Guild Wars 2

Best way to chit-chat is through MAP channel. (oops double post)

Garnished Toast always has lots of chatter. Social experience is largely server dependent.

I blame “normal” people and their desire to ridicule things they deem “not normal”..

I enjoy things for my own reasons and expect others are the same. I don’t really do inane banter, never have. But when it’s fairly amusing I have no problem with it..
But when the map chat consits of 2 or 3 guys talking about wow or any other equally inane subject or, being a passive blamist pecimist, or just someone that is being “funny”/trolling, it reinforces why I tend not to be as relaxed and gregarious as I would perhaps like to be.

And when some people are good at something, it can make some people feel insecure and make them slightly hostile. You just have to look at the state of FPS online gameing to relise that…

If we all were a bit more respectful to each other, acted maturly and appriciated that we’re in a privlidged postion to be playing these games in the first place, and were thankful for it, it would perhaps be a different story entierly.

My problem with grouping with people is that there’s no point in doing so. All you get in a group is some spots on your minimap. All other MMO’s other then GW2 allows you to gain exp and loot from NPC’s that your group members kill.

The whole system seems to be built around punishing anyone playing a support class. Whenever you find yourself in a group all you see is everyone trying to AoE everything as quickly as possible, and certain classes lack in the AoE department, especially if they’re running a support build.

I actually recall a fight with the Centaur leader in Harathi Hinterlands where I spent 80% of the time getting people up from down states and throwing Chaos storm and Nullfield around to buff everyone else, I ended up getting a silver badge for the event as I did not do enough damage to the boss. How is that possibly a good thing?

The system is making people look out for themselves, it does not make you want to have someone else with you, if mobs get killed too quickly then you get no exp and loot. Also having all this nonstop stress about tagging mobs isn’t a fun way of playing the game, but it’s a design flaw in my opinion that I don’t think will be changed.

As a result of all the above I’ve written, people stick to themselves and stay unsocial, at least I do and I know many others who do the same.

People socialize with people they like in this game, but if you want socialize, it is your obligation to start interacting, the game – or any game – cannot do this for you. Also, why do you think MMORPG have to be about that “socializing” anyway? I play to play, not to make friends (though meeting nice people and having peers is a natural byproduct). I go out, meet friends and the like to socialize. If you are requiring an online computer game for this, you really should reconsider your ways.

It doesn’t help that without an LFD tool and using the current LFG tool, actually getting a group takes longer and is more hassle than soloing whatever content you want a group for. :-P

If you have 2 hours to spare for a CM run, you’d probably finish the dungeon faster SOLO than you would screaming “LFG LFG LFG” or “LFM LFM LFM” until you have to log off, not getting to run at all. Plus, on top of it being faster, you’d actually get to do more with your time than just stand around in town…

This game doesn’t encourage socialization- it encourages mindless zerg. You briefly group up with people to take out an event boss, then scatter to the four winds. The biggest thing here is the lack of trinity and ability to target allies.

In other games, even in something like a Rift or PQ- you have people step up to tank, and people step up to heal- you recognize when someone does something good and both interact in combat and perhaps out of it with compliments and getting to know someone.

This game- I don’t remember a single person on my server because there’s zero interaction. The combat makes you think only of yourself, so that’s what people are encouraged to do. For a game with so much grouping in it- its design is so backwards when it comes to forming relationships.

We’re playing a game- the first thing you notice in a game is how others play. This game removes that- you don’t know how people tank or heal or even the one thing that actually happens- dps, because there’s no indicator, and most abilities don’t even indicate who used them anyway.

You end up with a world where ‘server x invader’ may as well be used for everyone, not just enemies- because that’s what everyone looks like. A big old blah.

I think this sort of thing has just changed over time. It’s a problem with mmos in general. Mmos used to be more group oriented and people would socialize but there was an increasing demand for soloable content by players. Now the majority of mmos are largely soloable. What I like about GW2 is that it gets people playing together, even if they aren’t grouped, as opposed to all other mmos where people play solo, compete for everything and are hostile to each other.

I would very much prefer to group up..but it is nearly impossible to do unless you start adding random people that walks by, since there is no such thing as LFG tool for this game.

And no, I don’t have a super active guild to play with. Those usually requires some kind of commitment to spend time doing things in game—real life can be a real b***tchkitten sometime.

My personal story is I played games specifically to avoid people. So I don’t like grouping with people even in the least.

A lot of people say “why don’t you play console games than, or single player games?” They simply just do not offer the same amount of content or same atmosphere that MMORPGs do. I love economies and auction houses and selling the loot I acquire while playing, Elder Scrolls or Fable does not offer that type of gameplay.

The way this game is built there really is no need to party while leveling it does have it’s benefits I mean anyone can just join in on the zerg train

This may be an SinglePlayer game comparing with some MMO’s in social rating. There are no places to hangout, have fun with friends/parties. It would help if friend list make more sense and not only “follow thing” and things as sPVP, Minigames let us enter with our own parties and possible to call our Friends from our FriendList to Join In

I would love to group with people. A lot of time if I find a good player I follow them around and use my attunement switching to give them boons (not that it’s a huge help or needed in open world PvE, but I like to feel like I’m helping others).

It’s hard to find people to do this with though.

I think there has been little evolution in the development of MMO social interfaces.

We are still using the same social interfaces from the early days of MMOs. The chat window, maybe some chat text over our heads. We’ve had some extra LFG interfaces here or there, but those don’t seem to help socializing much.

I don’t have the clear answer, however I feel there could be more systems to make connecting easier.

I love it when I just run into a stranger and we run the map together. It’s hard though because if I’m 95% done with the area and the other person is only 5% through I want to move on because in the end I am trying for lvl 80 and map completion. That being said the most fun I have in this game is running with others and I usualy do at every oportunity. When someone says “lil help with SP” or whatever I almost always go and help.
Also, there have been lots of times some stranger brought me back from downed state. I dunno I guess I’m saying I have met lots of friendly helpful and very cool people to run with. Though some nights it’a a bit quiet on the map and that sucks but I just go back to solo. Some my fault though I keep rolling ALTs so sometimes a guild mate will ask for help but I am not far enough along to help out.
Personaly, I love the game. I play almost everyday. I plan to keep playing as long as it’s around I just hope there are enough of us to keep it going.

I like seeing people out and about. I enjoy watching people play. This is why MMOs hold me compared to single player games like Skyrim. However, I do not like the general nasty attitude that arises in most MMOs from sore losers or people who take it upon themselves to berate you for “failing”, as well as the homophobia and sexism I see that gets passed off as “That’s just how it is, DEAL”. Yes, I report, but after seeing it enough in games, it’s caused the whole “Once bitter, twice shy” thing. This game is FAR better about that stuff than others I’ve played, mind you.

That said, I enjoy helping out in the game. If I see people in trouble or needing assistance with an event, I move in to help. I tend not to chat much in text only because of the pace of how things go and I’d rather voice, but I still remain cautious about being social with people in any MMO.

I do wonder why a group would be needed to connect with people. Why not just strike up a conversation with people hanging about? Is it the battle that one needs to open that door and get past small talk?

Anyone looking for someone to wander around with, you can add me to your buddy list

Most gamers I know play games to escape from the social experience of life. It’s sort of a throwback to the 30 year old guy who lives in his parents basement who failed to launch due to his fear of the human experience. It’s a common theme for people to think that other people are always out to get them, even when they’re not. It’s especially common in mmo’s since in the majority of mmo’s one must compete for resources.

I think it’s a product of game design. There’s plenty of games I play that I socialize with my team and work with others. Dota 2, Natural Selection 2, etc.

MMOs these days are designed with the “alone together” premise. It’s a bunch of people but everyone is doing their own thing unmindful of anyone else. They may as well be bots (in GW2s case often times they are) for all you need them.

It’s just bad design.

juno.3968:

I think it’s a product of game design. There’s plenty of games I play that I socialize with my team and work with others. Dota 2, Natural Selection 2, etc.

MMOs these days are designed with the “alone together” premise. It’s a bunch of people but everyone is doing their own thing unmindful of anyone else. They may as well be bots (in GW2s case often times they are) for all you need them.

It’s just bad design.

See I would agree with you on Game Design, but would probably lean further towards the demand of the populous. If you take a party heavy game like FFXI, they had a tough time holding a majority of players. Even now some (like myself) don’t have the time to wait for a group, just to enjoy the content of the game. So games needs to make money to survive and with people having either shorter attention spans or just not enough time or energy to group, we are left with what someone said a “Solo-Party” experience.

I agree with you on the Game Design aspect because although it is what the majority of people want, there are many of us who still want that “You can’t do this without a party” aspect of the game. It would be nice if design accommodated areas where players could do both. Raids cover this aspect, but literally remove players from the world and put them in an alternate place to have fun. Instead seeing groups of people in the same persistent world would be nice, because there you see various large groups of people helping each other which to me was always awesome to witness.

You can group in this game and level quickly, but it lacks that same oomph and feeling of having areas designated for parties. I haven’t been to Orr yet so this may be like it.

To be fair though GW1 design always seemed like it had that balance. You had areas where you needed a party, or had to be a boss to get through. Likewise you had areas where you could just solo it. GW2 seems to have lost this concept which is a shame, but to me they improved a variety of other aspects of the game.

juno.3968:

I think it’s a product of game design. There’s plenty of games I play that I socialize with my team and work with others. Dota 2, Natural Selection 2, etc.

MMOs these days are designed with the “alone together” premise. It’s a bunch of people but everyone is doing their own thing unmindful of anyone else. They may as well be bots (in GW2s case often times they are) for all you need them.

It’s just bad design.

it is not. It leaves the choice of grouping up to you for the most part of the game.

I hate having to rely on others to have fun. Orr would be a nightmare if you had to group up for it. (not saying I have fun in Orr, but that’s for another discussion).

What I love about GW2 is I can jump into an event with a number of other players with out having to spam LFG .

Silene.6379:

I think this sort of thing has just changed over time. It’s a problem with mmos in general. Mmos used to be more group oriented and people would socialize but there was an increasing demand for soloable content by players. Now the majority of mmos are largely soloable. What I like about GW2 is that it gets people playing together, even if they aren’t grouped, as opposed to all other mmos where people play solo, compete for everything and are hostile to each other.

I read this as gamers want their games to be more like games. Groups take all the challenge out of the game, and content that is balanced for groups is often unrealistic to do solo. When you fight in a group, gameplay tends to degenerate into mindless zerging, because nothing more is required.

To answer the OP, it’s not that gamers aren’t sociable. It’s that gamers prefer to play the game. When they want to chat with their friends, they go to Facebook. What I want to know is why so many people seem to treat games as a social platform. (And by the same token, I’d also like to hear why Anet thinks gamers want to go to Facebook or Twitter to read game announcements.)

Leablo.2651:

To answer the OP, it’s not that gamers aren’t sociable. It’s that gamers prefer to play the game. When they want to chat with their friends, they go to Facebook. What I want to know is why so many people seem to treat games as a social platform. (And by the same token, I’d also like to hear why Anet thinks gamers want to go to Facebook or Twitter to read game announcements.)

That about sums it up for me. I will chat with someone from time to time, but I never understood the point of meeting the guild in X location to have a meeting. I really don’t care to have a scheduled meeting about a game, I have enough meetings at work. As for getting together for things like in game parties, watching a bunch of avatars standing around in one spot doing the same emotes you see them do everywhere does not equal a party. If I want to go to a party I call my friends. I logged in to play. Slightly off topic, I feel the same way about player housing too, I don’t see the point and I hope it is never added into this game.

It’s been said before but really the combat in this game does not require any teamwork at all, therefore you don’t need other people, so why should people be bothered to talk to, or even acknowledge others…?

Everything in the game is zergfest or dps. In events, once like 6 people get there you can barely see what you are doing or your effects, much less pay attention to what others are doing to help the event. In dungeons, aside from pressing F to rez someone every now and then, its just dps dps dps, and you you you.

Maybe a warrior is taking the majority of hits and keeping monsters stunned to keep them away from squishies, or maybe a guardian or water ele is throwing out some heals to help keep the party up, do people notice? And more importantly, does it even matter?

The game is setup so that even if that warrior isn’t taking the hits for his teammates and controlling them, or if the guardian or water ele decides to never throw out a group heal…the group will still succeed. Maybe you will have to press F a couple more times to just rez people right back up or maybe you will just have to switch to a ranged wep and be less effective and monsters will take 1 more minute to kill, but you will STILL succeed. NO cooperation is needed in this game. Even in so called “group content”. Maybe a DPS sucks and is being carried by the group, will you notice it? Most likely not, there is no healer that will run out of mana if the DPS suck, you will still succeed. Maybe you missed an interrupt on a big attack… no matter, someone died, oh just press F and they’ll be back up in 5 seconds like nothing happened. Maybe no one in the group is playing support/controller…who cares, all group content is just dps and kite your butt off.

I think it’s great that you can do pretty much anything with any class, but in the end it just turns the combat system into a zerg/dps spam fest where no one really is important or crucial to the team. Therefore there’s no real recognition, no “hey this player is good, I wanna group up with him again sometime” or really any social interaction/cooperation needed. In my opinion, the thing they most intended to make the game combat unique, really just ended up dumbing down the combat system and discouraging cooperation/teamwork, and therefore, socialization. Because let’s face it, what is the biggest part of other MMOs that encourages people to socialize? A battle system in which everyone is required to pull their weight, that requires people to cooperate and work together and perform specific roles that help their team.

Edit: My post is directed at people who actually WANT more social interaction in the game. Those who play games “to escape reality” or something of the sort or play MMOs not because they want to be social but because they enjoy “the constant stream of content” are a whole other thing entirely and if that’s their cup of tea so be it.

this is just not true. Good teamwork makes a real difference in this game. No, it is not needed to kill a wolf on a pve map, but in dungeons and pvp (no, zerging may be the standard in WvW, but it certainly isn´t the best way to do it), it really makes a difference. I get the increasing impression that this thread is really a disguised yearning for that trinity crap.

I wasn’t clear but I’m speaking entirely from a PvE perspective, I haven’t done WvW as it’s not really my thing. I’m not sure, maybe you’re playing with a whole different crowd that I have been playing with, but in dungeons, dodging out of the way and putting on some passive buffs on your team as soon as the cooldown is up doesn’t count as teamwork to me.

As for the trinity, although I don’t consider it crap (it worked for MANY years, just because GW2 doesn’t have it doesn’t mean it’s crap) I’m not asking for it back.