Do people attempt to play with others ?

delete5230

I'm skimming over topics, and post within topics, both here and sub forums for specific games. 

Almost never does anyone talk about playing as a group or with friends.  On rare occasions someone would talk about dynamic group speed running. 

People mention belonging to a Guild, but thats about it "they say the words" they belong.... But do you play with them ?..... After all joining a Guild is as simple as a click of a mouse.  I'm a victim on occasion myself, to simply click.  Do people take an invite only to ignore them completely, or as a chat box when someone talks about something interesting.



I know most mmorpgs are designed to do everything solo, so it's not like I'm saying everyone here is an isolationist.  Most games have no point in grouping.  Infact even if you wanted to, an invite may not be welcomed by the recipient..... I often say "why bother".

A )  Theirs no advantage why risk the commitment. 
B )  Others seem to be doing ok by themselves around you.
C )  Again Guild chat, It's like breaking up a conversation about someones ailments to ask a serious game question. 
D )  Speed runs are a design by developers, people simply utilize what's given. No reason for anything else.

Does anyone ever have an ADVENTURE STORY ?... It's almost like you can't if you play solo.  No one would give a crap or find your story interesting.  It's not like I have any.  Seems like you would have to play P1999 to have them. 


Seems mmorpgs are just another game 

Blaze_Rocker

Excellent points. These games are designed for a massive amount of people (the first M in MMORPG) and 98% of the people that are interested in these games want the developers to make sure +90% of the game can be solo'd with no problem and then get all pissy when they have to team up to do something so normal, such as ... cooperate with actual people for a little while.

TEKK3N

Horse is dead, how about leaving its poor body alone?

We get it, there are no more real MMORPGs around.
I've been saying this since 2007 when SOE turned EQ2 into WoW.

But don't you get tired of making the same threads every week just with a different sauce?

MMORPGs were always meant to be niche, and eventually they will be back (in a niche state as they were always supposed to be).

Classic WoW is a thing now. That will be my home until Pantheon releases.
Providing neither Blizzard or VR fucks things up, I won't need anything else for the next 5 to 10 years.
I don't really need new AAA MMORPGs, at all, as long the two above MMOs deliver.

If they don't, I have a backlog of games I bought I still have to play.

So the future is bright either way.

AAAMEOW

Why don't you raid?  too casual?

cheyane

If you play City of Heroes now there are obvious examples of people looking for groups and finding them. I am constantly in groups. That game obviously has the right way of encouraging grouping. Plus I noticed may be it is because it is an older crowd they don't mind dying. They don't quit in anger even after the third death. Which is by today's standards anyway a litmus of tolerance for mistakes and harder content that means you don't waltz through the missions.

Octagon7711

I like the concept of open grouping in which you are free to group or not but still participate in things like taking down world bosses or doing dynamic events.  Over the years, MMO's have expanded their content to allow more for different types of playstyles.  In chat, I still see a lot of people looking for help to to do content and usually getting it.

Noobmaster_95

Most of people dont play with their friends only because they're afraid to screw everithing up and then get their asses kicked. Of course, it's not serious but still. For someone it can become a real trauma and good reason enough to refuse playing in groups

Ungood

delete5230 said:

I'm skimming over topics, and post within topics, both here and sub forums for specific games. 

Almost never does anyone talk about playing as a group or with friends.  On rare occasions someone would talk about dynamic group speed running. 

People mention belonging to a Guild, but thats about it "they say the words" they belong.... But do you play with them ?..... After all joining a Guild is as simple as a click of a mouse.  I'm a victim on occasion myself, to simply click.  Do people take an invite only to ignore them completely, or as a chat box when someone talks about something interesting.



I know most mmorpgs are designed to do everything solo, so it's not like I'm saying everyone here is an isolationist.  Most games have no point in grouping.  Infact even if you wanted to, an invite may not be welcomed by the recipient..... I often say "why bother".

A )  Theirs no advantage why risk the commitment. 
B )  Others seem to be doing ok by themselves around you.
C )  Again Guild chat, It's like breaking up a conversation about someones ailments to ask a serious game question. 
D )  Speed runs are a design by developers, people simply utilize what's given. No reason for anything else.

Does anyone ever have an ADVENTURE STORY ?... It's almost like you can't if you play solo.  No one would give a crap or find your story interesting.  It's not like I have any.  Seems like you would have to play P1999 to have them. 


Seems mmorpgs are just another game 

This is kinda funny to me, because on another topic, I said "my Static" and people genuinely had no idea that I was talking about a Static Group of people I play with.

But, a lot of this depends on the game, and what it offers.

A Prime example of this, is GW2, (which you really should try playing again), where they have Open World Content, like Hearts and Dynamic Events that can be soloed as well as Open World Meta events and World bosses that are these huge Social Events. 

GW2 also offers Solo Instance content like Living Story and Living World, as well as Group Focused Instance Content, such as Dungeons, Fractals, and Raids.

So again, it depends on the game, the player, and a few other factors.

Like for example, if you want to group, you will find groups to run with. When I used to be more into playing DDO, I would just put up a "LFG" as I ran off and did quests, if people wanted to join me, that was cool, if not, that was cool. As I saw it, I was gonna do these quests, typically with only 1 or 2 of my Static, on elite for bravery anyway and we had the room to run with/carry a fw more people, so we left the spots open to anyone that wanted to run with them.

syltmacka

nope but i do try to be as social i can be. saying hello and bye in g chats and such.

ConstantineMerus

I want to play a game with OP. And I'll be damned if it won't be fun as hell.

Amathe

Of course people play together. Anyone who has played mmorpgs knows that.

But sometimes I solo.

Sometimes I play with less than a full group.

Sometimes I play with a full group.

And sometimes I raid with a raiding party.  

It just depends on my mood/time constraints/opportunities.

My preference is to group up, whenever possible.

Dibdabs

I can't be bothered playing with others and haven't done so since I stopped playing EQ and WoW.  Things are so easy to solo that it's just not worth the time spent forming a group and waiting while everyone gets their act together.  My playing time is limited these days so I have to make the most of it.

Theocritus

I enjoyed grouping in EQ when we pretty much had to...Once they created teh mercenaries and it went f2p, then I just ran my own 3 account + mercenaries group....Once I got to WoW, my enjoyment of grouping slowed to a crawl.....I was always undergeared and often other players would roll on everything whether they needed it or not.....It got to be a pain and no longer enjoyable.

Gutlard

I always start out playing with the same static group I always do, but I'm the only one with kids/school/sports/etc... So I quickly get left behind.

Sure they could wait for me, but I don't ask them to do that. Sometimes they make toons just to play with me, but even with those they eventually leave my ass behind...ha

They're all raiders now also, and they didn't used to be. I don't raid as I can't commit to that kind of time when more important shit comes up that I'd rather see to (crying baby/sick kid/etc..), so that's never been an option to me. Plus, some of the drama involved gets old to even listen to my group talk about...

They're mostly sticking to raiding in one game, and I'm off playing LOTRO solo like a chollo. When that gets old, I'll prbly hop over to SWTOR to see how that story is. I had a Smuggler/Juggy/Powertech that were pretty far along in their stories. It's a good mix with the high fantasy, then sci-fi/space. After that, I may try The Secret World Legends, as I have yet to try that.

I'll group up in-game to do group content, but I usually like to enjoy the story at my own pace. When I play with others I feel like I have to rush through things to not make them wait.

I don't like to get DM's right after logging into a game though, asking if I want to join their Guild/Faction/whatevs. Old school morals? idk Seems kind of desperate/iffy to me.

If I'm going to invest some serious time into a game I'll ask in world chat if any groups are looking for members or research Guild/Faction/whatevs for the game I'm about to play. Once I join I try to pitch-in or get involved however.

Even though I mostly play alone, I'll still engage in chat or try to help with questions or crack wise or whatever, no matter if I'm in solo mode or not.

If peeps want to play totally alone and don't want to be bothered by anyone, no skin off my nose. IMO, the best way to do that is to NOT play a MMORPG, but whatevs.

Gut Out!

Panther2103

I try to solo so I can advance at my own pace. If I start out a game grouping with someone, our schedules somehow always end up not working and I'll have to either play catchup or wait for someone. I mean this in a static group sense. 

If a game offers grouping for some content and other solo content, I'll do both, but I'm not going to go out of my way in an attempt to group unless it's content designed for it. 

pkpkpk

Many of us playing the good online RPGs in the 90s were young. We just played what was available. The large 3D MMORPG of the 2000s was another kind of game. Just as Might & Magic III from 1991 was another game than Might & Magic I in 1986, so Dark Age of Camelot in 2001 was another game than Everquest in 1999. I don't particularly care what their intents were; I simply don't play the games, they are not good. We have Project 1999 now, and that is about all there is, graphically. Support it while you can. Once that goes, all we will have are text MUDs. And eventually we'll have nothing. Many, many MUDs have already closed up or been changed for the worse. That age of online games is fading away. I think we should all be marvelling that something like Project 1999 exists at all; it certainly is a crime, is it not, to overlook it? The sooner we can convince the young persons that Classic World of Warcraft is a waste of their time (didn't they try classic Lineage II? or Uthgard DAoC?  or Nasomi FF XI? They are all the same nearly in effect,) the sooner we can bolster the players on Project 1999 for the coming creation of Project 1999 Green, which threatens to split the server in half, if not worse.

Ungood

There is no way in hell I would play EQ again, with the spawn camping, kill stealing, and ninja looting.. yah... pass on that. The good old days kinda sucked.

That is why games changed a LOT since then.

AlBQuirky

Not since playing EQ1 and CoH have I actively sought out groups. I'm a slow player, a slow reader, and not in any kind of hurry, which many, many game players are these days. It's just not "advantageous" to group up today.

Now, when I do get into a group, it sometimes find them fun, but usually not. Group chat is only commands and gripes. Rarely is there any personal connection. So... why even bother?

sunandshadow

I really fail to see why playing solo can't be an adventure story.

pkpkpk

sunandshadow said:

I really fail to see why playing solo can't be an adventure story.

It can. Most MUDs were solo. Ultima Online was solo. The disputes over group and solo are the novices. The old and understanding players will tell you. Meridian 59, Ultima Online, Tibia, and Lineage all had, to my knowledge, fascinating worlds full of peril and intrigue. Asheron's Call also had a Darktide server that was like older online RPGs (from what I have read), and EQ had a PvP server with single item loot where I am sure many players played alone.

On the other hand I only know of one predominately cooperative MMORPG that was ever good: Everquest. Every other cooperative MMORPG I have played, from Lineage II, to Dark Age of Camelot, to Final Fantasy XI, has been poor and secondary to it. You reap what you sew if you leave a good game for a worse one.

As to Delete and his rants, I feel sorry for him. His posts would have been timely on the Vanguard forums circa 2006 (when I was 22 and naive enough to care about Vanguard), now they have a sad and hollow ring, speaking of games which haven't existed for 12 years, and signifying in the speaker such a slow and spoiled mind that he cannot appreciate Project 1999, and that just once (and for a short few years) a company made the kind of game he likes, and volunteers have spent hundreds of hours to restore it painstakingly for him to play free of charge. I hope his precious Pantheon or whatever he is hoping for rots with the plague, just as its predecessor Vanguard did before it.

On this message board there are those that play MMORPGs or MUDs, and those that do not.

blamo2000

Yes, when it is beneficial for me to do so.

I do not enjoy playing with people just to play with people, especially when there is ad-hock grouping and no game enforced sensible rules on loot, etc.  

There is nothing more annoying and awkward than grouping with strangers that do not behave in a sensible manner and it seems like it is going to lead to confrontation, which is like 95% of ad-hock groups in modern mmos.  Someone will not loot anything and run by loot for a long time and then get mad that people are looting wrong.  Or someone is doing a dungeon for the 800th time mad at everyone for not having it down pat or not watching hours of video beforehand.  Or, someone is going irrationally slow, like s/he is afk half the time.  Or the healer starts pulling mobs to speed things up, or a dps thinks s/he is a tank.  Etc.  

There are millions of examples from new mmos and old that have conditioned us all to avoid what ends up being a mostly unpleasant activity most of the time.  We all have our stories and reasons. 

Mine is-
I play games to relax and have fun, not deal with drama and conflict of kids, the unemployed, and the mentally ill. 

Some kid could equally validly say, "I play games to show how hip and cool I am, and not loot trash mobs like some kind of filthy boomer!  Obviously me skipping them means I get the one drop we all want!  Cowubunga Bruh!"  Of course they wouldn't type this out or say this with words as their preferred method of communication is a picture (and if none are available they will use emoticons and be confused when sane adults have no idea what the fuck they are trying to communicate).  

---

Generally, in my opinion, forcing completely disparate populations together who neither can effectively communicate nor have the same norms, mors, and motivations is just punishing people for engaging in an activity you supposedly want people to engage in.

As a parent of some teenagers and kids approaching teen years, my wife and I barely have the ability to communicate with our own flesh and blood children we live with.  On what earth would anyone be dumb enough to think I could easily communicate with other people's kids, or their kids with me?  That isn't fun.  In what world do adults and kids hang-out ever?  Its nonsense.  Go to a large BBQ and you see natural segregation - the kids by various age groupings, and the adults by interests and other factors like avoiding annoyances or conflict.  

Amaranthar

syltmacka said:

nope but i do try to be as social i can be. saying hello and bye in g chats and such.

LOL, I hope you were joking.

Amaranthar

I haven't played many games, but I've not experienced true socialization since UO.
To me, there's a huge difference between just grouping up to run a quest, and not speaking, and actually socializing in a MMORPG.

In UO, player got to know other players. You'd run into the same people often enough. And then you'd cooperate, and a bond of trust formed, and you'd cooperate more often. You'd joke, tell stories, talk about other players, pass information, etc.

Contrast that to my experience in WoW.
Nobody talked. There were a few exceptions that I could probably count on one hand, but basically nobody talked. Chat, yes, and that was almost entirely non-game related real world stuff. I got so sick of hearing people talk in chat about their favorite music that I just stopped reading it.
Groups, not much talking unless it was to bitch about someone "not doing it right."
Joining guilds didn't help. It was grouping convenience, and nothing more. And most of the other players levelled past me quickly and I lost their practical use, so it wouldn't have mattered anyways.

The most social thing that happened in WoW was a "WTH" moment. I joined a guild and a female Elf and I went to run a quest. Afterwords, "she" starts dancing in front of me and says "You like this, don't you." Knowing full well that this could easily be a truck driver from Jersey, needless to say, I felt a strong need to watch some paint dry. 

I played some other games, and it wasn't any better.

Socializing in MMO's just isn't a thing like it used to be.

VengeSunsoar

Only a bit in coh where there is none of the must do this and know this crap. It's just random blasting fun. 

Other mmorpg not so much anymore. I want to smell the roses so I may not be what others are looking for and really can't be arsed to find the others that are like me .

Ungood

Amaranthar said:

I haven't played many games, but I've not experienced true socialization since UO.
To me, there's a huge difference between just grouping up to run a quest, and not speaking, and actually socializing in a MMORPG.

In UO, player got to know other players. You'd run into the same people often enough. And then you'd cooperate, and a bond of trust formed, and you'd cooperate more often. You'd joke, tell stories, talk about other players, pass information, etc.

Contrast that to my experience in WoW.
Nobody talked. There were a few exceptions that I could probably count on one hand, but basically nobody talked. Chat, yes, and that was almost entirely non-game related real world stuff. I got so sick of hearing people talk in chat about their favorite music that I just stopped reading it.
Groups, not much talking unless it was to bitch about someone "not doing it right."
Joining guilds didn't help. It was grouping convenience, and nothing more. And most of the other players levelled past me quickly and I lost their practical use, so it wouldn't have mattered anyways.

The most social thing that happened in WoW was a "WTH" moment. I joined a guild and a female Elf and I went to run a quest. Afterwords, "she" starts dancing in front of me and says "You like this, don't you." Knowing full well that this could easily be a truck driver from Jersey, needless to say, I felt a strong need to watch some paint dry. 

I played some other games, and it wasn't any better.

Socializing in MMO's just isn't a thing like it used to be.

Well, keep in mind the population of top titles has grown massively since the times of UO and EQ. I mean, UO at its peak in 2004, hit around 250K and then swifty died off, where games like ESO, BDO, and GW2 hover around a million players.

More people means less chance to meet the same people over and over again.

Equally so, in games that are just hovering along like LotRO, the community is much tighter, people know each other, and you meet the same people time and time again.

It's the same idea as being a part of a small business or a large one. If your company only has say, 15 people working in it, there is a good chance they all know each other and socialize, discuss life outside work, and all that jazz, equally so, if the company has 100, there is a good chance people break off into cliques and it's not uncommon for people to only really know 4 or 5 people in the company well enough to actually socialize with them.

Just the way people are.. 

Utinni

People who make these threads force themselves to play alone. Any worthwhile content in an MMO requires you to group with others. 

Stop blaming games for you being anti-social. Fix your own psychological issues.