Curse of the "Single Player" Argument

solarine

I have to laugh.

Yesterday I was arguing the point that SWTOR is more of a grouping game than many new MMOs I've played over the recent years. Saying that I was grouping most of the time, and that grouping was very important to me in this game. Now I get to *really* test these remarks.

You see, today I login, and find my guild chat and party chat gone. Can't see guild chat, can't see party chat. They can's see what I'm writing, either. I learn it's a known problem. In fact, here's a link to a thread about it in the official forums: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=41855

So if you have a problem like this, just a heads up here. It was working fine until today, it just bugged out all of a sudden. And it seems there's no easy fix for it, as of now. You can get the guild chat back by leaving and rejoining the guild, but it only sticks until logout. Next login, it's gone again.

 

By the way, this persistent bug has shown me a couple of things once more:

1) SWTOR might feel like a glorified single player game to many others, but to me, it turns out it really is a social game.

2) The game has quite some annoying bugs. This is the second major bug that really messed up with how I play the game - and I'm not counting flashpoint bugs, "unable to continue class story" bugs, stuck in load bugs and such.

 

Robsolf

I've been REALLY lucky so far.  I've occasionally had bugs that keep me from doing bonus missions, but no class/world missions.

My biggest annoyance has been companions who keep turning their grappling hook back on after I've shut it off.  That and some somewhat long planet loading speeds.

solarine

Oh, yeah, that's manageable. Frankly I expect those kinds of bugs on the first few months of a game. 

Well, I expect these kinds of bugs, too, actually... But this was a bit funny to me, as it *really* turned the game into somtehing it's so often accused to be - something of a solo game! Of course, might not seem so funny if a couple of weeks go by and I still can't find a way around it.

 

black_isle

So a chatbox is what makes a game social or not? That says much to me about said game.

Cthulhu23

NVM, misinterpreted the OP. 

Sovrath

Originally posted by black_isle

So a chatbox is what makes a game social or not? That says much to me about said game.

It isn't?

I would say it is.

I have grouped up countless times and never once said a word to my group nor they to me.

We essentially got the job done and moved on.

I have spoken to people, given advice, helped people wtih money or showing them places and chatted about a number of things with topics about the game and some about other things.

That seems pretty social.

The exchange of ideas and just touching base with another person is social. The game play can support this or it can exist in spite of it.

That is why it's it's seems to me to be ridiculous when players start saying that grouping isnt' encouraged and therefore a game is not social.

However, I am willing to concede that some people might not be able to be social without the game leading them into a group.

maskedweasel

Just wondering, have you tried resetting the UI using ctrl+U  (hit it twice)  if you haven't tried it,  it might help.  If you have tried it and it didn't work... well.. I wonder what could cause that!  

Creslin321

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by black_isle

So a chatbox is what makes a game social or not? That says much to me about said game.

It isn't?

I would say it is.

I have grouped up countless times and never once said a word to my group nor they to me.

We essentially got the job done and moved on.

I have spoken to people, given advice, helped people wtih money or showing them places and chatted about a number of things with topics about the game and some about other things.

That seems pretty social.

The exchange of ideas and just touching base with another person is social. The game play can support this or it can exist in spite of it.

That is why it's it's seems to me to be ridiculous when players start saying that grouping isnt' encouraged and therefore a game is not social.

However, I am willing to concede that some people might not be able to be social without the game leading them into a group.

 I think when a lot of folks talk about "social" in an MMORPG, they are specifically talking about things that work towards building a society in the virtual world.  As opposed to just casually talking to other players in chat.

So with this viewpoint, something like the auction house IS social because it creates a societal economy, but telling Chuck Norris jokes or answering questions in general chat isn't very social; it doesn't contribute much to the society of the game.  Same goes for "strategizing" with group mates in a PUG.  This is something you could easily do in an SPRPG with multiplayer features like Diablo or Borderlands.

solarine

Originally posted by black_isle

So a chatbox is what makes a game social or not? That says much to me about said game.

Well, it probably says more about me than it does about the game. I'm sure some people will have no trouble having no guild chat or party chat. I do.

Two things are of primary importance to me here:

The first and most important is being in touch with my guild. I've been cut off from my guild due to this. I don't see what people are saying, I don't see people getting ready for get-togethers, looking for and forming groups for flashpoints - and more importantly, calling for help for world PVP!  I'm also cut off the crafters' talk... So, yeah, all that constitutes a pretty big hit on the social side of things. It's not about just chatting, though I admit that can be fun, too.

The other thing is, well, I'm a tank, and usually I do the organizing and leading, so it gets claustrophobic without a party chat (and an op chat). 

Also, this breaks strategizing in PVP.

The game does have other ways of socializing, and I do have contacts I'm in touch with for crafting, trading and other stuff like world PVP, and I do work the GTN.... but still, I've found that not being able to do the above really damaged the game for me. 

 

EDIT: Oh, and maskedweasel: yeah, tried that, doesn't work. Still, thanks for the suggestion. It looks like this bug's been a bit more widespread in the last few days. I have no idea what's causing it, it'll hopefully get fixed in a week or two. 

Malaksbane

They'll fix it. Don't worry.

Bioware released a major (content) update for Neverwinter Nights, aimed at module writers and persistent worlds, in 2008, 7 years after the game released.