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oldkhemaraa
Member Posts: 1,039 Arc User
MMO games.
Going to ramble around just a hair untill I get to the meat. Gotta set up the backround, but I will keep in short.
"Types of Players"
There are PvP're, PvE'rs, PvEvP'rs, RP'rs, PvP-RP'rs..(and additional combinations of same..) And Social Gamers..
And there is some other types to that share the noted categories but have certain...trait.. but I'm not going to go there because..I'm trying to keep my blood pressure within reasonable bounds today...(Not the real reason, but it'll do)
The facts there are all types of reason people play On Line Games. And this is not even touching on what attracts them to a specific title in the first place.
"The Business Model"
MMO games are a for profit business.. The operators of the titles have to make money to pay admin staff, development teams (ie: The Talent), executive types, and still have sufficient to pass up the ladder to corporate owners and out to stock holders/investors. Monthly expenses are a fairly fixed number. Most "Talent" and executive types on on a monthly salary with bonus's, while office and admin staff tend to be on wage. There usually isn't any real call for extra operating funds needed above and beyond the above stated. There are accept-ions, and this is over simplified. Semi-independent development studio's like Cryptic typically have to operate under a limited monthly budget...And seem to function like a government bureaucracy some times. Its a human thing, go figure... If they use all the available budget and need more then they go up the corporate ladder to shake the tree. But if they don't use all their budget there's a possibility the next budgetary period will see reduced funds available.
(note: this represent a best guess based on observation.. it could be totally wrong.. but the point is setting back round to SELL a point further on)
On to the next point...
"The Meat, Potatoes, and Gravy of the matter"
A truth, Gamers is Gamers. Doesn't matter what type they are, They're still gamers. For a MMO, they're customers, and the revenue stream. No customers, no product sold, no revenue.
STO supports it's self primarily on a Micro Transaction model. A Cash shop. There are subscribers and a hand full of "Parasitical non contributors" (ehem!) known as life time subscribers who paid one big lump sum and may possible never give your business another penny AND feel entitled at the same time (Waves hand! Hi!) On a side note you should'a seen the sell job that was made to push Life Time Sub sales back at launch. There are a couple of points that we life times were supposed to have that never happened (Cough "Why the Captains Table is supposed to be for "Cough")
I have personally done the PvP, The PvE, The RP, and all the variations there of. I came to STO for the Trek, and the Fleet I've been part of since launch (we came over from play of SFC) came for the WAR. We are somewhat.... disappointed... PvP arena's are not... WAR.
You see, I'm apparently a somewhat rare bird. I am a Social gamer. Social gamers do it all. It's not the gear, it's not the toys and shiney's, it's not the end game. It's all amout the interaction with other players. It could be arena fighting to a dance dance party in a social zone (or aboard a star base.. ( umm.. why can't we cross faction invite to our star bases by the by... ya know, real difficult to show off your bragging rights when you cant actually show folk what you've done)
Time to Close the sale!
Social Gamers want more opportunities for interaction with OTHER players. Further more, we want it protected. We do not want to be subject to other players telling us what we can or cannot do and exploiting certain game mechanics/artifacts to prevent us from doing so.
Been an ongoing wide open brawl within STO's virtual world between a small group of players against a much larger group of social gamers.. It's been documented to death. There seem to have been a recent weather change in this rather nasty little fight. Time will tell if it truely is, but recently there has been a marked improvement. Customer Support/Community manager types (Waves at Branflakes) are how ever prevented by Cryptic/PWI policies to share with us what if anything has been done. I suppose that to prevent an over politicizing of the player population. I disagree with it because of the long term effects, but MMO operators tend to only think as far ahead as the next annual financial statements.. Long term social effects tend to get shoved into a corner and ignored. It's not just Cryptic. Thsi happens with Other MMO operators.
They tend too not see themselves as operators of a public venue such as a bar, restaurant, night club owner. And generally do not see themselves as having much responsibility for maintaining and sort of "right" for their customers to enjoy the environment beyond the games content.
But has been noted in the MMO press recently, the MMO gamer population average age has been going up. It's not hordes of teen age, pre teens, and early 20 somethings any more. A lot of folks in their 30 and up are playing... and not being subject to harassment in their chosen social activity is starting to get somewhat higher on their list of want and desires in MMO play.
STO has matured a great deal in the 4 years since launch. And so have it's long term players. In social play.. HOW our avatars look is important to us.. That is OUR alter ego.
Make costumes, clothes, new dance emote. Like go pay for some doggone motion capture work ok you guys! Give us a dance synchronization option for when we're group dancing, put together some couples dances..ya know, cheek to cheek, that sorta thing.. we'll pay for 'em don't you worry!.. Let me see a couple folks at a net radio show doing some swing dancing, and have it as a emote in the C-store and my wallet will come out of my pocked so fast the FAA will be fining me for breaking the sound barrier over an urban area! And I will not be alone! The Trek DS-9 series proved that there was interest in the day to day lives on NON-fleet personell in the trek universe. Fix a couple thing or so, give us some options on certain things in social zones.. Like umm.. how about NOT seeing the special effects for game toys like various and assorted party popers (I've really gotten to hate those things.. here you are getting a plot nailed down in a social zone doing some trek RP and some ..ehm person shoves a party popper in your face and lets go...And I can't even effectively reciprocate by putting the business end of a energy ranged or melee weapon where it'll do some damage to express my displeasure. How about having the subspace party aplifier (ie: the party ball) actually work the way it's tool tip says and NOT break ongoing emote/dances. ((the amps will interrupts and Samba's, Fan Dances, nerve tonic dance, jumping jacks line men at work style displays and default your avatars motions to a the Dance Mix emote ending with a bow and the Picard manuver... This is NOT what the doggone tool tip says it supposed to do. This turns it from a fun and enjoyable toy that add to immersion to a tool to mess with ones fellow players.. which has been done to the nth degree. Fix the KDF costume slot bug! Thats also a major annoyance for we who are subjected to it.
Ya know, sometimes it IS the little things that make the difference.
Season 8.5 is to be marked with a new anniversary event/mission, some new ships, and for folks Fed toons, a marked update and improvement of a number of Fed side mission. Outstanding. How about a fix for the Party ball so it works as the tool tip says, and an option to turn off effects from "Party Poppers"? To prevent inappropriate abuse and griefing. How about in social zones have character collisions turned on so someone can't harrass another player by standing over the top of their avatar.. (and you'll need an active NPC "security" routine for the folks that'll use that to block access in certain area just to mess with other players...IE: Blockading the entrance to Quarks, or the bank/mail/exchange area of DS-9 and such) Oh yea, and lets have a quick travel to Risa for KDF side players that doesn't require marauding.. or MOVE Risa to somewhere where that's not required...
Ya we social types are working around it but it is annoying!
These are little things, and I freely admit they are, and are not going to effect many players untill they suddenly up and decide one day to attend an in game social event. Good way to have a customer go.. "wait a moment, I'm paying for this and that bunch of players are purposely interfering with my and anyone else ability to enjoy this aspect of the game? WTF?"
Good way to loose a customer! The Devs can only pump out so much content per year. We player types can get pretty inventive about sand boxing with what we have.
And don't be looking down at we social types...I got myself a Fleet Mogh on one of my KDF toons..and Cryptic made money on the transaction.. we are real customers. We also tend to be serious fans of the game at the same time and spread the word. Ya know, bring in more customers! We tend to be inclusive, not exclusive. We invite to participate.
So drop on by to the next in game trek radio, and crank up winamp or Itunes to MMO radio, Pirate Radio, SSR etc etc etc and etc. net broadcast show, hang out, listen, dance, gossip, talk game, talk gear, role play. Party, hang out. Meet crazy interesting people who are not there to put you down, or grief your play. Come play with us.. You might have fun.... Course you will be graded on what your avatar looks like..and there WILL be social pressure to conform ya know.. (like there aren't now? Have you READ these forums?)
Leave your party popper in the bank and maybe limit the use of the party ball out of courtesy to the other folk present and who knows, you might JUST enjoy yourself.. and amazingly you wont be doing it any anyone's expense...
Sounds pretty Trek to me! Might meet a nice Klingon, or an Orion who's not trying to fleece you, or a Rigellian who's not trying to con you, or a Vulcan who cracks a smile... It can happen.... if you let it.
Khemaraa sends.
Going to ramble around just a hair untill I get to the meat. Gotta set up the backround, but I will keep in short.
"Types of Players"
There are PvP're, PvE'rs, PvEvP'rs, RP'rs, PvP-RP'rs..(and additional combinations of same..) And Social Gamers..
And there is some other types to that share the noted categories but have certain...trait.. but I'm not going to go there because..I'm trying to keep my blood pressure within reasonable bounds today...(Not the real reason, but it'll do)
The facts there are all types of reason people play On Line Games. And this is not even touching on what attracts them to a specific title in the first place.
"The Business Model"
MMO games are a for profit business.. The operators of the titles have to make money to pay admin staff, development teams (ie: The Talent), executive types, and still have sufficient to pass up the ladder to corporate owners and out to stock holders/investors. Monthly expenses are a fairly fixed number. Most "Talent" and executive types on on a monthly salary with bonus's, while office and admin staff tend to be on wage. There usually isn't any real call for extra operating funds needed above and beyond the above stated. There are accept-ions, and this is over simplified. Semi-independent development studio's like Cryptic typically have to operate under a limited monthly budget...And seem to function like a government bureaucracy some times. Its a human thing, go figure... If they use all the available budget and need more then they go up the corporate ladder to shake the tree. But if they don't use all their budget there's a possibility the next budgetary period will see reduced funds available.
(note: this represent a best guess based on observation.. it could be totally wrong.. but the point is setting back round to SELL a point further on)
On to the next point...
"The Meat, Potatoes, and Gravy of the matter"
A truth, Gamers is Gamers. Doesn't matter what type they are, They're still gamers. For a MMO, they're customers, and the revenue stream. No customers, no product sold, no revenue.
STO supports it's self primarily on a Micro Transaction model. A Cash shop. There are subscribers and a hand full of "Parasitical non contributors" (ehem!) known as life time subscribers who paid one big lump sum and may possible never give your business another penny AND feel entitled at the same time (Waves hand! Hi!) On a side note you should'a seen the sell job that was made to push Life Time Sub sales back at launch. There are a couple of points that we life times were supposed to have that never happened (Cough "Why the Captains Table is supposed to be for "Cough")
I have personally done the PvP, The PvE, The RP, and all the variations there of. I came to STO for the Trek, and the Fleet I've been part of since launch (we came over from play of SFC) came for the WAR. We are somewhat.... disappointed... PvP arena's are not... WAR.
You see, I'm apparently a somewhat rare bird. I am a Social gamer. Social gamers do it all. It's not the gear, it's not the toys and shiney's, it's not the end game. It's all amout the interaction with other players. It could be arena fighting to a dance dance party in a social zone (or aboard a star base.. ( umm.. why can't we cross faction invite to our star bases by the by... ya know, real difficult to show off your bragging rights when you cant actually show folk what you've done)
Time to Close the sale!
Social Gamers want more opportunities for interaction with OTHER players. Further more, we want it protected. We do not want to be subject to other players telling us what we can or cannot do and exploiting certain game mechanics/artifacts to prevent us from doing so.
Been an ongoing wide open brawl within STO's virtual world between a small group of players against a much larger group of social gamers.. It's been documented to death. There seem to have been a recent weather change in this rather nasty little fight. Time will tell if it truely is, but recently there has been a marked improvement. Customer Support/Community manager types (Waves at Branflakes) are how ever prevented by Cryptic/PWI policies to share with us what if anything has been done. I suppose that to prevent an over politicizing of the player population. I disagree with it because of the long term effects, but MMO operators tend to only think as far ahead as the next annual financial statements.. Long term social effects tend to get shoved into a corner and ignored. It's not just Cryptic. Thsi happens with Other MMO operators.
They tend too not see themselves as operators of a public venue such as a bar, restaurant, night club owner. And generally do not see themselves as having much responsibility for maintaining and sort of "right" for their customers to enjoy the environment beyond the games content.
But has been noted in the MMO press recently, the MMO gamer population average age has been going up. It's not hordes of teen age, pre teens, and early 20 somethings any more. A lot of folks in their 30 and up are playing... and not being subject to harassment in their chosen social activity is starting to get somewhat higher on their list of want and desires in MMO play.
STO has matured a great deal in the 4 years since launch. And so have it's long term players. In social play.. HOW our avatars look is important to us.. That is OUR alter ego.
Make costumes, clothes, new dance emote. Like go pay for some doggone motion capture work ok you guys! Give us a dance synchronization option for when we're group dancing, put together some couples dances..ya know, cheek to cheek, that sorta thing.. we'll pay for 'em don't you worry!.. Let me see a couple folks at a net radio show doing some swing dancing, and have it as a emote in the C-store and my wallet will come out of my pocked so fast the FAA will be fining me for breaking the sound barrier over an urban area! And I will not be alone! The Trek DS-9 series proved that there was interest in the day to day lives on NON-fleet personell in the trek universe. Fix a couple thing or so, give us some options on certain things in social zones.. Like umm.. how about NOT seeing the special effects for game toys like various and assorted party popers (I've really gotten to hate those things.. here you are getting a plot nailed down in a social zone doing some trek RP and some ..ehm person shoves a party popper in your face and lets go...And I can't even effectively reciprocate by putting the business end of a energy ranged or melee weapon where it'll do some damage to express my displeasure. How about having the subspace party aplifier (ie: the party ball) actually work the way it's tool tip says and NOT break ongoing emote/dances. ((the amps will interrupts and Samba's, Fan Dances, nerve tonic dance, jumping jacks line men at work style displays and default your avatars motions to a the Dance Mix emote ending with a bow and the Picard manuver... This is NOT what the doggone tool tip says it supposed to do. This turns it from a fun and enjoyable toy that add to immersion to a tool to mess with ones fellow players.. which has been done to the nth degree. Fix the KDF costume slot bug! Thats also a major annoyance for we who are subjected to it.
Ya know, sometimes it IS the little things that make the difference.
Season 8.5 is to be marked with a new anniversary event/mission, some new ships, and for folks Fed toons, a marked update and improvement of a number of Fed side mission. Outstanding. How about a fix for the Party ball so it works as the tool tip says, and an option to turn off effects from "Party Poppers"? To prevent inappropriate abuse and griefing. How about in social zones have character collisions turned on so someone can't harrass another player by standing over the top of their avatar.. (and you'll need an active NPC "security" routine for the folks that'll use that to block access in certain area just to mess with other players...IE: Blockading the entrance to Quarks, or the bank/mail/exchange area of DS-9 and such) Oh yea, and lets have a quick travel to Risa for KDF side players that doesn't require marauding.. or MOVE Risa to somewhere where that's not required...
Ya we social types are working around it but it is annoying!
These are little things, and I freely admit they are, and are not going to effect many players untill they suddenly up and decide one day to attend an in game social event. Good way to have a customer go.. "wait a moment, I'm paying for this and that bunch of players are purposely interfering with my and anyone else ability to enjoy this aspect of the game? WTF?"
Good way to loose a customer! The Devs can only pump out so much content per year. We player types can get pretty inventive about sand boxing with what we have.
And don't be looking down at we social types...I got myself a Fleet Mogh on one of my KDF toons..and Cryptic made money on the transaction.. we are real customers. We also tend to be serious fans of the game at the same time and spread the word. Ya know, bring in more customers! We tend to be inclusive, not exclusive. We invite to participate.
So drop on by to the next in game trek radio, and crank up winamp or Itunes to MMO radio, Pirate Radio, SSR etc etc etc and etc. net broadcast show, hang out, listen, dance, gossip, talk game, talk gear, role play. Party, hang out. Meet crazy interesting people who are not there to put you down, or grief your play. Come play with us.. You might have fun.... Course you will be graded on what your avatar looks like..and there WILL be social pressure to conform ya know.. (like there aren't now? Have you READ these forums?)
Leave your party popper in the bank and maybe limit the use of the party ball out of courtesy to the other folk present and who knows, you might JUST enjoy yourself.. and amazingly you wont be doing it any anyone's expense...
Sounds pretty Trek to me! Might meet a nice Klingon, or an Orion who's not trying to fleece you, or a Rigellian who's not trying to con you, or a Vulcan who cracks a smile... It can happen.... if you let it.
Khemaraa sends.
"I aim to misbehave" - Malcolm Reynolds
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
Maybe in an Eskimo strip club for astronomers...
My PvE/PvP hybrid skill tree
We didn't kill a single NPC and nobody got any drops, or earned marks toward end game gear in any way what so ever! Also dDidn't hear anyone say they weren't having fun either.
We are how ever wondering who's died in the bon fire.. (you can see the outline of a body in the ashes) and keep wondering when we're going to have a CSI Risa mission to resolve that mystery... Someone is up to something nefarious there..
And I still want to see a KDF assult wave in brightly colored flower print shirts, aloha shorts waving bottles and kegs of blood wine on long boards closing on the beach.... Whaddaya mean Klingons don't like Elvis, the Beach Boys. Introduce a Klingon to **** (diminutive of Richard) Dale today!
(oh yea, assult guitar.. bring it!)
Warrior cultures.. Fight hard, party harder!
DOggone it, tell us where that club is.. any excuse for a party!
Fleet leader Nova Elite
Fleet Leader House of Nova elite
@ren_larreck
Edit: In-game!
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There's this BUG.
Once apon a time I some how set my interface so I was unable to receive tells from anyone NOT on my "friends" list..
I then found out I couldn't set it back to default...(does Cryptic have a NASA contract or something?)
"The Work A Round" (*sigh*)
What the player has to do in the privacy setting is change one setting at a time. If the apparent setting doesn't jibe with whats happening then first set it to the opposite (read non-preferred) setting first, save, then set it to the preferred setting and save again.
The game engine has a number of little niggling pain in the fundament bugs like that scattered all through it.
That might be whats going on if that's your hidden context..
Now if your asking really is "is putting someone on ignore make me NOT a social gamer"
No, Not at all... a Social Gamer is a state of mind and reguard. They see the game as primarily a tool to interact with the other players.. (any yes, PvP is technically a sub set of social gaming...SUB set...sufficiently sub to be considered its own category.)
One can be an anti social social-gamer...and yes, it is a contradiction in terms.. unless it "Role Play" (ie I know of a certain Vulcan fed that is an anti-social social gamer.. but its Role Play, and its in character) if you don't actually like socializing, then why by the great bird of the galaxy are you engaging in it?
Being an anti social person purposely being anti social at in game social events how ever gets a different label... like Trolling, or Griefing... Yea there are folks that go around and purposely interfere with other players social and RP activities. And it has been a problem, and complaints have been filed with the GM's and customer service.. and noted on these forums.
We could really use an actual in game bouncer now and again much like real world social venues have for much the same reasons at in game social events. And do note that such activity is kinda against the rules as stated in the Cryptics terms of service/EULA (no kinda about it really.. it IS against the rules) getting the rules enforced how ever has been somewhat problematic over the past few years. It seems there has been recent enforcement activity though.
Those of us that have been adversely effected by the non-enforcement have a strong wait ans see attitude that is somewhat decidedly un-Cryptic friendly though. When you gotten burned, griefed, and ignored by the supposed powers that be for as long as we have, one can expect a certain "lack of Confidence" in long term enforcement.
((rumor that has been confirmed by not to be named sources have noted there was a little buddy system going on, and that enforcement was purposely not being done in regard to certain and specific social groups in game. This may have changed. Time will tell! Maybe some of my hopefully well reasoned posts and complaints, along with other users finally got some attention *hands over the salt shaker on that last, just in case*))
And yes, I am sitting around boored today lurking on the forums.. *grin*
Very informative. Yes, you answered both my covert and overt questions in a very comprehensive way. I really never ignore anyone, and have also had that bug. And if you answered more secret ones, I cannot tell. For it would be a secret...
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whats the short version? you want to stand around and just chat and dance in the game and not get marginalized?
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
To be fair, its worked in other MMOs in the past. SWG had a pretty robust buff and fatigue healing system via the social classes. You literally had to watch a dancer or listen to some music to get it to clear in any short order between battles.
As a result that game had a huge social demographic.
Fleet Admiral Rylana - Fed Tac - U.S.S Wild Card - Tactical Miracle Worker Cruiser
Lifetime Subscriber since 2012 == 17,200 Accolades = RIP PvP and Vice Squad
Chief of Starfleet Intelligence Service == Praise Cheesus
Short short answer.
Yea, sounds good to me!
Longer Answer:
Doesn't hurt anyone, and doesn't negatively effect folk off doing PvP or gear grind in any way whats so ever. And no body else has to do it if they don't want to. I surely don't see the problem. If you got an issue with it, I can't hardly wait to hear you justification as to how and why its a "Bad Thing" !!! We're all customers and consumers of this Star Trek Online" product.
Might wanna check with the Ferengi's that own the store.. As long as we buy things and don't interfere with the other customers then I'm pretty sure THEY don't have a problem with it.. Maybe even less then a problem if it helps promote the game and attract customers... and positive feelings about the product.
Just a little case in point.. Had a party in game the other day.. went for 8 hours.. 8, uno dos tres......*hold up 8 fingers* with never less then 25 people in attendance.... I aint ever seen a group of 25 STF runners, PVP players stick for 8 hours doing anything in this game or any other MMO. Only Social events can manage that kind of draw. And all Crytic had to do was provide a virtual space for it. No NPC or story line was needed.. Just a virtual environment... that was left in place from the games summer event. We wern't at Drozana station, or ESD, Or DS-9, or Qo'noS. No one had to witness our "obviously" disturbing jerking around to music they couldn't hear (though they could. It only takes a wee little bit of computer savy.. and if your on broadband..it won't even cause you lag!)
of course.. your real complaint could be.. Your Jelous!
Because we were off having a really great time while you were off sweating for marks, or dilithium, or gear drops or what ever, while WE, yes that perfidious group of "WE", were off doing our "Lily's of the Field" thing and having a great time doing it. Why, I can even see how this might tribble you.
*snarky grin over the classic trek reference*
Remember.. we don't OWN this game.. we just get to play here.
As the friends of my youth would have said.. "What ever blows your hair back!"
...and wants GM bouncers to police the area so no evil non-entities are allowed to infringe on their private RP parties.
Basically a humongous, meandering TL;DR version of yet another "Ban the evil disco balls" thread.
in this rare case i will justify my question to you.
it was not meant to be antagonistic, but with all that text, i was wondering what the short version was. i do infact stand around at times just writing text through general on ESD or where ever as a change of pace, and i could usually spend hours doing it before realizing i got into it.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
I just wanted to say that as part of the "fallout" from SWG, I am impressed by your investment in this game, and the obvious knowledge that comes with it. I tend to struggle with chat interface functions for years, truth be told. Once upon a time we had unbloody battles in far away places. It is good to see it can be done even in this ah... more rigid place. slightly closer to the EQ branch as MMOs go.
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They already have. You have Fleet starbases. You can gather with your fleeties and those folks you invite and never be bothered by "unwanted guests". The Fed bases have a wonderful upper tier disco with a DJ. The Klingon bases have that dynamite meeting hall with the big fireplace, the scantily clad Orion dancers and the bloodwine fountain. There's ample room for the "party" to spill over to...
I, too, find the disco balls and poppers annoying... I just switch instances. But the owners do have to cater to all sorts and the public gathering areas, like PUGS, will always attract all sorts. But we've been given private instances where we can avoid all that.
I realize few seem to make much use of their Fleet bases as a gathering place... maybe you'll start a trend? Besides not everyone who passes thru those public areas shares your social tendencies... I, for one, am EXTREMELY anti-social... :P
Well, you could of course be outright murdered when doing something in both those games, but hey-ho. It was mostly out of some misplaced sense of duty to a faction. :P
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Both these limits of the use of bases and ships leaves them contra-indicated for use as a social hub for social gaming.
The primary reason folks have been using the Risa event maps for social gathering is a fairly high pop cap of 50, and ease of access. And there's an actuall dance floor/area provided specificly for social activity along with mail/bank/exchange terminals..on site vendors and a Dabo table.
There's even a popular unwritten rule.. "Whats happens on Risa, stays on Risa" (should be posted on a sign at the beam in point I swear!)
Your fairly close Lomax.
It's not just the griefing though.. or the miss use of party items.. It's to point out that some of the attitudes displayed toward social gaming activities are pretty wrong headed when you get down to the nitty gritty.. and asking folk displaying such attitudes, and purposely doing such greifing, to take a look at them selves and why they do it.
I mean really what would you rather hear in local chat.. a bad pick up line or a little over top pretention RP.. or yet another epeen about how uber an leet someone is because they have "fill in blank" purple my XII "fill in blank"..and how of course because you don't have the same.. that your less then worthy or attention then targ dodo?
(i'll bet money you keep zone chat disabled for just that reason too!)
I honestly don't believe in marginalizing any gamer in any way, for any reason.. But then again, I've been a business owner that owned a game store. It's looks bad, and sounds worse.. and more importantly "People" remember bad negitive stuff as a rule and don't remember good and positive stuff other then as a nice feeling.
See it in the forums here all the time.. and I do it to. Might not be able to tell you what I like about STO but SURE can tell you what I don't like!
In the last 3 years I've seen over couple dozen net radio DJ's that did shows specifically to promote STO stop doing their shows, stop playing STO and leave the game because some bunch of "aren't we special" twits wouldn't stop harassing people at their in game dance party's. Those DJ's are a rather visible part of the social gaming community. Pretty sure a few hundred of now EX-cryptic customers have followed them. If I hadn't bought a LTM back when the game launched I'd have followed them by now. But as was noted.. It just so happens i do consider my self "Invested" in STO. And I do care about this game. It may not have turned in to quite what I and my fleet mates wanted, but its not like there's much trek based gaming to choose from out the on the internet. This Is IT! You want trek gaming love it or hate it..Cryptic and STO have the ball and no one else is gonna get it for awhile.
I wanted STO to have WAR.. I wanted PvEvP...I wanted to sack bases and planets, and ride to glory over the shatted bodies and starships of my chosen enemies.. Ah well, welcome to STO good luch with that.. how about some areana PVP.. DULL.. BOORING.. Been there, done that to death in other MMO's and games.. Well how about gear.. See previous comment.
But hey, chilling out, party, dance, hang out for hours with folk talking about this, that and everything while listening to good tunes..carrying on three or four conversations at once via in game chat, an IRC client , in game voice chat, and an external VIOP app (team speak etc) I've found that a lot more fun then "fishing for dilithium" "pr "get the Marks" oh.. and with a touch of inventiveness I can (well, my avatar can) look good doing it.
Out dress me will ya *runs off to the tailor* I'll show you!
We do it because its fun for us. And it doesn't hurt anyone else... Whats not to like..
Feel free to tune into one of the net radio feeds and join a party.. we're a pretty welcoming and ready to be inclusive bunch.. I might *gasp* have that lovely looking orion of mine come dance with your avatar.. She might not be real... but your playing a computer game.. Your not here for the real!!!!
I do not know if that's possible at the moment but if they opened up the foundry tools to allow such things, then you could do so and have some control over who is invited and such.
It's been asked for before though. It may come under the headin of "no, we don't want to do that" though.
Everquest 1&2 are a good target to research for ways to not only appeal to 'social gamers', but to also make a monetary gain in the process. The ingame and cash shop markets for housing/guild hall customization are very prolific in both of those games. People invest both ingame and real world money in building up public/private taverns(or theaters, or whatever really) for people to just hang out and enjoy each other's company.
At the end of the day, it's the people, the community, that is the true lifeblood of an MMO. Having people you enjoy hanging out with, in a medium that is enjoyable to hang out in, keeps you playing longer; become more invested in your characters; and be willing to continue to invest in the future.
I could get into some of the long-term dangers of neglecting that aspect for a persistent multiplayer game, but this thread(and post) are already quite wordy.
On a more practical/easier to deploy note:
I'm not sure how the development cycle is for the game right now, but might I propose investing some resources in a 'Risian Getaway' Fleet Holding for the next summer event that allows cross-faction invitations? Bonus points if it supports variable customizations(even if its something arbitrary like having to choose between a pool OR dance floor as a cosmetic/dilithium project).
Worst case scenario: it will be a new fleet holding that players pour resources into that wasn't well recieved.
Best case scenario: it opens up new frontiers of developmental exploration(ex. ship customizations with marketable interior parts) that are both profitable and allow players to express themselves in ways they enjoy - by themselves or with others.
It might sound good but its really all just made up out of thin air