Online multiplayer has ruined gaming and gamers

As a kid in the 80s and 90s, we’d play games after school and sometimes even a few times a week. Most of our time was spent outdoors with friends or during those rare gaming sessions with four people playing Goldeneye. Everyone understood that gaming was meant to be fun and a bit of a distraction. When parents called us for dinner, we’d jump out of the game without a fuss.

Nowadays, everyone believes they’re the next Twitch “star” or influencer who’s made gaming an integral part of their personality. They think everything they do is super competitive and can’t leave a game to eat or talk to someone. (Oh my gosh, they knew I joined a game! I can’t abandon my team because I won’t be able to upgrade my fake online experience, which has no real meaning in life!)

Gaming is supposed to be fun and a way to take a break. But the amount of meltdowns I see and hear about these days is concerning. It’s as if everyone thinks everything is competitive, even when it’s all just digital nonsense. Relax, folks! It’s just a game. It doesn’t matter at all. Take a break and speak to your family, friends, or partner for real.

I still enjoy gaming, but when it’s time to be with my kids or my wife, I log off because it doesn’t matter at all. Real connections do.

That’s why I miss local multiplayer gaming. It was the last real way to game together before social media took over and caused these drastic behavioral changes in gamers.