Interestingly, I'm very friendly at work, and yet rarely if ever someone comes to my desk to bitch about someone else for 45 minutes. You might be exagerating the cons of estabilishing connections with people. I, for one, prefer to make friends, because this just makes passing the days so much easier and more fun. Without people to talk to, the job (esp. being stuck in an office) would feel a lot like doing a prison sentence. I can't find joy in gamifying the tasks like you do.