Question time: How often do you actually talk to strangers in MMOs?

Terminally Online

This is Terminally Online: PC Gamer’s very own MMO column. Every other week, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the genre, interviewing fellow MMO-heads like me, taking a deep-dive into mechanics we’ve all taken for granted, and, occasionally, bringing in guest writers to talk about their MMO of choice.

As MMOs have continued to adjust themselves for a more modern (and aging) audience with pesky things like 9-5 jobs, children, and—heaven forbid—other social responsibilities, they’ve tilted towards more solo-friendly content. Most of Final Fantasy 14’s main story quest can be played without grouping with a single living person—World of Warcraft now has solo-friendly endgame options like Delves or Prey to keep you busy, and so on.

Not to mention the wider design—on the whole, casual content requires less coordination and classes are more self-sufficient. It’s entirely possible to log into an MMO, play for a few hours, and dip without having ever said a single thing to anybody beyond a wave when you enter a dungeon, or a “ty4p” at the end of it.

Heck, I’ve been guilty of this, occasionally. I get most of my socialisation in MMOs out during roleplay, but when it comes to actually playing the game and running content, I’m a bit of a lone wolf. I’m polite, sure, but I don’t tend to stick around to chat with strangers. I’ve got my cosy little bubble and I’m sticking in it.