The Motivation To Play: Conclusion
In part 2 of this series we took a review of Creative Expression and Escapism, two significant motivators in the common gamer. The week before that, we covered Challenge and Competition. This week we have a review of Socialization and then try to tie it all together.

Social interaction can be a subject which we gamers require a fair bit of static from our non-gaming peers. Sometimes it is because they mistake differing priorities for introversion. Wanting to talk about the relative merits in the Western Plaguelands against Winterspring as being a post 55 grinding location isn't actually any different from looking to speak about the strength in the Bill's secondary, its just that one of them is relevant with a somewhat narrow audience (provide time.) Sometimes, however, the criticism is merited. We are usually somewhat socially awkward folk, to some extent because the hobbies through which we invest a sizeable amount of our time have rigid rules governing most interactions, causing them to be poor working out for the free wheeling reality of human discourse. For some gamers, the Social Interaction based in the gaming experience can be a primary motivator.



Social activity in gaming occurs on many levels. At a very low level, gaming can be quite a reinforcer for existing social groups. Think of an band of friends getting together to try out a board game or Friv 1 some Half Life. The social activity present in modern flash games could be much broader in scope. MMORPGs, that discussion of the current state of gaming always usually gravitate, are essentially sets of individuals who already share some primary common link. The friendships formed through online cooperation and friendly competition might be one in the biggest draws of such games. Anyone who has ever stayed up later than they need to his or her guild needed them or because someone asked these to has experienced this. These online relationships aren't less real, no less significant than their offline analogues. They are, however, different.

The interaction that takes place within a game is structured and quite often, online gamers see only section of the other person. It is difficult for the group formed around a particular activity to bond as deeply as a gang of friends that exists solely for the purpose of supporting one other. To avoid embracing diatribe on remembering your real family members we'll stop after that chain of thought. The important thing is the fact that some game players are purely Socially Motivated. Such individuals thrive online, where other players might be met and interacted with. For these people, the heavier the social component from the game, the greater. Interestingly, many games using a high level of social complexity also have a large amount with the mathematical complexity that will drive away socially motivated gamers. In pure form, such a gamer is seeking an experience that blurs the fishing line between games and chat environment.

Challenge. Competition. Creation. Escape. Socialization. Five different motivators, all of which combine to make the motivation of a particular gamer. We could combine, certainly, but these can do for the present time. So where can we opt for this? I'm needing to physically restrain myself from drawing a pentagonal map and plotting individual gamers about the five motivational axes. While it would look neat and may be an interesting topic to have an esoteric role-playing text, it can't get us anywhere.

A more useful tack, perhaps, is always to think about what motivates us individually. Knowing yourself and what drives it is possible to allow you to evaluate which kind of games you ought to be playing and, more to the point, that can never give you anything but frustration. Understanding the motivations of others may give us insight which will better allow us relate. Many arguments over how to handle it in online games arise for the reason that different party members are motivated differently. A Creative and a Challenger aren't planning to desire the same activities from your night of dungeon delving. Nor are an Escapist plus a Competitive planning to even speak much the same way of a game. For one, a game title might be a world awaiting his immersion. For the other, a sport is often a matrix of numbers waiting being solved and conquered. We all have a bit of each in us of course, if we can easily understand what drives us we can easily both better talk with one another and raise the joy find in gaming.