Offline vs Online Gaming and the Effects on Community Building

Online gaming is commonly described as people playing games from the comfort of their home through an internet connection. They could be playing on a PC, Xbox 360, or Playstation3 with people all around the world. The most common community building game are MMO's, which are massive multiplayer online games. These games take hundreds of people and create a world online for them to part take in. They create cities, civilatations, and battle for control of resources. This platfrom has expanded over the years and is one of the fastest growing entertainment sectors.

On the other side you have your offline gaming groups. These groups get together at their home or at their local game store to play games.

The current problem today is their is not a social medium that allows the two different platforms to communicate together. You either do one or the other which hinders the building of a cohesive community. The lack of available tools online does not allow for individuals to connect with gaming groups or events in their local areas. You can attempt to use meetup.com or other sites but the current technology is lacking.

Building Community Through Games

Games are a common form of community building and there are two mediums to partake in, online gaming and offline gaming. What I hope to do in with this blog is to give you a little background on both mediums. We will then look into the common platforms that are being used to bridge these to communities together, meetup.com, facebook, wizards community. In the end bridging interface between online and offline communities will create a more sustainable and interactive community.

Stayed tuned for the next update.