defiantlegacy Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 I have noticed a distinct lack of any meaningful social interactions ( at least on my server ) with regards to general chat whilst in at the fleet. So far the only conversations i see taking place are either people asking for a group for an instance, or to go do heroic quests. I never see people asking for anyone to craft them a specific item or really any random conversation at all. In other MMOs i remember seeing people asking things like " LF someone to craft x item have mats pst " Or just starting random conversations that would lead on for ages. I realise that people from other servers may have experienced this in SWTOR but, as i have yet to see any meaningful social interaction on the fleet on my server, i was wondering if this is the same on yours? And , if so, why do you think this is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiningriver Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Well... My social interaction only involves helping others with their quest. And most of the time I play with my real life circle of friends (we are 4 in a group anyway) and we help each other out with class quests, crew skills, equipment, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nippon Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 (edited) My biggest social interaction has been passing on some items to a low level player i saw struggling on Coruscant... Other than that it's not needed, i have 20 friends on a vent channel with me that i have played MMO's with since early SWG.. If there was anything Social about this game, we would get involved....BUT with No Social Classes (Entertainer, Crafter in SWG) No Social Events No World PVP with actual Win / Lose Dynamics...PVP here is another grind, or way to level, there is no sense of loss, or reason to fight for your faction. No Server Events No Chat Bubbles No need to interact with another player, for buffs (Doctor, Medic SWG) No Housing No Decoration No Player Cities No player Created Content SWG had all of this, And was the BEST Community I have ever played in...The game its self had many Flaw's....But no one could ever in a million year's fault it's communities. This was not Systematic to my server there either....Every server had Brilliant communities that Ousted Hackers / Sploiters / Credit Farmers / Resellers.....You could make a name for yourself as a crafter, or someone to do space content with, People would go in random group's and Gun on players ships....Pvpers felt some pride in losing a base on a planet. They had Economies where you actually went to a crafter's shop, you actually had to ask and interact with players to get good Gear, or improve your End Game gear... SWTOR has absolutely none of this, and with it...No community, No Economy...IMHO no real hope unless it get's some of it. Just a bunch of player's desperate for the next end game update. Simply because there IS NOTHING to do but End Game Grinding for Gear. The Dev's can have as many Warzones and Flashpoints as they like tucked up there sleeves, but the Grinder's will chew them up quicker than they can type the first line of code for the next one. Social interaction, crafting, and an economy is what drives an MMO...Not End game gear or PVP. When player's are finished with End Game for the day or PVP, they have nothing in this game to do but stand around on fleet....Jesus they cant even go and craft, because a companion does it all for you. Subscriptions keep MMO's running,players that craft, socialize, help other's, decorate, and build, player's that explore, that enjoy EVERY aspect of the game......That will log in to sit in a Cantina and meet other players while performing a NON combat service and socialize..We are the player's that will pay £15 a month to stand in your game for years on End. Not the Raid guild that logs in 2 nights a week to tear through the content. Edited March 6, 2012 by Nippon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunazen Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 (edited) The Dev's can have as many Warzones and Flashpoints as they like tucked up there sleeves, but the Grinder's will chew them up quicker than they can type the first line of code for the next one. Social interaction, crafting, and an economy is what drives an MMO...Not End game gear or PVP. Completely agree with this.... and you've made me very nostalgic for my first MMO Regarding the question, all of the reasons stated above are excellent answers, plus for many this is old hat. Most everyone knows what they're doing, have friends from past mmos, etc., so there's no "need" to interact in general chat. I had high hopes the first few weeks since the general chat was fairly active, but then the chat died down to nothing more than the occasional LFG for instances. That's another thing: there's no real need to adventure out in the world as a group. I'd even go beyond that to say it's kind of a pain in the butt to do so. 90% of this game is solo, which doesn't help the social aspect at all. Edited March 6, 2012 by Lunazen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggin Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 My experience with TOR has been similar to yours OP. By and large the community interaction I've seen is limited to people looking for flashpoint or ops groups on fleet or heroic groups on planet. I miss the life that a functional player-driven economy brings to an MMO. I miss a crowd of players dueling each other and testing out new abilities, talent set-ups, etc. I miss the sense of "we" that results from world PVP attacks on towns, forts, and faction leaders. Even when one doesn't partcipate there is often a connection one feels with fellow players when one is part of the faction that "wins" or "loses" the encounter. TOR is so focused on streamlining the single-player character-building experience -- something it DOES do very well -- that IMO it has inhibited the conditions that allow that sense of community to develop. Not all of it is the consequence of design choices though. As others have pointed out earlier, one's MMO social circle is so much more defined now than it was long ago. Players don't NEED to interact with players outside that circle to improve their character and so they don't. That's simply a part of group dynamics in any community as it grows over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archifikoss Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I guess I've been lucky because I often see random convos sparking up, even on more sparsely populated planets, at least at peak hour. Of course not at weird hours, but there generally there is always someone who perks up and says hi, or starts some random conversation. For example I was most happy when I got to help a new player who was having a problem with a certain class quest boss, he had to use an item on him before the fight but he didn't realize it and was at a loss. I explained to him how to do so, and got a very grateful "thank you" whisper later. Gave me warm fuzzy feelings So yeah, there is a level of social activity on my server Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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