Will Classic bring back player communication?

[deenman]

I joined a group as healer last night. Got bumped off a ledge and accidentally made a few extra pulls, but healed through it and we survived. Quipped a few jokes, apologized, literally nothing from the other four players.

After a couple bosses I pulled some extra packs while we were clearing. Nobodies health was dropping, we were aoe dpsing anyway, and we were all sub 120. Still no issues clearing, but tank starts complaining and other dps start yelling at me and talking about how stupid I am, special needs, etc etc. Then I’m like “this is the first time you guys say anything and it’s this?” Some complaints about state of the game, and they kick me.

We were almost at the last boss at this point. The group knows they can easily pick up another healer from LFD. They don’t give two shits about my time lost missing out on the final bonus exp and it doesn’t hurt them at all.

Will we ACTUALLY get back to people communicating with each other in Classic?

Groups will be harder to form and replacements will take travel time not to mention just finding someone. These same people would probably have preferred to work it out with me instead of kicking. Hell, I didn’t pull anymore after they said stop. I was just discussing why I thought the extra pulls made sense and they kicked me...

You could argue that these people would never have grouped with me in the first place but forget that argument. Suppose they DID group with me and same scenario came up.

I think either Classic DOES bring back tighter community that’s more willing to engage meaningfully with each other or it ends up falling flat and becoming just another desolate playground for those happy to piddle around with original wow either solo or with a tight group of friends.

Classic runs in another issue,a shit/troll player can basicaly hold the group hostage as its way harder and time consuming to find someone else,the kick system is a major improvement over this,one reason i wont be playing classic is this very one,i cant be assed to waste 4 hours in a low lvl dungeons,have the healer be an ass and leave or get kicked and then waste 2 more hours,yeah no thanks,you guys have fun doe.

[parcus]

Classic runs in another issue,a shit/troll player can basicaly hold the group hostage as its way harder and time consuming to find someone else,the kick system is a major improvement over this,one reason i wont be playing classic is this very one,i cant be assed to waste 4 hours in a low lvl dungeons,have the healer be an ass and leave or get kicked and then waste 2 more hours,yeah no thanks,you guys have fun doe.

Spoken like a true retail baby. Also, why are you even posting on this forum if you have no desire to play classic?

[anon5123]

Classic runs in another issue,a shit/troll player can basicaly hold the group hostage

No he can't lol

the kick system is a major improvement over this

Yeah, having some idiot from another server votekick you for asinine reasons and the rest of the group click "yes" because they don't care, this is truly a superior system.

i cant be assed to waste 4 hours in a low lvl dungeons,have the healer be an ass and leave or get kicked and then waste 2 more hours,yeah no thanks,you guys have fun doe.

4 hours

spoken like someone who has never even played vanilla

lol

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At this point the majority of people have their pink glasses on and think that classic was the awesome thing it was back in its time.

Stopped reading here.

Private servers have been available this entire time, absolutely free for anyone to play at any time. There are no "pink glasses" involved.

Shoo, blizzard shill.

[Eleccybubb]

Not in it's entirety no. Not saying it as a bad thing.

It will definitely exist on a large scale. But with the people this is aimed at (people who played mostly) they will know what to do this time around.

Not to mention the mentality of players in general has changed over 14 years. Not for the worse ofc just it's changed.

[Projectmars]

You'll be forced to cooperate more for stuff, which does mean more socialization, but I don't think that's what would qualify as bringing back player communication in the sense of how it was back then. People are too different nowadays.

[Garrosh "Times Change" Picture here]

[Jonnusthegreat]

Years ago my friend was a Warlock for a Uldaman Group. Details of the event are obscure today, but something happened and he was either kicked/left the group. A few minutes later, they reinvite him, apologize for being jerks, and let him in. They start clearing the dungeon when their "healer" left and they asked him to summon a new one. What they didn't tell him was that he was summoning his replacement. Their old healer was waiting outside of the dungeon. As soon as he summoned their friend, they kicked him, called him vulgar names, and started the dungeon without him.

Why am I telling you this story? Everyone has their opinions about group finder. It won't be a magical "cure-all" for social interaction. Jerk off players are going to be out there, they'll be vindictive, and when stories like yours and my buddy's occur. You're going to find that you've wasted significantly more time trying to do what you want because of trolls. Not going to say classic WoW, player communication, and no dungeon finder will be the "be all, end all". Do understand though, in your story you might've been kicked from the dungeon, but as a healer, you can requeue in dungeon finder and get regrouped quickly. In Classic WoW you've just wasted a good chunk of your time trying to do something for naught.

I am actually surprised of how well people are actually treated these days. If you invite a 360 DK with zero experience and then a 380 with 5/8 mythic queues up, lots of times people won't replace the first one out of some sense of loyalty or 'we got you first.' In classic it was just a free for all with no respect in many pugs. That said, if you found your community, they would bend over backwards for you.

[deniter]

You'll be forced to cooperate more for stuff, which does mean more socialization, but I don't think that's what would qualify as bringing back player communication in the sense of how it was back then. People are too different nowadays.

[Garrosh "Times Change" Picture here]

People are not any different than back then, it's just that the kind of people playing MMOs now used to play single player games and first person shooters. Blizzard's design philosophy since late WotLK has moved to favor this crowd while driving away the kind of players who were hooked in vanilla WoW 15 years ago.

Some of of these old players will come back for classic, some current retail players will try classic and go back to BfA before they hit level 10, and lots of private server folks will move to classic servers for good.

[Mercadi]

I have the same concerns as the OP & expect that the communication will not be back. The lack of social aspect is not unique to MMO, I see less of leisure communication everywhere. The society nowadays is much more single player oriented than it ever was.

I also believe that the less socialization people get -> the more awkward they feel when needing to socialize (and it feels like an effort than nature) -> the less likely people are to engage socially. It's a vicious cycle encompassing not just the gaming community (although we may be more vulnerable to this change).

[deenman]

Spoken like a true retail baby. Also, why are you even posting on this forum if you have no desire to play classic?

retail baby?i didnt know private servers existed BEFORE retail,good to knoww

[krishums]

I specifically remember typing /who 35-45 and going down the list whispering every person to ask people if they wanted to join my SM group and then figuring out the logistics of getting them to trisfall after. After spending hours just to put a group together I don't care if I have to help them bandage the last boss of the dungeon I wouldn't kick the healer for any reason.

Best advice for a healer though is to make friends with a good tank and run everything with them that way the two of you can control the group and have your pick of all the dps since they will always be dime a dozen.

[Savagedragn]

I can’t really say that communication in game was a lot better then than it is now. It usually looked like this


“LF 2 more UBRS. We have key”

Few seconds go by

“LF 2 more UBRS. We have key”

Few more seconds go by

“LF 3 more UBRS. We need key”

If you wanted to join the group you just whispered “inv” and hoped for the best. Once in the group most communication involved asking for buffs, food/water and the go, go, go people.

So communication wasn’t all that amazing as people want it to be.

This gave me a good chuckle =)

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I've been playing on a private server for 3 months. In my experience it's a lot better then retail, but I feel like that's because you have to communicate in Classic in order to get anything done.

Most of the people I have met, or grouped with, are understanding, you don't breeze through dungeons like you do in retail, you die, alot, but that's okay.

I also joined a guild, and the guild is very talkative, people are helpful too.

Overall though; you will find shitty people anywhere in life; I hope the community isn't about min/maxxing and enjoying the experience. That's what Vanilla was, we were all ignorant and just played for fun.

Most of our min maxing tools based on vanilla data are gone right? Maybe they’re still out there? Or someone will build new ones.

I think there will be a LOT of casual players due to manning on retail.

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I have the same concerns as the OP & expect that the communication will not be back. The lack of social aspect is not unique to MMO, I see less of leisure communication everywhere. The society nowadays is much more single player oriented than it ever was.

I also believe that the less socialization people get -> the more awkward they feel when needing to socialize (and it feels like an effort than nature) -> the less likely people are to engage socially. It's a vicious cycle encompassing not just the gaming community (although we may be more vulnerable to this change).

That’s a funny comparison about society being more single player given that WoW was the first major break through MMO, and was really quite a new thing at the time.

That might have been part of it though. Not necessarily that people were single or multi player focused, but that it was such a new amazing thing for us that it really drew us in.

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I specifically remember typing /who 35-45 and going down the list whispering every person to ask people if they wanted to join my SM group and then figuring out the logistics of getting them to trisfall after. After spending hours just to put a group together I don't care if I have to help them bandage the last boss of the dungeon I wouldn't kick the healer for any reason.

Best advice for a healer though is to make friends with a good tank and run everything with them that way the two of you can control the group and have your pick of all the dps since they will always be dime a dozen.

OMG I totally forgot about doing those who searches ������������������

[darkfire979]

Part of the problem is player-base mindsets. Back then, people are more willing to teach/tell you how to do something if you don't know about it. Hence, there is more communications.

Nowadays, people have the expectations of players should research on their own on any new dungeons since information resources are so abundant in youtube and online sites and anyone that doesn't do that might be considered as 'lazy'. Also there is the perception that if someone don't know about a dungeon, it's better to direct them to such resource sites rather than telling them the info directly because of the 'Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime'

[ken oath]

No.

Look at any "old school" games these days. Communication is still at a minimum.

We now have Facebook, text messages, whatsApp etc to communicate with people we *know* are our friend, rather than some random person online who we may not get along with.

We had all that 15-20 years ago; but it was no where near as widespread is it is now. Plus, you had to be on a PC to use it which cut the amount of people using those services down.

Not to mention the sheer amount of guides and efficiencies that are meticulously documented and in abundance. These, imo, have ruined RPG's.

So, no. Communication will be the same. Maybe a bit more chatter but overall I don't see it being much different.

[Dhrizzle]

I specifically remember typing /who 35-45 and going down the list whispering every person to ask people if they wanted to join my SM group and then figuring out the logistics of getting them to trisfall after. After spending hours just to put a group together I don't care if I have to help them bandage the last boss of the dungeon I wouldn't kick the healer for any reason.

Best advice for a healer though is to make friends with a good tank and run everything with them that way the two of you can control the group and have your pick of all the dps since they will always be dime a dozen.

When I was levelling my warrior from around the level 30 mark I knew that within a few minutes of logging in someone would whisper me to tank a dungeon for them.

[Frolk]

Pug communication will be just the same it is now.
Hopefully people will realize you need to play in a guild. I doubt they will though

they will make threas like "Why do i need to be in a guild to do simple lvling dungeons???" instead of joining a guild.

[Gavll]

Short answer: yes
Reason: You have to communicate to get anything done
Proof: On retail nobody ever talks in a pug. On PServers everyone talks

[Redasurc]

I joined a group as healer last night. Got bumped off a ledge and accidentally made a few extra pulls, but healed through it and we survived. Quipped a few jokes, apologized, literally nothing from the other four players.

After a couple bosses I pulled some extra packs while we were clearing. Nobodies health was dropping, we were aoe dpsing anyway, and we were all sub 120. Still no issues clearing, but tank starts complaining and other dps start yelling at me and talking about how stupid I am, special needs, etc etc. Then I’m like “this is the first time you guys say anything and it’s this?” Some complaints about state of the game, and they kick me.

We were almost at the last boss at this point. The group knows they can easily pick up another healer from LFD. They don’t give two shits about my time lost missing out on the final bonus exp and it doesn’t hurt them at all.

Will we ACTUALLY get back to people communicating with each other in Classic?

Groups will be harder to form and replacements will take travel time not to mention just finding someone. These same people would probably have preferred to work it out with me instead of kicking. Hell, I didn’t pull anymore after they said stop. I was just discussing why I thought the extra pulls made sense and they kicked me...

You could argue that these people would never have grouped with me in the first place but forget that argument. Suppose they DID group with me and same scenario came up.

I think either Classic DOES bring back tighter community that’s more willing to engage meaningfully with each other or it ends up falling flat and becoming just another desolate playground for those happy to piddle around with original wow either solo or with a tight group of friends.

Id say yes, after testing private servers and levelling and grouping. I dont want to logon to retail anymore. Community and care and help is still very present on private servers and will be so in classic too. The very nature of the environment demands interaction. Unless you are in your own 5 man bubble you have to interact with people, wait for people, train people give advice etc.

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Classic runs in another issue,a shit/troll player can basicaly hold the group hostage as its way harder and time consuming to find someone else,the kick system is a major improvement over this,one reason i wont be playing classic is this very one,i cant be assed to waste 4 hours in a low lvl dungeons,have the healer be an ass and leave or get kicked and then waste 2 more hours,yeah no thanks,you guys have fun doe.

I disagree, troll players will just be a troll player and his rumour will surpass him and he will be avoided server wide. People get to know each other and anonymity is not a thing.

[Pua]

Will we ACTUALLY get back to people communicating with each other in Classic?

Absolutely.

I'm really looking forward to it.

[vsb]

How are you going to maintain bad player lists? Blizzard forums explicitly prohibit public blaming and you'll be banned for any attempt to report someone. MMO-Champion probably will have similar restrictions as they are under unspoken Blizzard control.

[Redasurc]

How are you going to maintain bad player lists? Blizzard forums explicitly prohibit public blaming and you'll be banned for any attempt to report someone. MMO-Champion probably will have similar restrictions as they are under unspoken Blizzard control.

You will most certainly know who and not to group with after you have levelled and played with alot of people in dungeons and world groups.

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We don't know because people have changed, the world around us (not least gaming) has changed. You could look how well communication works on those servers-who-shall-not-be-named.

We don't know how many people will try Classic, what kind of people they are. How many will be appalled by how long it takes to level? On foot for 40 levels. All the old mechanics?

Oh, and by the way...I think I posted yesterday in a thread called "Why is the Classic community so toxic?" - so...let's see what we can see :P



The fabulous world of unicorns and flying pancakes...where a rumour is always true and can never be used to deliberately fuck up somebody you disagree with. Where all guilds are awesome and will never exploit that one random guy from /1 that they took on their run, because..hey...it is 4:1 when it comes to telling how it went.

Kudos to you if it works, my recollection of Classic is that servers were still anonymous beyond my raidgroup...which consisted of members of 4 guilds. Didn't know anyone from those guilds except those who raided with us. And certainly with the server first competitions, other, more advanced guilds were more of a thread (to poach people - as TBC showed us in the shittiest way possible).

So yeah...I don't see it that black and white, because in my experience it never was.

there allways were the shitty players everyone knew of on the server but tried to be polite about. majority are decent guys and if someone deliberately try to troll you like OP says you never group with him again.