"in the real world you don't talk to random strangers, why should games have mechanics to encourage you to do so?"
I've heard this too and I actually have a respsonse to this that puts the issue to bed quite nicely:
In the "real world" If someone throws a party and invites a lot of people, many who may not know each other, they will often have things to do or offer games to play to get the people who don't know each other to interact. To break the ice. This is a common dynamic. The better a host does in getting their guests to mingle the more successful the party will be seen to have been.
In MMO's the devs are the hosts, the players are the guests. Its makes complete sense that the devs provide 'ice breakers'.
Complaint: Negated
Excellent way to look at it, I agree that it makes perfect sense to frame it in this light, and I'll be using this next time it gets tossed into the discussion.
Sorry, I don't see the relevance.
You see, I go to the 'devs' parties' for the booze and the music, not to get tangled up in the inanities of dealing with people that I otherwise wouldn't give the time of day. I don't play games to make new friends, I play them as an entertaining diversion. If I wanted to make new friends, I'd start using Facebook.
As for MMOs, other players are just moving scenery (no offense) that have algorithms more complex than any AI could possibly match. When I group, I do so out of necessity so I can experience the content, not because I enjoy waiting for foot draggers, chasing the zergers, listening to the whiners or putting up with the know-it-all dictators. I prefer to play at my own pace and follow where my nose leads, not be beholden to a bunch of other peoples' whims simply because, for the moment, we all want to achieve the same loose objective.
Granted, there are very rare occasions where I come across someone that I feel is worth the investment of time to get to know, and possibly, befriend. But that would be someone I would feel the same about in RL. Besides, I have enough friends. I'm not looking to add more.
The bottom line is that if there were single player games that offered the same level of complexity, content and persistence as the MMOs I play, I'd be playing them. But there aren't, so I'm stuck with all of you touchy-feely socializer types. I don't dislike you or wish you ill. I just don't care to know you. It's really as simple as that.
1) The Themepark game style: All you have to do these days is push some buttons and you are grouped, moved to location, and run through the content. There is no need, not even a reason, to talk to other players. Before this most recent and easy version, you ran to location. At most you sent out a "LFG", and even that was automated if you wanted. Add in Zoning by levels, "Instanced" content, and the new "Phasing", and players are separated by design.
I agree with you but I happen to like the phasing at least in Warcraft because they cannot go into a world where if you blow up a bridge everyone sees it because of tech limitations on the engine, but at least I can see that I blew up that bridge. While it's not a perfect thing in case someones does need help I don't like the world staying the same after I've done a great questline, say like Wrathgate, loved that quest to death but that's probably cause it was their first Cutscene type thing they did in the game. Now if I had finished that and everytime I flew over it it looked like it did before that last cutscene I'd be pissed.
"in the real world you don't talk to random strangers, why should games have mechanics to encourage you to do so?"
I've heard this too and I actually have a respsonse to this that puts the issue to bed quite nicely:
In the "real world" If someone throws a party and invites a lot of people, many who may not know each other, they will often have things to do or offer games to play to get the people who don't know each other to interact. To break the ice. This is a common dynamic. The better a host does in getting their guests to mingle the more successful the party will be seen to have been.
In MMO's the devs are the hosts, the players are the guests. Its makes complete sense that the devs provide 'ice breakers'.
Complaint: Negated
Excellent way to look at it, I agree that it makes perfect sense to frame it in this light, and I'll be using this next time it gets tossed into the discussion.
Sorry, I don't see the relevance.
You see, I go to the 'devs' parties' for the booze and the music, not to get tangled up in the inanities of dealing with people that I otherwise wouldn't give the time of day. I don't play games to make new friends, I play them as an entertaining diversion. If I wanted to make new friends, I'd start using Facebook.
As for MMOs, other players are just moving scenery (no offense) that have algorithms more complex than any AI could possibly match. When I group, I do so out of necessity so I can experience the content, not because I enjoy waiting for foot draggers, chasing the zergers, listening to the whiners or putting up with the know-it-all dictators. I prefer to play at my own pace and follow where my nose leads, not be beholden to a bunch of other peoples' whims simply because, for the moment, we all want to achieve the same loose objective.
Granted, there are very rare occasions where I come across someone that I feel is worth the investment of time to get to know, and possibly, befriend. But that would be someone I would feel the same about in RL. Besides, I have enough friends. I'm not looking to add more.
The bottom line is that if there were single player games that offered the same level of complexity, content and persistence as the MMOs I play, I'd be playing them. But there aren't, so I'm stuck with all of you touchy-feely socializer types. I don't dislike you or wish you ill. I just don't care to know you. It's really as simple as that.
See, the thing is, you're a loner (at least in the MMORPG game universe, maybe not in RL). I'm a socializer (in the game world, not so much in RL)
We're both going to want very different things in our MMORPG's and I doubt its actually possbile to create a single game that would satistfy both of us.
I think a large majority of players are socializers actually, and fortunately because we can form guilds of like minded friends we're able to "cope" with the lack of game mechanics that encourage more random encounters however we feel largely disatisfied with the experience.
For some of us this stems from the fact we experienced older games where socialization was much more important, such as DAOC or SWG (pre-NGE). You I suspect would not have been particularly happy in either game, though both games did have strong solo elements to them, I still think more modern games would have been more appealing.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I am going to sound xenophobic well not xeno what is the country equivalent. Well see the thing is when I was in school and even when I started working I made friends like 'snap' you know. Then I stopped working when I had kids and my husband started moving from country to country for work. Suddenly I am homesick so every country we go to I go find my embassy and find the people from my country and only do stuff with them. Of course taking time to learn all these different languages kinda throws you too. I do like living in other places but I enjoy my countrymen. Sounds awful does it not ? Like I am some person who discriminates but I don't really have any friends here except people from my country. I do know people but not those whose houses I go to. You can know lots of people but not friends whose houses you go to if you get my drift.
In games I have managed to retain my ability to make friends easily but as I am growing older I am beginning to stick with the guild mates and making less of an effort. I need to change I think .
It is the main reason I play MMO instead of single player RPGs or FPS games.
You know what? I've head more social interaction in M.A.G (a 256 person team-play oriented FPS game) than in WoW recently. In an FPS game! This makes me really sad. Looking at Facebook and Twitter I feel that MMOs could do a LOT more when it comes to social interaction. Especially when it comes on how to make new friends. Instead Blizzard adds things like cross-realm dungeon groups without the possibility to stay in contact with players from other realms. How stupid is that?!
I am going to sound xenophobic well not xeno what is the country equivalent. Well see the thing is when I was in school and even when I started working I made friends like 'snap' you know. Then I stopped working when I had kids and my husband started moving from country to country for work. Suddenly I am homesick so every country we go to I go find my embassy and find the people from my country and only do stuff with them. Of course taking time to learn all these different languages kinda throws you too. I do like living in other places but I enjoy my countrymen. Sounds awful does it not ? Like I am some person who discriminates but I don't really have any friends here except people from my country. I do know people but not those whose houses I go to. You can know lots of people but not friends whose houses you go to if you get my drift.
In games I have managed to retain my ability to make friends easily but as I am growing older I am beginning to stick with the guild mates and making less of an effort. I need to change I think .
It doesn't sound awful at all. When regularly getting transplated into foreign countries with foreign cultures, it makes sense to seek out people and places that one is familari with - a comfort zone. Some branch out from that and others don't. This true not just of cultures but of anything that we are familiar with and hold dear.
Desire for familiar surroundings and the company of like-minded people in a foreign environment is absolutely normal behaviour. It's believed that the reason we put down lawns everywhere we go is because at some gut level it reminds us of that African savannah that we all came from ages ago, and that familiarity is comforting. If that's true, and we have this ancient need for a grassland our ancestors lived in tens of thousands of years ago, then surely you're completely justified in wanting to hear the same languages and see the same sights that you grew used to just a few years before.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
"in the real world you don't talk to random strangers, why should games have mechanics to encourage you to do so?"
I've heard this too and I actually have a respsonse to this that puts the issue to bed quite nicely:
In the "real world" If someone throws a party and invites a lot of people, many who may not know each other, they will often have things to do or offer games to play to get the people who don't know each other to interact. To break the ice. This is a common dynamic. The better a host does in getting their guests to mingle the more successful the party will be seen to have been.
In MMO's the devs are the hosts, the players are the guests. Its makes complete sense that the devs provide 'ice breakers'.
Complaint: Negated
Excellent way to look at it, I agree that it makes perfect sense to frame it in this light, and I'll be using this next time it gets tossed into the discussion.
Sorry, I don't see the relevance.
You see, I go to the 'devs' parties' for the booze and the music, not to get tangled up in the inanities of dealing with peopleat.
Whatever reason you go to parties for, you are aware are you not that the hosts who threw the party don't want all their guests standing quietly alone? If you are aware of it, then you do see the relevance regardless of whether it is applicable to you.
The sole purpose of a MMORPG is to play and interact with alot of other people. Hence it's called Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.
I play MMOs for socialization in the first place, no matter if it's allready known people, friends or strangers.
If I want to play alone and or not socialize, then I can play tons of single-player games with or without online-modus.
The misconception here is that multiple player = socialization.
I play MMO to do coop PvE content (and a little PvP). Excessive socialization (like chatting) is not needed. I do sometimes chat with guildies when i feel like it, but that is NOT the purpose of an MMO. I have MSN for that.
You can do that in multiplayer games. Where does the MMO come in then?
What multiplayer games allow for 25 man raids? What multiplayer games allow for 40 on 40 battlegrounds in a fantasy setting?
Comments
Sorry, I don't see the relevance.
You see, I go to the 'devs' parties' for the booze and the music, not to get tangled up in the inanities of dealing with people that I otherwise wouldn't give the time of day. I don't play games to make new friends, I play them as an entertaining diversion. If I wanted to make new friends, I'd start using Facebook.
As for MMOs, other players are just moving scenery (no offense) that have algorithms more complex than any AI could possibly match. When I group, I do so out of necessity so I can experience the content, not because I enjoy waiting for foot draggers, chasing the zergers, listening to the whiners or putting up with the know-it-all dictators. I prefer to play at my own pace and follow where my nose leads, not be beholden to a bunch of other peoples' whims simply because, for the moment, we all want to achieve the same loose objective.
Granted, there are very rare occasions where I come across someone that I feel is worth the investment of time to get to know, and possibly, befriend. But that would be someone I would feel the same about in RL. Besides, I have enough friends. I'm not looking to add more.
The bottom line is that if there were single player games that offered the same level of complexity, content and persistence as the MMOs I play, I'd be playing them. But there aren't, so I'm stuck with all of you touchy-feely socializer types. I don't dislike you or wish you ill. I just don't care to know you. It's really as simple as that.
I agree with you but I happen to like the phasing at least in Warcraft because they cannot go into a world where if you blow up a bridge everyone sees it because of tech limitations on the engine, but at least I can see that I blew up that bridge. While it's not a perfect thing in case someones does need help I don't like the world staying the same after I've done a great questline, say like Wrathgate, loved that quest to death but that's probably cause it was their first Cutscene type thing they did in the game. Now if I had finished that and everytime I flew over it it looked like it did before that last cutscene I'd be pissed.
See, the thing is, you're a loner (at least in the MMORPG game universe, maybe not in RL). I'm a socializer (in the game world, not so much in RL)
We're both going to want very different things in our MMORPG's and I doubt its actually possbile to create a single game that would satistfy both of us.
I think a large majority of players are socializers actually, and fortunately because we can form guilds of like minded friends we're able to "cope" with the lack of game mechanics that encourage more random encounters however we feel largely disatisfied with the experience.
For some of us this stems from the fact we experienced older games where socialization was much more important, such as DAOC or SWG (pre-NGE). You I suspect would not have been particularly happy in either game, though both games did have strong solo elements to them, I still think more modern games would have been more appealing.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I am going to sound xenophobic well not xeno what is the country equivalent. Well see the thing is when I was in school and even when I started working I made friends like 'snap' you know. Then I stopped working when I had kids and my husband started moving from country to country for work. Suddenly I am homesick so every country we go to I go find my embassy and find the people from my country and only do stuff with them. Of course taking time to learn all these different languages kinda throws you too. I do like living in other places but I enjoy my countrymen. Sounds awful does it not ? Like I am some person who discriminates but I don't really have any friends here except people from my country. I do know people but not those whose houses I go to. You can know lots of people but not friends whose houses you go to if you get my drift.
In games I have managed to retain my ability to make friends easily but as I am growing older I am beginning to stick with the guild mates and making less of an effort. I need to change I think .
You know what? I've head more social interaction in M.A.G (a 256 person team-play oriented FPS game) than in WoW recently. In an FPS game! This makes me really sad. Looking at Facebook and Twitter I feel that MMOs could do a LOT more when it comes to social interaction. Especially when it comes on how to make new friends. Instead Blizzard adds things like cross-realm dungeon groups without the possibility to stay in contact with players from other realms. How stupid is that?!
It doesn't sound awful at all. When regularly getting transplated into foreign countries with foreign cultures, it makes sense to seek out people and places that one is familari with - a comfort zone. Some branch out from that and others don't. This true not just of cultures but of anything that we are familiar with and hold dear.
Desire for familiar surroundings and the company of like-minded people in a foreign environment is absolutely normal behaviour. It's believed that the reason we put down lawns everywhere we go is because at some gut level it reminds us of that African savannah that we all came from ages ago, and that familiarity is comforting. If that's true, and we have this ancient need for a grassland our ancestors lived in tens of thousands of years ago, then surely you're completely justified in wanting to hear the same languages and see the same sights that you grew used to just a few years before.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Whatever reason you go to parties for, you are aware are you not that the hosts who threw the party don't want all their guests standing quietly alone? If you are aware of it, then you do see the relevance regardless of whether it is applicable to you.
What multiplayer games allow for 25 man raids? What multiplayer games allow for 40 on 40 battlegrounds in a fantasy setting?