Communication Dilemmas in Games

I've recently become really addicted to Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Every day, besides work, I'm practically glued to the game. Firstly, I've always enjoyed strategy games, and secondly, the social aspect of online games is still very appealing during this pandemic. Especially since you can achieve a sense of satisfaction through in-game purchases and short-term attribute growth. However, I've also discovered a major problem: a communication impasse.

What is a communication dilemma? Simply put, it's not wanting to speak, but remaining silent risks being ignored by the group and ruining the game experience. To avoid being ignored, you need to communicate, but often, due to differing understandings, what you say is incomprehensible. To gain understanding requires a lot of time spent explaining, and over time, this cycle repeats itself, leading to a reluctance to speak. As someone who's been through it, I can easily recognize the situation and thoughts of newcomers, but I also know that many things are difficult to understand and learn without experience. Just listening to others ramble on is often useless and will only make you seem like a chatterbox. Sometimes, this is also related to comprehension and potential; some people understand immediately and have a strong ability to absorb information, while others simply won't understand no matter how you explain it and can only learn through trial and error.

Communication is a costly endeavor because everyone subconsciously interprets others' words from their own perspective. Those who can transcend their own understanding to communicate have often grasped the understanding of others and can be compatible with it. Understanding others' perspectives requires profound experience and comprehension, which most people cannot achieve. This is why many people's communication in reality is often completely off-topic.

This issue is less noticeable in childhood because everyone is around the same age, or even grows up in the same area, going to the same places, watching the same cartoons, playing with similar toys… Everyone's cognitive level is roughly the same. However, things change in college. Differences in understanding even a single word or phrase can arise, leading to frequent misunderstandings. These misunderstandings can usually be cleared up with explanations, especially since everyone lives close by and will be spending four years together. However, in the professional world, these issues become much more difficult to resolve: everyone is busy, reducing opportunities for communication. For example, if you say something at work and some people don't understand it correctly, leading to misunderstandings, these misunderstandings are unlikely to be resolved because the person can't express it, and you can't have in-depth conversations with everyone. Therefore, most people choose to speak less or speak cautiously. Consequently, to better address this problem, people have invented systems, such as fixed meanings for words.

Returning to the game, the people you encounter have diverse backgrounds and upbringings, naturally leading to different perceptions. Furthermore, most conversations lack depth, creating the dilemma I mentioned earlier. Speaking is time-consuming, but not speaking isolates you from the group. How can you play a game that requires communication if you're separated from the group?