In the face of anxieties regarding declining social connection, massively multiplayer online video games (or MMOs) have demonstrated their capacity to facilitate social interaction and feelings of community. In recent times, developments made both in how MMOs are designed and in online social platforms have elicited queries regarding whether these games still serve that social function. Through digital ethnographic study in the popular MMO Final Fantasy XIV, this study examines the game's ability to facilitate social connection among its players. I find that, though Final Fantasy XIV offers a unique social experience where players can cultivate a sense of togetherness with each other, it becomes fractured due to the game's systems deemphasizing social play as well as players fulfilling their social needs through external means. I argue that this experience of fractured togetherness does not invalidate MMOs from being valuable social spaces that can yield positive social outcomes for players. In effect, MMOs can therefore be instrumental in other, more individualized social platforms learning to support communality.
Kiragu Waititu (Fri,) studied this question.