Guild Wars 2

I am thinking of installing the game again. I never played it for much but lately I’ve been wanting to get back into mmos.
When I did play I barely got to talk to other people, everyone was doing some high level content while I leveled in mostly empty zones.
How is it now?

I think so, but it does vary.

You’re usually not going to find tons of people in the starting zones, but they’re not empty either and I can often get a conversation going if I want to. The tricky part on the EU servers is not everyone speaks the same language. Sometimes we can make it work but it’s not as easy.

But if you want guaranteed people to speak to your best bet is to join an active and sociable guild. Then you can carry on talking to the same people no matter where you are.

Cracker.2310:

I leveled in mostly empty zones.

We have megaservers now, you will find plenty of people on maps and some of them do enjoy chatting. But socializing is easier in a friendly guild. You might even find people to level up with.

Also, newbie dungeon runs! Seriously. I always help newbies who still enjoy the content and we talk and laugh a lot, no rush. I’ve made tons of friends that way. Do the story in dungeons as soon as you unlock them, search for “story – all welcome” groups in LFG. Those people are usually relaxed and fun!

Mea.5491:

Also, newbie dungeon runs! Seriously. I always help newbies who still enjoy the content and we talk and laugh a lot, no rush. I’ve made tons of friends that way. Do the story in dungeons as soon as you unlock them, search for “story – all welcome” groups in LFG. Those people are usually relaxed and fun!

This is a great point, Anet abandoned dungeons but left the in-game mails telling newbies to go to them. It’s pretty easy and very (socially) rewarding to show someone the mechanics. I usually wind up doing multiple dungeons with people or introducing someone to PvP or etc.

Honestly I think this is a point of concern of mine that I’ve noticed over time, not that it has any kind of obvious solution either as it just seems to be more of an inherent flaw in the core game design. I’ve been playing this game for years since a year or so after launch, but even from those early days what I can tell you is that the social aspect has been kind of lacking, in that there’s not anything you’re immediately exposed to or forced to deal with, like in-your-face kind of social interactions where core mechanics might facilitate and in fact necessitate such social behavior for players to successfully deal with in order to progress to the next stage, whatever that may be.

So what I mean is, very little teamwork aspect of this game actually requires you to interact socially with other people, yeah you might have to explain some mechanics to other players occasionally, but if they have some basic understanding or some sort of intuition - either an instinctive knee-jerk reaction or a visceral, yeah-this-seems-right kind of reasoning, or a learned response sort that you might acquire from reading guides posted online or through some similar means of garnering secondhand advice and tips - then yeah, in those circumstances it stands to reason that intuition alone should allow them to fumble through and manage it, rather than relying on social advise from another player through ts or in-game chat, which does help but only in certain content that requires near-flawless coordination in order to surpass it (namely raids, as it may be the most obvious example that stands out here). Yeah it might seem rude to not introduce yourself before joining a group, or you might need to comment on something or respond to something directed at you, but apart from that nothing is really forced upon you to forge any kind of lasting relationships with others. You can play most or all of this content solo, by that I mean it doesn’t seem to matter whether you have any friends or people that you’re acquainted with in-game since this game seems to promote anti-social behavior imo, unless you’ve spend some effort in finding a good guild that’s always supportive of you and always active and sociable most of the time, then yeah in such cases there’s a feeling of familiarity and belonging that you might find is what you’re looking for.

But imo, and just keep in mind this is my personal experience, the game for the most part seems to promote anti-social behavior, across mostly all game modes. I mean I’ve tried both pvp and wvw for a few months or so, for me what I found that it boils down to is either mindless zerg play, random team matchups in pvp where no one said a single word to each other or to the opposing team, and the like. Ive spent majority of my time in-game in pve and open-world though, even from the early days of 5man dungeon groups, it seemed kind of lackluster and kind of muted on the social front. When there used to be something of a popular spot like cof p1 mindless farming, then yeah it didn’t matter if you never said a word to each other in general chat or whether you were all silent and never spoke a single word in chat unless it was to link your gear when asked for or something else that was expected of you. All in all, dungeons were a kind of a letdown in their lack of social interaction except for build/skill advice, or when needing to explain some mechanics specific to each encounter. You didn’t join a pug group to hang out. You all joined to complete a set task before you that you all needed, and upon realization of the shared task you would all disband group and forget each other and go your separate ways.. like there was little if ever need to form bonds or relationships with other players that you felt comfortable around, there was just not there and it’s something I always feel like it’s something that’s missing in core game experience.

For open world, to give another example map completion feels like a chore and honestly it’s something you feel more at ease soloing than with another player that you don’t know. Even on the new content introduced with the release of HoT, yeah you might notice dome events or situations that require group or concentrated effort (not something you’re expected to solo) that requires you to cooperate and work together with a random player who shares your same goal, but I mean honestly you don’t even need to group up or even say a single word to each other - just mash a few buttons and focus on boss, maybe res each other if downed, then boom once you’ve succeeded then just go your separate ways and never look back at all.

Like again it’s my personal experience, but from years ago I remember there was maybe one person I connected to in some way and that was in PvP, where we were kinda forced into grouping up for arranged teams so we kind of got to know one another bc of that. Then as months passed, yeah I was inactive for almost a year but doesn’t change what happened, we kinda grew apart and estranged from one another especially since I gravitated more to pve with exclusion of all else, whereas he was still more focused on pvp which I was unwilling to return to. So even now I’m at the point where I can maybe say for certain that I have no close friends in-game, and yeah like I’ve achieved a lot and have like 7 legendaries which is not too bad considering I wasted a lot of my gold in other unrelated endeavors, but i mean end of the day it’s just something you’re expected to keep to yourself, no one rly cares about each other and their troubles and it’s just a lonely world, even though it seems like there’s a vast open space and like a near limitless area to explore, it feels kind of constricted and close-monded in that regard to the point it actually limits what you would say is your in-game experience as it pertains to you

tl;dr: not a really sociable game for a solo player experience imo, you can get away with almost anything without social interaction being the be all or end all. It’s kind of makes you feel hopeless and lost in such circumstances, and truth is if you’re not actively a part of a guild like chatting or talking all the time or say you’re not using voice chat and forming relationships with other players you come in contact with, then yeah you will kind of get the sense this game does seem to promote anti-social behavior to a sole newcomer with no previous connections

PS sorry for double post, didn’t mean it to be overly long but honestly sometimes this 5k char limit really frustrates me at times

I’ll give the game another try. Nagr described exactly how I felt when I first played but maybe something changed now.

Downloading the game.

I suppose it depends on what you think of as being social.

To me being forced to play alongside someone else isn’t necessarily the same as actually being social. My other MMO is like that, and yes zone chat will always be full of “LF Tank daily” “dungeon 2 spaces msg me” “1 more 4 daily” etc. but that is the total extent of communication.

You’re not supposed to “spam” chat with anything except group requests, trading and information that helps people progress like the appearance of a rare boss. Asking questions is frowned on (that’s what the forum and wiki is for apparently) and just chatting is seen as a waste of time.

And it’s the same when you’re in the group, you may discuss tactics (but only if everyone considers what you’re doing actually difficult enough to require a coordinated plan), you may tell groups you’re going afk or back, or ask them to wait while you change your build. But you shouldn’t waste time with any non-essential communication.

As a result I play with lots of different people but I rarely get to actually talk to anyone outside of my guild and making friends with them (without first inviting them to the guild) is virtually impossible.

Whereas in GW2 I spend less time in a party with other people, but a lot more time talking to them. People will do one event together (not in a party, but doing the same thing in the same place) then head off in separate directions and meet again somewhere else, but if there’s a conversation going on in map chat it doesn’t really matter that you’re not grouped up, you can still socialise.

“very little teamwork aspect of this game actually requires you to interact socially with other people”

Unfortunately, this is not unique to GW2, most modern MMOs are like that. I’m an MMO veteran and things were different 12 years ago. People actually had to socialize in games because they needed parties even to grind exp and level up faster (Ragnarok Online, Lineage 2). It encouraged talking and making friends because you had to spend hours together. Sure, I’m glad we don’t have to grind forever just to get 10% of our exp bar anymore but new MMOs overdo the solo content, people get used to it and want more. They don’t have the chance to learn how to socialize properly.

Remember when they made the Zhaitan fight soloable because people complained about having to group up ONCE in their personal story? Sad. I still do mine with groups and always start talking to “break the ice”. LOTS of people are willing to chat and have a fun time once they realize they are not surrounded by grumpy players. :P

Also, people are too reward-oriented nowadays. They don’t do anything that is “not worth their time”. They chase pixel money, rush through content, buy everything, max their characters and then they quit after a few months because they are bored. I could also take a break until the next story update because my characters are maxed but I still log in every day just to help my guildies and friends. This is what keeps an MMORPG fresh, not the shinies.

I don’t think forcing interaction is a social thing. That’s like saying the cashier at McDonalds is a social contact of yours.

I actually find that because dungeons are pretty low-key it allows for a lot more social interaction. If you explain a run to newbies, then you have until the next mechanic to continue the conversation “I like your axe, how do you get that?” or whatever instead of “big water on me in 3-2-1” then silence until the next command.

The combat system in GW2 doesn’t exactly lend itself well to heavy socializing if you’re actually playing the game at the time. At least not without voice chat. You can’t really type out a lot of messages to other players while you’re using different skills, dodging, moving, ect. You have to actively stop playing to talk, or literally just be auto-attacking and nothing else. So I think a lot of the “less talking” aspect comes from that. Most people are understandably in-game to play the game, and not to talk, and because they’re kind of mutually exclusive in GW2, there’s not a lot of talking going on.

Excelsior!

I am not in a guild and enjoy minding my own business.
But once in a while I feel the urge to talk to people, and, despite I am a stranger talking in the map chat, I usually get reactions by some players and actually established map-wide chats that way, someting that barely worked in other games. I think in 4 out of 5 times we got some good laughs.

The overall community is very nice, but often incappable of speaking English. When I see they are stopping I usually try it with /threaten @ and do this hilarious Asura animation with shaking fists. Normally they respond with some emote as well.

The general chance for nice conversations that go further than smalltalk is pretty high.

What I like most is the age/maturity of the community. FF14 for example has either a incredibly rude and disguting snob and elite attitude – or total mentally instable people. In GW2 however, probably because of the whole different setting, appears to be much more enjoyable. I could talk about the Brexit, economy, migration and politics. This is like the very opposite of other games where the community is either silent, totally uninterested or talking about Power Rangers and Pokémon.

The basic requirements for rich conversations is given in any aspect, not only verbal but also gameplay-wise. Ask for help, wait one minute and you get at least two people willing to help

Although if you ask for help please say what you want help with. On more than one occasion I’ve had someone in map chat saying “Can anyone help me?” “Anyone?” “No one will help?” etc. but never answering when people ask WHAT they want help with.

Which makes actually helping them sort of impossible. I’m willing to help but if you need a mesmer to portal you somewhere, or advice on a build for a warrior or instructions on how to complete an achievement I haven’t done or whatever then being willing isn’t good enough because I can’t help you and it’s going to frustrate both of us if I have to whisper you to say I will help, join your party and come to where you’re standing before you’ll tell me what it is you need. And by that point the other person who was willing, who could actually help, might have left.

GW2’s definitely the most populated MMO i’ve played. There’s always people around.

But it’s hardly sociable. There aren’t any quests where you need to buddy up. None whatsoever. Without that, there’s no real way to meet people besides guilds. Tack on the fact that GW2 doesn’t lend itself at all to party-questing, and there you have it.

GW2’s just about “doing your own thing”.

I can echo a sentiment that several in this thread have already expressed: Find yourself a good guild. Strictly speaking, guilds aren’t practically necessary for any game content, but I belong to an excellent guild myself, and they have been indispensable to my continuing enjoyment. A few members of the WvW contingent ganged up to pitch in for a TeamSpeak server, and my fellow guild members have been unfailingly generous when I need help with the last few materials for crafting whatever.

Get thee to a guild, and if your experience is anything like mine was, it will enhance your enjoyment of the game easily by an order of magnitude.

Here’s the deal, I ran into this a little with my guild but I just had a misconception. In this game if some one on a map is chatting it’s because they are not contributing actively to a map meta event. If no ones chatting in guild chat it is because they are too busy paying attention to their surroundings. In GW2 this combat requires people to pay attention and actively dodge all the time. That said if you want to be social you need to get on a voice chat program for your guild.

Oldirtbeard.9834:

Here’s the deal, I ran into this a little with my guild but I just had a misconception. In this game if some one on a map is chatting it’s because they are not contributing actively to a map meta event. If no ones chatting in guild chat it is because they are too busy paying attention to their surroundings. In GW2 this combat requires people to pay attention and actively dodge all the time. That said if you want to be social you need to get on a voice chat program for your guild.

It depends on what you’re doing.

I can chat with both my guild and the squad I’m in while actively playing in the Labyrinth because it’s ridiculously easy. Yes it probably does mean I’m not farming at “peak efficiency” but overall it works out better to get less bags per minute or however people track it and avoid getting so bored with being there I never want to go in again.

Other events have waves of enemies with gaps in between, or periods when you’re defending something that’s not currently under attack, plus gaps between one event ending and the next starting when the NPCs are talking or moving to a new location or whatever.

And many maps don’t have meta event chains and a lot of what people will be doing can be done at your own pace. You can stop in the middle of completing a heart or making your way to a vista to type a sentence without any negative effects.

Voice chat is probably easier, but it’s not an option for everyone. I don’t own a microphone and don’t want to buy one because it’s very rare that I’d be able to talk anyway. And wearing headphones (which cuts me off from everything going on around me in real life) isn’t an option, but neither is playing a bunch of people chattering through my speakers.

you can do eveything in this game and not be social also social =/= making lfg and linking builds or stating that you know strats for pvp pve etc but there can be a social ascpect the game just doesnt force you to do that thats the reason wow was the top mmo and why most mmos cant reach it

Mea.5491:

“very little teamwork aspect of this game actually requires you to interact socially with other people”

Unfortunately, this is not unique to GW2, most modern MMOs are like that. I’m an MMO veteran and things were different 12 years ago. People actually had to socialize in games because they needed parties even to grind exp and level up faster (Ragnarok Online, Lineage 2). It encouraged talking and making friends because you had to spend hours together. Sure, I’m glad we don’t have to grind forever just to get 10% of our exp bar anymore but new MMOs overdo the solo content, people get used to it and want more. They don’t have the chance to learn how to socialize properly.

Remember when they made the Zhaitan fight soloable because people complained about having to group up ONCE in their personal story? Sad. I still do mine with groups and always start talking to “break the ice”. LOTS of people are willing to chat and have a fun time once they realize they are not surrounded by grumpy players. :P

Also, people are too reward-oriented nowadays. They don’t do anything that is “not worth their time”. They chase pixel money, rush through content, buy everything, max their characters and then they quit after a few months because they are bored. I could also take a break until the next story update because my characters are maxed but I still log in every day just to help my guildies and friends. This is what keeps an MMORPG fresh, not the shinies.

Solo content is under-appreciated still in mmos. And no, having other players who have very restricted traintrack playstyle is not fun.

I’ve said it before, and I think it bears repeating. It’s true of any MMO that allows for player-driven guilds, and just as true of Guild Wars 2: If you want a social experience, chitter-chat, dungeons, WvW, or just open-world PvE questing, join a guild. Find a good one, and you will love it. Or at least that was my experience; as always YMMV.

wolfie.7296:

Solo content is under-appreciated still in mmos. And no, having other players who have very restricted traintrack playstyle is not fun.

Is there a solo option for the Victory or Death quest?

I have struggled with a lv 80 Tempest and couldn’t manage to destroy the mouth of Zhaitan. Even with that, I was repeatedly defeated in the each of the previous stages.

I’ve tried changing my weapons around, but no improvement.

I’d be really grateful for any pointers.

Spacial.1683:

wolfie.7296:

Solo content is under-appreciated still in mmos. And no, having other players who have very restricted traintrack playstyle is not fun.

Is there a solo option for the Victory or Death quest?

I have struggled with a lv 80 Tempest and couldn’t manage to destroy the mouth of Zhaitan. Even with that, I was repeatedly defeated in the each of the previous stages.

I’ve tried changing my weapons around, but no improvement.

I’d be really grateful for any pointers.

Victory or death is easily soloable (and soooooo boring) nowadays.

If the mouth is the boss I think it is, you need to toss one of them rocks when he open his mouth and start swirling air, then hard dps for a short while. The rest of the time is just kiting.