MMORPG grouping declines exponentially with the decline in MMORPG community.
This is to be expected.
Im not sure Rift is a good example, since the grouping in that game, especially endgame, was nuts in terms of difficulty. Im sure they have dumbed that game down several fold by now however to compensate for the total lack of mmorpg community that isnt related to focus firing as a huge zerg on single players then yelling "baddie".
SWTOR is a good example however, 1-50 solo, optional group content can be bypassed with companions subbing in for real people (and often preforming better). They re repeatable daily and 100% optional.
I do like GW2's claimed attempt that removing the dedicated healer will increase fun, most people dont want the responsibility and are terrible when they try. Its a sad loss but 100% needed in todays state of MMORPG being chocked full of MMOFPS and MMOAction players who hate RPG aspects.
That comic the OP posted is very true, right down to the name going from an RP name to the troll name. Things have changed drastically. I actually remember not wanting to use websites while playing RPG's as to not ruin the fun.
Rift was the first time I experienced public quests.... I found it to be a mixed bag.
Like several people have said, on many occasions I would auto group with others and we would defeat the boss or whatever and disband without even talking. This tended to happen most on rifts and invasions but also happened a lot elsewhere.
However, there were also many times when I would group up with some people, complete all the parts of an invasion in zerg style, and then once its all done people start chatting and asking others in the by now massive group if they want to do quests, dungeons etc and several parties would spawn and off you go to do dungeons and end up making friends. This is where the public quest system shines - throwing people in the same area at roughly the same level with roughly the same quests together that wouldnt normally be grouping.
I am normally quite chatty when in groups and try to strike up a conversation, but unfortunately there are people that just dont talk. Some of them may speak a different language, fine, but I just reckon people now are just a lot less social on MMOs than they used to be.
Its this chatting that promotes people to group with other people, and throwing people together kind of promotes this, however, when you get to a stage where everyone knows what they are doing / have to do for an event, they dont need to talk, so a lot of people dont.
The biggest plus to the public quest type system for me though is when you are on your way to / halfway through a quest and you come across someone else. You automatically join them and dont end up competing for kills etc. I made many friends in Rift this way.
When you create a group manually though, you always have a specific quest or dungeon etc in mind so tend to be focused on that. Whilst you are creating the group you can chat and get to know the other people, and socialise whilst you are waiting for the group to fill up which leads to better coorperation during the quest.
Unfortunately, these groups tend to disband after you have done the specific thing the group was formed for and people go their separate ways. Since these groups are formed in cities where there are most people, you tend to get people at different stages, but havent done that particular quest which is why they are LFG in the city. Once they are done they go back to whatever stage they were at in their questing.
All in all, Id say public quests are an improvement over manual grouping, but definately not the be all and end all.
So yeah, a mixed bag.
Cluck Cluck, Gibber Gibber, My Old Mans A Mushroom
The real problem with the social aspect in mmo's is simply intolerance. People are not willing to put up with the problems of some other person on the internet. Elitists won't tolerate noobs. casuals won't tolerate elitists. Hetero won't tolerate homo. Granola won't tolerate heteroid. Homo won't tolerate skimmed and everybody is down on 2%.
In earlier days, there were not so many people out to make a legacy and be known. Most people just liked the idea of playing a game with a bunch of other people. It's how most people still start out in their first mmo. After they realize how poorly their ignorance is tolerated, they tend to solo the game until they figure out whats going on. Someone usually brings them into their guild eventually, but the more they learn, the more intolerant they too become.
GW2 isn't a solution, it's just a way out. People don't have to associate, but it's not going to stop everyone from finding the groups of people that they just simply can't tolerate.
Originally posted by gladosrev2Speaking of how bad tagging of mobs is, I have jsut installed AoC, to kill time until GW2, and found a player killing my mobs in the questing area. I don't really feel like inviting him and chatting right now, but the game forces me to if I want the kills shared. So, I just logged out, and will continue later once the spot is free. If this were GW2 I could just join the killing and pretend I'm alone and it would not interfere with either of us.
I just don't get why people play MMO's when they don't want to group/play with other players.
I played AoC and some of the best experiences I had with the game was random grouping with people, especially one guy showing me the ropes in one of the areas we were in, swimming down a river do travel faster and avoid mobs.
i don't think it is the solution but it is a step in the right direction at least.
MMO communities used to be really tight but now you usually only socialize with your guild if even that.
For MMOs to get awesome communities again we need more social stuff but you have to start somewhere.
this is indeed a step forward, and i believe This along with the multi guild system will be a significant social improvement at least guild-wise since it would expand communication between you and several guilds (if your alts are in different guilds). sounds like it.... thats definitely better than stick with 1 guild that may become inactive for some time but you still dont want to leave it.
Originally posted by cutthecrap Both GW2 and Rift will use a form of casual grouping. And While I think it's a good solution and a step up, I also wonder: will it really offer everything that some people are pinning all their hopes on it to be? I've played Rift for a while, and while it was true that casual grouping happened a lot and was less of a fuss than grouping in other MMO's, there was a hell of a lot of times that I casually grouped up, and that there was no talk at all, people left and joined, as much of strangers to eachother as they were before. It certainly didn't resemble the group bonding that happened in the early MMO's like EQ or DAoC. Heck, even the grouping on the classic EQ servers that were started last year and a few years back didn't resemble the group bonding that happened in EQ a decade ago, and the people joining those EQ progression servers were EQ enthusiasts.
Which makes me somewhat sceptic about it: sure, casual grouping in GW2 will be fun too, but will it really be the savior of community on servers that some think it'll be, or will it be like I csaw happen in Rift? To me, it looks like the MMORPG community has changed from what it was, and that's the main problem these days: maybe it was because everyone was new to MMORPG's and more openminded and accepting towards things, or maybe the demography of MMO gamers of those early years is different from the current MMO demography, more roleplay and RPG enthusiasts and people who were more flexible in many ways, or MMO gamers having become jaded where before in the beginning they were fresh and eager to play in an MMORPG. I don't know what the reason exactly is; but I do know that MMO gamers back then managed to cope with a lot more stuff and still have fun than now, where as now the majority of MMO gamers have less tolerance, patience and flexibility to handle those. Things that MMO gamers dealt with in early MMO's - forced grouping, XP death penalty, item loss - would have the current average MMO gamer running for the hills screaming 'fire'.
So, will casual grouping like in GW2 be the savior for server community? I sure hope so, but how MMO community is these days, I'm kinda sceptic about it. I know I'll think thrice before I pick my definitive server.
edit: a picture that I think describes very well this difference between MMO gamers back then and now is this one
Ive lately played some free 2 play mmo's and its even worse then the comic decribed.
In Darkfall it was a littlebit like old times when you grouped for pvp even with strangers you talked and communicate alot make jokes and had fun. Also i met alot of players in world that started talking or ask if you needed help gave me a little bit of old days feeling back when players where alot more social and helpfull. But themeparks and free 2 play so far for me a worsed communitys ive experienced.
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77 CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now)) MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB PSU:Corsair AX1200i OS:Windows 10 64bit
Unnecessarily inconvenient grouping was a terrible part of earlier MMORPGs.
MMORPGs need to make grouping painless if they want grouping to be a primary feature of the game. They should also make it fairly painless to befriend players. I think at the end of a dungeon ToR provided a prominent button to friend each of the players you just grouped with, and while almost everything else about ToR grouping was a big hassle that particular element definitely deserves to be in each game.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Unnecessarily inconvenient grouping was a terrible part of earlier MMORPGs.
MMORPGs need to make grouping painless if they want grouping to be a primary feature of the game. They should also make it fairly painless to befriend players. I think at the end of a dungeon ToR provided a prominent button to friend each of the players you just grouped with, and while almost everything else about ToR grouping was a big hassle that particular element definitely deserves to be in each game.
I both agree and disagree.
The fact that you were pretty much useless without a group was annoying. The fact that you NEEDED a tank and healer was aggravating, because it often forced large portions of the population to sit on the sidelines hopeing for an opening, because the only thing groups ever needed was those two (healers esp)
The upside though, was there was a lot more socializing and having fun with people. Some of my favorite MMO moments come from hanging out with people killing Dervs or SGs.
A game that encouraged that kinda interaction but didn't force you to need a specific party makeup wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Both GW2 and Rift will use a form of casual grouping. And While I think it's a good solution and a step up, I also wonder: will it really offer everything that some people are pinning all their hopes on it to be?
I've played Rift for a while, and while it was true that casual grouping happened a lot and was less of a fuss than grouping in other MMO's, there was a hell of a lot of times that I casually grouped up, and that there was no talk at all, people left and joined, as much of strangers to eachother as they were before. It certainly didn't resemble the group bonding that happened in the early MMO's like EQ or DAoC.
Heck, even the grouping on the classic EQ servers that were started last year and a few years back didn't resemble the group bonding that happened in EQ a decade ago, and the people joining those EQ progression servers were EQ enthusiasts.
Which makes me somewhat sceptic about it: sure, casual grouping in GW2 will be fun too, but will it really be the savior of community on servers that some think it'll be, or will it be like I csaw happen in Rift?
To me, it looks like the MMORPG community has changed from what it was, and that's the main problem these days: maybe it was because everyone was new to MMORPG's and more openminded and accepting towards things, or maybe the demography of MMO gamers of those early years is different from the current MMO demography, more roleplay and RPG enthusiasts and people who were more flexible in many ways, or MMO gamers having become jaded where before in the beginning they were fresh and eager to play in an MMORPG.
I don't know what the reason exactly is; but I do know that MMO gamers back then managed to cope with a lot more stuff and still have fun than now, where as now the majority of MMO gamers have less tolerance, patience and flexibility to handle those.
Things that MMO gamers dealt with in early MMO's - forced grouping, XP death penalty, item loss - would have the current average MMO gamer running for the hills screaming 'fire'.
So, will casual grouping like in GW2 be the savior for server community? I sure hope so, but how MMO community is these days, I'm kinda sceptic about it. I know I'll think thrice before I pick my definitive server.
edit: a picture that I think describes very well this difference between MMO gamers back then and now is this one
I will admit that I am way more jaded and cynical than I was when I first started playing MMORPGs. I played EVE as my second MMORPG and that game burned a lot of idealism out of me.
This cynicism is also a big reason why I no longer put up with things like forced grouping, harsh death penalties or item loss. In the 'old days' I was naive enough to think that putting up with all this inane stuff would give access to special parts of the game that would make the game experience even better. After a while I realized that that was a big lie. If a game had those grindy elements, it was becaue the devs wanted to keep me playing and paying. All I had to look to was more of the same forever.
One thing I noticed about that cartoon. The game portrayed does not seem to have changed at all over the years. The player seems to be grinding the same crab mobs as he was years before.
Well said.
The problem OP from the tone of your post is that you think it should be a certain way. Things change so adapt. Also, thinking that things should be a certain way makes you approach from an distorted reality. If you think about the good old days, how many MMORPG options did you have when UO what released? Compare that with the number of options you have today. Now understand how those choices affect what people will do. In the past, you sucked it up and found a way to have fun whereas today why should a player have to suck it up?
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?"
The problem OP from the tone of your post is that you think it should be a certain way. Things change so adapt. Also, thinking that things should be a certain way makes you approach from an distorted reality. If you think about the good old days, how many MMORPG options did you have when UO what released? Compare that with the number of options you have today. Now understand how those choices affect what people will do. In the past, you sucked it up and found a way to have fun whereas today why should a player have to suck it up?
Not the case, the distorted reality thing or the 'certain way' thing: in fact, everything you say I've been saying as well. There were less MMO's, people were new and not jaded or oversaturated with MMO gaming yet, people had less choice and less experience making them more open to deal with obstacles in the MMO's that WERE available, instead of opting for a path of least resistance = people were less intolerant towards things due to different circumstances.
Circumstances were different, people have changed, MMO playerbase is different than what it was. What you said doesn't contradict what I said.
Casual auto-groups like WoW's dungeon finder, Rift's instant adventures, WAR's open parties, etc., are certainly less social than "real" groups.
But the thing to consider is: how many people are in casual groups instead of soloing, compared to how many are in casual groups instead of "real" groups.
Given how solo-focused MMOs have been for many years, I'm confident that casual auto-groups do make the game more social - they move more players from soloing to semi-social auto-grouping, than they suck out of genuinely social grouping into semi-social auto-grouping.
I think it's a good idea to have a casual grouping function. Since we're all talking about how much we used to like it when we grouped up with people back in the day, I don't see how it can be anything other than a good thing.
Complaining that there's no communication in such groups is amusing. "We completed entire invasions without a single word spoken". Well, SOMEONE has to start the conversation. If it's incredibly quiet and people aren't really getting it together in a meaningful way, it takes just one person to say something.
What I'm seeing, is a bunch of whining from people that are a part of the problem. No one typed anything you say? They were exactly like you. They too were just sitting and watching to see if anyone would say anything, to see if it was a social bunch of people they were with. It wasn't, they were as antisocial as you.
Games started catering for the anti-social people too. I've read countless threads in countless games where people wanted to pretty solo all the content. Why on earth they want to play an mmo then beats me. The problem with these tryhards is not that they would rather play alone than in a group with bad players, it's that they would simply rather play alone. They've spent far too many hours on such games, and have lost the ability to relate to other people completely. Again, I don't understand why they want to play a massively multi player game if they are going to play alone. No mmo comes close to a single player game for quality of story/graphics/immersion, the only thing an mmo has going for it is the social aspect.
I always start up some kind of conversation, if only with a "Hi" or "Hey" or "What we killing?" or "Hey, need some help?" or "You doin X quest too?".
Instead of complaining about everyone else's attitudes in these games, take a good look at your own. If you aren't prepared to get the conversation rolling, don't be expecting that anyone else in your party is any different from you. Try putting games down for a bit, going outside, getting a job maybe and relearn how to relate to people.
Games started catering for the anti-social people too. I've read countless threads in countless games where people wanted to pretty solo all the content. Why on earth they want to play an mmo then beats me. The problem with these tryhards is not that they would rather play alone than in a group with bad players, it's that they would simply rather play alone. They've spent far too many hours on such games, and have lost the ability to relate to other people completely. Again, I don't understand why they want to play a massively multi player game if they are going to play alone. No mmo comes close to a single player game for quality of story/graphics/immersion, the only thing an mmo has going for it is the social aspect.
Introverts such as myself play alone in a virtual world for the same reason the spend time along in the real world: to recharge.
And yes, the only thing going for an MMO is the social aspect. That in itself can change, because the online aspect of an mmorpg gives it huge advantages over offline games, which are completely unutilized. Most people appreciate that social parts of mmo's is a huge boon, some of would just appreciate if there was a way an mmo could provide more stimulating conversation than small talk.
Comments
MMORPG grouping declines exponentially with the decline in MMORPG community.
This is to be expected.
Im not sure Rift is a good example, since the grouping in that game, especially endgame, was nuts in terms of difficulty. Im sure they have dumbed that game down several fold by now however to compensate for the total lack of mmorpg community that isnt related to focus firing as a huge zerg on single players then yelling "baddie".
SWTOR is a good example however, 1-50 solo, optional group content can be bypassed with companions subbing in for real people (and often preforming better). They re repeatable daily and 100% optional.
I do like GW2's claimed attempt that removing the dedicated healer will increase fun, most people dont want the responsibility and are terrible when they try. Its a sad loss but 100% needed in todays state of MMORPG being chocked full of MMOFPS and MMOAction players who hate RPG aspects.
That comic the OP posted is very true, right down to the name going from an RP name to the troll name. Things have changed drastically. I actually remember not wanting to use websites while playing RPG's as to not ruin the fun.
For the guildless solo'er it's a better option but still guilds would fix the need for it. I don't see any harm in having a public group system.
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
Rift was the first time I experienced public quests.... I found it to be a mixed bag.
Like several people have said, on many occasions I would auto group with others and we would defeat the boss or whatever and disband without even talking. This tended to happen most on rifts and invasions but also happened a lot elsewhere.
However, there were also many times when I would group up with some people, complete all the parts of an invasion in zerg style, and then once its all done people start chatting and asking others in the by now massive group if they want to do quests, dungeons etc and several parties would spawn and off you go to do dungeons and end up making friends. This is where the public quest system shines - throwing people in the same area at roughly the same level with roughly the same quests together that wouldnt normally be grouping.
I am normally quite chatty when in groups and try to strike up a conversation, but unfortunately there are people that just dont talk. Some of them may speak a different language, fine, but I just reckon people now are just a lot less social on MMOs than they used to be.
Its this chatting that promotes people to group with other people, and throwing people together kind of promotes this, however, when you get to a stage where everyone knows what they are doing / have to do for an event, they dont need to talk, so a lot of people dont.
The biggest plus to the public quest type system for me though is when you are on your way to / halfway through a quest and you come across someone else. You automatically join them and dont end up competing for kills etc. I made many friends in Rift this way.
When you create a group manually though, you always have a specific quest or dungeon etc in mind so tend to be focused on that. Whilst you are creating the group you can chat and get to know the other people, and socialise whilst you are waiting for the group to fill up which leads to better coorperation during the quest.
Unfortunately, these groups tend to disband after you have done the specific thing the group was formed for and people go their separate ways. Since these groups are formed in cities where there are most people, you tend to get people at different stages, but havent done that particular quest which is why they are LFG in the city. Once they are done they go back to whatever stage they were at in their questing.
All in all, Id say public quests are an improvement over manual grouping, but definately not the be all and end all.
So yeah, a mixed bag.
Cluck Cluck, Gibber Gibber, My Old Mans A Mushroom
The real problem with the social aspect in mmo's is simply intolerance. People are not willing to put up with the problems of some other person on the internet. Elitists won't tolerate noobs. casuals won't tolerate elitists. Hetero won't tolerate homo. Granola won't tolerate heteroid. Homo won't tolerate skimmed and everybody is down on 2%.
In earlier days, there were not so many people out to make a legacy and be known. Most people just liked the idea of playing a game with a bunch of other people. It's how most people still start out in their first mmo. After they realize how poorly their ignorance is tolerated, they tend to solo the game until they figure out whats going on. Someone usually brings them into their guild eventually, but the more they learn, the more intolerant they too become.
GW2 isn't a solution, it's just a way out. People don't have to associate, but it's not going to stop everyone from finding the groups of people that they just simply can't tolerate.
On PvP servers you do need communication. I guess that those red-tagged "mobs" are a player generated game-mechanic, rather then by design.
I've never experienced an epic tale that involved anyone "LFG."
So yes, it's the right direction towards immersion.
I just don't get why people play MMO's when they don't want to group/play with other players.
I played AoC and some of the best experiences I had with the game was random grouping with people, especially one guy showing me the ropes in one of the areas we were in, swimming down a river do travel faster and avoid mobs.
this is indeed a step forward, and i believe This along with the multi guild system will be a significant social improvement at least guild-wise since it would expand communication between you and several guilds (if your alts are in different guilds). sounds like it.... thats definitely better than stick with 1 guild that may become inactive for some time but you still dont want to leave it.
Ive lately played some free 2 play mmo's and its even worse then the comic decribed.
In Darkfall it was a littlebit like old times when you grouped for pvp even with strangers you talked and communicate alot make jokes and had fun. Also i met alot of players in world that started talking or ask if you needed help gave me a little bit of old days feeling back when players where alot more social and helpfull. But themeparks and free 2 play so far for me a worsed communitys ive experienced.
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77
CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k
GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now))
MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB
PSU:Corsair AX1200i
OS:Windows 10 64bit
Unnecessarily inconvenient grouping was a terrible part of earlier MMORPGs.
MMORPGs need to make grouping painless if they want grouping to be a primary feature of the game. They should also make it fairly painless to befriend players. I think at the end of a dungeon ToR provided a prominent button to friend each of the players you just grouped with, and while almost everything else about ToR grouping was a big hassle that particular element definitely deserves to be in each game.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
I both agree and disagree.
The fact that you were pretty much useless without a group was annoying. The fact that you NEEDED a tank and healer was aggravating, because it often forced large portions of the population to sit on the sidelines hopeing for an opening, because the only thing groups ever needed was those two (healers esp)
The upside though, was there was a lot more socializing and having fun with people. Some of my favorite MMO moments come from hanging out with people killing Dervs or SGs.
A game that encouraged that kinda interaction but didn't force you to need a specific party makeup wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Well said.
The problem OP from the tone of your post is that you think it should be a certain way. Things change so adapt. Also, thinking that things should be a certain way makes you approach from an distorted reality. If you think about the good old days, how many MMORPG options did you have when UO what released? Compare that with the number of options you have today. Now understand how those choices affect what people will do. In the past, you sucked it up and found a way to have fun whereas today why should a player have to suck it up?
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?"
Not the case, the distorted reality thing or the 'certain way' thing: in fact, everything you say I've been saying as well. There were less MMO's, people were new and not jaded or oversaturated with MMO gaming yet, people had less choice and less experience making them more open to deal with obstacles in the MMO's that WERE available, instead of opting for a path of least resistance = people were less intolerant towards things due to different circumstances.
Circumstances were different, people have changed, MMO playerbase is different than what it was. What you said doesn't contradict what I said.
Casual auto-groups like WoW's dungeon finder, Rift's instant adventures, WAR's open parties, etc., are certainly less social than "real" groups.
But the thing to consider is: how many people are in casual groups instead of soloing, compared to how many are in casual groups instead of "real" groups.
Given how solo-focused MMOs have been for many years, I'm confident that casual auto-groups do make the game more social - they move more players from soloing to semi-social auto-grouping, than they suck out of genuinely social grouping into semi-social auto-grouping.
I think it's a good idea to have a casual grouping function. Since we're all talking about how much we used to like it when we grouped up with people back in the day, I don't see how it can be anything other than a good thing.
Complaining that there's no communication in such groups is amusing. "We completed entire invasions without a single word spoken". Well, SOMEONE has to start the conversation. If it's incredibly quiet and people aren't really getting it together in a meaningful way, it takes just one person to say something.
What I'm seeing, is a bunch of whining from people that are a part of the problem. No one typed anything you say? They were exactly like you. They too were just sitting and watching to see if anyone would say anything, to see if it was a social bunch of people they were with. It wasn't, they were as antisocial as you.
Games started catering for the anti-social people too. I've read countless threads in countless games where people wanted to pretty solo all the content. Why on earth they want to play an mmo then beats me. The problem with these tryhards is not that they would rather play alone than in a group with bad players, it's that they would simply rather play alone. They've spent far too many hours on such games, and have lost the ability to relate to other people completely. Again, I don't understand why they want to play a massively multi player game if they are going to play alone. No mmo comes close to a single player game for quality of story/graphics/immersion, the only thing an mmo has going for it is the social aspect.
I always start up some kind of conversation, if only with a "Hi" or "Hey" or "What we killing?" or "Hey, need some help?" or "You doin X quest too?".
Instead of complaining about everyone else's attitudes in these games, take a good look at your own. If you aren't prepared to get the conversation rolling, don't be expecting that anyone else in your party is any different from you. Try putting games down for a bit, going outside, getting a job maybe and relearn how to relate to people.
Introverts such as myself play alone in a virtual world for the same reason the spend time along in the real world: to recharge.
And yes, the only thing going for an MMO is the social aspect. That in itself can change, because the online aspect of an mmorpg gives it huge advantages over offline games, which are completely unutilized. Most people appreciate that social parts of mmo's is a huge boon, some of would just appreciate if there was a way an mmo could provide more stimulating conversation than small talk.
Rest of your post I agree with
.