I've had a hard time also as most MMOs I play now the players simply dont say anything...If they do its just a quick question then no more chat......Now that most MMOs are soloable to max level and most classes are self sufficient, players just dont need anyone anymore and go their own way....Really its been that way since WoW came out in late 2004 except people would group and chat there in the early days.

In any MMO I've played for any considerable length of time I've made friends no problem. Usually from grouping I start to come across people a few times and that usually does it. I've met some nice people and some a-holes in every game going back to when I started MMO's in EQ. So to answer the OP, no i don't have that problem at all. Next game I'm taking a run at will be GW2 so i'll see if my streak continues.

I suggest you join a like-minded established multi-gaming guild. 

If a certain game doesn't work out after a couple weeks/months some other game they are playing aswell might interest you  and you can still keep in touch with the people you played with.  Go for mature guilds with a relaxed atmosphere so it isn't all about the game.

My suggestion pure and simple.  Look around for the type of guild that suits you with voice comms join them and be happy :). Games like WoW are all about the guild you are in not the general community like in daoc.

I came from FFXI originally.  I made as many friends as I did enemies.  It was social.  I guess FFXI is more of a real "world" than other mmo's.  You feel like you're living there.  Still, it could have had so much more.  Other games that I was also able to friend people were Sims 2 (on forums, yes it is not an mmo) and Forsaken World.  Forsaken World is prob the closest I could get to FFXI's social atmosphere but that game is such a cheesy throw together; handsome as it looks.

Originally posted by Castillle

Ive been finding it a lot easier to make friends in MOBAs than MMORPGs. 

That's cause in mobas you actually play with other people and need to use teamwork, unlike current "MM"Os.

Originally posted by Wicoa

My suggestion pure and simple.  Look around for the type of guild that suits you with voice comms join them and be happy :). Games like WoW are all about the guild you are in not the general community like in daoc.

That's not really a good thing. The raiding tier system and the instancing in WoW encourages pre made groups and cliques. Its a very elitist game (Which is funny considering how casual the mechanics are).

In DAoC you had, the realm community, the alliance community (a system of guilds), your own guild, and the random people that you'd often group with because the game wasn't instanced.

I agree with OP.  It's a lot harder to make lasting friends in new mmos.  My first was Planetside and I still keep in touch with some of the people I met.

I would think that mainly it is the younger generations that care less about actually making friends and creating lasting groups. They just want to jump from content to content absorbing as many digital bananas as they can like the little consumers they are bred to be.

It still exists, and I did meet a few people from newer mmos but it takes a lot more effort and for the most part anyone I end up befriending turns out to be around my age or older.

Making friends is never a problem for me. I have several WOW guildie that i have them as real id friends. One of them, living close by, even gave me his work place (at an Apple store) and invited me to visit.

I have already made couple of friends in Diablo 3. Making friend is not an issue.

The issue is finding time to keep up. To be honest, i don't need more friends. I have wife + kids, real life friends, and i really don't need more.

Also played XI.  Every mmo I play it usually takes me two or three months, if not longer to make friends.  And this is with logging in regularly and playing for awhile.  I resubbed to XIV, and dabble in that game here and there, but I feel the same way you do with that game.  Maybe if I had more time to play and have my character/name run around a bit more I'd meet more people.  But the game has a very zombie like feel to it.  I don't know if they are afk, or what, and the /sh channel is very quiet.  (even compared to XI, idk if this is just because there are not many people playing atm, or waiting for 2.0)

Coming from Aion, I have a very long in game friends list, but I hardly talk to any of them, so it's kinda wierd.  I do have friends in that game and have been playing with my closest ones for a few years which is cool.  I played XI for about 7 years and friends came and went over the years.  

I guess it takes awhile to develop relationships with other people and have them trust you with thier time to invest in helping you and befriending you.  With the situation you are in now, I'd recommend GW2 since it's a new game and aimed for more casual players, and they have a dynamic quest designed so that people can just jump in and help out..etc...  It's always nice to jump into a new game witha clean slate.  It depends on the person too, as if you are anti-social like some of the posters in this thread you will be too self absorbed in yourself to enjoy possible friendships and develop great communities.

Some day, a game may say "screw this" and increase game staff by a factor of 10 over the "profitable" 50k:1 model, make a serious attempt to clean up General chat, get players involved in it again.

But I suspect that'd fail spectacularly.  The biggest games have been cesspits for just too long, people have grown up behaving that way.  It's the internet, the incoming tide cannot be controlled with a handful of sponge.

Surly Old Curmudgeon™ says: It's far too late.

Originally posted by FelixMajor

I would think that mainly it is the younger generations that care less about actually making friends and creating lasting groups.

No, you're wrong.  I'm quite the "oldie" by gaming standards (I wish I was closer to 50 than 60...) and though I used to like chatting in MMOs over 12 years ago, I can't be bothered now.  When MMOs went mainstream the massive influx of immature, ninja-looting, trash-talking, semi-educated, inarticulate, petulant and whiny players killed off any desire I had to chat with (and group with) the players around me.  I fully realise there will be some great players out there, but I have lost any desire to sort the wheat from the MOUNTAINS of chaff.

I do cast an eye over the General Chat window in MMOs, now and again, and quite honestly I've seen nothing worth replying to in years.

FFXI is a group oriented game.
Even WoW's raids just require everyone to have addons and no real need for communication.

More MMOs need group content as the primary form of progress.

Originally posted by PukeBucket

FFXI is a group oriented game.
Even WoW's raids just require everyone to have addons and no real need for communication.

More MMOs need group content as the primary form of progress.