Originally posted by Kyleran

Forced social intereaction and interdependence.  Some folks love it, makes the entire game for them, others loath it.

As mentioned above, some people are naturally social, they'll discuss just about anything with just about anyone, and I suspect they have no issues socializing in GW2 or any other MMORPG for that matter.

But there's an equally large number of people who really can only socialize in context of the game itself, they're really not interested in sharing personal stories, discussing the latest sporting event, or the new IPhone release.

If the game itself doesn't offer the opportunity and context to provide for socialization, they won't find the game very friendly. (hence the diamatetrically opposed viewpoints in this thread).

I fall in the latter category myself, and understand the OP's viewpoint completely.  Its not that we aren't or can't be social, but only under a certain context and outside of that it just doesn't work for us.

 

 

An argument could be made that for everything of the former there is Facebook...

I think if an mmo gives ppl the choice of grouping or not, most ppl will choose not to. Why? because ppl who sit in front of a tv or computer screen all day is most likely doing that to get away from ppl. So therefor there real life reflects that ingame.

The only time i felt like i had to group was for dungeons or a few storyline missions.

Now my old mmo that i used to play back in its vanilla days (Which was ffxi) it forced grouping alot and i got to know ppl and made friends in that game and still remember alot of the times we grouped and did things together, and i still even remember there character names. This game however i never know who is around. I never take the time to look and there names.

Heck and i think the social aspect of ffxi actually helped me be more social irl aswell, so that was a good thing all around.

You need to be PRO-ACTIVE in games to be social. That is in any game. Being forced to group, DOES NOT make a game social, as in Rift Dungeons. LFG tools DO NOT make a game social either.

My guild is in the same boat. It's just a glorified chat room and the need for the guild itself just isn't there.  

We've tried to do some guild functions in WvW but it's been impossible with the queues, at most we've gotten 7 people together, and without warband options keeping more then 5 in the same place is nothing but a pain.

SWG pre cu was a very social game.

Ofc it had nice features such as non combat professions and a reason to play them.

Interdependency was very much in SWG pre cu era....then the whining adhd players made them redundant.

Originally posted by botrytis

You need to be PRO-ACTIVE in games to be social. That is in any game. Being forced to group, DOES NOT make a game social, as in Rift Dungeons. LFG tools DO NOT make a game social either.

 

Games that require you to communicate a lot either orally or verbally to advance efficiently promotes social interaction. So yes, I would agree that LFG tools in general don't make people more social; however being forced to group can make people more social if designed correctly, like in FFXI.

Originally posted by TwoThreeFour

Originally posted by Gaia_Hunter

So OP you are saying that you are incapable of talking with someone that has nothing that you want or with someone that wants nothing from you.

OK.

I know it is hard and scary without the safety net of mutual need...

But so much more enjoyable- being with someone just for the pleasure of being with someone...

But maybe I'm just weird...

 

The problem is that at least in real life, you have far more things in common with such people: you usually live in same country or city, know same languages,  know the culture of the country, often similar age, etc. In MMORPGs, you can only be rather certain that you share one common interest: the MMORPG itself and sometimes that just isn't enough.

 

Sure, I would imagine that social contact is something most humans need from time to time  to feel content, but  not at every place and at any time.

 

 

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but it seems to me you are saying that you might not want to be social but still want to be in a party.

So, being in a party without socializing is great but being around, chasing the same objectives without a party is bad.

I don't get it. Is it because you are the tank and others depend on you? Or you click in people bar and heal it? What about DPS - aren't they just around?

But more important, in what themepark MMOs do you actively play in  an organized party in the Open World PvE?.

If I go start WoW with no friends, Open World experience will be exactly what for me? A solo experience. Actually there are reasons not to party with others (maybe they changed it in MOP). Or you go do LFD which you don't get much chance or need   to talk either and GW2 dungeons are clearly content for voice chat.

If one wants to complain about something is that GW2 doesn't have in game voice chat options.

If your guild has lost reason to group it is not the games fault, our guild is almost always grouped as soon as one of us enters the game and chatting is thick about whats going on all over the game even when we are not playing in the same areas..

GW2 is one of the most truly social games i have ever played and grouping with others when my guildies arent on or to fill an empty spot in our guild group is almost automatic its so easy and playing in a group outside of dungeons is a blast until 2 hours later i realize my experience/karma has been diminished to near nothing...

If you feel your guild needs reason to group (forced) you should do the exploratory dungeons more often they arent that bad once your group gets a handle on them..

Originally posted by Dibdabs

Originally posted by ohpower

You know, there's no REASON to have friends. It's just that it's fun to be with them.

I am with them, just not in-game.  I voice-chat to real-life friends and family (whether they are playing GW2 or not) all the time.

It's been 12 years since server populations were (relatively) low enough so that people could be remembered by name and personality and were actually interested in chatting.  In those days MMOs were more like small villages where everyone knew each other.  Now, MMOs resemble a bustling metropolis, where nobody talks on the streets to one stranger amomgst thousands.

There are many good replies to this, but I believe this one hits it on the head.  Society itself is changing as is the society within MMO's.  People who desire the more social aspect really should look for a good duild that is active and suits their playstyle.  My guild is very active both in teamspeak and in guild chat.  We do dungeon runs, have contests and there is always a WvW group happening somewhere.

I really can't fault the game, I think it's player dynamics have changed in the last 10 years.

Originally posted by dageeza

If your guild has lost reason to group it is not the games fault, our guild is almost always grouped as soon as one of us enters the game and chatting is thick about whats going on all over the game even when we are not playing in the same areas..

GW2 is one of the most truly social games i have ever played and grouping with others when my guildies arent on or to fill an empty spot in our guild group is almost automatic its so easy and playing in a group outside of dungeons is a blast until 2 hours later i realize my experience/karma has been diminished to near nothing...

If you feel your guild needs reason to group (forced) you should do the exploratory dungeons more often they arent that bad once your group gets a handle on them..

I wouldnt go so far, MMOs used to be more social once upon a time but that was because you were constantly dependant on other players. You just didnt solo to max level as many people do in many games today. They also had long waiting time meaning you had long time chatting to your group.

GW2 is however the most social AAA game I seen in many years. My guild is usually grouped and play together as much as we can. If OPs dont, that sounds more like their problem and not the games fault.

Sure, DEs are not so social compared to a dungeon, but compared to the soloquests most games have instead it is a huge difference and advantage for GW2. 

Sorry to hear that. I've been grouping with my guild non-stop for WvW, sPvP, dungeons and orr events. Even before I had a guild, I found the fact that the game promotes auto-grouping much more social than all the other MMOs. I mean most MMOs discourage the whole concept behind an MMO and that is to play with others. No more SP quests and mob tagging. I also agree with Loke that this is the most social AAA game I've played.

It sounds like the great social experiment is working... 

I would respectfully suggest that you don't actually like the people you are playing with. Now that you are not forced into some false represention of social interaction, you can no longer find a reason to group with your guild. 

I personally like this because it means that real social interaction can happen instead and so I would rate that as a success. 

Originally posted by Kyleran

Forced social intereaction and interdependence.  Some folks love it, makes the entire game for them, others loath it.

As mentioned above, some people are naturally social, they'll discuss just about anything with just about anyone, and I suspect they have no issues socializing in GW2 or any other MMORPG for that matter.

But there's an equally large number of people who really can only socialize in context of the game itself, they're really not interested in sharing personal stories, discussing the latest sporting event, or the new IPhone release.

If the game itself doesn't offer the opportunity and context to provide for socialization, they won't find the game very friendly. (hence the diamatetrically opposed viewpoints in this thread).

I fall in the latter category myself, and understand the OP's viewpoint completely.  Its not that we aren't or can't be social, but only under a certain context and outside of that it just doesn't work for us.

  

Kyleran, what you said there baffles me. How can one *not* be interested in discussing the new iPhone? It's taller!!!

In GW2 I make a point of spamming invites and going on about the new iPhone. But people just leave the group. Such an antisocial generation. Tsk tsk.

Originally posted by Gaia_Hunter

Originally posted by TwoThreeFour

Originally posted by Gaia_Hunter

So OP you are saying that you are incapable of talking with someone that has nothing that you want or with someone that wants nothing from you.

OK.

I know it is hard and scary without the safety net of mutual need...

But so much more enjoyable- being with someone just for the pleasure of being with someone...

But maybe I'm just weird...

 

The problem is that at least in real life, you have far more things in common with such people: you usually live in same country or city, know same languages,  know the culture of the country, often similar age, etc. In MMORPGs, you can only be rather certain that you share one common interest: the MMORPG itself and sometimes that just isn't enough.

 

Sure, I would imagine that social contact is something most humans need from time to time  to feel content, but  not at every place and at any time.

 

 

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but it seems to me you are saying that you might not want to be social but still want to be in a party.

So, being in a party without socializing is great but being around, chasing the same objectives without a party is bad.

I don't get it. Is it because you are the tank and others depend on you? Or you click in people bar and heal it? What about DPS - aren't they just around?

But more important, in what themepark MMOs do you actively play in  an organized party in the Open World PvE?.

If I go start WoW with no friends, Open World experience will be exactly what for me? A solo experience. Actually there are reasons not to party with others (maybe they changed it in MOP). Or you go do LFD which you don't get much chance or need   to talk either and GW2 dungeons are clearly content for voice chat.

If one wants to complain about something is that GW2 doesn't have in game voice chat options.

 

I am saying that being social in the same way you are with a friend but with a random person in a MMORPG is probably significantely less pleasant than being social with a random person from your neighbourhood/work place/educational facility. 

I am discussing the statement of "But so much more enjoyable- being with someone just for the pleasure of being with someone..."

Originally posted by Dragnog

It sounds like the great social experiment is working... 

I would respectfully suggest that you don't actually like the people you are playing with. Now that you are not forced into some false represention of social interaction, you can no longer find a reason to group with your guild. 

I personally like this because it means that real social interaction can happen instead and so I would rate that as a success. 

If you care about what is "real", then you should allow Open World PvP, node-competition and gear-rolls, because that truly shows how people are in a game when they actually need to resolve conflicting interests.

Edit: It is like the idiom stating that you don't know who your true friends are until everything goes to hell.

Originally posted by solarine

Originally posted by Kyleran

Forced social intereaction and interdependence.  Some folks love it, makes the entire game for them, others loath it.

As mentioned above, some people are naturally social, they'll discuss just about anything with just about anyone, and I suspect they have no issues socializing in GW2 or any other MMORPG for that matter.

But there's an equally large number of people who really can only socialize in context of the game itself, they're really not interested in sharing personal stories, discussing the latest sporting event, or the new IPhone release.

If the game itself doesn't offer the opportunity and context to provide for socialization, they won't find the game very friendly. (hence the diamatetrically opposed viewpoints in this thread).

I fall in the latter category myself, and understand the OP's viewpoint completely.  Its not that we aren't or can't be social, but only under a certain context and outside of that it just doesn't work for us.

  

 

Kyleran, what you said there baffles me. How can one *not* be interested in discussing the new iPhone? It's taller!!!

In GW2 I make a point of spamming invites and going on about the new iPhone. But people just leave the group. Such an antisocial generation. Tsk tsk.

 

Heh.... I have a Samsung Galaxy II, Death to Apple!     But if you want to discuss how much more damage that broadsword you just got in a dungeon does, I'm all ears.....

Oh wait... nevermind. 

Originally posted by AdamTM

Originally posted by Kyleran

Forced social intereaction and interdependence.  Some folks love it, makes the entire game for them, others loath it.

As mentioned above, some people are naturally social, they'll discuss just about anything with just about anyone, and I suspect they have no issues socializing in GW2 or any other MMORPG for that matter.

But there's an equally large number of people who really can only socialize in context of the game itself, they're really not interested in sharing personal stories, discussing the latest sporting event, or the new IPhone release.

If the game itself doesn't offer the opportunity and context to provide for socialization, they won't find the game very friendly. (hence the diamatetrically opposed viewpoints in this thread).

I fall in the latter category myself, and understand the OP's viewpoint completely.  Its not that we aren't or can't be social, but only under a certain context and outside of that it just doesn't work for us.

 

An argument could be made that for everything of the former there is Facebook...

You know, that might be an interesting experiment, I wonder if the people on this thread who feel there's no issue socializing in GW2 are also big users of Facebook/Twitter.  Myself, while I did get an account, I don't care for the tool and even when chatting with long time old friends, I really am not interested in what they say about their average daily life.

I find myself rolling my eyes when one of my former guildmates, ex marine, business tycoon, hunter of moose posts cute messages back and forth with his new girlfriend..... ewww... 

I had 3 characters in WoW, one level 85, one 60+ and one 40+. I never felt the need to group with or speak to anyone in that game either.

At least in this game I get my fair whack of loot when joining events and dungeons.

I'm not particularly anti-social and have been in guilds requiring voice chat for other games. I much prefer having a choice though and not being penalised by the game for playing solo.

To OP:

It's a matter of perspective. If you don't take the time to find friends you won't have friends. Now sure you can play the game without friends or a guild and just find pick up groups for dungeons. If you don't want to talk with your guildies or group with them for anything then you're the unsociable one. I run into plenty of people and we just sit around joking around in between events.

My guild we have dungeon runs all the time to get our tokens for the armors. We have wvw groups going pretty much throughout the day (most of the times) and generally every night. And we have guild chat and vent open to anyone to advertise what they're doing to find people to join them. Such as spvp or a tough part in their personal stories, etc etc.

If no effort is put into the guild to make it sociable it obviously won't be sociable.