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EU is becoming so anti-social...How can it be improved?

Coelacanth

Coelacanth

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Alberta, Canada
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Coelacanth Coelacanth Maryka
Time & time again, I've read players' criticisms of EU, and the lack of social interaction is a common complaint. The old-timers, and even the not-so-old-timers, fondly remember a time when the game was a lot more social and a lot more player/avatar interaction happened. So the question is, how can the game increase social interactivity between players, and what things negatively affect social gameplay?

Here are some thoughts on what might've contributed to the downfall of social interaction...

1) Auctions: As auctions effectively put to death traders & merchants as a profession, so too did they negatively impact player interaction. Players don't trade nearly as much as they used to, which means much-decreased interactions to discuss item info & stats. People just stand around like deaf-mutes by the auctioneers, often completely oblivious to any nearby conversation. Auctions are a useful part of the game so you can't just eliminate them.

2) The elimination of the avatar speaking gibberish. It was cute to listen to, and made anybody within earshot aware that a conversation was happening. I don't think I can recall when we stopped gibber-jabbering, but it's so conspicuously absent, there's nothing but profound silence in most cities. I say "Bring back the gibberish!" because it can't hurt, didn't do anything bad for the game (to my knowledge), and in its own small way, was a positive feedback for making your avatar talk...it was fun to listen to. :)

Feel free to add your thoughts & suggestions for ways to get more social interaction happening in EU.
 
Biggest problem is excessive space IMO. As soon as VU10 hit, with those gigantified continents, the game started feeling extremely empty (on top of the lot of people that quit because their computers couldn't handle new graphics).

Then came Space and more and more new planets adding even more playable space, and bringing very little new people to fill it, making it seem even more deserted.

The game feels kinda depressing at times. You don't see anybody else around, except on places you'd rather be alone.

Also vehicles, despite allowing for people to give other rides has also worked more as an alienating factor than a socializing one, IMO.
 
Huskie said:
Biggest problem is excessive space IMO. As soon as VU10 hit, with those gigantified continents, the game started feeling extremely empty (on top of the lot of people that quit because their computers couldn't handle new graphics).
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I agree with most of your points but not this one...even back in the old days with the now-famous Eudoria map, the world seemed HUGE. You could go exploring for days and not meet a soul. That's no different from now. Players will always cluster in areas like towns, where the terminals and auctions are, that's to be expected. The problem is, now, those clustered-about players are mostly doing nothing but standing around like zombies--usually gathered around an auctioneer.
 
Huskie said:
(on top of the lot of people that quit because their computers couldn't handle new graphics).
Click to expand...

reminded me of this part 2:23 - 2:26
 
From my experience most of the social interaction happens in a society and to a lesser extent with random people you meet.
 
I blame it all on fap-stealing Laurentia (yeah I know, no correlation but f it) and mostly on anything else that MA did that got rid of poor people and newbs trying to make it with no or very little money. There are no poor players anymore because if you are poor, you don't even log in because there is fuck-all to do these days if you're poor and it's just not fun, and it was mostly poor people that stood around and gave towns character and life. Now there are so many other free games, poor people go there instead. I know there are some who still love logging in and not depositing, but there aren't as many left anymore, plain and simple.
 
Coelacanth said:
Time & time again, I've read players' criticisms of EU, and the lack of social interaction is a common complaint. The old-timers, and even the not-so-old-timers, fondly remember a time when the game was a lot more social and a lot more player/avatar interaction happened. So the question is, how can the game increase social interactivity between players, and what things negatively affect social gameplay?

Here are some thoughts on what might've contributed to the downfall of social interaction...

1) Auctions: As auctions effectively put to death traders & merchants as a profession, so too did they negatively impact player interaction. Players don't trade nearly as much as they used to, which means much-decreased interactions to discuss item info & stats. People just stand around like deaf-mutes by the auctioneers, often completely oblivious to any nearby conversation. Auctions are a useful part of the game so you can't just eliminate them.

2) The elimination of the avatar speaking gibberish. It was cute to listen to, and made anybody within earshot aware that a conversation was happening. I don't think I can recall when we stopped gibber-jabbering, but it's so conspicuously absent, there's nothing but profound silence in most cities. I say "Bring back the gibberish!" because it can't hurt, didn't do anything bad for the game (to my knowledge), and in its own small way, was a positive feedback for making your avatar talk...it was fun to listen to. :)

Feel free to add your thoughts & suggestions for ways to get more social interaction happening in EU.
Click to expand...

1) The things that used to be sold at old PA like molisk teeth, foul bones were affected negatively by iron missions. Sweat price has declined by vehicle use, most MF chips using syn ME.

2) I never really liked the gibberish, I don't miss it. I didn't hate it though, it did add a certain "something" it made a busy area noisier. I miss the thumb up / thumb down on trade deals, I think that should come back. I think it was removed with Vu 10.0


I think the solution to being lonely in-game is as it always was, be a member of an active society, never a dull moment, and if your FL is mostly red:

make new friends - there really is no shortage of players out there! :)
 
We can't sit at the beach or lay down. Used to do that just to hang out with people and talk. Sit down under a tree, relax. Now there is no relaxing, so it is all go go go hunt mine craft or boredom and logout.
 
Foxypilot said:
We can't sit at the beach or lay down. Used to do that just to hang out with people and talk. Sit down under a tree, relax. Now there is no relaxing, so it is all go go go hunt mine craft or boredom and logout.
Click to expand...

I asked on EF about this a year or two ago and the MA official answer was no plans for it to return, there was a more recent reply on this forum stating it was planned to return (think it was in 2013)

Fingers crossed! :yup:
 
Huskie said:
Biggest problem is excessive space IMO. As soon as VU10 hit, with those gigantified continents, the game started feeling extremely empty (on top of the lot of people that quit because their computers couldn't handle new graphics).



This is MA's own fault, I asked them to tell in advance VU 10.0 would come because ppl need time to save so they can buy a new computer, they told me that they would do (because I knew this would be a problem for many here), the result was that all found out 7 days before VU 10.0 would become.

So i have to ask - how many ppl can save 2-3k $ in 7 days.
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valentin said:
This is MA's own fault, I asked them to tell in advance VU 10.0 would come because ppl need time to save so they can buy a new computer, they told me that they would do (because I knew this would be a problem for many here), the result was that all found out 7 days before VU 10.0 would become.

So i have to ask - how many ppl can save 2-3k $ in 7 days.
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What a load of nonsense. Anyone who wanted to be ready had plenty of time to save for new hardware.

VU10 came in August 2010. There were threads in this forum FOR AT LEAST 2YEARS before that discussing the need to update computers, and what the requirements were likely to be. I bought my new system in April that year to be ready for it!
 
The messed up sweat camp. They never recaptured the look, and feel after they destroyed it for VU10.

Vehicles. Don't get me wrong, I like flying/driving around as much as the next guy, but the hours spent on TP runs meeting people, talking, learning, just having fun, just isn't the same in a 5-10 minute trip in a VTOL. :)
 
Steve_saber said:
The messed up sweat camp. They never recaptured the look, and feel after they destroyed it for VU10.
Click to expand...

Camp Icarus is actually quite populated now, and far better than the latest swamp camp (the one SEE made) at least :)



As for the game being less social, I can't say I have noticed... Go to someplace where people hang out and you should be able to easily find people to talk to.
 
valentin said:
So i have to ask - how many ppl can save 2-3k $ in 7 days.
Click to expand...

how many ppl need a $2-3k machine when a $2-300 upgrade would do :scratch: i firmly believe we lost people at VU 10 not so much because of the graphics requirements but because of the loss of the old game.
 
aridash said:
how many ppl need a $2-3k machine when a $2-300 upgrade would do :scratch: i firmly believe we lost people at VU 10 not so much because of the graphics requirements but because of the loss of the old game.
Click to expand...

soo... i have 2 computers... one is a machine .. like friking super sweet. runs eu on very high .. multiple screens... cost me in the thousands.

the 2nd computer .. is a laptop. It cost 500 dollars at best buy... and it runs eu on medium without any problems. I don't think a 500 dollar computer is too much to ask for your casual gamer.
 
valentin said:
So i have to ask - how many ppl can save 2-3k $ in 7 days.
Click to expand...

aridash said:
how many ppl need a $2-3k machine when a $2-300 upgrade would do
Click to expand...

I am currently playing the game on a computer I bought for 8000SEK (around 1000USD?) in May 2009, the only times I have to play at lower than "Medium" graphics is when I am on the new islands or in population heavy areas (the population heavy areas usually only require me lowering avatar quality) :)
 
People need places, vibes and ambiance - connecting with other people does not happen in darkness and silence and the environment is as important as having the feeling that its another person in front of you.

What MA did was to remove a lot of little things that would make social interactions fun.

The gibberish, lying down, sitting down are just small examples.

Lot of items were animated and moved in interesting ways.
For example I felt very clever when I used mining probes as dance floor lights for a party.

Places and People nowadays are more detailed but look completely sterile, the deadpan expressions of faces are perfectly supplemented by silent cities.

Its not difficult to find places that look good, but even with sunrise and sunset you get bored after 5 minutes.

I used to mine a lot with great gaps between my drops, just to look at the scenery.
When I came to a city there would be talking people - it felt like leaving the wild and entering civilization again.

Its all those tiny things that add up... I used to enjoy virtual parties in EU, nowadays they creep me out looking at all those dead faces, eyes moving around like from within a statue with someone caged within begging to be released into a living body again.

Back then in VU 9 the apartments cost monthly rent, still people went out of their way to decorate them nicely and invite others to parties.
Nowadays furniture is becoming totally obsolete and no one wants to visit anyone, even with apartments having no rent.
There were galleries and museums and societies setting up complete houses for soc meetups.

I would love to meet others again in cool locations, sit and chat again - its more important for a lot of other people too than MA is aware of I fear.

Eh look what you did, you made me rant... ah well but thats how I feel.
 
Serica said:
What a load of nonsense. Anyone who wanted to be ready had plenty of time to save for new hardware.

VU10 came in August 2010. There were threads in this forum FOR AT LEAST 2YEARS before that discussing the need to update computers, and what the requirements were likely to be. I bought my new system in April that year to be ready for it!
Click to expand...

What a load of bananas. :banana::banana::banana:
As you may not be aware of, computer hardware changes rather quickly - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law - if somebody was to go out and buy their new PC 2 years before, it would be dated and a waste of money, since they would need yet another upgrade again when it was released (and poorly optimized, which it still is to this day!).

I had to go out and get a new PC the day of VU10 as my system wouldn't run it.
Fortunately, I was able to do this - but understandably many players cannot.
 
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I play on a laptop with onboard graphics that I bought 2 years ago to do my masters degree with. Bullshit you need a new computer to play PE with. Especially one costing $3k hah!

Death of PE sociability is down to things many people were negative over introduction over the years but... quite honestly, there's enough social activity if you try for it - via events, waves, societies etc.

My biggest issue with the game at the moment is the degradation of the classic image - the new VU has not gone very far to help this imo with its strange, strange new art style on the avatars (however, I do believe it was a success due to the reduction in cost-to-play schemes - no, I don't want to hear about how you get 10% less skills on carabok, I couldn't give a flying fuck).

The planet calypso team are doing a good job - the "lore" of the game is improving back to what it once was (as much as it can do when we're still faced with ridiculous concept inceptions from team alwaysidiot). A few tweaks (personally, removal of world-wide service zones... we used to have about 8 auctioneers. Now we have 80.) and I think the game can bounce back hard.

To think - the economy has ridden out a worldwide recession very very well. I'm incredibly enthusiastic for the future, considering we could see a factor of 2 or more people playing once cash becomes disposable again for many in the real world. With those increasing numbers, the player count will go up, naturally the sociability too.
 
beechbum said:
What a load of bananas. :banana::banana::banana:
As you may not be aware of, computer hardware changes rather quickly - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law - if somebody was to go out and buy their new PC 2 years before, it would be dated and a waste of money, since they would need yet another upgrade again when it was released (and poorly optimized, which it still is to this day!).

I had to go out and get a new PC the day of VU10 as my system wouldn't run it.
Fortunately, I was able to do this - but understandably many players cannot.
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What may well be forgotten is that CE2 VU 10.0 arrived a year later than originally planned.

I bought my new PC for summer 2008. In January 2013 I'm still using the same computer (albeit with a newer graphic card, newer OS and 4 gig more ram)

^ I could have still played fine without any of the those 3 upgrades and I paid about £600 for it 4.5 years ago.

I bought a mid range PC all that time ago, and its still working well now. I play on very high too. :)
 
Nighthawk said:
I am currently playing the game on a computer I bought for 8000SEK (around 1000USD?) in May 2009, the only times I have to play at lower than "Medium" graphics is when I am on the new islands or in population heavy areas (the population heavy areas usually only require me lowering avatar quality) :)
Click to expand...

You guys can't possibly compare the cost of a computer that can handle CE2 nowadays to back when CryEngine2 was new(ish, since they only actually implemented VU10 over a year after they started remaking the game on it, but still, like someone said above, it is extremely poorly optimized and currently in 99% of the game delivers worse graphics than the gamebryo engine could if used properly).
 
I think if you look at what has been added to the game it seems reasonable that some might feel like there is less social interaction.

Things like apartments gave players a place to go and something (decorating) to do. Instead of standing in Twin they are in their house moving stuff around.

Things like vehicles and teleport chips made it a little less common that you'd run across someone while on a TP run.

Missions have provided a bit of focus for some players. Instead of hanging out and chatting or pking in the ring they are grinding out one of the iron missions.

And there is probably fewer players per square KM than when it was just Calypso. Players are more spread out across the universe.

A simple (to me at least) fix for this would be to add some world-wide chat channels. So if you're standing on Calypso you could chat with people hunting on Arkadia.
 
beechbum said:
What a load of bananas. :banana::banana::banana:
As you may not be aware of, computer hardware changes rather quickly - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law - if somebody was to go out and buy their new PC 2 years before, it would be dated and a waste of money, since they would need yet another upgrade again when it was released (and poorly optimized, which it still is to this day!).

I had to go out and get a new PC the day of VU10 as my system wouldn't run it.
Fortunately, I was able to do this - but understandably many players cannot.
Click to expand...

Please read what I said more carefully. I never suggested anyone purchase a computer 2yrs beforehand. I said they had 2yrs to SAVE for hardware changes - whereas valentin was stating they only had 7days notice.

I for one did take the opportunity to save during that 2yrs, and so was well able to buy a laptop just a few months before VU10, having researched the expected requirements, and taking advantage of an extremely good price at the time for a system that should play at high level.
At that time, I was spending sometime away from home so I was considering a laptop anyway and it was fairly clear that CE2 was likely to arrive at the end of MA's normal summer break.
If I hadn't been travelling, I'd have probably waited til even closer to the VU10 transition to buy.

But regardless, I had the money set aside for it, after having been given YEARS to anticipate the need.
 
@ Serica - Do you even Play the game or just live for the forum?

Anyway back on topic yeah?
 
loren said:
@ Serica - Do you even Play the game or just live for the forum?
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Look at my sig.

I'll add that I've not missed a day ingame since Xmas Day 2006 (other than the days the server was down for vu10).

I could also point to the fact that I'm the single highest contributor to Entropedia, with more than twice as many updates there as the next highest contributor. Hard to do that if you don't play the game.
 
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I meant it in a Sarcastic way I don't really care if you play or not :laugh:




PS: I'm just not a big fan of your moderator skills.
 
what good is a graphics card when avatars and mobs look like they do now?
 
Aio said:
Death of PE sociability is down to things many people were negative over introduction over the years but... quite honestly, there's enough social activity if you try for it - via events, waves, societies etc.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with this. Wave events in the past (ie. the bots at Jason centre) were MUCH more social. I have been to wave events now and people don't talk. Societies....I was a freelancer for a long time and met more people then I have being in a society. There is a difference. I agree MA is doing the best job it can (I guess) but I do miss that social interaction from the past. And I don't think it's MA's fault.
I went to one of the swamp camps just yesterday and started talking in all chat and NO one responded. There were about 10 people just standing around, no one talking. It was weird to me.
Before the Cry engine I used to talk on MSN (while we played) with many players. Sadly, most of those players no longer log in. I don't know. Maybe all those old players grew up and moved on.
 
The biggest change I've seen, is;
Pre-VU10 people were more interested in having fun.
Post-VU10 people are more interested in not losing all their PED.

Can't "improve" that.
 
Interesting read, I smiled a few times.

EU has it's highs a lows, there are times when big events are on and the planet is buzzing with activity, then we get the lows between those events (after moaning the event has gone on too long)

Then we might feel a little sad things aren't going our way, and maybe soc is a somewhat quiet some days.

I often look back, at old swamp camp and the 100's of people there, and the chat that went on. But we move on, our skills get better we do others things. I'm sure those at icrus will look back in a few years saying the same thing...it's not like out times at Icrus anymore...(smile)

If I can put a finger on it, it was "missions" that turned us into crazed ped spenders. I log-on hunt.. hunt ..hunt., busy... busy, maximum input of hunting I can with the spare time I've got. Get this done, get that done. It was missions that changed out mind set, and set the new norm.

That said yesterday I was struggling to hunt, there were so many PM's coming in, soc chat was mental at the same time. I've made many contacts over the years, and the more I do more I get involved with the more contacts I make.

People are feeling abit low at the moment too about changes to their avatars (I've been through it before, so emotionally it hasn't effected me like the last time), so there's a little dent to happiness front right now. But it will turn and people will feel happy again soon.

And lets not forget after years in the same game, it's quite a miracle really we still stick around. I think MA are under constant pressure to keep us keen and interested. The fact i'm still here, they must be doing something right.

I would like some activities that you can just chill and and relax. Maybe fishing is the answer there, or pets. Something with a bit of exictment, but without all the hardcore pressure of hunting. At times we want to be online but in a relaxing way, but something that adds some skills. I can only do so much repairing before I fall asleep. LOL.

I get what you (OP) mean though, although sometimes it's just a little downer, and tomorrow you'll feel right as rain.

Chin up

Rick
 
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