with friends, how do you go about organising it?

    • [Deactivated] on 15/12/2018 - 11:00

      My situation:

      • 3 close mates, late 20's, all full time
      • we have always stayed on the same console (PS4).. so that helps
      • we individually play SP games like RDR2, but generally will buy multiplayer games at the same time
      • currently switch between COD and Battlefield. We use party chat and just talk BS and have a laugh playing online. We aren't that serious..
      • any night of the week we have 1-2 hour spare, we just send a quick MSG to see if anyone's free. Lately we have been playing 3-4x a week

      Spose what works for us is that we all use the same platform, and generally always buy the same multiplayer game within a week of each other.

      • Faro on 15/12/2018 - 11:14

        That awesome man
        My friends are unfortunately more selfish in terms of
        A) won't buy games they may enjoy because it's too expensive or not on the same platform
        B) prioritise single player experiences over multiplayer games

        In saying that, I'm one of the youngest of my core friend group being 23 (oldest is 35) so things are all over the place in that regard too. None of us work full time either. We just tend to not be free or not care enough to play together :(

  • Diji1 on 02/12/2018 - 13:44

    Wow, those poll results paint a picture of a lonely society, isolated society not that this is any surprise.

    For those that don't know if you want to find virtual pals to play with most games have discord servers set up by third parties where you can join games with other people. Hell of a lot better than randoms. You can find them by googling <game title> + discord server etc.

    • AlienC on 09/12/2018 - 02:49

      Don't worry the VR multiplayer revolution will bring back social gaming I feel in a good way.. and not in a VR chat way.. which is basically the new 4chan except you get to visually see your fellow channers in 3d space.. eugh

  • Oz8argain on 03/12/2018 - 10:30

    We generally talk about what games to buy together before hand.
    I only play if my friends are on, else I'll just do something else. Playing online games by myself sucks!

    • AlienC on 09/12/2018 - 02:48

      Pretty much this.. the extent of gaming with friends has just come down to all of us talking about what games we are buying or thinking of buying and complaining or praising said games and etc.

      Honestly since the warcraft 3 days and other lan party games the real life social aspect of video gaming is dying.. halo 1 xbox lan days were the best now its just some old thing that has been done.. rip social video gaming :(

      I just find randoms to play with on discord now and they are usually from EU or US with the occasional kiwi or asian here and there that can speak well decent english haha lol :)

  • N1NJ4W4RR10R on 03/12/2018 - 13:59

    Unfortunately a mix of garbage internet and loving different games, it doesn't happen often.

  • tallkid123 on 04/12/2018 - 13:35

    I've never known anyone who was in to video games to the extent that I'm in and I'm 30.

    • AlienC on 09/12/2018 - 02:46

      I do and honestly it is not worth it because you end up finding that your interests within video gaming are wildly different and you might as well be talking or playing with somebody who only just loves coffee or something irrelevant to your cause in gaming.

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