Bringing back social aspect of game.

[coulterbart]

Coming from an almost vanilla player (since TBC) I think the most active I have seen guilds was when they were working on guild achievements, guild rep, and guild level, etc.

I think it is time we up the guild level cap and add a few 'useful' benefits as level rewards. This not only highly promotes social gameplay but it also puts some loyality and ownership of the guild to each member. I remember many of nights just fishing in groups or a indepth supply process to get mats to create high ilvl items or potions, or even just go fishing for the evening. Since we capped, everything has gone back to stale members with no need to run guild groups or even keep ppl from hoppin level 25 guilds (since it is so easy to get guild rep now.)

At least maybe a 5 level increase for each major update or something would be nice.

Thanks for letting me bend an ear.

[Clockwork Pinkie]

Well, it never left, just don't be shy with people and it will be back, it's never left for me as the only reason I log in, again, anymore is to talk to people and do dungeons or raids with them if they want/need to.. I will admit though, leveling guilds did get pretty intense, on that last night, it was all or nothing, had like 20 groups of 5 spamming dungeons to be the realm first level 25 guild, and, we got it, sadly i am no longer with that guild, but that was a very amazing time.

[Windfury]

The problem with that is it hurts small guilds pretty badly, because they fall behind and lose members to guilds with more perks.

[Z3ROR]

Social aspect never left the game, but the social aspect left the players itself long time ago. Most players are greedy as hell nowadays.

[mysticx]

I think guild perks did more to hurt than help the social aspect of WoW, everybody wants level 25 guilds now, not the ones with nice people, the ones with the perks.

"Social" is the first thing to go out the window when gameplay perks come into the picture, which says a lot about WoW-players, BTW

[Ethes]

I think guild perks did more to hurt than help the social aspect of WoW, everybody wants level 25 guilds now, not the ones with nice people, the ones with the perks.

"Social" is the first thing to go out the window when gameplay perks come into the picture, which says a lot about WoW-players, BTW

For a 'social guild' maybe. But as a GM from a raiding guild I can tell you that we're not having any issues with recruitement due to our guild level.

[Zeek Daniels]

Nah if you want players to communicate more you need to take out automated dungeon tools and raid tools. Then players will have to work together on their servers to find dungeons and raids and that will bring back the social aspect of the game. I remember for my guilds fishing achive back in cata i fished over 90% of the fish we needed for that achive. No one wanted to help at all.

[alucardtnuoc]

I liked back in wrath when you actually met tons of people, if you said /2 tank LFG something, some people would instantly whisper you because they knew you were good.

Sure, LFD stopped people spending hours in dal/sw spamming /2 LFG, but i liked how that helped you find more people who you could have fun with.

Bring back more incentives to form server based groups for events/raids/dungeons.

[Deleted]

This is a topic quite close to my heart.

There has been a social decline and that, IMO is for a number of reasons that can't be fixed nowadays:

1.) levelling was long and difficult in vanilla. This required grouping and forging of friendships/alliances in the game to actually progress.
2.) You couldn't name change of realm change. This meant all content was limited to forming groups within the existing player base on your realm. Act like an idiot and you wouldn't get far.
3.) Xrealm/lfd/LFR didn't exist. People who would today choose to the see the content on their own terms by joining LFR might have, in the past pushed themselves further to join a guild and see normal content. The introduction of LFR means that people can see "all" of what wow has to offer without actually talking to or grouping with a single other player in game or on their realm. This takes away potential players from normal mode guilds.
4.) Because of Xrealm content a reputation simply doesn't matter any more. People can act like idiots in LFR/LFD without any worry of ever seeing those people again. Because this content is also easier than premade group content it also doesn't promote the increase of skills which widens the gap between LFR and normal content.

There's virtually nothing that can be done now to "fix" the issue of the social realm experience. Convenience has won.

[Thatwsntmilk]

I liked back in wrath when you actually met tons of people, if you said /2 tank LFG something, some people would instantly whisper you because they knew you were good.

Sure, LFD stopped people spending hours in dal/sw spamming /2 LFG, but i liked how that helped you find more people who you could have fun with.

Bring back more incentives to form server based groups for events/raids/dungeons.

Exactly! It took some more time back then but it was tons more of fun to actually have a community on the server. I prefer having fun over maximizing efficiency in a game (e.g. maximize gear per hour ratio). The game should be fun and not just about getting as much gear as possible per hour.

[Pendragon]

I think LFD and other similar tools are great, but they need to offer greater rewards for doing dungeons and other things with people on your own realm. They'd have to balance the rewards to be worth it but also optional, so if you're not able to find groups the old way you can just use the LFD tool without missing out on too much.

Also gives people a reason to make friends and socialize within guilds.

[Thatwsntmilk]

I think LFD and other similar tools are great, but they need to offer greater rewards for doing dungeons and other things with people on your own realm. They'd have to balance the rewards to be worth it but also optional, so if you're not able to find groups the old way you can just use the LFD tool without missing out on too much.

Also gives people a reason to make friends and socialize within guilds.

Interesting idea, it would definitely improve the overall situation for the moment. I just wonder when they will realize that the two key aspects of the game (progress and community) have to return in order to bring the game to a new all-time-high.

[Krolikn]

It up to you to be social. Why do you want to be forced to do it, just do it yourself

[Thatwsntmilk]

It up to you to be social. Why do you want to be forced to do it, just do it yourself

It's not about what a single person does and what he doesn't do. It's a general tendency of the entire community that is bad due to certain changes.

And the term "force" is inappropriate anyway. It's like you would say that people are forced to do quests to level up, people are forced to level professions in order to reach max, people are forced to join raids in order to progress etc. That all is part of the game which was a very social game and MMORPG to a certain point.

[ComputerNerd]

And what difference will adding in more of the same do, when you cap them again you end up in exactly the same place.
Any social aspect has to be driven by players, and the problem is players do not give a damn any more.
There are more tools than before for social interaction, but nobody wants to use them.

[Thatwsntmilk]

And what difference will adding in more of the same do, when you cap them again you end up in exactly the same place.
Any social aspect has to be driven by players, and the problem is players do not give a damn any more.
There are more tools than before for social interaction, but nobody wants to use them.

The question is: why do players do not give a damn anymore? Because features like LFD/LFR were added. From level 15 on you just click your way to max level and at max level you're just a few clicks away from top tier gear.

The community is definitely worse nowadays (not even fanbois deny that anymore) but the way players behave is just a result of the system that they play in. That is what people like myself tried to say for years now and it took years until people realized just that...
The question is when will Blizzard realize all that and will they find a way to limit the damage that already has been done? To be honest I don't have much faith in that as of now but one can only wish...

[mistahwilshire]

My experience from Vanilla til now has always been 'run everything with your guild'. That's never changed despite any "Looking For" mechanics. The social aspect is almost the same for me with the exception of people coming and going over time.

[Ceece]

Finally a thread talking about socializing while gaming. Sadly, while adding more guild benefits does improve social impact in a guild, it would only fix the problem temporarily. The problems with socializing goes beyond gaming, anyway. In this day and age, look at how the people are. Look at what technology has done to us. That's not to say I don't like my gadgets - I only wish things were better, or at a healthier state of mind.

[Amaterasu65]

Whoever wants to socialise, will socialise. What has changed is that, contrary to the past, you are not "obliged" to talk to people anymore, since you can queue for everything. But it depends on you if you are gonna find the socialisation that you need. Join a guild that still depends on co-operation (hc raids, rbgs, other fun activities).

[underdogba]

If something in the game changes, but the old way to do it still exists exactly the same, and people decide to do the new thing instead of the old thing, then the conclusion is that they would've preferred not to do the old thing all along.