Oh the Humanity! The Online Interactions of Dark Souls
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Here's a snip:
In fact, becoming human in Dark Souls was almost akin to setting one's Facebook profile status to 'Open'; inviting friends and trolls into your life in equal measure as summoned co-op players coming in to assist were matched by just as many aggressive ones relentlessly determined to bring you down in humiliation. I once memorably encountered both of these player roles from the same person (in Dark Souls, not Facebook) within the space of 10 seconds whilst at my wit's end down in New Londo Ruins, my would-be friend's summon sign fading away prematurely in front of my eyes before the same guy's name then reappeared in that dreaded invasion notification as he opted to, seemingly on a whim, invade and kill me instead. Never mind frustrating bosses or one hit kills, the magic of Dark Souls' online relationships lay also in its fickle allegiances.
But the spirit and community of Dark Souls really is something special. In the absence of traditional co-op matchmaking or even a means of regular communication while in-game (Xbox players did have a way around it with Voice Chat instead of the disabled Party Chat), honour and etiquette is heartwarmingly prevalent amongst summoned players who, most of the time, bow to greet you or 'praise the sun' via the game's menu-selected gestures. The quick transitions from camaraderie to opposition also dictates the rules of engagement: help another player defeat a boss and you could receive a "Thank You" message after the battle. Piss someone off enough with your very own invasions and you'd best prepare to receive a, well, not so nice piece of correspondence afterwards. And if you were really lucky, you could even come across an unforeseen behaviour, such as a respectful invader bowing before the clash of swords, perhaps even sending you a "GG" later on regardless of the outcome.
