Originally posted by Vhaln

*snip*

Its still possible to be social, but the whole process is crippled right at the root.  People have to actually stop playing, to take time to chat, and expecting people to be that social just isn't realistic.

Ok, so the people aren't social enough to really start chatting, unless they're forced into downtime by the game. Being social is second to having fun, when players are given the choice. That still doesn't make GW2 antisocial, it's just that it doesn't force people to be social to be able to have fun.

Originally posted by JoeyMMO

Originally posted by Vhaln

Its still possible to be social, but the whole process is crippled right at the root.  People have to actually stop playing, to take time to chat, and expecting people to be that social just isn't realistic.

Ok, so the people aren't social enough to really start chatting, unless they're forced into downtime by the game. Being social is second to having fun, when players are given the choice. That still doesn't make GW2 antisocial, it's just that it doesn't force people to be social to be able to have fun.

I'm just trying to describe the situation, as I see it.  I get why its become this way, and I'm not exactly knocking it.  Just saying its an inherent trade-off, really.  FWIW, I don't think GW2 is any worse in this respect, than other recent MMOs.  They're all like this, nowadays, and deviating from that, to create a slower experience to encourage socializing would be a pretty big risk.

long time lurker on mmorpg forums but this post actually made me register.  I've been playing MMO's since around 2000 starting with Everquest (have bounced around casually from game to game though since).  GW2 is beautiful and I'm having a great time.  I do agree with the original poster as this really is an anti-social game and yet, it's such a cooperative game.  Everyone jumps in the help kill a mob, defeat a boss, work through a map, or help rez any players that need it but I have yet to actually "talk" and have a conversation with one person and actually "meet" them so to speak.  I have friends that I met in EQ and EQ2/Wow that I know I'll be friends with for the rest of my life. 

Granted: not blaming just the game.. it does take two to tango.  Just dropped from the guild I had joined as A) no one ever logged in B) no one ever talked, etc. 

Will be looking for an active guild of which I can participate as I do think  it will enrich my playing experience and I want to help contribute to the community.  I can't point fingers as this is the first game that I haven't been grouped up in which a casually convo just happens to occur. I'd like to do my part.

Beautiful game.. just think we all need to do our part to make 'more of a community' outside of the traditional method. Heck.. the trinity is gone so let's just throw what we 'thought we knew' out the window and try something new.

I have a totaly diffrent exposure then you OP.
I have never ever seen a more helpfull mmo then GW2.

When i die somewhere people take the effort to walk allthe way up to your corpse and res you.
WoW community just walks by you to let your rot, even when you whisper them, they ignore you 9/10 times.

When i ask for a particular vista / Poi i get whispers and chat fills up with helpfull reply's.

When i want to do dungeons,people stop to explain things on a good level.

In WvW people fight for your corpse as if we are spartans.

I dunno but seems you are doing something wrong ?

It might bug OP to know:

...that I've made at least 10 friends in Keg Brawl alone (granted, I played Keg Brawl for some 50 hours or so, that ish is fun)

...That I've made precisely 3 friends as the result of jumping puzzles (helping or being helped through/rezzing when they fall)

...Or that I've become heavily involved in a large guild/alliance community as the result of World versus World

... That I've made multiple friends (and gold) after porting people up the jumping puzzle in Eternal Battlegrounds with a mesmer. And since I've gotten the witch's costume over Halloween, I put cauldrons down for other people to have idle entertainment on the cliff thing

There's no reason you can't have a social experience; there's so many different aspects to this game that finding SOMEONE to talk to should not be difficult at all. Hell, if you can stand the general IQ degradation of observing Lion's Arch map chat, you're bound to find someone worth talking to in there... somewhere... maybe.. 

Edit: As of posting this, I made another friend in Keg brawl after a competition to see if either of us could make an entire cross map lob. AND he was on the opposite team, lol

With a bit of effort you can usually find people to chat with.

That said, general unsponsored 'chat' in maps is nearly dead in all the maps I am in (and I am in all of them). Not Lion's Arch and sometimes not the cities but Rather the PvE maps. You can go hours (even allowing for the slow times with low pops) and not see a single peep.

PvP on the other hand has a frequent running chat session.

GW2 is a very quiet PvE map game.

Your social experienc ein Tyria also depends on you.  How do I know this? Because I have made friends, have a great guild, and really enjoy how easy it is for me to help or be helped by others.

This thread seems kind of like a debate between introverts and extroverts.  Extroverts don't need anything to be social, they just try to socialize, everywhere they go, and find plenty of other extroverts that way.  Introverts are not asocial, but need systems to help buffer the experience, to make it something more enjoyable than just chatting people up all the time.