Opening worlds - Socializing and Social media in MMO games

Source: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/821/feature/6821/Stuff-We-Didnt-Play.html/page/1

Social Media and MMO gaming have been merely distant cousins for too long. MMO games are, first and foremost, meant to be social. Social Media such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. are just as much about being social. Yet for so long, these two have been merely distant cousins with only rudimentary interaction between the two, if at all. 

Social Media and MMO games have both evolved a lot. Though the original EverQuest first launched in 1999 and the first recognized Social Networking website (friendster) launched in 2002, both MMO games and Social Media have grown virtually side by side for many years, often seeing similar features appear in both - friends lists and private messages, for example. In the last couple of years, some MMO games have started including the ability to link to your social media profile (though mostly it has been specifically Facebook and sometimes also Twitter), but these connections are not very complicated and are often one-way from the game to the social media site.

Yet despite the popularity and similarities of both, many games have not made much effort to truly take advantage of the resources available through allowing more deep connections to social media. The main problem with Social Media and MMO gaming is the barrier between them; players who have already established groups of friends on a social media site like Facebook or Google+ have to manually set up those connections in-game, and the process can be tedious and time consuming, which can often be a daunting task to some. Until recently, that is. The upcoming Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) is, for the first time, building in an incredible depth of social media connectivity: 

"... Matt Firor took the stage again to tell us about how ESO will be the most socially connected MMO ever.  Facebook, Twitter, Google+… they'll all be seamlessly integrated into the game from the start.  You can import all your friends, circles, followers into the game directly.  You can even make a Guild Page on Facebook prior to launch, have your friends join it, have guild members join it, and then import it directly into ESO.  Boom, instant guild.  Matt claims they ZOS knows that people now have friends everywhere, from every walk of life.  They don't want to make you manage yet another social network.  Instead they believe that Elder Scrolls will benefit by making itself as socially connected to the existing networks as possible." ~William Murphy

What does this mean for the future of MMO gaming? From my perspective, only good can come of this. I hope that many current MMO titles and all future MMO titles do a similar level of integration with social media. With Facebook and Google+ pushing the leading edge of Social Media technology, the ability to seamlessly integrate our games and game communities through these already existing and fantastic services, it finally brings what I feel is true social and community connections with the people we fight side by side with in our virtual adventures. It makes MMO games the truly social beasts they were intended to become, instead of just another layer of anonymity for people to hide behind. I can understand the need for privacy, but all too often many gamers abuse that right to be anonymous, and I hope these advances make that more difficult.

~ Peter J.T. Langdon