Social Obligation / Guilds
To avoid letting down your friends, you are obligated to play when you don't want to.
Many massively multiplayer online (MMO) games allow people to band together into groups, sometimes called teams, guilds, clans or factions. Often, much of the game is inaccessible until you have joined a guild, making it somewhat mandatory to play as part of a team. For many games of this type, solo-play is not an option.
If you have joined a guild, or if you have linked your friends into the game via a social pyramid scheme, you may start to feel social pressure to play the game more than you would have otherwise. If your team is depending on you to pull your weight in the game, you will play out of sense of obligation rather than a sense of enjoyment. The game becomes a chore and it becomes difficult to stop playing because you would be disappointing your friends.
This is often combined with the Playing by Appointment dark pattern. For example, the team may have a raid or other event scheduled for 10:00am. Because players don't want to let their team down, they may rearrange their schedule or play the game when they should be at work or doing something else important. A player on vacation may be desperate to find a WiFi connection so they can login and support their team.
Sometimes social obligation can be combined with the Pay to Win dark pattern. If your team is highly competitive and other team members are spending money to purchase the best items, there is a strong social pressure for you to also spend money to acquire the same items. You don't want to be seen as a slacker who isn't pulling their own weight. It isn't unheard of for the top guilds in some games to have a requirement of spending a certain amount per month on the game.
The feeling of obligation to someone else is a very strong motivator to play the game and can cause a lot of stress for the player.
If you have joined a guild, or if you have linked your friends into the game via a social pyramid scheme, you may start to feel social pressure to play the game more than you would have otherwise. If your team is depending on you to pull your weight in the game, you will play out of sense of obligation rather than a sense of enjoyment. The game becomes a chore and it becomes difficult to stop playing because you would be disappointing your friends.
This is often combined with the Playing by Appointment dark pattern. For example, the team may have a raid or other event scheduled for 10:00am. Because players don't want to let their team down, they may rearrange their schedule or play the game when they should be at work or doing something else important. A player on vacation may be desperate to find a WiFi connection so they can login and support their team.
Sometimes social obligation can be combined with the Pay to Win dark pattern. If your team is highly competitive and other team members are spending money to purchase the best items, there is a strong social pressure for you to also spend money to acquire the same items. You don't want to be seen as a slacker who isn't pulling their own weight. It isn't unheard of for the top guilds in some games to have a requirement of spending a certain amount per month on the game.
The feeling of obligation to someone else is a very strong motivator to play the game and can cause a lot of stress for the player.
Citations and Sources • Why are Video Games Addictive?
• You Shall Not Pass! The 4 Types of Paywall in Mobile Games
• You Shall Not Pass! The 4 Types of Paywall in Mobile Games
Examples
The World of Magic"Guild Daily login and Weekly missions are required to obtain an endgame item and required to advance the guild to the next level (using real money instead of game currency awards 3x the rewards at the cost of 5 usd per week)"
Pokémon Sleep"It give you rewards as leveling your level of friendship"
Star Trek Timelines - Strategy RPG & Space Battles"You are able to join 'fleets' to gain more rewards by working together. Some fleets will remove members for lack of activity, and some members have a minimum activity requirement to ensure they achieve the maximum amount of additional rewards available through fleets."
GraalOnline Era+"Check any of the games, all of them. People feel they have to log on for their groups, because of the grindy rewards of the game."
GraalOnline Zone+"Check any of the games, all of them. People feel they have to log on for their groups, because of the grindy rewards of the game."
Legacy of the Beast"clans feature in beta"
Flutter: Starlight"Giving and receiving gifts unlocks rewards for both players. Giving gifts notifies and rewards the other player. Players can see a score relating to their completion of the game (limited time or event rewards are not counted in this score)."
SOULS"There are social guilds without this requirement, but stronger guilds receive better rewards"
Rival Stars Horse Racing"Live races in teams"
Dragon POW!"There are guild conquests that refresh every day. All players get rewards if a boss is defeated. If a player misses out on helping others, they may feel guilty. There are also donations to level up guilds every day. You can also give your friends friendship points every day."