Are MMO's meant to be best played with real life friends?

RudyRaccoon

Every MMORPG I've played so far, I'm always left on my own with no-one to talk and play with, making the game really dull and I don't believe in the saying "fun begins at X level", I really think that's not true, the fun should always be there since the first level. World of Warcraft was the first true MMORPG I ever played and it was an old friend who introduced the game to me, I can remember the very first time I ever played that game, I believe I was a Gnome Warrior and it was so fun, I was new and messed up on where to quest at the time and dying by monsters that were a little higher than me of where the friend was, those were good times.

 

But that was 4 years ago, things have greatly changed since then, now I don't have a real life friend anymore (he really ended it since he got into University and became a very busy person), I dislike this 100% solo leveling trend that everyone thinks is how MMO's should be and I hated WoW so much I threw it away into the bin (in other words I don't own that game anymore) because of how disrespectful most people have become, I've tried other MMORPG's since, Lord of the Rings (boring soloing), Warhammer (mobs respawning too quickly and bad graphics), Aion (childish voices and again boring)

 

Since December, I've not played an MMORPG since. Really, where did it all go wrong? After some looking around all over the Internet I notice various people saying "I wouldn't play X if I didn't have my X friend" So are MMORPG's really meant to be played with real friends to get the best experience?

Calintz333

In my opinion playing an mmo without knowing a single person already in it or established in it is very boring. You have no one to talk to and for the first few levels you are extremely lost. I never actually played an mmorpg where I didn't know at least 1 player in real life.  Nor would I. At the very least I think its good to know 1 friend from another game. I plan to move to FFXIV with 3-5 friends from FFXI. Its not real life friends but its people you know people you can trust, and that can share experiences and help each other out. 

Wickedjelly

Well, it would certainly be nice if you can.  Of course, the only real life friend I have that plays mmorpgs like I do is a cheap bastard and only plays f2p ones that have incredibly low pc reqs so considering the games he plays because of that I'm sol.

I never have much trouble meeting people in game though, which considering I'm not the most outgoing of people is a bit surprising.  So, I suppose to an extent it's true just not a necessity. 

Henchdwarf

this issue is also answered by joining a cross game guild.  there are a number of guilds that have active charters in several games.  they usually started in one game by a small group of rl friends, or newbs who banded together to survive the onslaught of the older games.  but once you find a successful and thriving guild, you will find alot of support and fun following you in whichever game you choose.

 

i know it can seem daunting to join a guild, especially a large one, but its really just a forum community, where everyone has to worktogether to make things work at all. 

jrs77

You can make friends in the MMO you're playing aswell. It doesn't have to be friends you know allready, but you definately don't play MMOs alone or in a guild where nobody cares about anything else besides the game itself.

If you can't just be on Vent/TS doing something else not playing the game and talk to the people you're playing with about stuff you'd talk about with your childhood-friends, then there's something fundamentally wrong.

NagelFire

I have tried playing MMO's with a bunch of RL friends, and I never really enjoyed it.  It always seemed like we became rivals instead of leveling buddies and always dueled and etc.  While the people I met ingame and became friends with were not nearly as hyper-agressive / competitive. 

Im not a big fan of heading to school then hearing "LOL MAN I TOTALLY OWNED YOU"!

Aalynia

 I'm lucky in the sense that my husband and I play MMOs together. Even if he's travelling for work, it's something we can do together.

Now, on the other hand, I've made some pretty good friends through MMOs. Even after quitting a game, we'll still talk on Facebook and whatnot.

I can honestly say, from my experience, doing the first few levels by yourself is extremely boring. But once you start getting a level where you can group up with others for instances, battlegrounds, etc., you'll start making friends that you keep coming back to when you need a group. And then you never know--you guys might make a guild (as I have done a couple times), you might join their guild, and so forth. 

Now, I cannot say that having an "irl" friend makes the game good. In my case, my husband and I have characters we level together and we don't level those characters without each other--which, I'm sure you can imagine, can get annoying sometimes if one of us wants to plow ahead, and the other has work to do. Leveling with a friend can cause some issues--running an instance and both want that sword? Ok, both roll need. Sure it's FAIR that one of you get it, but the loser might be a bit irritated. Your friend wants to you to help capture a keep but you're not really interested? Well, that can irritate people too. I'm not saying these are things that will make or break a friendship, but little things can add up and piss people off.

So while yes, having company in an MMO makes a HUGE difference in enjoyability, to ME anyway, it's not as important whether that person is a "real life" friend or a "virtual" friend, so long as he or she gets along well, and enjoys playing, with you. :-)

EDIT: Edited to add commas to separate a dependent clause from the main clause  ;-)

Adam1902

I almost always play MMOs with real life friends.

It really sucks to start out in a game not knowing anyone. There's been times where I've started out in a game with a couple of friends, we found a nice guild, played with them for months etc etc, then my friends quit. That's fine, I play with the guild. Real life friends sometimes just end up logging on to chat, and end up getting back into the game later on and playing again.

Basically, in MMOs, you just need people who you know quite well, and you'll have an enjoyable experiance. An MMO is not a game meant to be played solo.

EDIT: I'd also like to add, that through MMOs I've grown to know some people through the internet who I talk to almost daily, and have met in real life.

Playing an MMO by yourself, is basically like going to an empty skate park with just your skateboard. Sure, you can skate, self-teach yourself some cool new tricks, and it might be fun for a while. But if there's no one to socialise with, and show off your tricks to, and learn new tricks from, you'll think to yourself "what's the point?", and have no motivation to keep going. it's going to become very boring very fast.

It's like anything in life.

EDIT2:

Forgot to say, with my gaming mates, we don't talk about it out in the open where other people who aren't into it can hear about it. It's almost like a little secret we have.

We're closet geeks.

Vortigon

I have found playing with RL friends a negative experience.

Not sure why really, it just works out that way. Maybe being friends in RL doesn't necessarily mean that you can have the same exact relationship within a gaming world for some reason it changes, can't put my finger on it though.

I prefer to make new friends in an MMO. MMO friends that understand when you say 'I am going for a break' or 'that was fun cya later' without putting a guilt trip on you.

Also you can find that your RL friends maybe play a game in a completely different way from how you like to play, and that can mean you feel obliged to play their way but not enjoy it as much as if you had met like minded MMO friends instead, that kinda thing.

Also many of us play MMOs to get away from RL in some way or other, and playing with RL friends can mean you end up talking about the same RL things you are trying to escape from for a few hours. It's hard to emmerse yourself when you are talking about people you know, bills you pay, and what you did at work that day etc

Ihmotepp

None of my rl friends play MMORPGs.

I've always played with people I met in the game.

I suppose hanging out with a real life friend in a game could make almost any  more fun.

However, I don't think a solo friendly game like WoW would be fun for me, rl friends or not.

The solo game mechanics, IMO, are not as fun as games that encourage grouping. I can get in groups in a solo friendly game, no problem, but what we are DOING in that group (before you get to raiding) is really so watered down it's not much fun.

Eating a turd sandwich with a rl friend, is still eating a turd sandwich.

Leucrotta

I hang out and have a pint at the pub or festivals or stuff with my real life friends.

Which imo is a far more ejoyable thing to do then playing an mmo with them

Bloodaxes

Playing with someone else that is not trying to be better then you all the time or you'd rather not play with can get a bit boring sometimes.

All the people I know that have msn play wow and they will probably never move on from it.. when we were in class together last year if they talked about games then it was about wow how he owned in arena 5v5 and the other he was one of the top in 2v2 and such which for me I keep on saying to myself wow your a god geesh..

Another thing is I had convinced long ago a friend to join in my server when he stopped playing so in other words start from fresh, now he played it more then me he was the one that told me about the game damn guy xD but anyways I was a 70 rogue and he just started and eventhough he should have known pretty much everything on quests and such kept on whispering me were he needed to go what he has to do and such thing that after a few hours I just muted him ingame lol.

He sent me a mail to unmute him a few hours later (prob was keeping on whispering me for silly questions) and 2 stacks of linen cloth that I turned into bandages I think or sold them and kept him still muted.

BUT you can always find some people that are not annoying and even if not directly questing together just grouped together and chatting can make it a better experience imo.

So there's the pros and cons on this but imo there's more cons if you have friends like mine >_>

RudyRaccoon

Originally posted by bloodaxes


Playing with someone else that is not trying to be better then you all the time or you'd rather not play with can get a bit boring sometimes.
All the people I know that have msn play wow and they will probably never move on from it.. when we were in class together last year if they talked about games then it was about wow how he owned in arena 5v5 and the other he was one of the top in 2v2 and such which for me I keep on saying to myself wow your a god geesh..
Another thing is I had convinced long ago a friend to join in my server when he stopped playing so in other words start from fresh, now he played it more then me he was the one that told me about the game damn guy xD but anyways I was a 70 rogue and he just started and eventhough he should have known pretty much everything on quests and such kept on whispering me were he needed to go what he has to do and such thing that after a few hours I just muted him ingame lol.
He sent me a mail to unmute him a few hours later (prob was keeping on whispering me for silly questions) and 2 stacks of linen cloth that I turned into bandages I think or sold them and kept him still muted.
BUT you can always find some people that are not annoying and even if not directly questing together just grouped together and chatting can make it a better experience imo.
So there's the pros and cons on this but imo there's more cons if you have friends like mine >_>

 

I don't like rivalry, originally I always thought MMORPG's should be about ADVENTURE, it shouldn't be about the loot or who kills what, it should all be about teamwork and fun. But where is it? There is no adventure without friends.

Wickedjelly

Come to think of it after reading some of the replies in this thread maybe it isn't such a bad thing most of my friends don't care for mmorpgs.  Heh, some people bring up some good thoughts on the issue I wouldn't have thought would be a problem myself but in hindsight I can see why they would arise.

Adam1902

Oh, no I love rivalry. But not with the people I play alongside. In raid-centric games like WoW for example, you find yourself competing with guild members - This, I hate.

However, I love playing alongside friends, guild etc, competing against another guild. Fighting over dungeons, grind locations etc. This is what makes MMOs for me, and this is why I play MMOs with open PK and no instancing, but lets not get off the subject.

I have this one friend though, and every MMO I've played (as in, long-term), we've played together. Rolled classes that work well together, and never do anything at all solo.

s'just the way we roll.

Axehilt

Yeah, my friends never bothered with WOW that long, primarily for the reason that the game mechanics (leveling) split them up.

It's mind-boggling why every MMORPG that releases nowadays doesn't copy Sidekicking from CoX.  That was the most no-brainer-why-weren't-we-doing-this-before feature I ever saw in a MMORPG.

HitechLolife

Since my real life MMO playing friends are in Aion, the answer to your question is NO.

Kyleran

Back in the early days of MMO's, the forced grouping and down time mechanics encouraged people to socialize by giving them time to do so.  It also provided plenty of activities that were common to a large number of players so you were likely make friends easier.

Today's quest based games really  divide the player base and turn everyone into soloers, and there's little opportunity to make friends which is why the OP made this post, because that's the way the games are these days, and it is better to bring your own friends because you're not likely to make many in game.

I've rarely played MMO's with real life friends so I've had to learn to make them or I'd be enjoying them a whole lot less.

 

slessman

While playing with friends can be fun, it is not necessarily the only means one has to enjoying an MMORPG. I have never had any close friends of mine play. I just always put myself out there and get people interested in teaming up with me. That is how I've managed to progress as far as I have in my game. I spend little time alone on Ryzom because I make a special effort to get involved with the in-game community and add friends to my friends list as often as possible.

Tobias4

 Oldschool MMORPGs that emphasized interdependency between players, and the social and massive world aspects of MMORPGs could be played with anyone. You often met new people and took up with them, grouping, learning about secrets of the game, joining guilds, or random groups of people you met when you wandered into an unexplored dungeon.

 

As MMOs become more and more broken down into instances, hold you hand and guide you down a linear path more and more, and become far easier and more profitable to solo, the social aspect almost dissapears unless you bring real life friends into the mix.

 

So, the answer you're looking for is, old (true) MMORPGs can be played with or without friends, new MMORPGs, its extremely difficult to meet people, so you're almost forced to bring your own friends.

 

Take for instance the new Star Wars MMO. 95% soloable, from the devs themselves, they give you NPC companions, everything is instanced so the scripted story can play out, but they give you the option to bring people in with you. Well...since there's no open game world, who are those people going to be ? Certainly not random people you just met. You're going to bring friends with you from OUTSIDE the game. That's new school MMORPG socializing. 

 

It's possible to meet people in new MMORPGs, but its a lot harder/rarer of an occurance, because you don't really need anyone else, until you run into some random quest that says "group quest". 

Scot

I have to join Axehilt in asking the question, why did sidekicking not become a MMO standard? The ability to group with other people no matter what their level was great bonus for grouping on CoX. A real must have if playing with friends.

AoC is the only other game I know that had it and that only allowed levelling up (?). Of all the lost tools I have seen, this has to be the one that no MMO could afford to leave out. But it was virtually ignored by new MMOs, crazy.

uquipu

 I play with my family occasionally.  It's a good way to do something together.

I keep an alt for this cause some of them level up slow, they don't play often or they don't raid etc.

 

iZakaroN

Originally posted by Calintz333


In my opinion playing an mmo without knowing a single person already in it or established in it is very boring. You have no one to talk to and for the first few levels you are extremely lost. I never actually played an mmorpg where I didn't know at least 1 player in real life.  Nor would I. At the very least I think its good to know 1 friend from another game. I plan to move to FFXIV with 3-5 friends from FFXI. Its not real life friends but its people you know people you can trust, and that can share experiences and help each other out. 

 

This is only correct for MMOs with weak social mechanics.

RudyRaccoon

I really don't know what to think now, are you all saying MMO's are now becoming more like their Single Player cousins, the only difference being your in a living world with other random players from around the world, if that's the case then why not turn the genre into the MSPRPG (Massive Single Player Roleplaying Game) because it seems like people don't like to group anymore, people don't want to waste hours grinding with people who are very likely to leave the group anyway when half way the instance.

 

But if you want to play on your own then why play an MMO on your own, it doesn't make any sense? If you wanted to play a RPG type game on your own then that's what Single Player RPG's are for. I think I'll give up on this genre, no-one cares anymore. =(

Josher

 No they don't have to be, but I've never played a MMO that one of my real friends isn't playing as well.  For me, I just don't make friends with people I don't actually know.  I might be friendly but they're not friends and if I'm not invested in the people I'm playing with, I'm not playing the game for long.

Palebane

Making friends in the game is part of the challenge and adventure. If you can't make new friends in an MMORPG, either the game is really really bad, or you just are not very personable. Playing solo in an MMO is a choice, not a requirement. A very very poor chioce in my personal opinion. Especially if you are paying money to play it.