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ESO need to encourage social activity?

demonaffinity
demonaffinity
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Greetings!

I've spent a lot of my time playing Guild Wars 2, and because of that, a few things has become clear to me in ESO. The social aspect is lacking. A LOT. (In my opinion).

- No playername tags? So you can only see someone's name if you manage to hold your mouse over their character (Impossible if they are running)
- Can only interact when VERY close to eachother, making it hard to communicate with someone on the move
- Chat has no recruiting channel, making Zone chat cluttered. I think adding: Discussion, recruting, trading etc would be an improvement
- Questing in a party is hilariously difficult (Emphasised in Angry Joe's review). Review is very old, but I haven't seen any improvements
- Chat bubbles option would be nice Nevermind :)
- Our account name instead of character name in guild chat..? (Redundant? maybe, but I find it awkward)

Those are just some of the things I believe would make the game's social aspect a lot better. Having easy and comfortable access to interact with other players is essential for a good community if you ask me.

I would like to hear what everyone else thinks about the points that I made, and perhaps what else you think would improve the games social aspects.
Edited by demonaffinity on March 14, 2015 9:39PM
  • LIQUID741
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    Where is that dead horse I'm about to beat?

    All they need to do is start with the LFG. Give the community a incentive driven system. A system that the community actually wants to use daily and or often...1999 MMO's are a way of the past, no sense in implementing their system of /z LFG
    Solid-Nightblade of AD
  • Zershar_Vemod
    Zershar_Vemod
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    The poor dead horses that are about to be beaten....such a cruel world.
    House Nyssara (NA)
    Black Market Traders
    Order of the Lamp Post
    Thorn Brigade
    VR15 Nightblade Vampire
  • Rosveen
    Rosveen
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    - Chat bubbles option would be nice
    Already in the game. You can turn them on in the settings.
    - Our account name instead of character name in guild chat..? (Redundant? maybe, but I find it awkward)
    I love it. It would be so inconvenient to have to remember all characters; half the time I wouldn't know who I'm even talking to. But if you prefer to see character names instead, there are addons to do this (pChat or pNames).

    You might also like Social Indicators to more easily recognize friends and guildmates in the world.
    Edited by Rosveen on March 14, 2015 9:22PM
  • Gidorick
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    - Chat bubbles option would be nice

    See! THIS is why chat bubbles need to default to ON!

    What ESO really needs is an Auction Horse.
    That's right... Horse.
    Click HERE to discuss.

    Want more crazy ideas? Check out my Concept Repository!
  • demonaffinity
    demonaffinity
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    Rosveen wrote: »
    - Chat bubbles option would be nice
    Already in the game. You can turn them on in the settings.
    - Our account name instead of character name in guild chat..? (Redundant? maybe, but I find it awkward)
    I love it. It would be so inconvenient to have to remember all characters; half the time I wouldn't know who I'm even talking to. But if you prefer to see character names instead, there are addons to do this (pChat or pNames).

    You might also like Social Indicators to more easily recognize friends and guildmates in the world.
    Oh sweet, thanks! I'll enable it right away. However, as someone else said, I think it would be better if it was on by default.

  • Majic
    Majic
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    PVPVE

    Eliminating competitive PVE elements would be a major improvement.

    As it stands, players compete for most resource nodes and even quest objectives, which is about the most asinine thing I've ever seen in a game. These design elements drive players apart, discourage cooperative gameplay and give players less incentive to socialize.

    Meanwhile, a noncompetitive system is used for looting containers, and ungrouped players can share kill credit and individually loot shared kills without penalizing anyone else.

    It's like a hybrid of old-school games such as LOTRO that punish cooperation and more rational games like GW2 which are intentionally designed to reward cooperation.

    ZOS is working on a lot of things right now, but I hope cleaning up this dog's breakfast of "competitive PVE" works its way up the list soon. :)
    Epopt Of The Everspinning Logo, Church Of The Eternal Loading Screen
    And verily, verily, spaketh the Lord: "Error <<1>>"
  • demonaffinity
    demonaffinity
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    Majic wrote: »
    PVPVE

    Eliminating competitive PVE elements would be a major improvement.

    As it stands, players compete for most resource nodes and even quest objectives, which is about the most asinine thing I've ever seen in a game. These design elements drive players apart, discourage cooperative gameplay and give players less incentive to socialize.

    Meanwhile, a noncompetitive system is used for looting containers, and ungrouped players can share kill credit and individually loot shared kills without penalizing anyone else.

    It's like a hybrid of old-school games such as LOTRO that punish cooperation and more rational games like GW2 which are intentionally designed to reward cooperation.

    ZOS is working on a lot of things right now, but I hope cleaning up this dog's breakfast of "competitive PVE" works its way up the list soon. :)
    Agreed! Dolmens is a good example on how it should be. You wait for other players to come and help you (unless you can solo them). Resources should be open for everyone individually like it is in Guild wars 2. People can help eachother hunt for material that way.
  • Rosveen
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    Of course, it would result in an influx of materials into the economy. I guess the writs would start demanding 15 items instead of 9. :D
  • Zorvan
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    Oh sweet, thanks! I'll enable it right away. However, as someone else said, I think it would be better if it was on by default.

    Considering the majority of players do NOT like chat bubbles, I think you'd be wrong.
    Edited by Zorvan on March 14, 2015 9:54PM
    I've been muted since November 2017 because of the whiny crybabies on this forum and the liberal ZOS employees coddling them.
  • Elsonso
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    Zorvan wrote: »
    Oh sweet, thanks! I'll enable it right away. However, as someone else said, I think it would be better if it was on by default.

    Considering the majority of players do NOT like chat bubbles, I think you'd be wrong.

    What if the majority of players disagree with you? :smile:
    XBox EU/NA:@ElsonsoJannus
    PC NA/EU: @Elsonso
    PSN NA/EU: @ElsonsoJannus
    Total in-game hours: 11321
    X/Twitter: ElsonsoJannus
  • Gidorick
    Gidorick
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    Zorvan wrote: »
    Oh sweet, thanks! I'll enable it right away. However, as someone else said, I think it would be better if it was on by default.

    Considering the majority of players do NOT like chat bubbles, I think you'd be wrong.

    But this issue is players don't KNOW they exist. At least players who don't like them can turn them off... players that DO like them might never know they can be turned on.

    The BEST option would be to have a prompt at some point in the intro or right after coldharbour "Would you like to turn chat bubbles on?"
    What ESO really needs is an Auction Horse.
    That's right... Horse.
    Click HERE to discuss.

    Want more crazy ideas? Check out my Concept Repository!
  • Majic
    Majic
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    Rosveen wrote: »
    Of course, it would result in an influx of materials into the economy. I guess the writs would start demanding 15 items instead of 9.
    Since ZOS has global control of resource node spawn locations, spawn rates and drop quantities, they could make the conversion with little to no noticeable impact on the economy.

    Doubly so since there's no central auction house for changes in commodity values to spread or fluctuate rapidly.

    So everyone can literally win. :)
    Epopt Of The Everspinning Logo, Church Of The Eternal Loading Screen
    And verily, verily, spaketh the Lord: "Error <<1>>"
  • Zorvan
    Zorvan
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    Zorvan wrote: »
    Oh sweet, thanks! I'll enable it right away. However, as someone else said, I think it would be better if it was on by default.

    Considering the majority of players do NOT like chat bubbles, I think you'd be wrong.

    What if the majority of players disagree with you? :smile:

    Feel free to make a poll if you wish. I have no problem with being right. :D
    I've been muted since November 2017 because of the whiny crybabies on this forum and the liberal ZOS employees coddling them.
  • Elsonso
    Elsonso
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    Greetings!

    I've spent a lot of my time playing Guild Wars 2, and because of that, a few things has become clear to me in ESO. The social aspect is lacking. A LOT. (In my opinion).

    - No playername tags? So you can only see someone's name if you manage to hold your mouse over their character (Impossible if they are running)
    - Can only interact when VERY close to eachother, making it hard to communicate with someone on the move
    - Chat has no recruiting channel, making Zone chat cluttered. I think adding: Discussion, recruting, trading etc would be an improvement
    - Questing in a party is hilariously difficult (Emphasised in Angry Joe's review). Review is very old, but I haven't seen any improvements
    - Chat bubbles option would be nice Nevermind :)
    - Our account name instead of character name in guild chat..? (Redundant? maybe, but I find it awkward)

    Those are just some of the things I believe would make the game's social aspect a lot better. Having easy and comfortable access to interact with other players is essential for a good community if you ask me.

    I would like to hear what everyone else thinks about the points that I made, and perhaps what else you think would improve the games social aspects.

    Player Name Tags... The reticule information is enough for me. I already have cyan bars floating above everyone. I don't need to know everyone's name, and if I do, I just look at them. I also use an add-on that tells me when I come across a guild member or friend.

    Player interactions.... Most of the [F] key interactions are personal, like reporting, trading, whispering. These work fine as close up interactions and I am close up when I use them. If I need to socialize with someone, I don't have to be within reach of them. I can yell or say. If they respond, I have them and can whisper if I want. In the rare case that I want to report them, I don't have to be standing right next to them to do it.

    Chat channels... My experience with multiple channels is that they either get used for everything or one gets used for everything and the others are unused. I think that zone is fine for guild ads, WTS/WTB. Social interaction in zone tend to be very ignorable, and I do.

    Account name vs character name... I socialize with people, not characters, so having to remember who is who across multiple characters is annoying. I think that @account name is better than character names for continuity. I used to find it a problem, and stayed away from guilds for quite a while, but that Kool-Aid actually tasted good and I like it now.

    Zorvan wrote: »
    Zorvan wrote: »
    Oh sweet, thanks! I'll enable it right away. However, as someone else said, I think it would be better if it was on by default.

    Considering the majority of players do NOT like chat bubbles, I think you'd be wrong.

    What if the majority of players disagree with you? :smile:

    Feel free to make a poll if you wish. I have no problem with being right. :D

    :smile:
    Edited by Elsonso on March 14, 2015 11:04PM
    XBox EU/NA:@ElsonsoJannus
    PC NA/EU: @Elsonso
    PSN NA/EU: @ElsonsoJannus
    Total in-game hours: 11321
    X/Twitter: ElsonsoJannus
  • RainfeatherUK
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    Sigh, everything that keeps coming up has been done to death for months. Name tags for example are a cartoony eyesore. So, as discussed a MILLION times elsewhere, toggle for on or off - or no.

    Ah nevermind. Just go back to GW2. Its getting boring.
  • qsnoopyjr
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    I came from GW2 too,
    Thinking about it now, I do like that playernames aren't shown, I think it would be really beneficial if it was open PvP style type system too.
    Just the thought of getting away with doing something bad, and the person you stole or whatever, cant really ID you that easily, that's why I kinda like it now after thinking about it some more. But you really cant steal from anyone can you? Kinda lame if you ask me, I think this game would be great open PvP style system, I was really hoping for a server in that nature to join on.

    I had no idea that resource nodes like trees that you get wood from are only consumed by whoever gets there first. I like this because other games, the resources are so plentiful that it makes them all worthless except for a certain/end game resource.

    I do like how you gotta run up to someone to trade and what not, it makes it feel like an MMO, I remember when I first played GW2 I was kinda irritated that you couldn't inspect and trade with people face to face, its all done by mail.
    Reminds me of this generation, that instead of talking to people, you send them texts and never see them face to face, I kinda get that feeling with GW2.
    Oh people can still mail you things too, someone mailed me 20 grand soul gems because I wasn't able to rez a guy so he hooked me up via mailing me them. Had no idea you needed something to rez someone, I kinda like that though.

    I haven't grouped with anyone yet or experienced there lfg system so cant say anything on that.

    I'm still unsure, that if you see someone fighting something, is it bad or good to help them out? I know in GW2, people love it when you help them kill something. But in Everquest, people dispise you for helping them, because they think your taking there kill which is taking there loot too. I'm not sure how this game works, didn't really tell me if its good or bad.

    One thing I do miss from GW2 is the tPvP, I really really really wish this game had the arena like Oblivion.

    (disregard this, its me rambling), I haven't played it fully yet, but game feels like Skyrim more than Oblivion and my favorite game Morrowind. All I have to say to that is, Daggerfall (the game that came before Morrowind), didn't make Elder Scrolls game big, MORROWIND is what made Elder Scrolls big. Oblivion and Skyrim are just leeches off of MORROWIND's success. Its just like Grand Theft Auto, I and II wasn't big, it was GTA III that was the main success driver. IV and V aren't nothing too special, I feel it went off in another direction. Point is, I'd really like to see more MORROWIND stuff in this game.

    I just had to get this off my chest, because I'm not sure if this company is friends with Quake. QuakeCon? But I strongly feel that Quake I, was the game that made Quake popular, but than it went in a totally new direction in Quake II, and III IV and V followed that new direction in Quake II, and I don't see Quake anymore, I see COD MW, those kind of games. I strongly feel that if Quake followed the same direction as Quake I, it would still be around. I'm talking both the style the gothic style, and the multiplayer type, Quake I multiplayer is totally different than II, III, IV, and V. Its a lot faster pace. (end ramble).
  • Tandor
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    Sigh, everything that keeps coming up has been done to death for months. Name tags for example are a cartoony eyesore. So, as discussed a MILLION times elsewhere, toggle for on or off - or no.

    Ah nevermind. Just go back to GW2. Its getting boring.

    It must be nice for new players to get such a warm welcome.
  • Rosveen
    Rosveen
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    Tandor wrote: »
    Sigh, everything that keeps coming up has been done to death for months. Name tags for example are a cartoony eyesore. So, as discussed a MILLION times elsewhere, toggle for on or off - or no.

    Ah nevermind. Just go back to GW2. Its getting boring.

    It must be nice for new players to get such a warm welcome.
    "Use the damn search function!"

    Actually, I think most of the points raised in the OP are valid, especially the one about chat. How I miss the days of functional LFG tool.
  • Frawr
    Frawr
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    Player names/guilds above heads is the biggest one for me.

    It is fine as it is when I am jollying around a town happily doing solo questing, however, today in DSA I was the only man standing and I had 9 seconds (while corrosive armour ticked) to res the healer. This was made frustratingly difficult because I have to point my reticle at each group member to find the healer... needless to say, I had to res the nearest player and then hope that they could res while I avoided death.

    Stupid.

    Add the ability to turn them on - I should be able to turn it on and see it for other people OR turn it off (if I want to pretend that I'm in a solo game).

    Its a really nice ideal to have people 'look' at other players to see them, however, its just not practical in the fast-paced environment of group content.
  • MasterFUNG_ESO
    MasterFUNG_ESO
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    Gidorick wrote: »
    Zorvan wrote: »
    Oh sweet, thanks! I'll enable it right away. However, as someone else said, I think it would be better if it was on by default.

    Considering the majority of players do NOT like chat bubbles, I think you'd be wrong.

    But this issue is players don't KNOW they exist. At least players who don't like them can turn them off... players that DO like them might never know they can be turned on.

    The BEST option would be to have a prompt at some point in the intro or right after coldharbour "Would you like to turn chat bubbles on?"

    Or i guess people could ya know actually open the settings and look. Its amazing how many things are in there.
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