Was the WoW community ever good?

[Fawkess]

Basically as someone who joined the game around MoP I often see people reminisce on how good trade chat used to be or how people were much nicer back in the day so I am posing the question of was the WoW community ever good and if so when?

[Sanguinerd]

Back when being the best wasn't a priority for most people you meet ingame it was yeah.

[Defend]

No not really, it’s just you interacted with more people one on one instead of anonymously through queues, so people were forced to be a little more respectful but overall no not really, people are the same as they’ve ever been.

[Powerogue]

I think it was toxic in a different, more endearing way. Old Barrens Chat comes to mind.

[Dazmalak]

Back when being the best wasn't a priority for most people you meet ingame it was yeah.

Basically this. I had much more pleasant interactions with people back in Classic/BC days.

[TEHPALLYTANK]

Not really, your server basically dictated whether the community you interacted with was good or not. Some were good, some were awful, there wasn't any consistency across servers+factions.

[Varodoc]

These types of threads are so cringe. The WoW community is still good, if you can't find nice people to hang out with it's your problem.

[crakerjack]

It has more to do with the fact that there wasn't much cross-realm content until Wotlk introduced LFG. Until then, one would have to preserve their reputation on the realm or risk getting blacklisted. Since people can do content with other people from other realms, there's no consequences for how you act. Who cares if you piss someone off, chances are you'll never see them again and the world keeps spinning.

So I wouldn't say the community was every good, just people didn't act like assholes because they didn't want to get blacklisted/ignored. There used to be a leash and now there isn't.

[klogaroth]

Where do you think the idea for Make Love Not Warcraft came from? Those guys have always existed.

[Kumorii]

most communities were worse in the early days of internet in my experience.

[McNeil]

When the game was new the community was significally better. Everyone was still learning the game and taking their time to level, now everyone is trying so hard to min/max their characters and clear all content asap. I think it also has to do that around the time vanilla WoW came out gaming wasn't as mainstream as it is now.

[rayvio]

the WoW community is the same as any community. there are good people and there are bad people. there are probably more good people than bad but the bad tend to be more noticeable and memorable

[Djaye]

before the game went full meme, meta min/max, elitist wannabe numnut, cesspool of whiny, everyone gets a trophy, tweentard haven.

this is what happens when you give the vocal minority what it wants while ignoring the majority who are simply enjoying the game.

their 'QoL' changes havent been good for the game for over a decade. communities dont exist in retail and most of the communities in classic are saturated with full meme, meta min/max, elitist wannabe numnut, cesspool of whiny, everyone gets a trophy, tweentards

[Poppincaps]

I mean the internet in general was significantly different back when WoW first released. I would say people were more receptive to playing with each other and making friends. Now, outside of guilds, playing with others is more of a transaction than anything. Personally it doesn't really bother me as I have more than enough friends in real life and ingame. Don't really have time for more.

[Shammyrock]

The sheer amount of information available has driven tons of elitism into the community.

Nowadays there's a much greater expectation on the knowledge and ability of the average player and little patience

[Frolk]

Back in the olden days before players optimized the fun out of the game, the community was really good.

[Relapses]

Back in the olden days before players optimized the fun out of the game, the community was really good.

So, uh, never?

[LordVargK]

It still is. You just have to find a guild. Without a guild there was never a good WoW community.

[taishar68]

I think TerrisT & Crackerjack summed it up well.

in my experience, I interacted with friendly people often in Vanilla, and less and less as time went on. By the time we got to Cata, WoW had become largely anonymous outside of guild.

if you spend some time playing Classic, you’ll see some of that camaraderie as you level. Random buffs, people offering gear, stopping to help with quests...a lot of this happens because there is a need. We don’t need help with an elite on retail because we can either solo it (many if not most classes), or, we hit a button and get a group almost instantly.

I think community spirit would improve if we were single server again, but that comes with its own set of issues.

[Snowfunk]

Back when being the best wasn't a priority for most people you meet ingame it was yeah.

A statement I can get behind.