Guild Wars 2

In PvE, I really like that you can just tag along with people, have fun, and then go back doing other stuff.
I don’t really give a kitten about random strangers, to be honest; I help them when I see them or when they request help in /map, but that’s about it.
I don’t feel the need to marry every random cat, mouse or walking tree I meet during my adventures in Tyria.

In WvW I’m more social tho.
I tend to lead groups, coordinate defenses and siege building.
That’s because WvW actually needs coordination I guess, general PvE does not and thanks for that.

I believe general PvE is supposed to be a more laid-back, relaxing thing (Anet said PvE could be played like a single player RPG), while things like Dungeons and WvW require teaming.

Umbra.5180:

I must be antisocial.

Since I always decline guild invites that happen without a simple Hello..

Same with group invites from players I’ve never seen on screen and I look around, each time.

your not alone in this i feel if they dont have time to at least come up and talk to me forget it i mean it says alot about a guild if they actually ask you rather then send a impersonal letter in your mailbox
whats more is i dont think the community is antisocial its just they are so used to the cookie cutter mmo they havent quite adjusted to the new cooperative way of playing

it will take time for ppl to realize its about the fun your supposed to be having its not your job its a game to be explored and enjoyed

as they say its not about the destination its about the journey on the way
btw im on isle of janthir server and all you have to do is ask and ill be more then happy to lend a hand

i will also say i think there are lots of ppl willing to help and to just have fun i think of this game as a pen and paper dungeons and dragons come to life its not about the loot or the quests or anything else its about going out having fun with friends and checking out all the amazing locales that the devs spent large amounts of time on

that said i apologize about the lack of punctuation but i did break it up so it isnt in one long run on sentence

TIP: If you want to meet new people and group up the best time to ask for a group is after you fight your way to someone’s lifeless body and give them a Rez. While you have their attention and their giving you a grateful “TY”, pop the question.

Start a Guild or find a guild where the theme is group centric. This thread alone implies there are a number of people that are looking to have a more social experience, so hook up and build a guild of likeminded people. Like all MMO the social experience is somewhat up to the player.

The games PvE mechanics are built to provide a socially cooperative experience instead of pitting players against each other and squabble over resources. Beyond this I don’t know what more the developers could do to provide a catalyst for groups.

the whole game is a giant catalyst for groups the original guild wars you capped at 20 but yet the world was just starting to open to you.
at 80 it becomes important to have backup as things get much tougher and you do find that the world has just opened so places you thought you have been before you find have new meaning as you go back to do stuff you missed or just to help a friend.
unlike other mmo’s your given incentive to go back at 80 and help others even if you aint 80 yet you still find going back isnt a bad thing.

Jestunhi.7429:

It’s worrying how many people equate “groups are not required” with “ANet doesn’t care about social aspects”.

^ This. Besides actually requiring a party to complete contents due to the trinity required to beat those though mobs which I don’t count as social interaction, I’ve seen little to no content in other MMOs that is based upon urging social interaction between players besides some events like horse-racing and such which usually just become ignored because it’s not fleshed out properly. Partying to level up faster? That is in no way socialising but just a form of efficient levelling. Which is also true in GW2 since normal mobs don’t scale in amount of players so most content are cleared faster and you don’t even need to party to get that benefit.

I’m sure or at least believe that Anet will give us events/games to do which promotes socialising between the community. In fact, they already do but just not apparent/ fleshed out enough. Especially with the siege system, I can already imagine of some of the events that could utilise that functionality to make games out of it for the community to enjoy. Heck I can imagine making game similar to rugby if only there was collision detection between players. I honestly have not seen any game that came out with these kind of event already present at launch and usually they release it after the game’s been out awhile to keep the interest of the game going.

For grouping, sure forced grouping gives higher chances for conversations since people eventually get bored of partying and raiding in silence so they eventually start the conversation during the nth time in the instance or that cause it gets so “fun” that one mistake makes people start arguing and rage excessively. But hey, I do that too — the peaceful conversations I mean, when I’m observing the TP, waiting for DEs in Orr or sitting on a keep waiting for zergs to come in back when WvWvW was more relaxed and when it takes time for zergs to go from point to point.

Meanwhile since I’m on the topic a already, WvWvW in more competitive realms are exhausting, now its all "Trebs @?! Zerg coming in right flank @ ?! …. ok we’ve defended well, let’s take a break and fix that gate, get some siege to defend and get some more supp… MASS TREBUCHET BEING BUILT @?! LETS GO BRING IT DOWN BEFORE ITS COMPLETE! Wait.. looking at the zerg just now + arrow carts/ballista defending it, we can’t down it with our zerg… focus on fixing gate! Buy us some time! Let’s cap @?! instead while they focus on @?! and when its relax time, its because we are already got everything so why not take our time.. which only happened in that one week matchup between CD-BG-GOM while the rest is constant conflict between zergs of several sizes and their siege… yea it’s fun sure, but definitely hard to keep up for hours… just like real siege wars… love it so much and can definitely be improved upon like having ladders similar in mount and blade!.. time to play that now that I’ve mentioned it. lol

If we group, its usually full with guildies. Or we are holding spots open for guildies that could sign in at any time. Or that we know are coming on later.

If you are seeing partial groups out there…it may be for those reasons also.

Also..voice chat. We may be soloing, but like so many say here. We’re on a voice server chatting away. Text in battle just gets me killed.

EQ2 uses a 3rd party voice server for the entire game. Sure would be nice to see something like that instituted here.

For PvE, the only REAL reason to group outside a dungeon is just to see your party members on the map or to share a chat channel. Otherwise there is NO BENEFIT. Buffs effect anyone within range so it doesn’t matter at all. Exp isn’t shared so it doesn’t matter either.

ANET designed the game so that grouping up for PVE in the world is mostly pointless. Everything that benefited groups in past MMO now just benefits everyone in the area. By design?

Logun.2349:

I personally don’t need someone texting about their cat in a chat window to feel like I’m having an interactive social game experience. The social aspects of the game come through on a much more tactile manner than any other MMO I’ve played.

I would just like to reinforce this statement as boldly as I possibly can because it is 100% spot on in everything that Guild Wars 2 got right about grouping up.

I don’t really understand the people who are all about being forced into formal groups to “learn about and socialize with” the other people playing the game. I’m going to be brutally honest here: I really do not want to learn about and socialize with the vast majority of people playing the game – for the exact reason that Logun (jokingly) stated in that first sentence: I don’t want to hear about your cat.

I have been playing MMOs since Plains-of-Power-era Everquest and out of the hundreds, possibly thousands, of people I have played with since that day to this one, I have maybe 2-3 enduring friendships with a handful of others that I presently hang out with that have been created through games. And here’s the kicker – absolutely none of those have come from random groups. They are all the product of me seeking out a like-minded guild via forums or other means external to the game itself.

It seems to me that, at best, random grouping might give rise to shoot-the-breeze type conversations akin to something you would have with a person of good social graces on public transportation. It might be a pleasant conversation, but you’re never going to see them again and there really isn’t a deep enough connection there to warrant it anyway. At worst, you’re locked in some boring/off-color/awkward/whatever conversation with people of poor social graces (and there are a lot of them) by the formality of the grouping system and the conscientiousness to not ignore the group’s needs or ditch as soon as you got your stuff done. The odds of actually finding someone that you have a deep connection with are slim to none.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not some person-hating, asocial prick. I’ve struck up conversations here and there with people that I’ve come across in game. Usually it’s with people that I’ve stuck with through a couple DEs or hearts and noticed that they were actually concerning themselves with supporting me (it’s not really that hard to pick up on the fact that someone is actively supporting you). I remark something to the effect of them making it more pleasant to play the game and that’s about it. I also partake in /map whenever I have something not stupid to say in it. It doesn’t really go deeper than that because there’s absolutely no reason for it to.

I think GW2’s grouping system is absolutely perfect. It’s cooperative with your server-mates, rather than pointlessly competitive with them. It’s not restrictive by forcing you to group formally to take advantage of buffs or shared rewards. It allows for more persistent grouping, but doesn’t force you into it to get things done during leveling (an aspect of MMO gameplay that has been predominantly solo since the sit-in-one-spot-and-grind days of Everquest). There are things I don’t think GW2 has done right, but the grouping system definitely is something it completely nailed.

And hey, if you want a deeper social experience, why don’t you try actually looking for it? There are tons of guilds out there looking for members that you can probably get along with a lot better than some random people from the DE you’re doing. That’s always worked for me far, far better than socializing via a group of people that just want to trudge through leveling/farming content to get something done for a couple hours.

People asking forced grouping so people would be more social sounds like saying “I want to force people to entertain me.”

Are you trying to make friends in real life by forcing them to spend time with you? Or “encouraging” them to be with you promising something to them? Are you trying to invite every stranger you meet at the local shop to spend time with you and be furious if they don’t accept the invitation and think that they are unsocial?

That’s not how it works. You don’t make friends like that.

If you want to group with people and start chatting, go ahead, nothing stops you. There is zero penalty for grouping. There always is a chance that you find someone who wants the same thing. But remember that people also have every right not to do that with you if they choose not to. It’s their free time. They don’t have any obligations to entertain anyone but themselves.

In modern MMO we actually have the luxury to choose how, when and with who we want to play. It’s actually much closer to real social situations than some mechanic forcing you to do something.

Choice is the main word here. In forced grouping times there was no choice how to play. Now there is.

If I group and/or chitchat with someone, I want it is because I want to, not because I have to.

What I want to know is how you can tell if people are grouped or not, if you aren’t in their group.

I should note I have no problem making friends and getting followers as I can and do stop and type " Hi I am Charr. Charr wants to burn things. Can Charr burn things with you?" usually more than enough for a lovely response and a bit of stand still banter b4 Charr gets to burn things with a new friend.

As someone at the start of this thread stated, people are unreliable. I for one would LOVE to run more dungeons and do them over and over however my friends haven’t been logging into GW2 for about 2 weeks now thus I don’t do dungeons. I see people asking in /map over and over “looking for 2 more” for such n’ such dungeon. I would love to go but I just don’t trust people.

DonQuack.9025:

What I want to know is how you can tell if people are grouped or not, if you aren’t in their group.

I should note I have no problem making friends and getting followers as I can and do stop and type " Hi I am Charr. Charr wants to burn things. Can Charr burn things with you?" usually more than enough for a lovely response and a bit of stand still banter b4 Charr gets to burn things with a new friend.

LOL….if a Charr had approached our group with a statement like that, we’d have sent an invitation asap.

After we finished laughing…

Good approach though.

Raf

Players only want those who spoil dungeons by looking them up on YouTube, build their profession one way, and speed run through stuff. I disagree with all of that. For that reason I have not and will never step foot in a dungeon here.

As for DE’s, there is no point in grouping, because you are effectively already grouped. And as others have stated, I have no interest in hearing about your job, your ex, or your cat (I hate cats anyway).

Grouping was fun in early EQ, but has not been fun since then. Players are no longer fun to group with. They are all Skritt after Shinies, but without the humor.

I feel like they could use something like a tavern in Lion’s Arch, where players would be incouraged to semi-idle and chat. Maybe have some kind of minigame that takes minimal effort, and earns you two copper or something every few minutes. Give players a reason to sit together at their keyboards, and I think you’ll see a lot more socializing.

DonQuack.9025:

I should note I have no problem making friends and getting followers as I can and do stop and type " Hi I am Charr. Charr wants to burn things. Can Charr burn things with you?" usually more than enough for a lovely response and a bit of stand still banter b4 Charr gets to burn things with a new friend.

Hehe indeed and I could burn things with Charr

But I would not burn things with another charr who says “PLLZ HELP WITH HEART” and after 5 minutes starts to complain that there should be forced grouping.

If you can’t find a group or guild, you should look in the mirror, not blame other players or game mechanics.

Learn from the Charr wanting to burn things!

I don’t group with strangers just to run around doing content. If you send me a group invite or whisper “Hi” with no reason I will ignore it. I do group with strangers to help them with a jumping puzzle or to find a POI. I had a lot of fun partied up with someone who needed help finding the Funhouse skill point. I showed them the path, we did the event chain that spawns in there, and then went our separate ways.

I do most of my socializing with my guild. I don’t think that I’m unsociable because I don’t want to explore Tyria with a stranger. It is more fun to roam the world with a pal, but expecting someone to pal around with you when you haven’t said more than “wanna party?” is kind of weird. Yes, striking up conversations wih strangers that lead to friending each other and playing together can be tough – joining a guild makes things easier.

Agemnon.4608:

Never underestimate anti-social trolls, even in this game. Shared EXP is great as it minimizes KSing, but some abilities are used for trolling purposes like hunter knockbacks, which funnily only seem to be used when others are around. Not saying all who uses these kinds of skills are trolls, but the context in which they’re used makes me a bit suspicious.

I actually do tend to use the ability fairly consistently in any low-pressure situation because, as things dragged out I get into, “Hey, an unused ability!” mode. <<
So it’s less a matter of trolling and more a combination of boredom and compulsion. >>

Probably something I should work on. <_<

Agemnon.4608:

I’m looking forward to Phantasy Star 2 coming out even though it’s probably going to be pay to win (Sega said so themselves). It has the best character customization I’ve seen (although this could also be a curse since I really don’t want to see disproportionately big… melons everywhere -_- ) and I love the anime graphics and they remind me of Star Ocean somewhat =) The series is even older than WoW dating as far back as the Dreamcast! I even created some custom characters. They’re female so I’m not going to use them in game, but they are cute

I played the Japanese version for awhile and it ended up not being what I’ve been looking for at all. I kind of expected that would be the case from the start, but it’s still rather depressing as, if even the bloody sequel to a game you love doesn’t embrace the things you enjoyed about the original, it kind of kills any hope that anything else will do so either. So it’s pretty much left me jaded towards ORPGs in general at this point, since it signals to me that the industry is just going to keep moving further-and-further away from most of the things I loved. :-(

That said, though the CS is annoying, it isn’t really P2W. I’d say PSU:JP was closer to that honestly… However, the only things I think it excelled at and consider a notable improvement over the original PSO were the character creator, the combat system (though I’d have liked to see it taken even further and more vertical elements added), and the fact that each player gets dedicated loot drops. The mission-structure and the rubbish rare system were the biggest fun-killers for me. :-(

But I suppose this is pretty far off-topic now. >_>

My two cents here isn’t why a lot of gamers aren’t social but why a few aren’t.
I have social anxiety issue (my problems, not yours) and even though GW2 and other similar games are MMORPG’s I enjoy logging on and being around people which I cannot get in a single player RPG.
Being around real people, knowing that the little cartoon character is moving because someone someone, somewhere is controlling them, seeing the world chat (even with spam suppression) means a lot to not feeling lonely and isolated.
This though for me and a few others doesn’t automatically extend to grouping, chatting and joining guilds. Won’t happen in real life and not going to easily happen in game – I don’t hate the people inviting or initiating contact, my brain just isn’t going to let follow up.
For me though this is better than nothing and it’s a empty, lonely nothing at that.
GW2 with its DE other co-operative attributes mentioned in this thread gives me a great game that outshines many others. Only RIFTs DE and DDO’s handling of dungeon grouping came close.
Trying to play a game where there is only one correct build of end game play and juvenile competition within the group (“anyone got Recount of the last boss? Post in chat please”) gives me little motive to interact further.
I am looking forward to WvW stuff in the sense of co-operating with a chaotic group of zergers and looking for chances to assist my server as opposed to seeing if I get the highest kill count or damage per second. Unfortunately my lack of communication within the event will reflect poorly upon me, though that is understandable and for me to deal with.
Oh, as a last thing, some form of in game VOIP would be wonderful. Even if only for grouped people, it would certainly get me talking…a bit.

Please excuse the rambling, I am enjoying the game and the constructive parts of the forum and wanted to contribute.

Grouping, being social, and cooperation are all separate things.

The lack of forced grouping does not prevent people from being social – if they didn’t want to talk, they probably wouldn’t anyway.

The mechanics encourage more cooperation because you don’t need to be part of an arbitrary group to cooperate on content, and you don’t have to sit out if somebody else is doing something. Can you imagine if this happened in real life? If an old lady is struggling with her groceries, random people would help her out – and they’d all go home with their own copy of her groceries. Everybody would help everybody else all the time!

All grouping does now is let people stick together and continue to cooperate for extended periods – and that’s fine.

I’ve informally grouped with people when running around the same area. As many have said there is no need to formally make a group because awards are shared. Sometimes we chit chat but again as many of said taking the time to type while fighting either gets you killed or the thing you needed to saying something about is over and done before you get the words out. Not needing to officially form a group in open world to cooperate is one of the big pluses in this game as far as I’m concerned. I’ve played other games and don’t find much difference at all in how much random people talk just because the game says we’re in a group.

The other day I came across a couple of other players by a champion. We didn’t group up but we briefly talked about strategy before we pulled. We got killed on the first try so we talked again and tried something different. After we downed it we ‘wahooed’ together. I said thank you and that I was off to go to this area. One guy said he was going to craft the other said he would tag along for a bit. We killed some things and then he said he needed to go. Said our brief good byes and parted. So yes I met some people sort of. We socialized a bit. I don’t see how formally having to group together would have made much difference. It wouldn’t have made us ongoing game friends anymore then not grouping would have.

I’m in a guild and socialize in chat with them. Mostly when I’m not actually doing anything. Occasionally I’ll need help on something and someone will group up and help. I’m in voice chat quite a bit.

The most socializing I’ve done with random strangers though is not when I’m actually fighting. It’s when I’m standing in some place, either taking a break or geeking out on the view and someone comes along. I’ll say hey how are you. Sometimes people won’t stop and ignore it. Whatever, it could be for a number of reasons. I don’t bother getting annoyed by it. Many times they’ll stop and say hi back. If it seems like they want to chit chat a bit we do. Usually about something in game, sometimes about something silly and sometimes just random social chat. I’ve found these are the best conversations. The breaks between the action.

A lot of it has to do with the cynical nature of the game and how punishing it is. It acts counter to their desire to make it social, and this is why I’m realising that GW2 is really broken, and it breaks its core promise.

I’ll explain.

If you die, you have to pay to return to a way point, and you have to pay for armour repairs. So if one person slips up and makes a mistake, this means that everyone involved might die. It might be a small mistake, a silly one, it doesn’t matter. The problem is is that the punishment for dying is so harsh that you don’t want anyone else around increasing the risk of you dying.

Therefore you don’t want people around in dynamic events, either, because they can scale them up, do something stupid, and cause people to die. This is the sentiment I’ve got from a lot of people. The thing is is that Champions Online’s open missions (similar to GW2’s dynamic events) are much, much more social. Why? The death mechanism isn’t punishing. You can make a stupid mistake and recover from it.

The problem is is that this game is so punishing in that regard that it leaves casual players destitute. It almost feels hateful, to be honest, and unless you have time to spend grinding, you’re going to be destitute. It feels horribly cynical – really horribly cynical. And that’s my main problem with the game right now.

You need to look at why people don’t want you around, and the main reason is because, yeah, they think you’re going to make them die.

The solution to this is to make death less hatefully punishing.

If one silly mistake doesn’t make a group die, then people will more easily work together. Let me make a point. This. Is. Not. WoW. It’s not supposed to be Teh Hardcorez or Teh Leet. It’s supposed to be open to people who want to play socially and casually, but right now the game is designed counter to that because of the death mechanism.

I mentioned this in the beta, too, because I knew it would cause problems. And it is. The fact of the matter is is that because a stupid mistake can get me and other people killed, and then I have to face such punishments due to that that I remain destitute, has killed my desire to play the game.

I’m already playing it less and playing Champions Online more again.

This makes me sad because I love the charr.

But the fact of the matter is is that as long as the punishment for dying is so hateful, you’re going to have people being antisocial. And this is all on ArenaNet. It was their choice to do that. Guild Wars 1 had the same problem.

Path of least resistance
Without benefits to grouping, most people won’t do it, and many just ignore chat channels (as some here have stated). This was a huge issue for me in LOTRO. There was usually a group quest at the end of each chain. You’d spend 30 minutes LFG to do a 5 minute quest then everyone would scatter. Even with the chain from the next area needing a group also. If someone was a step behind, too bad, don’t help him catch up. The DE system here does help this dramatically, but groups rarely move from event to event with any organization. Groups help focus people into getting everyone ahead. The loot and gathering system helps too as people don’t compete for drops, but not very often do people offer items to those that can use it, like can happen in WoW with people volunteering to pass (they also need on stuff they don’t need, but good and bad).

Given that the chances of getting loot depend on the damage that you dealt it’s entirely viable for someone who does mostly single target damage to split up a group of mobs so he has more chance of getting credit for each of them.

Are you saying that doing more damage gives a better chance of looting? I know you have to tag each one but each class has at least a couple AE options.

Silvermink.1456:

Are you saying that doing more damage gives a better chance of looting? I know you have to tag each one but each class has at least a couple AE options.

Yes I am, and not every class has an AoE which is necessarily off cooldown and available to use.

Auldwolf, I usually love your posts, but that’s completely ridiculous.

I’ve never ever seen anything even close to that. Harsh punishment for dying? In this game? REALLY? At most, at level 80, it costs you 2-3 silver to hit a waypoint and a silver for death. 4 silver is HARSH? More harsh than running back from the spirit healer to recover your body, still lying in the middle of the mobs where you died or being camped by the other faction? More harsh than losing your items (Minecraft,) XP debt (COH,) losing levels (FF) etc?

This game has the LEAST harsh death penalty of any MMO I’ve ever played, ever.

Also, no one else’s “silly mistake” has ever gotten me killed. When I get killed, it’s either because I overreached (I like to get in melee and throw AOEs around… and then I get retaliated >.>) or because some jerk ran through the middle of my combat while training a bunch of mobs and they all aggro to me. Either way, that’s not someone’s silly mistake killing me – either it’s my own fault, or someone’s being a kitten.

There’s really really nothing hardcore about this game. And that’s why I love it. Heck, last night we did the Arah instance at the end of the story quest, me and four guildies who’d never done it, fresh 80s all in yellow or green gear. And we never wiped. 2 of us died and had to waypoint a couple times. Mostly, we reacted to people being downed and got them back up.

I socialize in this game constantly. Mostly in /say and in character. I’ve met some fantastic RPers that way – in fact, met the RPers who’ve become the guild I’m happiest to be in out of all the RP guilds in all the games I’ve ever joined. I’m not interested in grouping with random strangers who I do not know and have not talked to first. If you RP at me, I will RP back at you. Sometimes that leads to longer-term association, or grouping – sometimes not.

Last night in Lornar’s Pass while fighting steam creatures, my partner and I exchanged some banter with a Charr at the event, in /say. Later, we met him in a dredge tunnel and had some chatter about dredge tech. This was all in /say, while fighting, while doing the event. We were not grouped and did not group. Afterwards, we went our separate ways – but I for one had a big smile on my face.

It’s not antisocial not to group in a game where “grouping” benefits from other games are automatically applied here. If you want to be social – then open up and socialize. Having people’s portraits on the left side of your screen doesn’t mean you’re socializing with them.

I’ll also second or third or whatever the notion of finding a good guild. A guild full of like-minded people is a pool you can dip from whenever you like to socialize and often to group as well.

I don’t trust people. It’s quite an issue for me, but I don’t approach strangers easily, and I am rather vary when strangers approach me. For all I know they could attempt to scam OR fool me in some way. Im kind of paranoid.

I am (almost) always in a group of 3 or more. However, that group is always a guild group. I have been playing (on and off) with the same general group of people (20-30 in any given game) for nearly 15 years. Most of us are RL friends as well. It is exceedingly rare that there is a pug player in one of our groups. Hell, I do not even have general chat (or /say for that matter) visible, only guild/officer/party.

So, it isn’t that we are anti-social, it is just that we have a full enough guild that are also close friends that it isn’t necessary (or really desirable) to socialize outside of that group.

AuldWolf.7598:

If you die, you have to pay to return to a way point, and you have to pay for armour repairs. So if one person slips up and makes a mistake, this means that everyone involved might die. It might be a small mistake, a silly one, it doesn’t matter. The problem is is that the punishment for dying is so harsh that you don’t want anyone else around increasing the risk of you dying.

Therefore you don’t want people around in dynamic events, either, because they can scale them up, do something stupid, and cause people to die. This is the sentiment I’ve got from a lot of people. The thing is is that Champions Online’s open missions (similar to GW2’s dynamic events) are much, much more social. Why? The death mechanism isn’t punishing. You can make a stupid mistake and recover from it.

The problem is is that this game is so punishing in that regard that it leaves casual players destitute. It almost feels hateful, to be honest, and unless you have time to spend grinding, you’re going to be destitute. It feels horribly cynical – really horribly cynical. And that’s my main problem with the game right now.

You need to look at why people don’t want you around, and the main reason is because, yeah, they think you’re going to make them die.

The solution to this is to make death less hatefully punishing.

Hatefully punishing?

Seriously???

Death penalty in this game is pathetically weak. I take that back, there is NO death penalty in this game. This isn’t EQ, or even DAoC where you could lose entire LEVELS if you died. Where one death could wipe out hours and hours of grinding XP. Oh, and lets not forget that in those games, going solo really wasn’t an option. I don’t think you have a clue what “hatefully punishing” death penalties even are.

This has to be one of the silliest posts Ive seen today.

I like playing with people out in the world. Like combat and rezzing, and seeing how they approach a situation. In WvW I’m pretty noobish so I look for instructions and strategies in chat, and then try them out.

But I don’t share most people’s interests or sense of humor. I’ve never even stuck with a guild in other games because even guild chat with the supposedly “like-minded” people was just inane garbage and people who thought they were much more clever and cute than they were. Not as trolling and racist as general chat, but still pretty pathetic on the whole. People are nice until you have to listen to them idly prattle on about inconsequential personal crap and popular media pabulum. Then they’re just exasperating and an enormous detriment to fun.

Btw, the whole never-having-to-group thing (unless you want to finish your personal story lololol) in this game? That is the single thing that has made me quit all other MMOs without looking back.

Phaedryn.3698:

Hatefully punishing?

Seriously???

Death penalty in this game is pathetically weak. I take that back, there is NO death penalty in this game. This isn’t EQ, or even DAoC where you could lose entire LEVELS if you died. Where one death could wipe out hours and hours of grinding XP. Oh, and lets not forget that in those games, going solo really wasn’t an option. I don’t think you have a clue what “hatefully punishing” death penalties even are.

This has to be one of the silliest posts Ive seen today.

agreed. there isn’t really a death penalty to speak of that is worthy of note.

I like the gw2 approach. Let´s face it: While you meet the like 5 special people you remember in every online game you play, most of the time grouping has always been a mixed bag necessary to get what you wanted gamewise. How often did you have that party of 6 with onr kitten that ruined the whole fun? If you want to socialize in an online game, gw2 has everything you want: chat channels! Partake there whenever you want to, get into a nice guild, these are all nice perks. But they are not essential to the game and that is fine. I like socializing in games, but that is not even remotely my main concern. I have enough RL friends and I rather leave the house for some bar on the weekend and meet new people there instead of getting to know some virtual persona I have no real clue about.

Why would we want to provide incentives for partying? That would put those who choose not to party at a disadvantage. It’s not as if you don’t organically group at times. And for the record, in Orr it can be advantageous to actually party because those little blue dots communicate at least direction. Honestly with how fast paced game-play is in GW2 is forming a party can be cumbersome for play unless you can verbally communicate with those in your party as typing to communicate directions and so on can get you killed, or certainly left in the dust. And personally I see no reason to FORCE partying since the more organic groups that form and disperse are less constrained and no one places undue pressures on the others. Honestly this game seems more realistic. You don’t start hanging out with strangers irl just because you happen to do a few things together at some point. You might help each other out and high five at successful completion of some difficult task, but you’re not gonna go stalker and follow each other around. If you want to make friends and play together, get a chat program, participate in map and guild chats, start your own guild, or do things to make friends. But random partying isn’t something that the game should start pressuring players to do. Being selective about who a person parties with is not being anti-social, it’s just being selective about whom one socializes with. No problem with that imo.

I rarely see people grouped in this game, why is that? Do gamers this day in age just want to be left alone to do there own thing? I myself have a heck of a time finding people to play with.

Discuss.

I feel like whats the point besides a high lvl dungeon? I can heal myself, If someone is a noob I dont want them ruing my playtime. I guess thats a kitteny attitude but its game design. No one likes the trinity system cause its harder to make groups but at least it encourages some sort of group to happen. Besides saying good fight to a couple peeps in spvp I literally havent typed out anything to anyone since release. Since buffs are aoe and not group based thats another reason I dont care about it.

Dumb people? Ie, people who play massively multi player games to solo aren’t that bright. There are tons of single player games out there.

Voqar.2349:

Dumb people? Ie, people who play massively multi player games to solo aren’t that bright. There are tons of single player games out there.

so you think people who do not share your preferences are dumb? I would a) say that pretty much demonstrates why people do not want to group with strangers per se and b) I totally suggest you stick to that approach when you go to the office or wherever you work on monday. And make sure to tell everyone about it.

Thats easy. Ppl dont manage groups cause there’s no point to do this, unless to zerg in wvw…
There was a reason why all mmorpgs assigned a specific function to each class, thats exactly the same reason why we all like to play this kind of game.
There are two drawbacks, at least, on doing every class able to do everything, the first is dont practice leadership and group organization and socialization, the other is if everyone is able to do everything is actualy the same to say that everyone is able to do nothing, which is easily observed in dungeons groups.

Dumb people? Ie, people who play massively multi player games to solo aren’t that bright. There are tons of single player games out there.

Apparently it’s too difficult for people to grasp that there’s a gradient here. It’s not a black and white thing of either you’re [social] or [solo], and that if you’re not forming parties, joining guilds, chatting, and making friends with other people, then you’re [solo] and should be playing console games instead.

I play with other people all the time in this game. They’re more interesting in their in-game actions than computer NPCs, and make the world more vibrant. But grouping and talking and getting to know each other is a completely separate issue, and you don’t get to hijack the definition of “multiplayer” to make it mean specifically that.

I’m really glad I brought a pre-established social group to GW2, cuz the game mechanics don’t foster groups or relationships.

In contrast my first MMO, EQ, was based on a social-engineering perspective, that game elements should encourage social relationships, so that people would continue to play, not because of the game itself, but because of their social ties.

Many professions you literally couldn’t level without a group, and a group required the original trinity (heals, tank, CC/Slow — didn’t even count damage dealers). So you made groups cuz you had to, and you formed relationships so that groups would be easy. A cool side-effect – if you were a bad group member, you were left having to roll a solo class, cuz people paid attention to who was good/bad.

Katz.5143:

I see this complaint in every game. I always wonder, there are so many people that talk about wanting a group, why aren’t they grouping with each other? I’ve never determined what the barrier is that prevents them from grouping with each other.

I just automatically assume that people who want forced grouping are sad specimens who are entirely incapable of making friends unless they have a captive audience. Seeing them demand this mechanic only makes me even more resistant to it because I’d rather give up video games than be stuck with them.

When I see someone say “I’m lonely playing this game” I imagine that person becoming codependent and stalkerish with anyone who gives them the time of day. Right to the block list they go. I’m sure that’s not always true, but I wouldn’t want to chance it.

I have to admit when i was leveling my warrior to 80 i didn’t say much to others, when i did it was mostly thanks for rez, i wanted to play the game take in the sights and sounds i love the composer of gw music big fan since morrowind, but i believe after a while your familiar to the game so u will become more social.

I have met tons of nice people, not at all a problem. /say is useful that way, especially with chatbubbles.

I guess I’m anti-social.
I’ve never been really fond of games that forced people to group or guild up in order to get things done.

I like being able to explore on my own, run into strangers, maybe do a few quests together, then go our separate ways.
I meet a lot more people this way and it makes the game seem much more alive to me.
It’s like this game was made for me.

Whenever I join a guild or a group, I’m suddenly restricted to doing whatever other people or the majority want to do. I inevitably end up spending every day grouping with the same 4 or 5 people in the guild. Suddenly, the game becomes like every other MMO I’ve ever played. Grinding mobs every day with the same group of people over and over again.

Because most players are bad at games and will slow me down.

I don’t mind grouping, but those that I group with must at least be as efficient as I am.

Katz.5143:

I see this complaint in every game. I always wonder, there are so many people that talk about wanting a group, why aren’t they grouping with each other? I’ve never determined what the barrier is that prevents them from grouping with each other. I think really it is just hard to find like-minded people. They are out there, it is the finding part that is difficult.

This is exactly the reason I’d like to find a group centric game. Finding other group focused gamers in a sea of solo’ers is hard, especially with zone barriers.

Azoetia.2183:

I just automatically assume that people who want forced grouping are sad specimens who are entirely incapable of making friends unless they have a captive audience. Seeing them demand this mechanic only makes me even more resistant to it because I’d rather give up video games than be stuck with them.

When I see someone say “I’m lonely playing this game” I imagine that person becoming codependent and stalkerish with anyone who gives them the time of day. Right to the block list they go. I’m sure that’s not always true, but I wouldn’t want to chance it.

No one is talking about forced grouping.

Tell me about this:
When you go out for a movie, don’t you like to enjoy it with a friend? Isn’t it better with friends than alone in a sea of strangers?
If you go play basketball, do you think it’s better to play with familiar people, or alone or strangers? It’s so much more kitten kitten kitten AWESOME to play with each other, tease each other, cheer with each other, win or lose with each other.

So you’re saying that person who wants to go to the movies, or the person who wants to play basketball, with other people… they’re both stalkers who you would immediately ignore? When you go to some social event in the real world, don’t you try to enjoy it with other people, even if you just met them?

If you hate people that much, you can play solo games? This is a mmo. Once in a while it’s good to play alone, but by definition, isn’t it a social game? Like basketball or hockey.

It has nothing to do with talking about the cake you baked last night or how you’re so mad at your boss, it is about experiencing something together, coming up with a cool strategy together, having each other’s backs… just like any other hobbie that involves more than one person.

In this game it’s just a bunch of stangers pressing 1 2 3 1 2 3 like sleepy office workers who don’t give a kitten about each other just doing the bare minimum at their job because it’s enough to get the paycheck.

Or two people who are married on paper, but in truth they’re just like 2 strangers living as roommates. You might say that "everyone is together, so it’s social’, but it’s not. It’s like saying going to a movie theater alone is being social, just because the theater is full of people.

And yes… I do try to play with other people, but it doesn’t work

I don’t know what you people are talking about… I’ve seen quite a few groups all following each other, aiming at the same target and playing the same race/class and all running around killing stuff and they look like they are having a great time!….

…oh wait.. those are botters….. = /

But seriously, my wife and I play together all the time and we work really well together. It’s the main reason why we don’t group with others, much, because we have a flow that works. We group with people we know because they’ll work with us most times, but often we’ll just be part of dynamic events and work with whomever happens to be there and that’s the most PUG’ging we’ll do.

Some like to, some don’t like to… Some already have a group home-made….

…and some are botters…. = P

Voqar.2349:

Dumb people? Ie, people who play massively multi player games to solo aren’t that bright. There are tons of single player games out there.

How bright are the people who need an outdated concept like “grouping” when they already have all the positives of a group without needing to actually join one?

We’re all inherently selfish and competitive, and some of us like to kick sand in others faces (some people will reject co-operation if they can, ie getting a skill point done but not helping late comers get theirs, or purposely not resurrecting etc). But when you make the system as egalitarian as GW2’s is, shared resources and goals and an absence of competitive pressure outside of pvp, we revert to the pack animal.

I love the sandbox approach to gaming, it’s fun being one person against an entire world sometimes. But the fact is, we’re adaptable and co-operative when we need to be, it’s why we’re top dog after all.

The problem is, most of us are stuck in halfway house; we’re used to the standard MMO grouping template that forces some level of interaction. GW2 doesn’t force it at all, neither did Rift. So the consequence is that you sometimes feel like you’re one human being in a zerg of bots. I suspect this is also the cause of people not hanging around for the next step in a chain DE – nobody’s communicating, they just want to be away asap.

The solution is to reach out and be more accessible. But because it’s not really forced, many don’t. But it’s the only possible answer – talk more, be approachable.

I just don’t see the point in making a group. The experience is the same, the loot is the same, the kills are the same regardless of if I’m grouped with someone or we are running the stuff together as singles. This way, you get to interact with other players without feeling obligated to follow a certain, pre-mapped course of action.

…But then, I am also one who’ll stick around and help the next guy get that skill point or rez the fallen or help when someone says, “Hey, can you help me kill _?” So if the experience in game is the same as if I were grouped, why accept an invite unless its for a dungeon where its necessary?

beren.6048:

Jestunhi.7429:

If fighting alongside someone outside of a group isn’t social interaction then nor is fighting alongside someone in a group.

There is no difference except his health is now on the left of your screen.

Unless you party with this random and / or you talk, otherwise it is very different. In a guild you ll party with the same people, you get to know them, you speak to them on TS. Thats social interaction, making jokes, becoming friends. Otherwise why not play a solo game, very often the graphics is much better and the story more intense.

i agree about what you are saying until you said solo games have better graphics i have yet to see a solo game have better graphics then an MMO

There are a few reasons for the silence in this game. First is that a lot of the people you see in game are doing map completion which is a solo activity. You can do it with other people but often you are going west and they are going east… Second, natural human shyness. Not much you can do about that. Third, mob respawn rate. This really is the secret killer of chat. You can’t stop in this game to make a joke or say hello because the whole game pushes you relentlessly, breathlessly forward due to mob respawns. In boring old questing WoW you could set your own pace in the world, you never felt you were missing out on stuff going on just over the horizon, your quests were quite safe in your log, and if mobs respawned a bit quick in some areas you just mounted up and flew up a bit where they couldn’t touch you. Want to make a joke in guild chat, mount up, type out, then continue with your quest. In GW2 there is no time or space for chat. The only safe places are cities but theres nothing much to do in the city. Seroiusly I don’t want flying mounts in this game but I do see a huge advantage to them that I hadn’t realised before. They help you to chat with your friends while still playing the game.