Hardcore ultra defensive BW/ SW fanbois on one side, taking offense at any percieved slight to 'their' game.
Shiny new game casuals attracted by the Star wars brand that are just there for the lulz and to pretty much troll their way through the experience before they quit at the end of the free play, on the other.
Mixed together in a 90% solo based experience, with very little interdependency or need to 'get on', and given a global chat channel to fight in....
What social tools/ mechanisms can BW introduce to help this potentiol situation?
I agree with the fans part but BioWare mo0d the swtor forum very strictly. You won't get the same racist sexist abuse you get in the off-topic forum on this site and you won't find any poilictic forum where the mods allowed racist sexist and god knows what other rants to run free.
Until recently they had an off-topic forum but you were not allowed to talk about anything polictical which was fine IMO. The thing i have a problem with is you could talk about other MMOs in the off-topic forum but BioWare didn't like that so now their is no off-topic forum and you cannot talk about other MMOs anywhere on their site.
Lol..Paranoia BioWare..
What sense does it make to provide an outlet for people to advertise other products on your website?
That's what the off-topic forum on gaming sites is about,it's to discuss ANYTHING that has nothing to do with the game. It's quite easy to work out what off-topic means,i should not have to explain it to you.
I have never been on any dev teams site that has not had an off-topic forum.
You did not answer the question. I said what sense does it make. Why would I allow someone to advertise another game on my website in any form.
The point about the off-topic forum is not about letting people advertise other products it's about having an off-topic forum that allows you to talk about anything and that includes other games.
BioWare obviously had no problem with an off-topic forum for 3 years now as we get closer to release they have closed down the OT forum.
Hardcore ultra defensive BW/ SW fanbois on one side, taking offense at any percieved slight to 'their' game.
Shiny new game casuals attracted by the Star wars brand that are just there for the lulz and to pretty much troll their way through the experience before they quit at the end of the free play, on the other.
Mixed together in a 90% solo based experience, with very little interdependency or need to 'get on', and given a global chat channel to fight in....
What social tools/ mechanisms can BW introduce to help this potentiol situation?
I agree with the fans part but BioWare mo0d the swtor forum very strictly. You won't get the same racist sexist abuse you get in the off-topic forum on this site and you won't find any poilictic forum where the mods allowed racist sexist and god knows what other rants to run free.
Until recently they had an off-topic forum but you were not allowed to talk about anything polictical which was fine IMO. The thing i have a problem with is you could talk about other MMOs in the off-topic forum but BioWare didn't like that so now their is no off-topic forum and you cannot talk about other MMOs anywhere on their site.
Lol..Paranoia BioWare..
What sense does it make to provide an outlet for people to advertise other products on your website?
That's what the off-topic forum on gaming sites is about,it's to discuss ANYTHING that has nothing to do with the game. It's quite easy to work out what off-topic means,i should not have to explain it to you.
I have never been on any dev teams site that has not had an off-topic forum.
You did not answer the question. I said what sense does it make. Why would I allow someone to advertise another game on my website in any form.
The point about the off-topic forum is not about letting people advertise other products it's about having an off-topic forum that allows you to talk about anything and that includes other games.
BioWare obviously had no problem with an off-topic forum for 3 years now as we get closer to release they have closed down the OT forum.
Lol...
Your still not answering the question, you told me what an off topic forum is, which I know, but did not answer the question at all. The gist of your complaint is that you could not talk about other MMOs on their forums, even in off topic, as a company, why would I give you an avenue to talk about a competting product on my website. They don't owe you anything, they are giving you a place to talk about their game as a privelage, it's not a right.
You really should ask this question AFTER launch. I think the game itself will weed out the type of players who don't like it. Due to it's emphasis on story, thankfully, many of the "wrong" type of player won't stick around for long. They'll go back to WoW when they realize you actually have to immerse yourself in the game's story and not just min/max all day every day in some strange epeen competition that they all seem to crave.
On the other side of it, you have the sandbox lovers who won't play it either since it tells them a story and they can't re-enact their SWG fantasies like they want to. So again, the game itself will divide and conquer. What we have afterwards is where we should focus with questions like your own.
Exactly.
In my view you can't talk about a particular MMO's community until it is made up of subscribers, so once the 30 days free is up we'll see what kind of community we have. People signing up on free-to-access forums to troll and bitch is not reflective of a game's community.
It looks like "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" - that's all the reason you need to be sure it's gonna be crammed with kids. What can you do about it? - Not play the game. From what I have learned so far it brings nothing new to the MMORPG-table besides Bioware fluff.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect and all that story-heavy single player goodness. But voiceovers and moral decisions in an MMO? Sounds like COOP-Dragon Age with Lazers to me.
Maybe a gut feeling and biased, well, leaning towards biased because you know, it looks like friggin Clone Wars. This whole franchise, like almost any other traditional scifi/fantasy franchise from the 20th century, has only gone downhill since the multimedia-web 2.0-facebook-kidswithcellphones-revolution.
And as a solid answer to your question. The usual, no global chat, easily manageable filters, unlimited ignore function, heavy moderation.
It looks like "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" - that's all the reason you need to be sure it's gonna be crammed with kids. What can you do about it? - Not play the game. From what I have learned so far it brings nothing new to the MMORPG-table besides Bioware fluff. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect and all that story-heavy single player goodness. But voiceovers and moral decisions in an MMO? Sounds like COOP-Dragon Age with Lazers to me. M
2003 and 2004 game of the year would like a word with you.
It looks like "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" - that's all the reason you need to be sure it's gonna be crammed with kids. What can you do about it? - Not play the game. From what I have learned so far it brings nothing new to the MMORPG-table besides Bioware fluff.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect and all that story-heavy single player goodness. But voiceovers and moral decisions in an MMO? Sounds like COOP-Dragon Age with Lazers to me.
M
2003 and 2004 game of the year would like a word with you.
kotor 1 is irrelvent because it has no mmorpg features to compare.
TSW - AoC - Aion - WOW - EVE - Fallen Earth - Co - Rift - || XNA C# Java Development
Just the idea alone that the vast majority of players will be running around as either Jedi or Sith, flexing with their lightsabers.... makes me already vommit.
No thanks. This game had great potential.... but having a server full of jedi's and sith's isn't exactly really Star Wars and immersive in my book.
The lore always clearly stated that there were only two sith's in the universe at one time. One master and one apprentice. Never more, never less.
That was always the lore and what made it so mysterious and great.
And now for this game George Lucas throw it all overboard and changed it to that long ago there suddenly were lots of Sith's and them even having their own world.
Doesn't make any sense to me and never will. The moment this game and it's classes were announced, a little star wars died in me.
So we don't even have to talk about a possible worst community. They already potentially created it by the design direction of this game.
Sorry, but you are wrong in your interpretation of the numbers of Sith and Jedi by a long shot. You might want to go and do a little research about WHY there were so few Jedi and Sith in the "Original Trilogy" and then start expanding outwards from there. Force Sensitive people are in the minority true, but they are by no means:
"The lore always clearly stated that there were only two sith's in the universe at one time. One master and one apprentice. Never more, never less."
I think you are going to find talk about all sorts of wars and such. Anyways, enjoy the reading, it really is pretty good stuff.
Well I guess I don't know much about that "old" era and for a good reason then.
I like the "new" era better, because both Sith and Jedi were close to extinction, giving a sense of mystery and drama.
The idea that practically everyone on the servers will be running around as either a Sith or a Jedi is an instant turn off for me.
It just turns it into a generic Light saber flexing fest. No thanks.
So why continue to complain? Just don't play - simples!
Maybe its just me, but personally I'll take overly defensive fanbois and casuals over people who only put forth a continuous and pointless litany of bitching about a game they have no intention of ever playing, any day of the week.
I'm with you, I am happy to wait and see what comes out, try it and then comment. If I like it then I will stay, if I don't then I will leave. For those that continue to enjoy it, all power to you - it doesn't mean I think any more or any less of you, after all, we probably haven't even met!
Maybe its just me, but personally I'll take overly defensive fanbois and casuals over people who only put forth a continuous and pointless litany of bitching about a game they have no intention of ever playing, any day of the week.
Well, for one I have clearly stated on these forums I intend on playing, if your talking about me.
But intending on playing dosent mean I can not take an objective and realistic view of the conseuences of the play systems they have in place.
I guess you think saying anything but crawl up it's arse perfect praise about SWtoR is 'bitching' though.
{mod edit}
Surely being 'objective and realistic' is subjective? What you consider 'objective and realistic' may not be what others consider so. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, I don't think making statements like 'I guess you think' etc. is necessary nor adds anything to the discussion.
Judging gaming communities by the forums is problematic at best. The vast majority of people rarely, if ever, post on the forums. You might as well ask what Bioware can do to prevent the effects of global warming on the game.
I absolutely agree, I have been a member of this site for a while now and until today haven't really posted simply because I have seen other posters just get flamed for offering an opinion. I am posting today because I am genuinely interested in this game (because I like SW) and am equally interested to see who flames me and for how long in order to try and judge their mental age...
Hardcore ultra defensive BW/ SW fanbois on one side, taking offense at any percieved slight to 'their' game.
Shiny new game casuals attracted by the Star wars brand that are just there for the lulz and to pretty much troll their way through the experience before they quit at the end of the free play, on the other.
Mixed together in a 90% solo based experience, with very little interdependency or need to 'get on', and given a global chat channel to fight in....
What social tools/ mechanisms can BW introduce to help this potentiol situation?
Part of it is social training. Make unlimited ignore lists. If I ignore you not only do I not see your chats and stuff, but you don't see mine. Now the person put on ignore needs some kind of feedback so he understands his chatting is alienating himself from the community. Not something annoying like a popup (although that sounds like fun) for each ignore, but a count on the chat tab. You effectively cut yourself out of the community.
People need to understand rights and responsiblilities. You want to say what you want when you want, you can't complain about reactions to it. That is punk/cowardly behaviour.
Also, you have to understand that some people are just broken. In a community with a ton of nerds, social skills are even worse. For some, they have this need to create drama by bringing up their opinions into everyone's face. They don't have the social skills to filter themselves and feel entitled to open their mouths with every little thought. The filter is just because you can say something doesn't mean you should.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
It looks like "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" - that's all the reason you need to be sure it's gonna be crammed with kids. What can you do about it? - Not play the game. From what I have learned so far it brings nothing new to the MMORPG-table besides Bioware fluff.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect and all that story-heavy single player goodness. But voiceovers and moral decisions in an MMO? Sounds like COOP-Dragon Age with Lazers to me.
M
2003 and 2004 game of the year would like a word with you.
You know you're - by referring to sologames - just supporting my statement, right? The one that it's a single player game twisted and stretched to fit into the MMORPG genre. Barely.
Regarding the topic, forums are "not" always reflective of "community". So, I don't see how one can form a solid opinion about "community" when no one has played the game yet.
Having said that, too bad that the internetz makes one anonymous. I bet alot of communities would be less bad, or perceived to be, if many were less anonymous. hehe
It looks like "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" - that's all the reason you need to be sure it's gonna be crammed with kids. What can you do about it? - Not play the game. From what I have learned so far it brings nothing new to the MMORPG-table besides Bioware fluff.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect and all that story-heavy single player goodness. But voiceovers and moral decisions in an MMO? Sounds like COOP-Dragon Age with Lazers to me.
M
2003 and 2004 game of the year would like a word with you.
You know you're - by referring to sologames - just supporting my statement, right? The one that it's a single player game twisted and stretched to fit into the MMORPG genre. Barely.
Just saying but, when Kotor came out back then, me and all my gaming friends wished that Kotor had a multiplayer, we thought it would have been a perfect game then, 99/100.
Anyway, you got it upside down. It's not single player game stretched to fit mmorpg genre, it's rather a mmorpg with first time ever in the history of the genre interesting singleplayerlike quality story/leveling side.
I don't like basing communities off of forums. Forum people tend to bicker over the tiniest of things. That lightsaber is a bit too big. I don't like waiting 5 mins for a NPC to talk. This game is the best ever and yours will fail.
Bleh
Forum people tend to get into debates merely to debate, tend to deal in absolutes, tend to state opinions as facts, tend to try and push their views on others, tend to try and talk a game down for a multitude of reasons. have great crystal balls that can tell the future.
These are things that don't tend to happen in the in-game community. People in the in-game community do different things. Talk about OP builds, how X feature is something they've seen before. How to solve the dungeon. (in swtor's case) which choices should i do to get X peice of armor.
Your going to get your problem people (much like you do on forums), who try and refer to this game as a WoW clone because it has certain features. (you get this in every game known to man, even got this in EQ *raises eyebrow*) You get your people who will defend or destroy a game.
I've never experienced this WoW community problem, so i can't comment on it, but i've been in a lot of communities everywhere from GW to EQ to tons of F2P games. You get a slew of people who will cause problems, griefers, you get your soloers, you get your anti socials, you get your talkers, you get your spammers for either guilds or gold (bleh on that last one). General chat is similar to forum chat minus all the fortune telling stuff, you get your helpers and all sorts of people.
Granted the more people you get into one game world the more of this your going to see (all fields) and as the "problem" people tend to be louder then the ones who just play the game in a group/guild or solo don't talk it "appears" that the community is bad. But if you take all those people who are a problem, count them up and then place that next to the amount of people playing the game, then i think you'll find that the percentage of people who are the problem are rather very low, just very very loud.
As for what Bioware can do about this? Not much.
They can ban the gold farmers, put a temp silence on those messing with other players. Ban the exploiters, not make chat global (BW is limiting this to just the planets). Beyond that theres not much they can do. If a person doesn't break the EULA/TOS there isn't much they can do. All MMOs usually implement some kind of ignore feature so i'd be surprised if that wasn't in at launch.
As for the game being 90% solo. Not sure where you got that figure. If you had said something a little more realistic like 40 or 50% i'd might have gone a long with you as i could potentionally see that. But then...that wouldn't have really been a talking point. I have a feeling that 90% solo thing was a sensaltionism/ shocker point so people would pay attention to it (it worked btw, now you know why the news does it)
To counter that point though.
They have world bosses, group quests, world arcs (no those aren't the same thing as group quests) raids, flashpoints, world PvP, instance PvP, group incentives.
adverse to solo stuff which comes down to
Crafting, personal story solo quests and exploration (in some cases)
Like i said, 40-50% i'd might have gone along with you and said sure thats possible. 90%, well i think i've shown my point. You can try and say all those group things only make up 10% but as i don't think you have any proof on that i'm going to call your bluff and ask you to show me exactly how you know this, beyond gut feeling.
In the end, people are people. the more people you get together the more interesting the community gets, the more good and bad people and the more gold farmers you get (yes i think this will be BW biggest problem concerning chat, and yes i do seperate gold sellers/farmers in a seperate group from people because i don't think they should be apart of the community) As for Bioware? i don't think they are fostering any more of a bad community then any other game on the block. So i'll disagree on that point.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
id make the community much worse, which is why im not buying the game. id just complain about it in trade chat, and say how im off to play gw2 instead.
Well you get what you ask for. You make the game cartoony and cater to the younglings then this is what you get. No way of fixing it now. Its a runaway train on the loose....
Well you get what you ask for. You make the game cartoony and cater to the younglings then this is what you get. No way of fixing it now. Its a runaway train on the loose....
Interestingly enough, I think that it's the mature and smart people who can look past a thing like 'cartoony' stylised visuals.
It's the immature people that get stuck on visual bling and think that that's what determines how a game will be. I'm not saying that everyone that keeps hammering in a derogatory manner, about 'cartoony' graphics and that this'll draw younger gamers, is actually projecting and have an undeveloped, immature mind.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Well you get what you ask for. You make the game cartoony and cater to the younglings then this is what you get. No way of fixing it now. Its a runaway train on the loose....
Thank you btw for proving my point in my previous post with the dealing in absolutes and crystalballing oh and i sense a my game is better then yours going on to but thats just gut feeling. :P
As for younglings? I'd rather deal with kids then some adults. They act more like adults then some adults do :P
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
Like in any MMO, find like minded ppl to play with.
Any MMO has annoying players, if its not an immature teenager (or adult acting like a teenager) who just discovered he can curse and harass without much repercussion, then its a stuck up adult that acts elitist as if he owns the game and tells everyone he doesnt like to 'go back to <insert MMO he doesnt like>' .
Any new mmo will have the "worst community" simply because there's such a large conflict of interest in the mmo crowd.
My advice?
Play SW:ToR like you would the old KoToRs, avoiding as many random people as possible and only play with people you know and trust, that way you might have a positive experience in the multiplayer aspects of the game yet.
Shame really, meeting strangers used to be one of my favorite hobbies in mmos.
Well you get what you ask for. You make the game cartoony and cater to the younglings then this is what you get. No way of fixing it now. Its a runaway train on the loose....
Thank you btw for proving my point in my previous post with the dealing in absolutes and crystalballing oh and i sense a my game is better then yours going on to but thats just gut feeling. :P
As for younglings? I'd rather deal with kids then some adults. They act more like adults then some adults do :P
Well you get what you ask for. You make the game cartoony and cater to the younglings then this is what you get. No way of fixing it now. Its a runaway train on the loose....
Interestingly enough, I think that it's the mature and smart people who can look past a thing like 'cartoony' stylised visuals.
WoW's community would like a word with you. Hello Kitty Online would also like to chat.
Comments
The point about the off-topic forum is not about letting people advertise other products it's about having an off-topic forum that allows you to talk about anything and that includes other games.
BioWare obviously had no problem with an off-topic forum for 3 years now as we get closer to release they have closed down the OT forum.
Lol...
Your still not answering the question, you told me what an off topic forum is, which I know, but did not answer the question at all. The gist of your complaint is that you could not talk about other MMOs on their forums, even in off topic, as a company, why would I give you an avenue to talk about a competting product on my website. They don't owe you anything, they are giving you a place to talk about their game as a privelage, it's not a right.
In Bioware we trust!
Exactly.
In my view you can't talk about a particular MMO's community until it is made up of subscribers, so once the 30 days free is up we'll see what kind of community we have. People signing up on free-to-access forums to troll and bitch is not reflective of a game's community.
It looks like "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" - that's all the reason you need to be sure it's gonna be crammed with kids. What can you do about it? - Not play the game. From what I have learned so far it brings nothing new to the MMORPG-table besides Bioware fluff.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect and all that story-heavy single player goodness. But voiceovers and moral decisions in an MMO? Sounds like COOP-Dragon Age with Lazers to me.
Maybe a gut feeling and biased, well, leaning towards biased because you know, it looks like friggin Clone Wars. This whole franchise, like almost any other traditional scifi/fantasy franchise from the 20th century, has only gone downhill since the multimedia-web 2.0-facebook-kidswithcellphones-revolution.
And as a solid answer to your question. The usual, no global chat, easily manageable filters, unlimited ignore function, heavy moderation.
M
2003 and 2004 game of the year would like a word with you.
-Azure Prower
http://www.youtube.com/AzurePrower
kotor 1 is irrelvent because it has no mmorpg features to compare.
TSW - AoC - Aion - WOW - EVE - Fallen Earth - Co - Rift - || XNA C# Java Development
So why continue to complain? Just don't play - simples!
I'm with you, I am happy to wait and see what comes out, try it and then comment. If I like it then I will stay, if I don't then I will leave. For those that continue to enjoy it, all power to you - it doesn't mean I think any more or any less of you, after all, we probably haven't even met!
Surely being 'objective and realistic' is subjective? What you consider 'objective and realistic' may not be what others consider so. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, I don't think making statements like 'I guess you think' etc. is necessary nor adds anything to the discussion.
I absolutely agree, I have been a member of this site for a while now and until today haven't really posted simply because I have seen other posters just get flamed for offering an opinion. I am posting today because I am genuinely interested in this game (because I like SW) and am equally interested to see who flames me and for how long in order to try and judge their mental age...
The title and topic are somewhat baiting, but guys, cool it on the personal attacks and jumping all over each other at this point. Thanks.
To give feedback on moderation, contact mikeb@mmorpg.com
Part of it is social training. Make unlimited ignore lists. If I ignore you not only do I not see your chats and stuff, but you don't see mine. Now the person put on ignore needs some kind of feedback so he understands his chatting is alienating himself from the community. Not something annoying like a popup (although that sounds like fun) for each ignore, but a count on the chat tab. You effectively cut yourself out of the community.
People need to understand rights and responsiblilities. You want to say what you want when you want, you can't complain about reactions to it. That is punk/cowardly behaviour.
Also, you have to understand that some people are just broken. In a community with a ton of nerds, social skills are even worse. For some, they have this need to create drama by bringing up their opinions into everyone's face. They don't have the social skills to filter themselves and feel entitled to open their mouths with every little thought. The filter is just because you can say something doesn't mean you should.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
You know you're - by referring to sologames - just supporting my statement, right? The one that it's a single player game twisted and stretched to fit into the MMORPG genre. Barely.
Regarding the topic, forums are "not" always reflective of "community". So, I don't see how one can form a solid opinion about "community" when no one has played the game yet.
Having said that, too bad that the internetz makes one anonymous. I bet alot of communities would be less bad, or perceived to be, if many were less anonymous. hehe
I think the casual aspect of the game is going to bring most of the nutters because they are going to be the first ones complaining about things.
WoW Sidequests
Just saying but, when Kotor came out back then, me and all my gaming friends wished that Kotor had a multiplayer, we thought it would have been a perfect game then, 99/100.
Anyway, you got it upside down. It's not single player game stretched to fit mmorpg genre, it's rather a mmorpg with first time ever in the history of the genre interesting singleplayerlike quality story/leveling side.
I don't like basing communities off of forums. Forum people tend to bicker over the tiniest of things. That lightsaber is a bit too big. I don't like waiting 5 mins for a NPC to talk. This game is the best ever and yours will fail.
Bleh
Forum people tend to get into debates merely to debate, tend to deal in absolutes, tend to state opinions as facts, tend to try and push their views on others, tend to try and talk a game down for a multitude of reasons. have great crystal balls that can tell the future.
These are things that don't tend to happen in the in-game community. People in the in-game community do different things. Talk about OP builds, how X feature is something they've seen before. How to solve the dungeon. (in swtor's case) which choices should i do to get X peice of armor.
Your going to get your problem people (much like you do on forums), who try and refer to this game as a WoW clone because it has certain features. (you get this in every game known to man, even got this in EQ *raises eyebrow*) You get your people who will defend or destroy a game.
I've never experienced this WoW community problem, so i can't comment on it, but i've been in a lot of communities everywhere from GW to EQ to tons of F2P games. You get a slew of people who will cause problems, griefers, you get your soloers, you get your anti socials, you get your talkers, you get your spammers for either guilds or gold (bleh on that last one). General chat is similar to forum chat minus all the fortune telling stuff, you get your helpers and all sorts of people.
Granted the more people you get into one game world the more of this your going to see (all fields) and as the "problem" people tend to be louder then the ones who just play the game in a group/guild or solo don't talk it "appears" that the community is bad. But if you take all those people who are a problem, count them up and then place that next to the amount of people playing the game, then i think you'll find that the percentage of people who are the problem are rather very low, just very very loud.
As for what Bioware can do about this? Not much.
They can ban the gold farmers, put a temp silence on those messing with other players. Ban the exploiters, not make chat global (BW is limiting this to just the planets). Beyond that theres not much they can do. If a person doesn't break the EULA/TOS there isn't much they can do. All MMOs usually implement some kind of ignore feature so i'd be surprised if that wasn't in at launch.
As for the game being 90% solo. Not sure where you got that figure. If you had said something a little more realistic like 40 or 50% i'd might have gone a long with you as i could potentionally see that. But then...that wouldn't have really been a talking point. I have a feeling that 90% solo thing was a sensaltionism/ shocker point so people would pay attention to it (it worked btw, now you know why the news does it)
To counter that point though.
They have world bosses, group quests, world arcs (no those aren't the same thing as group quests) raids, flashpoints, world PvP, instance PvP, group incentives.
adverse to solo stuff which comes down to
Crafting, personal story solo quests and exploration (in some cases)
Like i said, 40-50% i'd might have gone along with you and said sure thats possible. 90%, well i think i've shown my point. You can try and say all those group things only make up 10% but as i don't think you have any proof on that i'm going to call your bluff and ask you to show me exactly how you know this, beyond gut feeling.
In the end, people are people. the more people you get together the more interesting the community gets, the more good and bad people and the more gold farmers you get (yes i think this will be BW biggest problem concerning chat, and yes i do seperate gold sellers/farmers in a seperate group from people because i don't think they should be apart of the community) As for Bioware? i don't think they are fostering any more of a bad community then any other game on the block. So i'll disagree on that point.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
id make the community much worse, which is why im not buying the game. id just complain about it in trade chat, and say how im off to play gw2 instead.
Well you get what you ask for. You make the game cartoony and cater to the younglings then this is what you get. No way of fixing it now. Its a runaway train on the loose....
Interestingly enough, I think that it's the mature and smart people who can look past a thing like 'cartoony' stylised visuals.
It's the immature people that get stuck on visual bling and think that that's what determines how a game will be. I'm not saying that everyone that keeps hammering in a derogatory manner, about 'cartoony' graphics and that this'll draw younger gamers, is actually projecting and have an undeveloped, immature mind.
Just some of those, the usual suspects I guess
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Thank you btw for proving my point in my previous post with the dealing in absolutes and crystalballing oh and i sense a my game is better then yours going on to but thats just gut feeling. :P
As for younglings? I'd rather deal with kids then some adults. They act more like adults then some adults do :P
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
Like in any MMO, find like minded ppl to play with.
Any MMO has annoying players, if its not an immature teenager (or adult acting like a teenager) who just discovered he can curse and harass without much repercussion, then its a stuck up adult that acts elitist as if he owns the game and tells everyone he doesnt like to 'go back to <insert MMO he doesnt like>' .
Any new mmo will have the "worst community" simply because there's such a large conflict of interest in the mmo crowd.
My advice?
Play SW:ToR like you would the old KoToRs, avoiding as many random people as possible and only play with people you know and trust, that way you might have a positive experience in the multiplayer aspects of the game yet.
Shame really, meeting strangers used to be one of my favorite hobbies in mmos.
Only a Sith deals in absolutes.
WoW's community would like a word with you. Hello Kitty Online would also like to chat.