We’re celebrating International Cat Day and Friendship Day!
Due to a technical issue, we are a few days late.
So we’ll have two blogs this week!
Let’s jump in…
We decided to ask the team to share some of their favorite moments about cats in-game or in real life or talk about memorable moments related to games and friends, both real ones and digital. Let’s check in to find out what they had to say…
Games used to feel like a place where friendships happened naturally, whether you were playing an MMORPG, a multiplayer FPS, a MOBA, or even a single-player console game and asking others for help online. I made many friends while exploring worlds, completing quests, grinding levels, fighting bosses, and joining guilds together. Age or background rarely mattered; what mattered was that we enjoyed the same game. Unfortunately, modern games, especially MMORPGs, often encourage solo play and make it easier to experience everything alone. I also prefer playing solo more than I used to, but part of me still misses the culture of meeting new people and forming lasting friendships through games.
Justin J, — Asst. Project Manager
Cats shared by Kevin D, Client Success.
One of the great things about gaming is the friendships that can develop. Sitting on a couch with your friends can be a great way to bond or test how well you know one another. Sometimes, you’re perfectly in-sync and you’re moving together in harmony and other times you can want to shut down everything and send your friend home. These moments help to define us and allow us to grow together when it all works out.
For those of us who like to play games online we are offered similar experiences from time to time but they seem to be more rare as games become more competitive.
I was fortunate to have really meaningful remote-friendships in early MMOs like Final Fantasy XI and DC Universe Online that I will carry with me always. While I made some friends in other games like the Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy XIV, and Warframe, the depth of shared experience was just not the same as later games have so many side quests and progression paths to take which often splinter cooperative play more than foster it.
That heavy grind for epic gear may seem really important to you but lackluster to your friends.
Sometimes you compromise and do raids that you’re not fond of to appease your friends which can be worthwhile or heartbreaking, but in the end, that’s what friendship is all about: growing together and growing apart and, hopefully, growing together again. I am grateful to the game industry for providing many great moments with friends both real and digital and look forward to more in the years to come.
The resurgence of co-op games is definitely a ray of light here. Despite the industry’s heavy focus on games that pit one player versus the world, I look forward to games that allow two or more friends to bond and tackle challenges together while learning together, working through each other’s strengths and weaknesses. That’s one of the beautiful things about gaming that has less to do with frame rates, art direction, or hours played – they bring us together. And that’s worth celebrating.
— Mace T, Project Manager
PLAY TOGETHER!
For more games that are designing to help maintain and grow your friendships check out this list:
- Co-Optimus
- r/couchcoop
- r/CoOpGaming
- Couch Co-Op Favorites
- New Game Network
- Screen Hype
- Classic Co-Op (YouTube)
- itch.io Local Co-Op
- Gaming Couch
- CrazyGames Co-op
That’s all for now.
Look out for our second blog later this week.
Thanks for reading!