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Never felt so alone...
DrSmaSh
Member UncommonPosts: 454
Never felt so alone in a MMO before and yet there are so many players running around me. Sometimes we are even working together, but no one cares to notice anyone around em. I know the pain of having to wait for a group to show up so you can do some dungeon or group quest or a very hard mob. But at least that way you met other players, you interacted with em. If the group was good you'd add em to your friend list and you'd whisper em to do more stuff together. That's how you made new friends online, that's how MMO games were fun.
Sure it sucked you couldn't do it all alone, but what is the point of a game if you can do everything solo? What's the point of multiplayer game if you simply have no need for other players.
I'd much rather put up with the fact that I can't do everything by myself in an mmo so I can meet new people and have social aspect of MMO, rather than being able to solo everything and feel so alone in a multiplayer game.
And that's the main reason why I stopped playing the game. I just felt so disconnected from everyone else. We were all running around doing our own thing, never bothering to say more than a few words (actually, few words out of someone in GW2 is quite a lot).
I'm not attacking the game, it's not bad for what it is, but it's far from Massive Multiplayer, hack, it's not even multiplayer without massive. What do you guys think? Is this the sad and dark future for MMOs? All solo flight, no social interaction, no need for anyone? Even think that's why there is no holy trinity in GW2 in from of tanks, healers and pure DPS - that would actually bring in the need for interaction.
Are the good old days over? I returned to WoW for 10 days and even it seems lonelier with it's random PUG thing, but still way more social than GW2.
Comments
Stay away from more archaic MMOs like WoW then where the entire leveling process is solo speed leveling until you're forced to group to proceed through the single lane highway called end game raiding then... it'll drive you nuts.
GW2 can be soloed through, but it's best experienced in a guild. Find a nice PvE/PvX guild and you'll see a world of difference if you don't prefer the more relaxed solo pace.
Oderint, dum metuant.
This combined with the lack of trinity are the biggest reasons i no longer play GW2.
No matter how many people i saw, It felt really lonely, and no one ever said a word in PvE.
I did meet plenty of people doing WvWvW, little guilds that formed just playing together there and such, was always more fun then the rest of the game combined, but WvWvW just grew boring eventually, never tried it after they started patching new things into it though, might have to check it out sometime, It's free afterall.
You want forced grouping and that is not what I want. I have played too many games (even in GW1) where we had one person just go AFK, so he could get the XP and not have to do any work. That type of game is still around but it is not for me.
In GW2, You can't do everything by yourself. You can't fight a champion alone (world bosses come to mind - even though you are not in a group close association is your group), you can't do dungeons, you can't do WvWvW alone, you can't do any of the guild missions alone, should I go on?
Last night, when my guild was having a little PvE Champion farming night, we were all in TS3 and chatting it up... that could be a part of the perceived problem. The combat really doesn't allow you to type while fighting, and a lot of people use voice comms.
Oderint, dum metuant.
Most games are like that - Rift, Tera, TOR, should I go on? THe OP needs to get into a guild and that is really where the social aspect of the game shines.
I don't know how the lack of trinity affects your inability of saying Hi to the passing by strangers and asking for group. Being a non-trinity game (at least for most encounters) you can get in any party. No class is more special than the other. There is no "sorry man, we already have a tank" or "sorry man we already have bunch of healers" or "sorry man, we only need X class, you are Y". They are not really sorry. Just politely telling you to go away.
I've done all the dungeons with 1st time players way below cap level and we still had fun and we still completed it. Sure it took a bit longer but it was fun, and most importantly it wasn't solo experience.
Just my 2 cents to people like you who just whine and doesn't amp up their game.
Every game can be played solo, but that's not the point.
P.S: Not to mention that you can crash into a party (a.k.a. send a join invitation and you only need one person from the whole party to accept you)
Talk to people? I have been playing GW2 since launch and I am currently in 3 guilds and find myself constantly talking to people. Just because you choose to be unsocial why blame it on the game?
Ive met some terrific people just wandering around the world and helping others out. Not that difficult just saying "Hi". Great conversation opener!
QFT!!!!
The only shortcoming in Gw2's social aspect in my opinion is the lack of built-in VoIP. I find myself at Mumble the whole time I play Gw2
wow became/remained giant because of its social aspects, and this is most stupid comment about wow i ever heard, heck wow its easy, wow is that and that, but it was always known about its social aspect, and that most themepark players stay in wow because they have friends there, all of my expierence in wow was not because iwas first to ding lvl cap, first to wear that epic armor, or be richest guy on the server, one of most famous person on realm, heck i was all of those in one or another expansion/vanila, best part was sharing that with others, others i met in game, achieving all those things with other people, it was blast
i havent made any friends in gaming since i quit wow, so either gaming is so unsocial when its all about " social " facebook bullshit and ecetra , or wow is just different and far superior in that aspect, and no i havent played wow for over 2 years
Dude.. I wasn't saying the trinity affected communication.. I was saying Those 2 things where the reasons i PERSONALLY did not enjoy Guild wars 2 for a lengthy period of time.
It's a fun game to play, it just didn't last for me.
I wasn't "Whining", i had fun playing the game while it lasted.
Maybe it did when it first came out all those years ago... but how is it now? How's the whole "social aspect" for a new player who jumps in and starts leveling up? Aside from a fairly hostile chat, it's a solo experience. Then you get to max level, find yourself forced to group to proceed and either you find a good guild and that social aspect unveils itself... or you don't. Vanilla was great for the social aspect, but let's be honest... that died a long time ago. A new player these days find WoW a terribly lonely place, even worse because you have to compete with those speed levelers that will tag all the mobs they can and simply don't give a crap about your or your experience, so long as they get another alt to max.
Oderint, dum metuant.
The easiest thing is to always blame a game - which so many seem to do. When in fact its the player that determines whether or not they are lonely in a game. Do you actively seek out to make friends? Do you talk to people? Do you invite them to group with you? And when you do invite them to a group, do you talk with them? Are genuinely interested in getting to know them? If you wait for others to approach you, you will never make friends. The ball is always in your court and up to you to "score".
Here's a Good Tip: Be Nice, Polite, Friendly and Positive to people. You will make friends - and fast. People gravitate to others that are NICE! Contrary to popular belief, being a douche bag, a troll, a "negative Nancy" or being condescending (not saying you are) never makes a person popular. Those types of people usually experience a lonely existence - both in MMOs and in Life.
I am a firm believer that you don't need "forced grouping" to make friends in a game. All you need is a good personality and a willingness to actively make friends. Best of luck to you, and I wish you well.
I am a rather social person or at least I think so. I'm a role player by heart so I always look for social interaction in MMO games. Many times I said hello to someone in GW2, many times I asked if anyone was looking for some group question - not once did anyone say anything back. They were just speeding along doing their own thing. I guess being social would slow them down.
I played WoW from beginning so I remember the old days when you simply had to wait around for a group. Was it annoying? Yes, of course it was - but guess what? That's how I met 90% of people with whom I'd later form a guild. Was even a guild leader of a RP and light raiding guild so don't talk to me about me not wanting to be social.
Fact is, GW2 doesn't put you in to spots where you have a slightest chance of being social with someone. And how can I join a good guild when I don't even meet anyone from said guild? A simple forum recruitment post is not enough.
The reason why I made this thread because it's rather ironic - people zerging on a world boss, but no one talking to anyone (expect some spam) - we just gather there, destroy the evil big monster and we go our separate ways. Is this MMO?
EDIT:
Sorry, just remembered the main problem of GW2 - there is grouping and group content (such was world bosses and harder monsters), but GW2 takes care of everything for you. You just go there and voila - you are grouped. Everything is automated, there is no need to type anything to anyone, it all happens for you. So at least I feel very disconnected from such a group event and a game in general.
I think these days you have to join a guild before you even start a game otherwise you will have no one to talk to. Of course if it is a new game people will be recruiting but generally things have changed most of the people you see in GW 2 probably are in guilds talking to each other on some voice program so you will not get them to talk to you because they are talking to some other people.
Very recently I played WoW and since I was in no guild I did some random LFD grouping thing and not a soul spoke I did though but no one answered lol. They also ran so fast through the dungeon I was unable even to even type a thank you before they disbanded.
Not just GW 2 every game is like that now. Surprisingly when I played the secret world people were talking and discussing the puzzles and also SWTOR people grouped and talked if you joined them from the Fleet place because it was not an automatic group thing so people talked a bit more. Of course when I group with my husband I hope he does not talk 
I think like I did now before FFXIV ARR starts joined a guild so I can have them in the game. You need to look for a guild from the boards then go to their forums and join the voice chat then you will have people to talk to. Games have changed adapt or die as they say.
pretty much...and that also quite nicely sums up why I didn't buy GW 2. Also explains why I don't really play MMOs at all anymore. devs took it from a group/community experience to solo adventure. Don't get me wrong I love me some Skyrim, Baldurs Gate, witcher etc...but when I play an MMO I kinda expect a living/breathing game world. MMOs in general have no soul...thanks wow, thanks GW.
I think the OP is highlighting the fact that even WITH players around with you, in GW2 it feels like you are alone even more so which i fully agree with. It was put in place to cause people to get together, however the system allowing for 'grouping up' without being in a party in a way pretty much isolates people. Its to the point being alone despite the fact there will be others around. The lack of social communication.
As for the 'its funner with guild' or friends deal, yes... congrats naming something that every game has, even the worst games can be fun in co-op, thats what friends do they let you have more fun even if the game is terrible since you are playing an experiencing it. Its a very silly argument to apply when its true for anything you can do with friends.
Pretty much this ^.
Don't like being alone? Then frikkin' talk to people, make friends. It's really not that hard.
- OP
If, you are indeed on one of the lowest population servers, then transfer. Last I checked it was around ~65g (1800gems) to transfer to one of the tier1 (high pop) servers.
Each server has their own community, guest around to different servers until you find one you like (it will let you do everything but WvW). Some servers even have guilds that might pay for you to transfer. I know Tarnished Coast was doing that for a while. And while they're annoying in WvW, they have a great PvE community.
At the end of the day though, you can't expect a game to build a community for you. Communities are only formed when they are enough people willing to make the effort to build them up. If everyone just sat around waiting for people to talk to them, the world would be an extremely lonely place, no matter where you went. The dancing would also suck more.
If you are roleplayer by heart you should play on Tarnished Coast for NA or Piken Square for EU.
You can guest server for free and see if you notice difference.
Actually that is complete BS. Swtor was in fact one of the more social mmos of late. The OP has a point though. You cannot use the excuse "get in a guild". GW2 is built from the ground up for easy solo access and uses mechanics that take human interaction out of the game. It is designed that way to appease the modern, short attention span, anti-social player.
Old mmos (even Wow when it was released) were extremely social. Those who started their mmo playing within the last 5 years likely have no clue what I am talking about. Mmos were an interactive and social experience. The tools to be social were in the hands of the players as they did not have automated systems coddling them like today. Chatting within the game, organizing your own groups and the lack of hand holding made players have to talk to each other. Today mmos design that out because someone decided solo play for the casual (who shouldn't have even entered a mmo to begin with) was more important than the entire reason an mmo was developed: To be a socially interactive experience.
The reason why games like GW2 are the way they are is because they are not what mmos used to be (socially interactive rpgs) but are now developed to be as easy to enter and play as a console game. The original mmo concept was NOT designed with that in mind. They were supposed to be difficult and built to support and create social gaming.
Now we have defenders of the modem crap mmo thinking that is the way they are supposed to be. No sir they are not. Big business shaped them into mass marketable, mediocre crap that the modern emo player thinks it is supposed to be.
The mmo is dead. It has been dead for years. I no await to see how the next generation of the mmo plays out but I feel they will simply add systems to keep players busy in different ways but still pamper the socially inept like they do today.
You stay sassy!
Join a guild and make friends and enjoy the game together. sorry but i have played every one of these so called "solo oriented MMORPGs" and i have always made good friends via the guilds i have joined and never felt alone.
This game forces you to focus on the action all the time you are playing. There is very little time to catch your breath before something new starts happening right around the corner. And if someone is in dungeon you can be sure he will be way to busy to reply. That is the main reason why there is so little interaction with players outside of guild chat.For some this may be a bad thing, but it also says that the game is very dynamic and full of stuff to do.
Besides, interaction will be always smaller in games that do not force it.
Currently end game is reachable for everyone in every game no matter how casual a person is. Back in the days, it felt unreachable or just far away, so people didn't rush as much. The game pace was slower and there was more room for chat. Also, mechanics were more boring, so you talked.
Personally I have nothing against forced grouping, even though I am antisocial type of person. The problem is, that all the new games are focused on dungeons, so the problem with afk players or leavers exists. Back in the days, lets say for example Knight Online was just an open world, where grouping was necessary to kill plain mobs on the map. No problems there, if someone left, you just got another guy in a second. And getting into party in the best spot was so satisfying...
Well atm you guys seem a bit checked out.
But lets just say you guys seem to enjoy building arrow carts a lot more than actually fighting =/. That and you always seem to pick the worst targets to attack, at the worst possible times.