.io Games and The Rise of Fake Multiplayer

Miziziziz
2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2020–2022
YouTube
5.2M views · 6 years ago · explainer · dated

Miziziziz looks at the trend of .io browser games that fake multiplayer by filling lobbies with bots. The video explains how the deception works and why developers do it.

HN people cite it as the explanation of online games that quietly run on bots, and tie it to dynamic difficulty and the dead-internet idea.

“There has been a recent trend of online games which actually just use bots.”
Game designDesign ethics & dark patterns
#iogames#fakemultiplayer#bots#deception#gamedesign

4 comments from Hacker News

m
@mkl952022 · in “.io Games and the Rise of Fake Multiplayer (2020)”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
RecommendsView on HN
h
@helltone2020 · in “.io Games and the Rise of Fake Multiplayer”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
RecommendsView on HN
Z
@Zababa2021 · in “The 'Dead-Internet Theory'”
I've seen someone experiment with using link to post comments on 4chan. The results were impressive, nobody realized that those were comments created by an AI, and the posts almost always got some replied from people genuinly engagine with them. A bit related to that, it also makes me think about the story with games published on itch.io that had "fake multiplayer": ▶ this video
CitesView on HN
r
@rozab2020 · in “Gamers allege EA uses dynamic difficulty adjustment so players spend more money”
There has been a recent trend of online games which actually just use bots. It took people a very long time to notice. I think the purpose in these sorts of games is to make the player feel they are more competent than they are (how often would you expect to win in a real 12 person lobby?), but they could also be used to more nefarious ends. ▶ this video
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