We talk about mechanics, combat and characters a lot and rightly so, they are important topics but how much does the games community matter to you and how much affect does it have on your enjoyment of the game that you are playing?
For me, community is one of the most important aspects of an MMO (otherwise why not play a single player RPG). Some people like running around as a solo player in a world of people, but not me. I like to interact with as many people on my server as I can.
My guild is incredibly important to me, it surrounds me with like minded players. A good group of friends can keep you playing a game longer than you normally would and I have seen good social MMOs recognize that fact and support guilds as best as they can.
Zarriya said:
For me, community is one of the most important aspects of an MMO (otherwise why not play a single player RPG). Some people like running around as a solo player in a world of people, but not me. I like to interact with as many people on my server as I can.
My guild is incredibly important to me, it surrounds me with like minded players. A good group of friends can keep you playing a game longer than you normally would and I have seen good social MMOs recognize that fact and support guilds as best as they can.
I absolutely agree, I think my guild mates have helped me through some pretty tough grinds and raids that may have otherwise defeated me.
Community in general though is extremely important to me, without a solid, like-minded, mature and understanding community, the games atmosphere, and world don't have the same feeling, I don't feel like I truly belong unless there is a solid community supporting the game and living in the same world as me.
I am really looking forward to playing with you guys and girls, I think this community has what it takes to help make a great game even greater! :)
I always have to wonder at people who defend the terrible trolling that goes on in general chat in games with "turn it off if you don't like it." Well first of all, shutting out a part of the community seems detrimental to the whole "massively multiplayer" aspect of the games I like to play. Secondly, why shouldn't trolls who spew toxic garbage be held accountable for it? The things you say, the way you treat others, your worth to the community at large--all that should shape your reputation and if you develop the wrong reputation it should hurt. No name changes. No server transfers. Deal with the fallout if you are a toxic community member.
A good community definitely keeps me logging in. I also believe that a community that treats newcomers as assets and offers to teach in game is going to grow much better than a community that grumpily tells people to read the forums and come back when they know how it works. I really miss good communities and despair at the current atmosphere I see in many of the games I've tried out.
Community is utterly paramount, for all of the reasons you guys have touched on and more.
In my opinion, there is no more important function a truly strong and vibrant community has on a virtual world than in its policing the actions of its members. This comes through not only when people are acting in a toxic or destructive manner but also in the way in which it interacts with new players, its willingness to help rather than hinder, general kindness juxtaposed with venom, barrier to entry, etc. In other words, how willing are the mavens and connectors of the community to be hands-on in an attempt to keep the community a healthy one as opposed to taking a back seat and allowing people's actions to be restricted and influenced only by the mechanics of the game and world.
To me, this is the root of a robust and flourishing community.
Absolutely agree with y'all! Community is one of the most important aspects of any MMO. Otherwise, why not play a single player game? If the community sucks but the game is good I might continue to log in for a while but eventually it's just not worth putting up with it and I stop. To counter act that, one of the first things I end up doing in most games is turning the global chat channels off.... the stuff people say there makes me embarrassed to be a human sometimes. :) (side note: Will Pantheon have a global chat channel outside of guild chat and direct tells?) But if all goes well you can find a guild of like minded players who you actually enjoy being around and have a great experience. If the community is toxic though it makes it that much harder.
Marilee said:
I always have to wonder at people who defend the terrible trolling that goes on in general chat in games with "turn it off if you don't like it." Well first of all, shutting out a part of the community seems detrimental to the whole "massively multiplayer" aspect of the games I like to play. Secondly, why shouldn't trolls who spew toxic garbage be held accountable for it? The things you say, the way you treat others, your worth to the community at large--all that should shape your reputation and if you develop the wrong reputation it should hurt. No name changes. No server transfers. Deal with the fallout if you are a toxic community member.
A good community definitely keeps me logging in. I also believe that a community that treats newcomers as assets and offers to teach in game is going to grow much better than a community that grumpily tells people to read the forums and come back when they know how it works. I really miss good communities and despair at the current atmosphere I see in many of the games I've tried out.
Taking this a step further couldn't Pantheon have a community reputation for players.
People are able to give a thumb up or thumbs down to people. If you do a good deed, help someone out, give directions, even just communicate in a positive manner, the person can give you a +1 to community reputation.
On the other side if you are bad mannered, spamming general channel, kill stealing, etc, they could give you a -1 to reputation.
Maybe limit it to 1 movement per different player per day so if you encounter them again the next day you could give or take more reputation.
I'm not sure how to really implement the idea to really work well or have it so it can't be abused but its something to think about.
It would give a heads up for who ever is dealing with you, they can see their community reputation and you can see theirs.
Your community reputation literally precedes you.
Marilee said:
I always have to wonder at people who defend the terrible trolling that goes on in general chat in games with "turn it off if you don't like it." Well first of all, shutting out a part of the community seems detrimental to the whole "massively multiplayer" aspect of the games I like to play. Secondly, why shouldn't trolls who spew toxic garbage be held accountable for it? The things you say, the way you treat others, your worth to the community at large--all that should shape your reputation and if you develop the wrong reputation it should hurt. No name changes. No server transfers. Deal with the fallout if you are a toxic community member.
A good community definitely keeps me logging in. I also believe that a community that treats newcomers as assets and offers to teach in game is going to grow much better than a community that grumpily tells people to read the forums and come back when they know how it works. I really miss good communities and despair at the current atmosphere I see in many of the games I've tried out.
Couldn't agree more Marilee, constant trolling and abusive language in chat, will get them on my ignore list...and if my list gets too long without some option of reporting people who are there solely to destroy everyone else's' enjoyment of the game, it lessens my desire to keep coming back after awhile. I hope the CSR section will deter that behaviour. If they don't in the end, I don't see that behaviour as community building but community destruction. Vanguard's community tried hard to be helpful especially to newbies, newbies are new accounts and therefore important to the life of the game. Saga of Ryzom, a French game from France, also had the same kind of community, both VG's and Ryzom's general chat will filled with good information for those that were just learning the game. Hope to see our Pantheon community pull together the same, for the longevity of the game. :)
Larrikin said:
Marilee said:
I always have to wonder at people who defend the terrible trolling that goes on in general chat in games with "turn it off if you don't like it." Well first of all, shutting out a part of the community seems detrimental to the whole "massively multiplayer" aspect of the games I like to play. Secondly, why shouldn't trolls who spew toxic garbage be held accountable for it? The things you say, the way you treat others, your worth to the community at large--all that should shape your reputation and if you develop the wrong reputation it should hurt. No name changes. No server transfers. Deal with the fallout if you are a toxic community member.
A good community definitely keeps me logging in. I also believe that a community that treats newcomers as assets and offers to teach in game is going to grow much better than a community that grumpily tells people to read the forums and come back when they know how it works. I really miss good communities and despair at the current atmosphere I see in many of the games I've tried out.
Taking this a step further couldn't Pantheon have a community reputation for players.
People are able to give a thumb up or thumbs down to people. If you do a good deed, help someone out, give directions, even just communicate in a positive manner, the person can give you a +1 to community reputation.
On the other side if you are bad mannered, spamming general channel, kill stealing, etc, they could give you a -1 to reputation.
Maybe limit it to 1 movement per different player per day so if you encounter them again the next day you could give or take more reputation.
I'm not sure how to really implement the idea to really work well or have it so it can't be abused but its something to think about.
It would give a heads up for who ever is dealing with you, they can see their community reputation and you can see theirs.
Your community reputation literally precedes you.
I often wondered about a point system like this, but in the past I have just seen it not work as intended. People artificially inflate their points by giving points to friends - not based on what they have actually done in a community. "Hey give me a point and I will give you a point!" Likewise, -1s (thumbs down) can be abused as well. An example of this is the thank/reputation of these forums.
I think good old fashioned reputation/notoriety works best. I feel this can best be supported as Marilee said, no name changes, no sever transfers.
Jason said:
Without a great community I would be just as content to play offline games and games such as Skyrim. For me having a great game is what gets me there to begin with, but a great community is what *keeps* me there.
This is exactly what I am doing now due to no decent online games available. I play The Witcher 3 at the moment. Once I end up in a good MMO with a good community I hardly touch single player games.
Community makes or breaks an MMO.
What too few game companies fail to recognize is that communities have to be moulded, nurtured and occasionally spanked. Left to their own devices, gaming communities will naturally degenerate into bad behaviour in every possible regard.
There are of course specific and occasionally subtle ways to encourage formation of a lasting, rich community.
Game mechanics that encourage group play
Economics that require personal interaction (as opposed to vending machine style bots or auction houses)
Guide programs / CS staff who interact with players on a regular basis in positive ways (GM events, role plays, etc...) but who are also known to carry a big stick with regard to bad behaviour, enforcing renames, porting abusive players to "time out" boxes, etc...
Moderated, out-of-game forums where players can interact and form bonds/relationships
Community leadership from official game representatives beyond launch
Pantheon's backbone community is important.
We "Fallen" are waiting for the book to be written, but still serve as the backbone for this community. No doubt, many others will eventually come to have a look-see & bow out, or become engulfed. The tenets most hold.
Community is the most important aspect to a MMORPG.
We could play Pantheon in someone's garage with household items and some dice... EQ paved the way, the fallen are going to rise again!
Pantheon is Brad's new riddle..
Amsai said:
Well I just give you my 4 pillars: 1. Combat (cuz it needs to be fun) 2. Comradery (which goes hand in hand with community.) 3. Exploration (that includes a reason too) 4. Epic fights (story, raid, or other. Hey!!! I need to brag and share war stories with my Comrads.) But in all seriousness thats why I find myself playing single player games. There are plenty of a great sinhle player games that are better cuz they are actual single player games and not single player MMOs. I just dont feel the tightness of community in these new MMOs. Its not non exitant but no where near they way it was in my FFXI glory days. Where the **** got real. People needed ME. Not random Ninja # 3896 from the Group Finder mechanic. I remember my Linkshells first time against Kirin. We didnt win that night but learned valuable lessons together. And after deleveling twice. We fricken earned that **** in blood. The next day our leader organized post raid level recovery lol. ^.^
Combat, exploration, epic fights all have their own part to play but this topic and question is purely about the community, how important it is to you and what affect the community has on your experience in game. ;)
I also think it's pretty important to make characters/classes important in their roles and in groups but again, this is strictly about community. :)
Amsai said:
Sorry Kilsin i might have spilled through a couple subjects on the way but my story was honestly about why community is important to me. Apparently i failed.? Sorry? Or am I misunderstansing the topic. Was this only directed for community oustide the game like forums and stuff?
No, it's all good, I liked the community part.
I was just forced to explain the question again due to all the other points and talk about off-topic subjects so others didn't follow in your footsteps is all, I just want to hear pure community thoughts, combat, and other subjects have tons of threads and get talked about a lot, this question was supposed to be free of combat and other points ;)
For me it's huge. Communities make or break a MMORPG. As has been stated ad nauseam on these boards and others - EQ was so memorable because you had to continually interact with the community for endless reasons and you were rewarded. And I know it's a bit off topic, but I believe instancing is the bane of community building.
The biggest aspect of community building in an MMORPG is a persistent world - a world that all players interact with at the same time and are forced to share or compete in that world. With instancing, players are able to escape in a subset of that world with interactions on a much smaller scale (a group of 6 or maybe a raid of 25 versus a zone of 50-100+) which detracts from the community building, which I hope Pantheon avoids.
Community MAKES a MMO. I still have friends from Asherons Call (yes showing my age) from before my kids were born. You become friends online and it leads to so much more. Anyone from TPO / Safe Haven / Unleashed in VG will tell you life long friendships are made in games such as these. So many people I played with over the years are on these forums with me, just waiting to game a real game again together.
Over time you celebrate your friends real life achievements, kids births. and family losses.. RIP Blackwolf.. that is one I will never ever forget ..