Guild Wars 2

For me the game isn’t social intuitive, soo I just wandering arround do my things, sometimes there are groups and something, do 1 event and all go their lifes again.

The ANet idea wasn’t this, but what’s happening in PVE is not an example of a social intuitive game. I’m already playing alot less, I will keep waiting for some kind of major update (if there is one) to add social things, and more things for people do at PVE at endgame, since for me I don’t like PVP.

I prefer to play alone, most of the time.
I don’t like games that force me to group (to do quests, for example). I’d even do dungeons alone, if I could. Sure, I like to group every now and then but again, I don’t like being forced. This is one of the sides of this game that I love the most.

The reason is… when I play alone I can go at my pace. I can go where I want, when I want and I can “waste” all the time I want. I can afk every 2 minutes, alt-tab to do a quick read of the forums, et cetera.
I can’t do all these things when I’m in a group.

I don’t know if it has already been mentioned but I think introducing Global Chat system would resolve lot of the social issues where you can chat with people through the entire game and find out what is going on across Tyria. If there’s an event happening somewhere people will announce on this channel, so and so boss is up get over here. This chat should be an optional to turn on/off of course.
To complement this system, they should also introduce ability to join a party and enter a dungeon from anywhere in the world as you can now if you are in the same map. Why not extend it to the entire world? And when you exit the dungeon, it returns you to the place you were.
I think this would allow players to go about their business in the world of Tyria and keep an eye on people looking for groups for something that they want to do, rather the having to park themselves permanently in LA just find a group.
(meh I should have probably put this in the suggestion thread but I thought it was relevant to this as well)

Playing this game solo is a double-edged sword; it’s great if you wanna just go about your own thing, explore, whatever, but it’s a menace if you want some help with the harder areas of the game like dungeons.

Some very good points so far, and mostly the very same reasons why I choose to do most things alone. I don’t like doing PvP either, mostly because of the foul taste left in the mouth from the old GW from the player’s attitudes (either arrogant kids or elitists), but also because of severe lag. Being oceanic will do that though.

Just to add to the mix, I’m on at odd hours of the day when the ‘peak times’ of most other ‘locals’ would be gone a few hours ago. I outlast them most of the time, and there aren’t too many on like me. Otherwise I’d like to play alongside other people whom I could help and they could help me, especially with dungeons. I’m even in a guild of my very own so I can earn my own influence and post karma banners for D/E’s in orr zergs. But with the recent changes in game events (karka crap, Fractals crap, needing to do Arah explorable… crap) I can’t do this stuff by myself, and it would be nice to either form an impromptu group or an organised one with TS/Vent/Mumble for making instructions a lot clearer and avoiding the need to type messages.

These are things I’m weighing up right now as I’m looking for help with levelling some alt’s and getting my main through the rest of the game on the way to his Legendary, hopefully with ‘some’ help, if not a lot.

I don’t like talking to people, I have to think about what to say really hard and it just gets awkward. I never understood the way humans interact and I find myself never knowing how to respond to anything, or never getting a response to what I say. Occasionally I’ll tag along with a group of people doing DE chains or whatever but if introductions are made I just peace

I’m really not a particularly social person, except on those rare occasions when I am. I often have accepted invites from people just to team up for kicks, and I often play with my guildies. But ultimately, I play the game for the game, not for the social aspect. The best games, for me, accommodate that by giving me the choice of being social when I want to be and solitary when I want to be. GW1 and City of Heroes were both perfect, in that regard. I could join a team for a dungeon or a task force, or I could just solo missions all night. This game isn’t bad (in that regard). I like the fact that I can run with another player for a while, then we can each just go our separate ways. OTOH, sometimes the persistent world gets to be a bit much for me; I feel like I can’t escape other people and have to log off, which is ironic, given how many posts I read talking about how the zones are dead.

And also, everything Raf said.

Raf.1078:

You know, I deal with people at work all day in meetings, on the phone. etc..etc.. A regular workday. But when I get home, the last thing I want to do is deal with another group of people. I’ll group with Guildies if they need help or my wife…cause, well..its her

But most of the time I’m just happy to not have to deal with other people. The DE’s allow you to use the advantages of a group, then happily go your own way afterwards. Perfect system for my play style.

I like doing things at my pace ( that is, kinda slow ), talking to NPCs, searching around for secret areas, JPs, minidungeons. I don’t mind grouping up with people and are generally very talkative, but when the players are “anti-slow” like someone up there said, I’d rather play alone. It also doesn’t help that people in my server ( Seafarer’s Rest ) seemingly hate to chit chat with each other.

There is no need to group.
Most of the game is soloable even veterans. DE you just all work together without groups.

By grouping, whoever finishes a heart first has to wait for others.
Someone will need to run back to sell because they forgot at the last camp.
Someone will need to run back after this to repair because they forgot.
I’m all for being social and join in on the /map chatting but no need to actually group

there could be several reasons which will be in general depending in the person.

but in gw2, the reason is mainly because you dont need party/guild to do anything but dungeons, even when is a world event or an event which requires more than one player, you dont require the party or the guild, or to even talk or make a strat, and since theres no open world pvp you can just walk around alone all the time.

I group all the time, just not in official parties. If I see a group clearing an area I need, etc., I just run up and jump into the group, then leave when I am done. Nice and clean this way with no awkward breaking away from the party.

And I find that it’s much faster to level on my own than with someone else. I have my own way of doing things that is fast and efficient and I get irritated if I have to wait around for someone else.

I like to play mmo’s solo, but i like to chat in the world chat to other people just to be social i guess. i dont like grouping with other people to much though except for dungeons where u have to. and when i do i prefer laid back players to play with. players that can laugh at stuff together like if the whole party dies or is going kinda slow its still fun. i dont like grouping when your grouped up with players who try to take over the group saying “go here, dont go that way, i know a shortcut, let’s skip this ect…” because i feel like if me or someone else in the group messes up you gotta hear “what are you doing? dont do that! oh no you are such a noob! why did you pull that group! ect…” its people like that that turn me off to group play.

what gets me is why do people want to party on a world event all the time? We are already in a group, do to the world event poping, and players head to the area on there own to participate in this world event. We are already in a group but not a party, please stop spaming me a party invite, when I am already in the group also participating in the world event.

I’m far more efficient by myself. I’ve tried guild area clears with 20+ people and you spend a long time waiting for everyone to finish each specific task. I prefer doing things at my own speed. I do however prefer group farming or WvW.

I’am playing necromancer so obviously I HAVE to play alone.

Mr International.3715:

I don’t like talking to people, I have to think about what to say really hard and it just gets awkward. I never understood the way humans interact and I find myself never knowing how to respond to anything, or never getting a response to what I say. Occasionally I’ll tag along with a group of people doing DE chains or whatever but if introductions are made I just peace

hahaha that cracked me up.

ecad.9085:

Iam constantly asking people to team with me when I’m levelin up in areas and doing hearts etc…. only like 1 in 10 people wants too… but why??

It is soo much faster and easier to level up when ur in team instead of going at it alone. Also much more fun imo. Why so many lone-players?

Several reasons, actually….

1) I work around people all day. When I manage enough free time for a game, I want to be ALONE unless I am with a friend from outside of the game, then I will team, usually duo-only.
2) EVERYONE immediately starts sending URLS for voice chat. If I do not know you, odds are I will not go voice with you. I’ve never liked listening to people eat / sneeze / yell at kids-pets-SO / background TV … and that is Voice Chat in its purest form.
3) Not at all interested in small-talk, which the other person ALWAYS wants to do.
4) Downtime. Grouping is a steady stream of downtime….bathroom breaks, food breaks, phone calls, AFK, etc.

I tend to quietly skip group-required content / raiding, so I play most games until the ‘endgame uber alles’ mindset kicks in, then I go find another game to play until it too succumbs to the end game group-based loot treadmill.

Why do I prefer to play alone? Because there are two kinds of people in the world; and I don’t like them.

Okay, I’m (mostly) kidding. Honestly, I enjoy a very slow play style. I’m an explorer. I like to take time to stop and smell the corpses. I hate being dragged across the map to —Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!-- complete this heart and that heart and —Run! Run! Run!-- the Dynamic event that pops up at an inconvenient time for me.

Plus, some people just don’t understand the difference between playing a game to have fun, and playing a game to “win”. I could go into a dungeon with a group and get party-wiped over and over, to the point of never even completing the dungeon and still have a fantastic time, laughing about how we got our butts handed to us. But many people would be angry, yelling at people who made mistakes and insulting them. I don’t relate to people who can only have fun in a game if they are “winning”.

Mind you, I’m not saying there is anything inherently wrong with that mindset, as long as you are playing with other people who share it. But I don’t. And I prefer not to group with people who do. It’s just not a positive experience for any of us.

No incentive to group up for questing.
It’s faster to actually go it alone because you don’t have to wait up for someone that lags behind.
Plus, heart quests are not linked between party members, so you have to spend more time gathering items/killing monsters.

I don’t mind helping anyone by making a party if you ask ahead of time instead of just spamming party invites on me without a single word or chasing me around demanding I join your party. A little courtesy goes a long way. That being said, if we’re doing a large DE group event, no I’m prob not gonna make a party because for 1: we can’t make a traditional “raid” and have everyone in the same chat that way, and 2: there’s really no point since you, me, and 25 others are doing the same thing, just follow along together. I’m probably not gonna stick around after we complete whatever we were doing and I feel awkward just partying up to do 1 thing then drop the party to go on my way. If you had plans to hang out and follow along for a while, then say so and I might be more inclined to oblige you. Also another thing I can’t stand is: “I need boss help…” with no clue as to where you are, what boss, ect. The same thing for event help. And then demanding I join your party when I get there and expecting me to carry you through the whole thing, sorry not gonna happen. Be clear, concise, and polite, and people won’t mind helping out.

Tiger Ashante.1792:

I don’t know if it has already been mentioned but I think introducing Global Chat system would resolve lot of the social issues where you can chat with people through the entire game and find out what is going on across Tyria.

Yeah this.

I´m really scratching my head why ANet doesn´t allow user created global(serverwide) channels.

Would solve so many problems. From empty capital cities to the LFG spam in LA.

MAJOR omission!

Anytime I get the urge to play with other people all I have to do is form a pug dungeon team and suddenly I no longer have the urge to play with other people…

Vzur.7123:

Back in the early days of MMOs, grouping was very social. There was all this downtime and lots of chatting and getting to know people. It’s not like that anymore. It’s just all this frantic running around, with total strangers who barely say anything, and I find it awkward and uncomfortable.

Since the pace of MMOs isn’t likely to slow down any time soon, I found that dynamic open grouping worked so much better with the modern pace.

I hate when they get to certain parts of the content, especially endgame, and try to go back to that oldstyle grouping. The way it works these days, just doesn’t work for me.

This post makes me a bit wistful for how these games used to be. That aside I agree with Vzur; dynamic grouping for the caffeine-laced content of today’s MMO makes much more sense.

Partying with people during PvE content usually slows me down, as I play with the knowledge of what to do at any point in time and newer players (or people from my guild) can’t keep up with the speed at which I play.

Hell, even when I do group up I act the exact same was as if I were solo and if I’m being slowed down in any way I just drop the group.

It’s not necessary to group to accomplish hearts and dynamic events in this game. Open world Grouping is a choice as it should be. It’s one of the things ANet definitely got right.

I don’t join unsolicited group invites, I hate them, if I don’t KNOW you have some courtesy and use /say or pst and address me and let me know what you’d like to do or need help with. I hate even more when people spam over and over unsolicited group invites while I’m mid fight.

It’s too hard to type in chat and run/fight mobs. Mostly when I group its with long term friends or the occasional person where we are after the same objectives. Usually the latter type is very short lived.

Grouping up for anything isn’t mandatory unless it requires co-op team play, but having said that, ANet kind of wants you to group up silently because it’s believed that if you do group up even in a short term, your chances of better loot are increased. This belief can be questioned when you consider an instance I had yesterday when I decided to see what the Southsun Cove area was like now the 15th of November farce had cooled down (the fallout from that is just starting to hit the surface btw). I stumble across a small group of people randomly killing karka and next thing I see an invite… no biggie, I accept and it turns out that these people are just trying to get their monthly reward points for killing 200 karka. But at the same time, I did notice that in the 30mins that I was farming with them, not much was spoken at all, we just kind of went on killing like a mini-zerg and I also got 9 Vials of Powerful Blood (which goes a small way to help with my Gift of Magic for the Legendary), now that the bot-banning has properly affected prices of T6 materials, I need all I can get without having to spend over 26s for the privilege… even the Potent Blood (T5 material) is over 2s per and I’ll need these to craft T6 mat’s eventually in the Mystic Toilet. So the quality of loot really can be brought into question when farming alone versus partying up with others for co-op randomness.

And when they’d finished their achieves they simply said “got enough now, ty for grp”, etc. which is fine by me, and another person comes along to fill in that spot shortly after. Finally there’s just two of us and the other guy says “gotta sell some stuff” and leaves, by which time I’d had enough of the area myself. So that instance kind of worked out well; no one wanted to chit-chat while killing mobs, we worked together co-operatively and got decent rewards out of it (well, it is a L80 area), and it was mutual for all involved to just do our own thing. No one asked us to come together for the group, except for the party invite which you can ignore or turn down at your leisure, but that was a beneficial instance.

I do team with players from time to time, but the majority of the time I have to stop to take care of other things I’m waiting on like the dishwasher, washing machine, or I just took medicine that makes me have to use the restroom alot.

I think it’s rude to make someone stranger wait on me while I’m doing these things while AFK.

I really hate having to stop every couple of seconds to tell someone what I’m about to go do, or wait for them to get done doing whatever they’re doing. This game sort of groups you up “logically” anyway, and I love it for that. I love that I can come jump in on a monster fight and I’m not regarded as a jerk for doing it.

I’m still plenty social anyway between group chat (/map) and guilds. I just don’t like to party up.

I play video games to get away from the real world. Not to socialize.
I hate playing in a group and always have. I like to play at my pace, and win or lose on my own ability.

I don’t mind working with somone occasionally, and I love the world events… but grouping? No thanks.

I very much dislike being chained to other people while I play.

ecad.9085:

Iam constantly asking people to team with me when I’m levelin up in areas and doing hearts etc…. only like 1 in 10 people wants too… but why??

It is soo much faster and easier to level up when ur in team instead of going at it alone. Also much more fun imo. Why so many lone-players?

Main reason i dont accept random group invites is it always seems to be some one too low for the zone. A nice tender level 70 in orr has zombies crossing half the zone for a bite joining up with one wont get me any thing but a repair bill. I stick to guild groups mostly.

Vzur.7123:

Back in the early days of MMOs, grouping was very social. There was all this downtime and lots of chatting and getting to know people.

In the old mmos pre wow, the community consisted of much more mature players around their 30s.

You grouped up MUCH more, basicly becouse you had to. YOu didnt have to ask, if you entered an area, people were kind enough to invite you if they had a spot, just to help eachother out.
Sure you had the kittens, but those quickly became known throughout the server and became “outcasts”
You made much more friends that werent even in your guild in those times and it created a much better feeling and that was one of the reasons “realm pride” was created in DaoC, everyone helped eachother out.

Now..everything has became so trivialized, everythiing is so easy you basicly can play with one hand, and you dont have to group for anything, even the dungeons in many mmos are now 2-3 man.

Thats one of the reasons why mmos have failed so much lately, they have forgotten the multiplayer part of mmos and the social part of it.

People are selfish, churlish, and tiresome in games. The “screw you, got mine” attitude in society has really been ratcheted up online, and I encounter it all too often in MMOs. This MMO is no exception. It’s made me hesitant when it comes to any activity that requires a group.

I don’t even group much with my guild, and they’re more or less a nice bunch of folks – I’m not a hardcover PvPer, nor am I fond of running hamster wheels. Early on in this game, just a couple of months ago, in fact, that wouldn’t have been a problem. Now that I’m at endgame with one character, and three other alts more than halfway there, it’s a problem – the only way to continue completing achievements is to do exactly that kind of activity, and achievements are about the only incentive I have left to play this game.

I’m an old-school console gamer and dice-thrower. That means two things: I’m well adapted to individual [solo] play as well as small group play with a very tight-knit core group of people [my guild] that go way back. Guild Wars fit this well. We could run hero teams, drop a hero to add a guild mate and move out. GW2 not so much, but the idea is still the same. Guild Groups or Solo.

I love playing alone. It’s fun playing my way at my own pace. The most group intensive content I do is dynamic events. What makes those awesome is that I can play with other people without having to join a party or be in a guild. I talk to people in the map chat if I feel like socializing.

ArenaNet did the right thing by making this game solo-friendly. I hope it stays that way.

Extra Punctuation – Drop the High Scores - A fun little analysis of certain forms of multiplayer. The column starts off talking about high scores, hence the title, but veers off into ‘indirect’ forms of multiplayer, namely Dragon’s Dogma and Journey. I think a lot of it applies to GW2 in terms of how you can interact with other people in the game.

I’ve frequently ‘informally grouped’ with lots of people, not actually teamed up with them but run around together fulfilling the same objectives and helping each other out. I’m pleased that GW2 allows other people to enliven my experience as and when, and to whatever degree, I choose. I don’t always feel like reaching out to talk to strangers, just as I’m not always a horrible misanthrope.

notebene.3190:

Rieselle.5079:

I’ve been trying to think of ways to encourage people to socialise without forcing them, or making things more inconvenient for people who don’t want to talk/group.

I haven’t really been able to, though. I think ultimately players just don’t really want to socialise unless they are forced to. And I disagree with forcing people.

Some ideas:
- In game Guild finder: You can list and search all guilds in the game. The game provides a graph on how active the guild is, how often people represent, and at what times. The guild can put up messages on what their objectives are and other information. You can apply to join the guild via the interface, and a message will be left for any of the guild’s officers to get in touch with you.

—> This should help people congregate together into guilds that suit their play goals and times. It also makes it easier to apply and look up guild information.

- Ad hoc groups: Whilst running in the field, I press a button, and the 5 nearest players to me are added to my UI. It’s as if they are in my party, I can see their health bars, and see dots on the map. But it’s completely one-sided, and they don’t get notified or need to accept. If anyone waypoints or leaves the map, they are removed from my UI.

—> This is a convenient way of grouping when you’re out in a field and you meet some people and decide to follow them around for a while. The dots help you keep track of their location, and being able to see their healthbars allows you to support them if you want.

---

So anyways, I’m trying to think of features that make it as convenient and easy as possible to find people to play with.

Now, your idea for a ‘soft’ party where someone can be a stalker? That’s not horrible. If someone tagged me while I was running around and just decided to follow me wherever I went, that’d be kinda fun. Probably prompt me to say some stupid things in say, which would or would not prompt a response. Because of the wonderful open mechanics, it doesn’t impact my play.

The only problem I see is in the case of the person that pointed out sometimes other players’ moves frustrate melee types. Though, that is an opportunity for some socializing as well, no? You would (sadly) probably need to add the ability for people to ‘not’ be soft-parties, from a privacy stand point. You could pick up some stalker types that are kinda creepy. :|

Well, I dont think privacy is an issue (after all, they can follow you around as much as they want even now, they just dont have a dot on the map to help them.)

In my feature description I said the ad-hoc group only lasts until the person leaves the map or waypoints, so you can dislodge a stalker easily just by doing that, same as the game right now.

But having said that, I’m fine with an option to opt-out of ad hoc groups.

Short answer to the OP question:
A: Because I am the only one who I can rely on 100%.

When leveling a character I prefer to be solo cause I can be all over the map, with storyline and world events. This could be confusing, disruptive, and out right annoying for other players, plus I heard that having others with you in storyline can bug the storyline for either or both.

I like to play alone, because it makes things more challenging. I COULD kill that “champion mob” with a group of people, but, it’s more impressive, and rewarding to kill it by myself.

i acutally like to read the quests, to interact with npcs, enjoy my environment and not being rushed by the blind-lets-hurry-trough party

so i play alone even if i have a huge own guild lol

I do group a lot. I start playing with people around me and when necessary I use /say. However I do not think forming a party has any added value so I simply don’t bother. Grouping without forming parties makes it far more organic.

It’s like going out and talking to lots of people vs deciding which group you’re with and sticking with it. I like the first option more. When going to a club I actually prefer to go alone even though I have plenty of friends who’d come if I ask. Deciding on a fixed group can hold you back on some good fun.

I play alone only when I am online for few hours. As a student with a part-time job, I can not be online for alot of hours and I can not be online alot during schooldays.

It wouldnt be fair to others if I had to leave during a event or a dungeon and that is the reason why I often play solo. In the weekends or holidays, I will group alot, but for the rest of the year, its solo only.

I remember in another mmorpg, alot of times players would just leave during a dungeon, I know how it feels on the receiving end and this is why I do not group, unless I am sure that I will finish the dungeon/event etc with the group.

I’m a solo player. I like socializing on the map and seeing people, but I don’t like to party up with them. Mostly I just feel awkward when it comes to doing map completion with someone I don’t know in my party. I always feel like I have to say something or keep a conversation going. The only people that I gladly party up with is my boyfriend and his friend.

If im playing and someone follow me and start doing same mobs or events i dont mind thats beauty of Guild Wars 2.
You dont have to party just stick with someone and maybe its a blast partying together if not seek someone else:)
Im sure you eventually find someone to explore and doing events or farm mobs then have great time:D

I really dislike voice chat unless its with people I know in real life. New players have lost sight of the art of chatting in text form. You can communicate with a lot more people at once and no one talks over anyone else. Its also easier to follow conversations. And frankly, I can’t stand listening to a teenagers or college students talk about games, life or current events, but that’s a generational thing.

I find it more efficient to play alone, since I can go at my own speed and it helps me figure out my class better. When I have someone tagging along, enemies do die faster, but that prevents me from learning a new class efficiently. For events and farming, I do prefer groups since you seemingly get better loot, and for some events, groups are pretty much necessary. That being said, I wish my guild were more active, so I could run dungeons more often.

Everything is a competition it seems, these days. It’s not bad enough that we have to be efficient at work so now we have to be efficient in a video game. I’m fortunate to have my wife to play with. We could care less about taking our time or breaks or doing anything in a particular way.

It’s ashamed that most MMO players are out for themselves and only care about getting to whatever imaginary goal the fastest way possible these days but thats the way most of you are.

I’d love to find a guild or a group of people that really honestly play for fun and don’t act like everything has to be done at record speeds. The imaginary world might end if you went slow or actually helped someone or even chatted!

ecad.9085:

Iam constantly asking people to team with me when I’m levelin up in areas and doing hearts etc…. only like 1 in 10 people wants too… but why??

It is soo much faster and easier to level up when ur in team instead of going at it alone. Also much more fun imo. Why so many lone-players?

I usually only play with my wife. Erm…in game that is. But I love to help people out here IF I can. Getting swamped, I’ll hop in. Doing events? I’m game. Need an answer? I’ll whisper it if I know it. DE? Heck yeah. But as for grouping up? Sadly, my net likes to DQ me and depending on where the group is, I may or may not be able to get back. So I am nothing but dead weight.

I don’t want to drag anyone down with my crapnet if it decides to misbehave and sometimes, DQing at just the right moment is a terrible terrible thing.

At least going solo, while helping when I see someone doing something I can help with, I’m not a bother. Oh yeah, I’m also a horrendous typer when I’m trying to play so my words get very scrambled. Seriously.

Blackwolfe.5649:

To keep it short: I like to do what I want, when I want it, in any way I want to, in my own pace.

Basically this. If there was magically someone who wanted to spend the same amount of time on each part of a map as me, wanted to harvest the same resources, kill only certin types of mobs, had to stop at the merchant at the same times as me, etc, etc – I’d group with them.

The only thing I’d like done better in zones is a more zone wide announcement of champion bosses, since these need groups of players to take down.

there is definitely a pacing issue, somewhere. i guess i play more often the the others in my guild, so i can traverse some areas with relative ease, while they get stuck behind. with the quick respawn rates, i try to clear a path for them to navigate, or retake the bridge so they can cross, only to find they get side-tracked, and i lose my patience waiting and clearing until they come around again.

sometimes, i join players asking for help, only to find once i get there, they already finished and moved on. so the content might be easier, so there really isn’t much of a need to party, especially in lower areas. but if you like partying with players, the cursed shores players are always looking to group, even if its for 4 minutes at a time.

if the main attraction to GW2 is promoted as “Play Your Way”, then i will definitely take that option, since zerging doesn’t require any partying, whatsoever – you just show up and follow the herd.