First, I'll let Roger pose my question for me...

Seriously... Is there anyone on here, perhaps, who is actively playing Alganon that I could at least *talk* to while I'm in-game? Even in Istaria or Ryzom, both MMOs with very small populations, there's activity in the chat channels... other people about.

Alganon is pretty surreal in that, every time I've been on, there hasn't been a single other living soul in the area, nor anyone talking in chat.

Anyone on these forums in-game... with a guild to join perhaps?

Serious post here... not trolling.

I do not play Alganon, but I'd like to ask you a question: What makes you keep playing the game, even when it's empty?

Hi there,

I don't really play the game much at all. But on the Hokk server most nights you can see or talk to members from the Asheran's Call guild. I do believe Thunderbunny and others are on most nights.

I know it is not a lot of names or guilds. But to be honest there is not a whole lot of people that play the game anymore from my experience.

Take care and have fun....

"Bully Bully Bully"

Well, I was thinking of trying this game just to see what its like. So feel free to talk to me, Asyndeton.

If this game had player housing I wouldve probably already been playing. But, at the moment, Im not really playing anything else. Im just waiting for the Salem beta to start, so maybe I will try this.

I had the same experience you're having.  Only I tried it almost a year ago right after it was changed to free to play, so you've pretty much confirmed that things haven't changed.  I was too bored and couldn't keep playing.  Do a /who in game and you can see who is in your zone.  Back then there were only ever 3 or 4 at most playing when I did this.  

@WSIMike

Im downloading it now because I have nothing better to do. Which server are you on?

Originally posted by wicked45

I had the same experience you're having.  Only I tried it almost a year ago right after it was changed to free to play, so you've pretty much confirmed that things haven't changed.  I was too bored and couldn't keep playing.  Do a /who in game and you can see who is in your zone.  Back then there were only ever 3 or 4 at most playing when I did this.  

That's kinda in line with what I'm wondering... Perhaps Alganon is one of those games where it only tracks people in the same immediate zone/region as you, and so you can't "see" or even interact in chat with anyone outside that area except through tells, or if you're in a party, etc.. If that's the case, then it's not the best setup for a MMO, in my opinion. Nothing sends a more dire message than the idea that no one else is playing the game. Even in a MMO with the lowest population, there are other people around.

I know Asheron's Call 2 had that issue and I always thought Turbine botched it on how they setup the social centers in that game. You start off in Arwic and, maybe 30 minutes later, you're gone... off to Cragstone or some other area. You never have to go back to Arwic for anything so anyone going there is, at most, passing through.  This gave the impression that the game had far fewer people than it did, and was a ghost town. In reality, only maybe 2 or 3 towns later in Cavendo, you saw a lot of people. Cavendo was the town that allowed you to leave Osteth and move on to the next continent, and people tended to hang around there a lot more.

I kinda wonder if that's not the same situation in some way happening wth Alganon. Once you're out of those early areas, you never need to go back and, so, it's rare to ever see (m)any people around 'cause they're out of that area pretty quickly.

Conversely, in a MMO like FFXI, for example, every town maintains a degree of significance and importance in the game, all the way from level 1 to end-game. You'll see low levels, high levels and mid-levels all around Windurst, Bastok and San d'Oria, because there are always reasons to return to them. For that reason, a new player would never be left with the impression that XI is a 'dead' game, because there are always others around.

My thinking is that maybe there are people who are simply well beyond the starting areas and, so, while it's quiet around where I am, there may be more activity elsewhere.

I mean, I have no delusion that I'm going to enter a new zone and suddenly "the world" is going to be there, but I'd think there would be at least *some* other people around.

To find out how many players are on for your race. Just hit the social button and it will tell you all the players on for all the zones and level ranges.

You might be shocked to see the numbers.... or not.

Unless it has changed, you can chat to others that are  in all the zones along with the other race. I know the GM's hated us using the "help channel" to chat. But when there are 10 players on for the entire server, it got pretty quiet if we did not use the help channel to chat to one another.

Hmmmm. I wonder.  I have stood next to people and said hi.  I have selected shout as a com option and said 'hi all' when I've first logged in.   I have even asked a few simple questions about gameplay.

Nothing.

Are we sure that the chat system actually works?

Originally posted by asyndeton

@WSIMike

Im downloading it now because I have nothing better to do. Which server are you on?

Hey there.. I'm on Adrios.

I'm a Talrok named Shahda. Just sorta exploring around atm.

Is the chat still limited? I remember when Derek said he was for letting chat channels be accesible to non-paying players and that soon would change.

In my opinion this game would be a lot better with ONE server,free chat and most of all European Server. I can't explain why but i have a strong feeling that Alganon will do much better in the EU than in the US....I mean i like the game and stopped playing it cause of the lag(since i live in the EU)!

As far as I know chat is free. 

I believe you have to put the channel at the front of a statement e.g. /4  If you are saying hello you would put  /4 hello.

Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong. :D  I might get to speak to other players if I am. :P

Originally posted by WSIMike

Originally posted by Krematory

I do not play Alganon, but I'd like to ask you a question: What makes you keep playing the game, even when it's empty?

If you're not playing Alganon then why someone else chooses to check it out is none of your concern.

If you're not playing Alganon then clearly you have no constructive response to my question/request in the OP.

Frankly, your post smells of a troll attempt, nothing more.

Not a troll a attempt at all. If someone is playing an MMO eventhough he feels alone in that world must be because the game is great in many ways.

Usually it's the community (my guild) what makes me stick to an MMO, so I just wanted to know what keep you there.

You can view all members of your race that are online game-wide by opening the Social window, putting a space in the query section and hit the Refresh button.  If you'd rather just see who's in your immediate area, don't put the space in. 

Alganon's population is still growing and the population is often scattered, so looking only at the immediate area would definitely give the impression no one else is around but you! :)

As for the chat, yes, chat channels are free an unrestricted.  They didn't used to be, but the change was made to better allow the community in-game to chat and help each other.

Maybe join a guild?  Other than that, I can only assume you play at a weird time?

I gave the game a second chance about a month ago and just as I was about to log off someone my level asked if we could quest together.  I hadn't seen anyone and was surprised by the tell.  I felt bad that I couldn't help them, but I haven't returned since.  I may try it again to look at the new models.

Originally posted by Krematory

Originally posted by WSIMike

Originally posted by Krematory

I do not play Alganon, but I'd like to ask you a question: What makes you keep playing the game, even when it's empty?

If you're not playing Alganon then why someone else chooses to check it out is none of your concern.

If you're not playing Alganon then clearly you have no constructive response to my question/request in the OP.

Frankly, your post smells of a troll attempt, nothing more.

Not a troll a attempt at all. If someone is playing an MMO eventhough he feels alone in that world must be because the game is great in many ways.

Usually it's the community (my guild) what makes me stick to an MMO, so I just wanted to know what keep you there.

Ahh... Fair enough.

It isn't so much anything "keeping me there", since I just decided to check it out again recently. I don't really have any time invested in it.

Can't comment on the game too much as I really have only seen the very, very beginnings of it. I do like the look of the world, though. The setting is interesting and there seems to be a certain "feel" to the game that I like so far.

Beyond that... can't really comment.

I will be honest... I can't see myself sticking around in the game for very long run if I continue to experience the lack of life I have so far. That's not a bash on the game... just a statement of fact. I am a huge fan of the social and community element of MMOs and really place a lot of value in that aspect of them. If there's no one else playing, there's no community and not much social activity going on. If that's the case, then I'm basically playing a single player game online.... which I have no interest in doing.

Overall, though, my post was more out of curiosity of the fact that I've not seen nor spoken to a single other person in that time so far.

I would say Alganon has a smaller population than even Istaria or Ryzom, but what do I know?

I will say that regardless whether or not 5 people, 10 people, 50 people, or 500 people are online at once, the game needs a free global chat.

Originally posted by SuperXero89

I would say Alganon has a smaller population than even Istaria or Ryzom, but what do I know?

I will say that regardless whether or not 5 people, 10 people, 50 people, or 500 people are online at once, the game needs a free global chat.

I agree. I think a free global chat channel (well moderated/monitored for RMT spam) could do the game a lot of good - assuming people used it, which I'm sure they would.

Ryzom does have a small population... but it's a very social and active one and, thanks to the availability of global channels, a brand-new player can step into the game, introduce themselves and begin interacting with other players. Similarly, in Istaria, there's the Dragon channel, the new player help channel and a couple others as I recall that are very active as well, even with the small population the game has.

Even Darkfall has a global chat channel which, in my times playing it, hosted a number of very interesting conversations. It wasn't always people bashing each other, as one might expect.

The ability to see people talking, and to talk with them in kind, has a huge impact on a MMO's potential staying power, IMO.

Edit: Also, the ability for even a small community to be able to talk and interact in a global channel tends to have the effect of creating something of an almost "family-like" atmosphere, as hokey as that sounds. It lends itself to a very tight-knit community when people get to know the others on their server, talk to them daily, etc.

All things I think Derek and co should really take to heart and seriously consider, if they haven't, or aren't already.

Originally posted by WSIMike

Originally posted by SuperXero89

I would say Alganon has a smaller population than even Istaria or Ryzom, but what do I know?

I will say that regardless whether or not 5 people, 10 people, 50 people, or 500 people are online at once, the game needs a free global chat.

I agree. I think a free global chat channel (well moderated/monitored for RMT spam) could do the game a lot of good - assuming people used it, which I'm sure they would.

Ryzom does have a small population... but it's a very social and active one and, thanks to the availability of global channels, a brand-new player can step into the game, introduce themselves and begin interacting with other players. Similarly, in Istaria, there's the Dragon channel, the new player help channel and a couple others as I recall that are very active as well, even with the small population the game has.

Even Darkfall has a global chat channel which, in my times playing it, hosted a number of very interesting conversations. It wasn't always people bashing each other, as one might expect.

The ability to see people talking, and to talk with them in kind, has a huge impact on a MMO's potential staying power, IMO.

It's always fun in Istaria where the game glitches and you become the chat moderator.  Kicking random people out and watching them go nuts trying to figure out....ah well that's probaby off subject.

I get the feeling that the lack of chat is down to nobody knowing how to.  The players that do wimble on use the help channel which they are not supposed to but nobody seems to care.

To those that don't know you select the chat channel by putting / before the channel number.  /3 is for the help channel (if memory serves).  If you don't select a channel I think your just shouting into thin air.

The problem I had with this game was the lack of info/oomph at the beginning. 

Example:  You don't get points for your abilities untill level 11; reading the studies description really helps; you only get to pick three (possibly 2) crafting subjects; grinding exp is crap for leveling but brill for upping atk and def skil which makes it more tolerablel; making linen bandages is a good way of upping basic crafting etc.

Surface detail on Alganon is fairly sparce.  Choose character go to world, start quests, kill MOBS with 1 combat ability.  Its when you peel back the wallpaper that you find a treasure trove of stuff that can make you a unique character in the game. 

Unfortunately there is nothing to tell you to scratch the surface.

I went back to the game to check out the new character updates and only then did I discover the wealth of things that I could do.  I really liked the study system/combat training/abilities system which allowed me to NOT be a clone of every other warrior in the game.  The fact that when I shut down for the day and go do something in real life my character still studies is well tidy.

Alganon is a bit like a wart, it kinda grows on you :D