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Does a MMORPG community "matter"?
neiltaco
Member Posts: 33
Does it really matter if you are playing with friendly players who help out newbies of a MMORPG or if you are playing with unwelcoming or immature players?
I need replies please.
Comments
Well if you plan on the game surviving for long periods of time then yes you better believe it does. Who would want to play a game for 5 years with a bunch of griefers? Look at EQ. EQ has always had a strong community. It had its share of bozo's too but at the heart there is a solid core. Now that the bozo's have all gone to WoW the EQ community is absolutely amazing. I'm having the best times i've had in 5 1/2 years. EQ will be around long after WoW falls out of favor based solely on its community. So yes if you expect your game to survive the "latest and greatest" it is very important. Many times the latest and greatest are just mere distractions to the truly great games.
Thank god for WoW is all i can say. I cant even describe the difference in the EQ community over the last month. Take away all the griefers, beggers and children and your left with a game of solid, mature and very helpful individuals. A game with more content than any other game going. A game with a company that has a proven track record of putting out new content regularly. Sure SOE has its own issues with bugs and general lack of intellect but its nothing i cant live with. Why? because the commuity is teh pwn!
Make a difference!
Thanks for the replies.
Oh, and do you guys know how to attract a friendly community and avoid attracting griefers?
Playing Fallen Earth.
The less the game enforce any gameplay on you, the less the player community matter.
Exemple: If you need to group or raid at a poing, then the player community matter extremely, if you cant bear them, it is certainly going to be awfull. If the game was only offering options and not enforcing any gameplay(good soloing), then the community will matter a lot less.
- "Solo is, will always be, the main market. A MMORPG that succeed with little or no solo appeal is doing great considering they are ignoring the main player base.''
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
What most people dont realize is that without the community, there's no point to playing a MMORPG. Why even bother with the online aspect if you're never going to talk to another player?
Also, with a great community, a game can be pushed far beyond it's original limits in terms of immersiveness, action, compelling story, and intrigue.
Lets say you have your generic MMORPG. You dont ever talk to anybody. All you do is kill, loot, sell. Kill, loot, sell. There's pretty much nothing to do other than that.
On the other hand, lets bring the community in. Now, you have parties to run around and try taking on big monsters through tactics, or just sheer luck. You have community hosted events, everything from scavenger hunts to PVP tournaments, to things like raves and parties. Things you cant simulate with a game engine. Also, you have the economy. In a singleplayer game, you'll never be able to have any fun in selling your wares, either because there's nobody to really sell it to, or they always buy for a predictable price. With the community, now you have the option of holding back until that right moment to sell, or haggle the cost with people. How well you do isnt determined by the game, it's determined by your trading skills.
These are only a few examples of how community is essential to MMOs. I'm sure you can find more by playing online. But above all, enjoy your fellow players. The experience can go a long way.
I agree totally with TigerRei! The community in an MMO gives the players so much more to do than grind levels and get piles of swag. Some of the best times I have had in MMOs involved community activities. I would not have stayed with SWG nearly as long as I did without the guild I was in. We got together and had parties and even did a naked raid on Kor Vella. Without a community of people who wanted to be social and interact with others all you were left with was the grind.
I recently played City of Heroes, which has some nice features, but the community was lacking. I mean in EQ if you got in a pick up lots of times you would meet someone cool and add them to your friends list. But in CoH I found the groups were more people who just wanted the XP and to finish the missions as fast as possible. There was almost no interaction and forget about RP... Of course that could have just been the server I was on, but to me the community just wasn't there and I lost interest really fast.
Well it'd seem pretty self explanatory now after seeing the results.
To me Community is the only reason I play online games. If the game is getting over run by immaturity then I leave the game but I never expect anyone to help me as a newbie. I kind of like the feeling of entering the game fresh and working my way to the top. If someone helps me I'm all the more appreciative but I will remember them always if they roleplay the "freebies" or "gifts" into my characters "life" and not mine. Good roleplay always hallmarks in my mind.... maybe because it's so different.