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Why This Console’s Online Community is Far Superior

Why This Console’s Online Community is Far Superior

When it comes to the next-gen online experience, Nintendo isn’t exactly acknowledged as being cutting edge, or even up to par by most standards. It’s accused of babying its player base by the over-moderation of its online communities and lack of freedom of communication in its online competitive titles. I’d like to submit to you that this is exactly what gives the online experience with Nintendo its unique advantage. By laying a heavy hand of moderation upon those that spew the kinds of obscenity and disrespect that are commonplace among Xbox Live and PSN members, Nintendo has been able to nurture a group spirit of playfulness and kindness that has now solidified as a standard that most people gladly adhere to while on the Nintendo Network.

The spirit of a group is extremely important because it shapes the actions of each individual member. You know this already from experience. The way you perceive and react to things when you’re with your best friend is completely different than the way you take in and respond to information when you’re with your mother. An individual may behave one way when they’re saddled up to the bar with their co-workers, and behave in an altogether different way when they’re with a church small-group. In all of these cases the person is always being him or herself, but his or her mindset, vocabulary, and actions toward others are all altered by the ‘spirit of the group.’ Scientists who study this group spirit have given it a name: the egregore. Think of it as the collective group mind.

Nintendo maintains by far the healthiest and most uplifting group among its online communities. Its heavy handed moderation and lack of things that we take for granted, features like voice-chat during online play, are exactly what make the online experience so pleasant. That may sound contradictory, but it’s not really something you can understand until you’ve spent ample time online with your Wii U. Initially, I thought that the exclusion of voice chat in Splatoon was going to be a deal breaker, but now, hundreds of hours into the game, I can’t imagine the experience would be as delightful if I had to listen to people cursing whenever they aren’t doing well, or worse, listening to the other team verbally assault me when they take a decisive lead. Likewise in Super Smash Brothers, if you’re playing with a friend, voice chat is only enabled during character and stage selection; things go quiet during the battle. This rids both parties of any temptation to disrespectfully taunt or verbally abuse the other. If you want to taunt in Splatoon or SSB, you’ll have to do it Nintendo’s way, which is generally modest and easy to shrug off.

Just to clear the air, there’s no bias of exclusivity here. I bought the Xbox Live starter kit and have been subscribed since day 1, well over a decade. I also play Destiny on my PS4, which has PSN’s largest and most active online community, and I’ve been a PC gamer ever since I got hooked on the original Starcraft . Every platform has its communities, but I’ve never in my years of gaming come across a community of players so supportive of each other until I landed in Nintendo’s Miiverse.

Why This Console’s Online Community is Far Superior

Players are limited in their daily posts on Miiverse, no doubt to make moderation more manageable, yet every game community is bustling. They’re flowing over with play journal entries, questions, advice and artwork. And oh , the artwork! The popularity of Art Academy: Home Studio has meant a surplus of incredible, original paintings and drawings pouring in from gamers all over the world for others to enjoy, compliment, and politely critique. You won’t find this volume and quality of expression anywhere else.

Freedom and responsibility always go hand in hand. The more perfectly the latter is observed, the greater the former is enjoyed. We gamers don’t exactly have the reputation for being the most mature lot, and I’d bet money that you wouldn’t put up with half an hour of Xbox Live Call of Duty matches if your significant other or your parents were in the room. We need to stop dogging Nintendo for what it isn’t doing online and take a moment to assess what Microsoft and Sony might learn from its vigilance. It’s proven that with tactful moderation, the entire center of gravity of an online community can be pulled up to something greater; an environment of playfulness and positive, creative expression. I don’t think I speak only for myself when I say that that’s what video games are all about.

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