Hmm, the OP got a point. There is a lot more chatting in EQ2 than AoC and WAR is almost silent.

In WARs case I think it's the game but in the other new games it must be the playerbase and that is probably making WAR even silenter too.

I kinda miss some of the chatting (Not the Chuck Norris jokes though).

The games are either too linear and repetative to require conversation to strategize or its too pvp centered to attract people that wanna socialize. Its like playing an mmo with fps players, you know what the objective is, you know where to go, you know what to do so you do it. I know when I used to play Socom we rarely ever talked because really what was there to say? We all know the scenario, just succeed. I've never played war, but it sounds sorta similar. You see ,according to its own nakers, WAR is a game, not a world, so people get in more to play the scenario, than to chat with others.

  What, you mean all the “how do I find” “where is x Npc” and “how do I get to x place” chatter that fills the general chat of other MMO's? That's gone due to a much better design approach, though others would call it dumb down as they're leet, I and many others call it an exercise in frustration that's been addressed. The social side is still there. Just need to join a guild.

I see people chat in warband, group chat and guild chat all the time. Just not world chat all that much, which im actually fine with that.  Most of the time its just bs chat anyways.  I turn world chat off most of the time when people are talking alot . It just spams my chat window and It gets annoying.  But im  sure it will start to happen with that game eventually when people just sit around and hang out in game and not play because its new.

Its not that im anti social or anything, i try to use tactics warn people that destruction are incoming to the keep or what not.  Its just not my thing anymore, I used to love to go into chatrooms and bs but hell I have no clue when the last time I was in one. When I first started to play MMO's they combined my 2 favorite things,RPG's and an  AOL chat room.  Now world chat is  just blah to me most of the time.

Say what you will of 'Barrens chat' type channels, I would personally prefer this to a silent world. I want my MMORPG to feel alive, whether it be people RP'ing or constant Chuck Norris jokes. It's a MMORPG for crying out loud, it should FEEL massive in both physical size and community. And I'm sorry but I don't buy all this 'everyone talks on VC/in guilds' etc. That mindset just spawns the kind of elitist cliques that go completely against what a MMORPG should be about.

Originally posted by IAmMMO

“where is x Npc”

"I'm on that quest too do you want to group up an look for her?"

Communication in games has been overthrown by the language barrier. I mean, most MMOs that are released now come from other countries. And...unfortunately 99% of these foreign games are just terrible anyway.

But communication leads to offensive behavior, which in turn gets people 1) Banned, 2) Angry, 3) Gives the game a bad reputation. And I'd rather a play a game where nobody talks, rather than hear a bunch of foreigners talking in their bullcrap language or beg me for money or free items.

SALI MI GUILD, FREE ITAM,GIEV TO MI

Seriously, I hate MMOs where I have to deal with foreigners. I'd rather be on a server where if you're found talking in any language except english, you get chat banned.

Edit:

No, seriously. Just think about all of the MMOs you've played and realize how terrible your experience with people who can't speak in your language. I can almost guarantee that it ruined your gameplay and completely turned you off to the game.

For example, you're looking for a party and somebody sends you an invite. The name looks relatively normal, but then the individual starts talking to you and his english is completely broken. Hell, let's even add that he wants something from you--such as information. So you explain it to him, and he still doesn't understand what you said.

So you've just wasted (*LOTS OF)  time explaining something to an individual of no importance to you, and he will probably continuously harass you now that he thinks you're his friend.

Edit 2x:

If you really think about it, it is completely unfair that there are no English Only game servers in existence. Barely any english speakers go invade korean servers and piss with korean players. No american players can even enter chinese servers due to IP blocks. How is it fair for us to have to deal with brazilians, chinese, koreans, portugese, and all of those other gibberish speakers, when we infact cannot go invade their servers?

And just an FYI, I'm chinese. Not trying to be racist to anyone; just explaining that it's bullsh*t to have to deal with people who speak other languages. There should be ways to avoid it completely.

the problem is that you can solo nearly anything in those new mmo's

go play a game like final fantasy XI or Ryzom.

you will not go very far if you dont interact with other players

look at WAR public quest, ok its a good idea and quiet fun, but no one talks! its like you're playing with NPC!

Originally posted by Keshanberk 
 

<snip>

You must be playing some pretty funky games because I have not met one foreign speaker in many years of MMORPG gaming and I'm a social RPer in game; so I'm chatting with a lot of strangers about their gear and experiences.

Originally posted by Wickersham

I think it has a lot to do with the design of these new MMORPGs.

An MMORPG is a social game but the way the new games are designed forces players to behave in a self serving way.  There is no common ownership and there are a few limited common goals and once those goals have been reached there is no reason to return except boredom or to help friends.  They have created a "going my way" mentality that encourages players to exploit each other for personal gain.  If you're not "going my way" I have no reason to deal with you.  There is very little to encourage players to group up except the difficulty level of quests, and again, once the quest is complete there is no reason to repeat it with others.

The newer games ignore the things that encourage any sort of RPing.  Healthy RPers create a toon and make a life for that toon within the game world.  The toon is not an extension of them by any means of the imagination and what happens to that toon has no reflection on them - it is treated more like a person treats a pet.

Lastly. the quests are spoon fed to us with no thought or exploration involved.  Go to X kill Y return to Z and all of it is mapped out for us.  The UI and gameplay is so intuitive no one needs to ask about it and if you do ask something players will push you towards the internet rather than help you.

You walk away from playing these games with a feeling that you are nothing more than just another NPC to other players.

I think this post covered it.

Its true, from UO in 2000, to Aoc and WAR in 2008, ive seen a pretty dramatic decline in conversation and text based chat...and not everybody uses vent/teamspeak...if your not in a guild, or nothing is happening with the guild at that time, why would you use it? The rise of  Vent and Teamspeak dont explain away the downturn in conversation.

1) MMO's are now 90% solo based questing games. 10% grouping for boss mobs, raids and rvr.

2) The push to reach end-game content as quickly and efficiently as possible. Less typing, means more killing.

Those are the two main reasons.

Originally posted by Daedrick

Nobody talk!!! Every new MMO I play, nobody talk at all. I have seen at least two big MMO where that strange behavior happen. Age of conan and Warhammer online. What the hell is happenning? General chat is always, like ALWAYS, extremely quiet. Even In scenarios, or battlegrounds, or w/e how you call it, nobody talk or try to organise the assaults/defences. Everyone are just very very quiet. The only people I talk to are my old guildies from others MMO that migrated with me to try new games. Even when I ask people a specific question in a private chat, half of the time, never answer back. People form group to kill a boss or to complete a crowded quest and nobody will talk... people will just accept invites, whitout saying anything, then wait to complete the objective and leave. And everybody seems to believe everything is alright.

What the hell is happenning? This behavior is very, very, very disturbing. Its suposed to be a multiplayer game but nobody seems to want to communicate. Its so wierd. Its hard to explain. Anyway I would like to know what you guys and girls think about this. Because, it worry me.

Thanks.

ps: Sorry for the badly formulated sentences and spelling errors. But Im french ( Quebec / Canada ) and Im tired.

teamspeak ventrillo most are in there, screaming kids whole day long on your headphone.

Chat ingame is already dead a few years and most are only in exclusive little selfish groups and wont share or chat with others anymore.

WELCOME TO MODERN DAY MMO'S BEHAVIOR:p

Well, thanks everyone for participating in my topic! Its probably the firts topic I make that turned out so well... and I really enjoyed reading every single posts from you guys and garls made. Most of you made very valid points but, IMO, this situation is sad. I dont know what im going to do but I will probably find a solution! Anyway thanks again everyone and you are still welcome to post if you are willing to... Anyway I will probably read it all soon or later... if theres more I mean. Bah!

Some people say it's because the MMO is a solo game, or casual that people don't talk. I think this is untrue,  because it's also happening in games like Vanguard and in dungeons, in WAR etc..

I think it's good to compare this situation with Real Life.

At what times do people talk to each other and when do they shut themselves off?

I think people who are having fun and are relaxed talk. They simply have time to do this and they enjoy spending time with each other.

People don't talk when they are focused or driven.

Are players too focused on leveling and items and being number 1? I think when you focus on something you have less time to chat, and I believe players being so focused on progression more and more causes the lack of chatting.

I don't think it'd be disturbing. Unless you want everything to look like a crowded Runescape market.(now that's disturbing.) The games I've played always have someone shouting in the general chat box. Maybe people playing the quests just found a way to communicate with out words. I think it's annoying when you're a fighting a monster and typing at the same time. I usually get killed that way.

I would have to go with game mechanics.  There aren't any reasons to group up most of the time so most people will just avoid it.  There are interfaces in the MMOs now that make it possible to avoid talking to someone when inviting them to your group or guild.  The auction houses take away interaction in terms of buying and selling items.  Most people prefer not to interact verbally and in the current games you don't have to.  In Everquest the game was pretty hard.  The mobs required comunication to take down weather in an instance or not.  There were no interfaces to help you out so you had to communicate and make sure the person you were grouping with new what they were doing or the whole group might lose a lot of experience wiping.  People went to the east commonlands to trade items verbally because they had no other way to do so early in EQs life.  I'm not sure if it's good or bad, but MMOs are no longer for a niche crowd and the majority don't like to interact verbally/typing.

Play darkfall, and I will be the first one to go dude, lets talk and figure out how to get through this game! Games have become a Chinese/Korean grind, if they know it or not! Every game I have played since my last MMO has been the same class/race configuration and boring! This is the old SWG config, use this weapon get exp, mounted combat, and not let us forget full world and no instance!

Originally posted by Daedrick

Nobody talk!!! Every new MMO I play, nobody talk at all. I have seen at least two big MMO where that strange behavior happen. Age of conan and Warhammer online. What the hell is happenning? General chat is always, like ALWAYS, extremely quiet. Even In scenarios, or battlegrounds, or w/e how you call it, nobody talk or try to organise the assaults/defences. Everyone are just very very quiet. The only people I talk to are my old guildies from others MMO that migrated with me to try new games. Even when I ask people a specific question in a private chat, half of the time, never answer back. People form group to kill a boss or to complete a crowded quest and nobody will talk... people will just accept invites, whitout saying anything, then wait to complete the objective and leave. And everybody seems to believe everything is alright.

What the hell is happenning? This behavior is very, very, very disturbing. Its suposed to be a multiplayer game but nobody seems to want to communicate. Its so wierd. Its hard to explain. Anyway I would like to know what you guys and girls think about this. Because, it worry me.

Thanks.

ps: Sorry for the badly formulated sentences and spelling errors. But Im french ( Quebec / Canada ) and Im tired.

Are you folks for real? Doesn't anyone have a headset with a microphone?

It is because we have this cool new technology called SPEAKING, everyone I game with uses Ventrilo and/or Teamspeak, no one bothers with ooc, since it is full of retards spamming, selling gold, or blabbering.

When you game, you need your fingers ready to attack, not ready to to type out an "OMFG,  I be atckd" with a microphone you can say "stay right", or "watch your 6" without taking your guard down.

Teamspeak: http://www.goteamspeak.com/

Ventrilo:  http://www.ventrilo.com/

Join the 21st century, learn to communicate without using your fingers (headset with microphone recommended for use)

Originally posted by Soupgoblin

Originally posted by Daedrick

Nobody talk!!! Every new MMO I play, nobody talk at all. I have seen at least two big MMO where that strange behavior happen. Age of conan and Warhammer online. What the hell is happenning? General chat is always, like ALWAYS, extremely quiet. Even In scenarios, or battlegrounds, or w/e how you call it, nobody talk or try to organise the assaults/defences. Everyone are just very very quiet. The only people I talk to are my old guildies from others MMO that migrated with me to try new games. Even when I ask people a specific question in a private chat, half of the time, never answer back. People form group to kill a boss or to complete a crowded quest and nobody will talk... people will just accept invites, whitout saying anything, then wait to complete the objective and leave. And everybody seems to believe everything is alright.

What the hell is happenning? This behavior is very, very, very disturbing. Its suposed to be a multiplayer game but nobody seems to want to communicate. Its so wierd. Its hard to explain. Anyway I would like to know what you guys and girls think about this. Because, it worry me.

Thanks.

ps: Sorry for the badly formulated sentences and spelling errors. But Im french ( Quebec / Canada ) and Im tired.

 

Are you folks for real? Doesn't anyone have a headset with a microphone?

It is because we have this cool new technology called SPEAKING, everyone I game with uses Ventrilo and/or Teamspeak, no one bothers with ooc, since it is full of retards spamming, selling gold, or blabbering.

When you game, you need your fingers ready to attack, not ready to to type out an "OMFG,  I be atckd" with a microphone you can say "stay right", or "watch your 6" without taking your guard down.

Teamspeak: http://www.goteamspeak.com/

Ventrilo:  http://www.ventrilo.com/

Join the 21st century, learn to communicate without using your fingers (headset with microphone recommended for use)

It sounds a bit geeky when a bunch of people are talking about a game using their real voices to me.  While I don't mind talking about games with another friend who plays games it's weird when you have a whole bunch of people talking about strategy and what you should do.  Perhaps if games are so complex now that you need to speak with chat then something is wrong.  Perhaps combat should be more simple to allow for time to type things out if needed.
 

Originally posted by Soupgoblin

 

Are you folks for real? Doesn't anyone have a headset with a microphone?

It is because we have this cool new technology called SPEAKING, everyone I game with uses Ventrilo and/or Teamspeak, no one bothers with ooc, since it is full of retards spamming, selling gold, or blabbering.

When you game, you need your fingers ready to attack, not ready to to type out an "OMFG,  I be atckd" with a microphone you can say "stay right", or "watch your 6" without taking your guard down.

Teamspeak: http://www.goteamspeak.com/

Ventrilo:  http://www.ventrilo.com/

Join the 21st century, learn to communicate without using your fingers (headset with microphone recommended for use)

I'm sorry but I have heard more stupidity over vent and teamspeak than I could have ever seen in general chat.

Not everyone wants to use voice chat online, reasons for this have been mentioned countless of times on this forum so I won't repeat them in this thread.

Originally posted by Flyte27

 Perhaps combat should be more simple to allow for time to type things out if needed.
 

It should be slower. I agree with that.

I don't agree that it should be simpler, but slower, definatly.