Good old SWG no matter how many bugs this game used to have, the comunity on Eclipse server made it up for me, Eclipse even had its own share of dramas but all in all I met alot mature people and some esentric ones.
I will never forget wookiee named Vlads owner of eclipse first stripclub.
Seriously, from Diablo to new titles like RS or Guildwars. Free to Play games may vary in their communities a little, but generally, there are loads of players with the social intelligence of a rat.
Why is that? - Because it attracts young players. Why do young players suck? Because young players are mostly male. Why do young, male players mostly suck? Because they're experience puberty. When I was 15, playing Jedi Knight with some friends, we used to hack, flame, talk s**** all day long and we thought we were soooo unbelievably cool... Although, we were not, of course we were not, male teens are 95% hybris-deluded wannabes that lack any sense of social competence. And HELL, this is how it's meant to be... Sidenote: I'm not talking about ages 17+, I'm talking about the hard-boiled "stupid monkey" years (12-16)...
Soooo, does that automatically mean older players are better. Of course not. Players at the age of 29 having 10 hours a day spare-time and use them to play MMOs are - of course - psycholgically off-track and are of course suffering from a certain degree of para-social behaviour. And I'm not talking about the little addiction that plagues us all (by choosing a hobby that ruins our backs and our health), I'm talking about the fair amount of people with REAL problems.
So, what you probably wanna look at is a game where most of the players are NOT PC-MMO-target-audience but still offers content that does not appeal to many kids.
This could be EvE, with a large amount of IT-students and employees or generally tech-related, mature people. Very nice crowd, even the pirates ("just business buddy"), or LotRO on an roleplaying realm, or even WoW on a roleplaying realm with many next-door housewifes or dads that wanna dive in another world sometimes...
So essentially you're looking for:
- Ages 20-40
- Median weekly time played 8-14 hours
- Student or employed (somebody who has something to do with their time)
In my MMO experiences so far, those we're the people I found nice, polite but still emotional and funny.
Oh yea, ignore what I said (or flame) if you're that 38-year-old virgin or that 13-year-old-moron who just reached cap and is raiding 50-hours/week for the next super-uber-epic-ultra-sword-of-endless-destruction.
Thats sort of a tough question if you spend any amount of time in any game and get involved with the community at all. If you just play a game for a short amount of time, don't get involved and watch the general chat boxes, of course you are going to see the worse of any community.
But overall the communities that left the worse impression on me.
WoW - great game but draws out the worse in players for some reason. Personally I think its because there is ZERO need for any sort of community until the end, and then all you need is 39 other people to run raids with. If you are not into that, you could really just make the game a single player game and it wouldn't effect overall gameplay to much. Even in the PvP there is hardly any cohesion at all.
Guild Wars - words just can't explain, I like the game but I guess there is a reason you can take NPC's with you over "live" players.
Communities I had a great time with
Lineage 2, Guild politics and the drama were great fun within the context of the game. Guilds meant something and player guilds had lasting impact on the gameworld.
Saga of Ryzom - friendly, helpful all around nice people to game with. Almost to nice lol
Asheron's Call back in its prime. Probably the MOST fun I ever had with an MMO community. The only MMO I ever played where punishing grind and frustrating quest was fun to play. Ah the good old days....
So I guess it depends what you want in a community to begin with. I can't say I ever really disliked an entire game community. You run into arsehats and good people in any game.
Some of it does depend on the game mechanics. I have noticed over the years as MMO's become more casual and solo centered, communities tend to be very weak as there is no real need or "interdependance" for a strong community. Everyone can just run around and do their own thing with no real concern for anyone else. Games that promote community, grouping, interdendency and world impact generally speaking tend to have more engaging communities. IMHO.
Players want soloable games were they can operate more or less independent now a days and that reflects in the newer game communities. You take the good with the bad I guess....
I don't think I can name the best and the worst... every online game is gonna have assholes along with worthwhile people which is what I have experienced. Just like anywhere you go in the world with alot of people.
I met some really great people who helped others out and held the guilds i was in together, by the time TBC came out guilds had been together not too far off 2 years so close communities had formed.
Worst - WoW
The majority of people didn't appreciate the effort made by guild/group organisers or those that were always there to lend a hand. The "mature members" giving it the "its only a game, i pay for the game, and can be as casual as i want" and the "immature players" messing around mid-raid... both then crying when they didn't get phat lootz or when the guild couldn't raid anymore coz there wasn't enough people.
The other end of the scale being the "elite". You have hardcore players who put a hell of a lot of time in, then you have the elitist guys who put a hell off a lot of time in... and are just plain nasty and self-important.
Seriously, from Diablo to new titles like RS or Guildwars. Free to Play games may vary in their communities a little, but generally, there are loads of players with the social intelligence of a rat.
Why is that? - Because it attracts young players. Why do young players suck? Because young players are mostly male. Why do young, male players mostly suck? Because they're experience puberty. When I was 15, playing Jedi Knight with some friends, we used to hack, flame, talk s**** all day long and we thought we were soooo unbelievably cool... Although, we were not, of course we were not, male teens are 95% hybris-deluded wannabes that lack any sense of social competence. And HELL, this is how it's meant to be... Sidenote: I'm not talking about ages 17+, I'm talking about the hard-boiled "stupid monkey" years (12-16)...
Meridion
haha nice i am 15 years old and find ALOT of the other young players are complete jerks. i dont think i am one but hey everyone has their opinions. i wish more people would get with the program and see that what they are doing is not only immature but its just plain stupid.
the worst offenders of this are teenage gankers in WoW. they play for hours and hours to get uber gear to piss the hell out of other players just cus they think it is fun?
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds -Solid non level based game -Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
Worst: WoW. During the first year after release I would have ranked it best. The community continues to decline the longer it has been out.
Best: LOTRO. I find most of the players in PUGs to be polite and willing to help with side quests. I admit that I have OOC turned off. That is something that WoW has taught me due to the Barrens chat syndrome that has infected all MMOs that I've played since WoW has been released.
Why is that? - Because it attracts young players. Why do young players suck? Because young players are mostly male. Why do young, male players mostly suck? Because they're experience puberty.
Heh, do you think the average young female player is any better? I personally haven't experienced it that way myself. That said, some of the friendliest players I've met were young, bright gamers - ages 13 to 15, both male and female.
For me, it must've been Star Wars Galaxies back when I played it. Ultima Online also has a great community, and I've met fun people to be around in EVE Online as well.
I've never actually been in a horrible community. I tend to ignore the leet speaking populace and socialize in inns and such.
Best (for me): Pre-CU SWG. It was the first online game I played where I looked forward to logging on and seeing how my friends were doing. The social aspect was as much a part of the game as the crafting/killing things/PvP/etc Despite having played various games before that, I did not really have an idea of what an online community should be.
WoW is a close second for me. I went to WoW a few games after I left SWG. I went there on the recommendation of a few coworkers and thus started the game with pre-established friendships and a host of new friends through those people. That, and not the game play, is what kept me playing WoW for a decent amount of time. When I would roll an alt on servers where I did not know anyone already, the results were a mixed bag and community really swung from one extreme to the other (as has been pointed out).
Worst (for me): Since playing Pre-CU SWG, everything has pretty much been compared with that (even if not intentionally). That's a tough benchmark to beat so I will take the easy answer and say the free MMO's I've played have offered little to nothing in the form of lasting community.
-mklinic
"Do something right, no one remembers. Do something wrong, no one forgets" -from No One Remembers by In Strict Confidence
Best: Saga of Ryzom; by a long shot, there's just something extremely special about that community. A really close second is Lineage2 but they tend to be a little extreme more often than not.
Worst: Vanguard Saga of Heroes; Not that it was all bad but overall, just a really negative environment.
yeah, young females ARE "any better" - genetic disposition. XY - Hunt, fight, gain, defend; XX - nurture, care, raise, perceive. That's not 18th century mindset, that's simple evolutionary heritage
Comments
Worst: WoW and really any of the free mmorpgs..
Good old SWG no matter how many bugs this game used to have, the comunity on Eclipse server made it up for me, Eclipse even had its own share of dramas but all in all I met alot mature people and some esentric ones.
I will never forget wookiee named Vlads owner of eclipse first stripclub.
Best could be SoR or CoH or Horizons
MMORPG.COM has worst forum editor ever exists
Why is that? - Because it attracts young players. Why do young players suck? Because young players are mostly male. Why do young, male players mostly suck? Because they're experience puberty.
Soooo, does that automatically mean older players are better. Of course not. Players at the age of 29 having 10 hours a day spare-time and use them to play MMOs are - of course - psycholgically off-track and are of course suffering from a certain degree of para-social behaviour. And I'm not talking about the little addiction that plagues us all (by choosing a hobby that ruins our backs and our health), I'm talking about the fair amount of people with REAL problems.
So, what you probably wanna look at is a game where most of the players are NOT PC-MMO-target-audience but still offers content that does not appeal to many kids.
This could be EvE, with a large amount of IT-students and employees or generally tech-related, mature people. Very nice crowd, even the pirates ("just business buddy"), or LotRO on an roleplaying realm, or even WoW on a roleplaying realm with many next-door housewifes or dads that wanna dive in another world sometimes...
So essentially you're looking for:
- Ages 20-40
- Median weekly time played 8-14 hours
- Student or employed (somebody who has something to do with their time)
In my MMO experiences so far, those we're the people I found nice, polite but still emotional and funny.
Oh yea, ignore what I said (or flame) if you're that 38-year-old virgin or that 13-year-old-moron who just reached cap and is raiding 50-hours/week for the next super-uber-epic-ultra-sword-of-endless-destruction.
Meridion
LMAO what a great post! and all so true
Best: SWG (pre cu). This community was special. In a second place i would like to say saga of ryzom.
Worst: WoW. This is the only game i couldnt stand the community at all.
Thats sort of a tough question if you spend any amount of time in any game and get involved with the community at all. If you just play a game for a short amount of time, don't get involved and watch the general chat boxes, of course you are going to see the worse of any community.
But overall the communities that left the worse impression on me.
Communities I had a great time with
So I guess it depends what you want in a community to begin with. I can't say I ever really disliked an entire game community. You run into arsehats and good people in any game.
Some of it does depend on the game mechanics. I have noticed over the years as MMO's become more casual and solo centered, communities tend to be very weak as there is no real need or "interdependance" for a strong community. Everyone can just run around and do their own thing with no real concern for anyone else. Games that promote community, grouping, interdendency and world impact generally speaking tend to have more engaging communities. IMHO.
Players want soloable games were they can operate more or less independent now a days and that reflects in the newer game communities. You take the good with the bad I guess....
I met some really great people who helped others out and held the guilds i was in together, by the time TBC came out guilds had been together not too far off 2 years so close communities had formed.
Worst - WoW
The majority of people didn't appreciate the effort made by guild/group organisers or those that were always there to lend a hand. The "mature members" giving it the "its only a game, i pay for the game, and can be as casual as i want" and the "immature players" messing around mid-raid... both then crying when they didn't get phat lootz or when the guild couldn't raid anymore coz there wasn't enough people.
The other end of the scale being the "elite". You have hardcore players who put a hell of a lot of time in, then you have the elitist guys who put a hell off a lot of time in... and are just plain nasty and self-important.
the worst offenders of this are teenage gankers in WoW. they play for hours and hours to get uber gear to piss the hell out of other players just cus they think it is fun?
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
worst - EVE (never saw such unhelping self-righteous, arrogante community)
Best - CoX
Best Pre Cu SWG, also RO beta days for second place
Worst: Any free mmo and WoW
Best: LOTRO. I find most of the players in PUGs to be polite and willing to help with side quests. I admit that I have OOC turned off. That is something that WoW has taught me due to the Barrens chat syndrome that has infected all MMOs that I've played since WoW has been released.
Best: Planetside
Worst: WoW
Worst : GE (IAH)
Best : CoH/CoV
And I don't play either of those games.
Worst : WoW
Best : DAoC
Best: Ryzom, Pre-CU SWG
Worst: Some of the Free games
For me, it must've been Star Wars Galaxies back when I played it. Ultima Online also has a great community, and I've met fun people to be around in EVE Online as well.
I've never actually been in a horrible community. I tend to ignore the leet speaking populace and socialize in inns and such.
Best = Saga of Rysom
Worst = Guild Wars
Ninja Ferret
"Stay on target"
WoW is a close second for me. I went to WoW a few games after I left SWG. I went there on the recommendation of a few coworkers and thus started the game with pre-established friendships and a host of new friends through those people. That, and not the game play, is what kept me playing WoW for a decent amount of time. When I would roll an alt on servers where I did not know anyone already, the results were a mixed bag and community really swung from one extreme to the other (as has been pointed out).
Worst (for me): Since playing Pre-CU SWG, everything has pretty much been compared with that (even if not intentionally). That's a tough benchmark to beat so I will take the easy answer and say the free MMO's I've played have offered little to nothing in the form of lasting community.
-mklinic
"Do something right, no one remembers.
Do something wrong, no one forgets"
-from No One Remembers by In Strict Confidence
Worst: WoW (the sheer amount of trolls is intolerable)
Worst: WoW
Knowledge is Power!
Best: Saga of Ryzom; by a long shot, there's just something extremely special about that community. A really close second is Lineage2 but they tend to be a little extreme more often than not.
Worst: Vanguard Saga of Heroes; Not that it was all bad but overall, just a really negative environment.
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