The Impersonal MMO

thegreebler

Last couple years really feels like with mmo, they made them so 'single player' friendly that it is like 'okay what is the point then?'

As bad as some of the 10 year old mmo are... I feel like I can log into them and still have that be worth the run. This one anymore, it is "okay yeah whats the point?"

And guild chat; no one really uses it last 3 I been in. what's is up with that??

Do I have to bail neverwinter just to feel like I played a game where something mattered??

angrad

idk you're experience with the game, but get a clan that uses VOIP software, not in game chat. lol That will probably help you out a lot. Also you're going to want to befriend and have a sold group of people you synergize with to do the top tier dungeons.

Just find a better clan. :P

mehguy138

There's no point in guilds in Neverwinter, they provide nothing but GG access. So if you don't wanna run GG there's not a single reason to join a guild. You'd probably say "Hey what about dungeon runs? It's easier when you do it with guildies." No it's not. There're usually const parties or people who already have friends to go with, you won't be very pleased and expected person once you joined a guild. There're no guild levels, guild emblems, buffs, guild housing, guild wars, anything.
Agreed with the OP completely. I hate the trend every MMO development company is following last years. I hate playing solo-friendly MMOs, but they all are designed to solo nowadays. They are even getting rid of common DPS/healer/tank classes. I used to search a tank and a healer in every old MMO, it was a social factor, everyone wanted to be a part of a party because people were gaining advantage of being in a party. In NWO partially there's not a single point to be in a party. Skillnodes are one time use, all quest line is designed for solo, any premade pvp group even of 2 people destroys all fun etc. People even tend to do solo runs in EPIC GROUP DUNGEONS FFS.
tl;dr The trend of making solo friendly MMOs sucks.

melodywhr

i'm in a guild. i participate in guild events and i also run my daily quests solo. guilds add a friendly social element to game play. the options are there to utilize, you just have to use them.

there are a lot of guilds out there. you just have to find the ones that will fit what you're looking for in a guild. sometimes that takes some time.

reiwulf

Don't put all the guild in the same bag, in my guild we have guild events, we rp together, we talk in the guildchat a lot, we have a guild rp channel, we help eachother level , do dungeons together and many other things. Don't say that guilds have no purpose in this game, because it's up to each individual guild if they do stuff together or not.

nurmood

But in general the game is quite impersonal - if you get a "thank you for the group" its a lot

silverkelt

nurmood wrote: »

But in general the game is quite impersonal - if you get a "thank you for the group" its a lot

Its not uncommon in some runs never to see any group txt at all. This is a vastly different experience from other mmos Ive played, where there was back and forth, even if people didnt have voice all the time.

People seem really, I MEAN really put out, if they have to stop and tell you or show you what or how to do, even though most of these dungeons seem pretty easy in the end. Its like everyone is supposed to have run something dozens of times, if you havent then dont let the door hit your behind on the way out of the instance, becuase we cant bother to put a sentance down to tell you about something.

If its the MMO trend, or just the playerbase in NW , I do not know, mostly this seems to be a rather unfriendly crowd, the particular epeening in PVP land is bad, much worse then other games.

It could be the trend of MMOs to become F2P in addition to making them really solo friendly or even group friendly, Ive done t1s in other games that were 5-6 x as hard as what they have and t2s, nearly impossible without perfect timing to accomplish. I REALLY dont want every instance to be that hard, as its frustrating if everyone is, but a certain percantage should be that hard.

Worldmap wise, NW takes the cake as the easiest Ive ever done, but again, maybe most mmos will be designed this way. I still harken back to EQ days , after lvl 40ish or so , IT was almost impossible to solo mobs landscape wise without 1-2 more people, I remember kiting giants around in my mage with my earth pet, hoping I could somehow do enough damage, while it was rooted, once it broke.. "CHOO, CHOO, running to zone with Train pack, CLEAR OUT NOW"

Now them was some hard content.

cerebralpyre

So Ive been lurking around here through the 3 toons Ive made. My highest being my 10.5k 60 HR. Its almost depressing how people are quick to not speak to you. Im a straght up introvert, but some of these people make me feel like I got leporcy, even on my DC! Every so often Ill find a friendly soul who will laugh at my puns or sad attempt at reaching out for an ingame friendly chat, but mostly. its like playing jacks inside of a tin can.

Ive looked for guilds, but the ones Ive found have only been groups of people who created a bigger group so they could access content...not to actually run or be a part of a guild. Ive not see this type of problem before in game. Im hoping Ill find that one guild whos got all the friendlys in it, but so far no such luck.

lucifron44

In the other MMOs I play, guilds are not just a mere tag and channel. There are guild quests, whose rewards are new features for your guild dungeon. There are guild dungeons, and so there are guild wars. There are sieges. Siege engines. We feel we're part of a guild. We spot two guys of a rival guild and we call guildies to pk them. Oh because yes, there is pk too in the other MMOs I play.

Hard to understand why in NW where Foundry exists, where catapults exist, devs have implemented nothing and guilds remain a theoretical concept.

devaneio

1- This game needs a lot of movement, writing make you lose concentration.
2- mmoRPG, please don't force my character to be friendly.
3- We don't need to grind more, nor enter a guild to access game content (which already is a requirement for GG)
4- This game is available in a lot of languages. If someone don't speak, that doesn't means "impersonal" behavior.

lpsx

old forum posts have pages & pages of what players want in guild , but it looks like its at the bottom of the list.......
(& i have notice a lot of players with gs 14k & over who don't even want 2be in a guild until something better shows up)

what they have now for guild features was ok for closed & open beta...........but they need an upgrade before end of the year.
i like the guild dungeon idea.............................

beckylunatic

reiwulf wrote: »

Don't put all the guild in the same bag, in my guild we have guild events, we rp together, we talk in the guildchat a lot, we have a guild rp channel, we help eachother level , do dungeons together and many other things. Don't say that guilds have no purpose in this game, because it's up to each individual guild if they do stuff together or not.

My guild isn't very big, but the people in it do run towards the friendly-and-helpful end of the spectrum. I suppose you could say that our raison d'etre is to be able to socialize with similar people while we're gaming, so what unites us is more personal than specifically game-oriented. Which doesn't stop members from trying to put together at least one dungeon run per day.

heiltdo1

devaneio wrote: »

1- This game needs a lot of movement, writing make you lose concentration.
2- mmoRPG, please don't force my character to be friendly.
3- We don't need to grind more, nor enter a guild to access game content (which already is a requirement for GG)
4- This game is available in a lot of languages. If someone don't speak, that doesn't means "impersonal" behavior.

^ This.

For some reason OP thinks everyone has to be super social and kind, time is more expensive than ever for many players. If they choose not to waste their time teaching every newbie what to do in every situation thats their call. There are a ton of lets play videos on youtube with guides and stuff.

Not trying to be mean, but youre trying to enforce your playstyle/idea on everyone else, and ironicaly thats pretty much what youre complaining about.

reiwulf

Well to me if you don't want to socialize at all then why play a MMORPG? just play a single player game.

devaneio

"you don't want to socialize at all" is a bit extreme.

If you are asking to me, then I would answer: I like a lively map, not a bunch os scripted NPCs.
There is a difference between 'socilize' and be forced to be in a guild, just to carry a name above my head.

I have the option to random queue and imagine that I have been hired to be there. That I cheated the rest of my group and I will, eventually, kill them in order to steal their gear.

But usually I have friends of other guilds, that I like to call for an adventure. They like their guilds. Forcing us to be in the same guild, would screw our group. In the end, instead of helping us to 'socialize', it will lock us with always the same persons.

nurmood

heiltdo1 wrote: »

For some reason OP thinks everyone has to be super social and kind, time is more expensive than ever for many players.

So you think saying: "Hello Guys" or "Thanks for the run" is too much? If people dont even have time for the basic conversation (which nearly everybody can participate through english language then this game is somehow missing something (Mayb sociabel people).

In the guild you need sth to talk about - sth everybody can participate in more than spamming the same sht as in the LFG chat.
Mayb we dont need guild siege whatsoever but a guild vs guild PVP queue would bring some identification.

aulduron

Well to me if you don't want to socialize at all then why play a MMORPG? just play a single player game.

Because, even solo, it's a fun game. Many former NWNs players have been NWN3 and this is as close as they'll ever come. Not everyone can sit down for a hour and have other people depending on them, without having to pause and take care of RL.

Personally, I can't play and type at the same time, though at the end of a dungeon, I'll say something like "Thanks for the group. Have fun." Many PUGs speak up to 5 different languages.

reiwulf

No one is saying you should have long conversations, and if you play your char like a loner or want to rp him as a person who doesn't speak much it's perfectly fine, but I relaly doubt that's the case for most people who can't even say "hi" or thanks for the party" during dungeons or other group content.
If I'm in a group and someone says "hi" I'll always reply back, it takes 1 second to say "hi", and another 2 seconds to say "thanks for the party" or something like that.
It's awful to be with other 4 players doing an hour long dungeon and no one says even 1 word, unless we wipe and then people start blaming eachother. Let's try to be a little civil. We're playing with people, not npc's.

haldan1968

Chatting in this game takes a little getting used to. This game pushes a hands on keyboard approach to playing (that I really like), but it also means I can’t type words and throw down spells and run around at that same time.

Chatting with text in other MMOs I’ve played seemed a lot more user friendly. However, I am sure that I can get the hang of it soon.

melodywhr

i don't usually say things when pugging because when i enter whatever party, chat is fixed on whatever it was last or on /say or something. not /party. in addition to that, i usually have those channels off. and when it's time to kill, it's time to kill. when the party is over, a lot of people leave the party before i even have a chance to type in /say or /party and GG or ty or whatever.

let's not forget that it's possible there are non-english speaking individuals in my party since neverwinter is an international MMORPG.

when a party comes together and accomplishes whatever the goal is/was, it's fair to assume that everyone is happy and ready to move on to their next adventure. sure, it'd be awesome if we had a few drinks afterwards and boasted of our amazing feats but that's usually reserved for guild runs.

beckylunatic

I don't pug dungeons. On a guild run, people may or may not be using Mumble, but I'll switch to party chat to avoid spamming guild chat when text is needed (as a few people aren't on Mumble at all, even to listen).

I have been pugging skirmishes and lowbie pvp (in voice communication with one teammate who happens to live with me ) and while I don't generally initiate party chat, I will reply if someone else does to let them know that someone is at least paying attention. I did shame a campfire sitter in Defend the Temple into coming out to join the rest of us fighting though, after noticing he was still rolling on loot and therefore not afk. I also met some really great people during Gate Crashers, who later decided to join my guild.

Language barriers aside, refusing to pay any attention at all to party chat can lead to unnecessary wipes. Garrundar the Vile is terrible if people don't communicate, and cake if you can get even a few people with a basic handle on what to do.

reiwulf

It's your call man, but why have the party channel turned off when in a party? Doesn't make sense to me. I have zone chat, LFG and Trade turned of unless I want to use them, but party? does anyone spam in that channel or something?
How will you expect to meet new people if we don't talk at all? There might be people who would love to know more about your guild for instance *wink*

tesyra

reiwulf wrote: »

Well to me if you don't want to socialize at all then why play a MMORPG? just play a single player game.

Quite an over-simplification
How many single player games have such gear advancement?
How many have an active auction house? (Not just for buying youre uber gearz, but also for the mini-game of making diamonds/money)
What is the point of money (or any reward) in a single player game?

Though many of us wont like to admit it, there is something nice about owning something that others dont have, you cant get that in a single player game
People love to dress-up, whether it is fashion or gear that youve dyed or transmuted, you cant really get that in a single player, well you can have it but whats the point?
Asking for help/advice, would HAVE to be done here on a forum, whilst it may be true that many people wont or dont help each other, its far from absolute

Think how many ways there are to have your coffee
MMOs are way more complicated, as are people's tastes
MMO makers should not be designing them such that the only choices we have are Black, or White With Sugar, and a big F you to anyone who wants it white unsweetened, or extra sweet, or Columbian or Costa Rican coffee, or any of these snuffy-fluffy fat lattes with bacon bits and apples in it (sorry i havent actually been into any such coffee shop, in fact i hate coffee, ive no idea why i startted this analogy lol)
The point is they should allow for as many play styles as they can, and of course they can never please everyone

As time goes by, we all become more narrow-minded, we start to know what we like, and what we dont like, many people wont quit a guild over little preferences like this, but when we switch to a new game, well thats a fresh start, this time "i wont join a guild that does this or does that" type thoughts influence us
We become less inclined to compromise
Also people have friends, online or irl, that play with them, and so form little families of their own, once formed they dont always want to invite strangers among them in case it changes the dynamic for the worse (of course then it never changes for the better too)


TLDR
Basically humanity is flawed, and therefore everything we do is flawed too - expecting perfection will just lead to unhappiness

pitshade

I've got keybinds for Party, Guild and Legit channels to quickly switch between them. I came to this game from an almost all single player background and solo a fair amount of the time. However, when I do party content, I try to work for the good of the team, discussing strategy, answering questions, pointing out other people's skill nodes, chest locations, mimics (for all the good it does). Some people respond in kind, some never say anything. For the most part I don't let it bother me, though when I've grouped up during leveling quests if someone refuses to speak, I probably won't stay grouped with them for long.

reiwulf

Tesyra, I agree with part of your post, but I don't think asking for a group to reply when people say "hi" is asking for perfection, or asking for much either.

pitshade. I agree, I wish more people were like you

aulduron

Quite an over-simplification
How many single player games have such gear advancement?
How many have an active auction house? (Not just for buying youre uber gearz, but also for the mini-game of making diamonds/money)
What is the point of money (or any reward) in a single player game?

Hell, how many solo, DD/FR games are out there that fans of such things haven't beat with every class, years ago? If there was a solo NWN3 or similar new solo Forgotten Realms games on the market, many of us would not be here.

micky1p00

Except the "Hi" and "thanks for the party" parts, i think allot depend on the run and the group, some runs are more laid back and it gives time to type something or/and fool around (did allot mimc hunt runs, exploration and others ), others start running and there is no way in hell you can do a conversation and keep up.
I think guilds ( and some channels ) gives people a chance to socialize and get to know each other and not only to get to gg, and thats the mmo part. If the guild isn't working, perhaps better asking and adding people to friends and keeping in touch with them.

Disclaimer - it's my first mmo, so can't say about others much. And in my experience, it will take some runs before i know the person and will joke more freely, i dont want to insult some one, and some people i would not run with again because i dont like their attitude.
More-than that the main reason i'm still playing is the chat, and people i got to know. (PvE TR... aint that fun group/game-wise )

Janne Moonmist - TR

torskaldr

I say "hi" and "thanks" at the end of a skirmish probably because I've been playing mmos a long time and that's what I've always done when grouping.

Joining a guild seems like the logical answer for those craving social interaction. Expecting strangers to feed your social battery comes across as a little needy to me. Finding a good guild fit can be really challenging though, and after all these years, I've found joining a guild can have as many drawbacks and strings as it offers benefits. I've been playing since alpha and still haven't found a guild (not that I've been looking hard) that seems like a good fit so I can understand the dilemma.

It would be nice if people in game were a bit more polite and positive overall. I just don't expect people to go out of their way. I would probably be happy if zone chat in PE was less toxic and trollish.

readytoredrum

Join a GOOD guild that actually interacts with you and helps you as someone else said

pitshade

micky1p00 wrote: »

More-than that the main reason i'm still playing is the chat, and people i got to know. (PvE TR... aint that fun group/game-wise )

Janne Moonmist - TR

For what it's worth, I always enjoying grouping with you, never had a bad run and very patient with my first time in VT. You and Dardove are the main reason I've been running my rogues in dungeons a bit lately.

tickdoff

If I want to socialize I will do it in PE, my guild chat or on Teamspeak. When I join a PUG I am there to run a dungeon, not to chat about the weather. I try to be polite, and will engage in a discussion about tactics or help out with directions if needed, but do not expect me to want to carry on a conversation about anything not directly related to the task at hand.

I will almost always hay hello if someone else does as well, and I typically say "good run" or something similar at the end. If I just leave without saying anything..... well, silence can speak louder than words.