There were over three billion gamers in the world in 2020! That gives you a vast choice of gaming communities, so how do you find the right gaming communities for you?
The wrong groups create toxic or even harmful environments. This can ruin your experience and affect your mental health.
The right groups help you find people with shared interests, make friends, and enjoy the thrills of gaming. Fear not, we can help you find the best gaming communities for you.
Read on before your next game!
What to Look For in Gaming Communities
An enjoyable, functional, and cohesive community relies on equality and respect. Toxic gaming communities can enable unpleasant members to affect the enjoyment of others; the right community should prevent this at all costs. Here is what the best communities thrive on!
Community Guidelines and Enforcement
Healthy communication is key for a gaming community. There should be active moderators, a complaint process, and community guidelines enforcing respectful communication. Gamers who break the rules – i.e. trolls – should face a disciplinary process or even expulsion from the group.
The problem with communication enforcement is that moderators need to encourage free speech while ensuring all gamers feel safe, supported, and comfortable. This requires a team well-versed in social dynamics; offense is often subjective, and what one person finds toxic may seem okay to another.
Rules should be enforced fairly to all members. Guidelines should be ultra-specific. A warning and appeals process helps to keep things equal.
Shared Interests
You should have shared interests with other gamers in the group. This applies to online communities the same as it does in real life; you will make friends easier when you have something in common. Gaming is perfect for this because gamers often work as a team to achieve a common goal.
The game itself is key, so you should look for communities that play in a style you enjoy. That said, you can build fresh skills and experiences by trying different games. Look at Clash CSGO cases for a perfect example!
The demographic of the community helps you find gamers of similar ages and backgrounds. Check the language the site uses, the style of graphics, and member profiles before you join.
Healthy Limits
Gaming communities should encourage healthy gaming at all times. This could be physically enforced with time limits, but like with communication, healthy gaming is subjective. Some gamers can tolerate longer games than others without affecting other areas of their lives.
Excessive gaming can harm your mental and physical health. Some toxic communities disregard your health for their profit; healthy gaming communities take care of their members.
Overly-competitive players should be identified and asked to tone it down a notch. Games get your adrenaline pumping and can be akin to a team sport. As with communication, there should be community guidelines to keep games fun and friendly.
Benefits of Gaming Communities
Gaming can get a bad rep in the media, but many sources state it has a heap of benefits for you to enjoy. Let’s take a look at how gaming can boost your lifestyle!
Meet New People
Social interaction is one of the best mood-boosters out there, but busy lifestyles can make it hard to meet people after work or school. Gaming communities offer a consistent way to interact. You can spend an hour or two gaming, chatting, and having fun without leaving your living room.
Note: When meeting people online, you should always take sensible precautions. Be wary of any invitation to meet outside the game and report any negative online interactions immediately.
Stress Relief
Blasting away on your favorite FPS, sports, or RPG can release tension after a stressful day. Team play tends to offer greater relief than solo play, similar to how group exercise is more enjoyable than working out alone. Your gaming community can offer an outlet for you!
Combined with exercise and a healthy diet, gaming could help lower anxiety levels. A clearer head helps you manage your outside commitments.
Boost Your Cognitive Power
The national Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, published in 2022, found that gaming boosted cognitive performance in children. The study focused on a cross-section of 2217 children and MRI scans to measure the results.
The gaming children showed enhanced inhibitory control and greater working task ability compared to non-gamers. They did, however, tend to have higher attention issues and greater levels of depression. This is why healthy gaming communities should encourage healthy gameplay with limits and education.
Develop Your Hand-Eye Co-ordination
You need cat-like reactions to play sharp-shooting games. You need to navigate strange worlds and dodge threats in RPGs. Racing and fighting games keep your moves sharp.
It is important to mix gaming with physical movement, and healthy gaming communities should encourage you to do this. Some even offer gamified exercise and diet regimes.
How to Find Your Community
You can start with search engines to gain an overview of the gaming communities out there. Use keywords to hone in on what you want to find: game type, number of members, demographics, and playing style.
Look for personas within the gaming community and try to match them to your own personality. This helps you find like-minded people. It is also good fun to create your own persona before joining your community!
You can check out social media, gaming forums, and online magazines. Look for well-reviewed gaming communities with excellent reputations. Some online content specializes in certain types of games, so start there.
Your friends at work and school can guide you to gaming communities too. Ask them about their favorite ones. You could even join together to increase your shared interests and experiences.
Time to Get Gaming!
We hope our guide to gaming communities helps you find the right one for you. Gaming is one of the most entertaining pastimes, and with a healthy approach, it can be a great lifestyle boost too!
Enjoyed this article? Check out the rest of our site for more entertainment tips. Until next time, happy gaming!