Interaction In Online Worlds

The unique aspect of online gaming is the possibility and sometimes inevitability of people interacting with other people. However a growing trend in popular and some would call 'theme park' online games has been that you can effectively and sometimes you are even encouraged to grind through level after level on your own before are deemed worthy of actual team oriented activities that your friends and team mates from your guild participate in.

In a way that's a slight improvement on the punishing worlds of old where even a lowly and deceivingly cute bunny could obliterate you if you fought it alone. Back then it was in your best interest to group up and venture out into the lands or spend countless hours trying to level on one type of monster, and countless hours is putting it mildly. But somewhere in that transition from severely harsh environments to swimmingly pleasant we've lost touch with our communities, in some player's minds we've given rise to the solo player and little by little pushing aside content that requires grouping.

Myself I have felt that too and it's funny that this sentiment would come from me because after playing FF11 I hated grouping for a while and was always unhappy when I felt a game pushed me into them. Lord of The Rings Online was frustrating for this as you couldn't advance the main story line if you ignored the grouping instances. But after a few years and trying out games I normally never would due to my increasingly dissatisfaction with any new MMO (I know I have not been alone here...^_^) I am missing the interaction with people that I used to get when I was forced to group. Some of those games I'd never would have bought are Age of Conan and Aion, and now I'm even thinking of trying out Darkfall. Those three games have player vs player game play and I am not someone who enjoys fighting others. But what I did find is that PvP whether you love the thrill of it or hate it because it breaks your immersion does make you interact with others. In Age of Conan it's in your face type of PvP where it can happen most of anywhere at any time and most of the interaction you get is kill or be killed, unless you rolled on the role playing server in which case you may get a warning to stay off the road or pay toll, or prepare to die!



In Aion it's a little different because PvP zones are more controlled, so you don't really have to fear for your life at all times, you also get a friendly warning whenever a rift from or to the other side opens and you should be on the look out. What is fun about the Aion community is people look out for each other, if someone spots the enemy in your area they can show everyone in the chat channel with a link to the location on the map where they were spotted. If you happen to be unfortunate and die often if you wait someone is bound to resurrect you. Maybe it helps elemental stones of resurrection are fairly cheap. But I am enjoying this level of interaction in the game right now, I even like it when I spot an Asmodian and nearly have a heart attack and run the other way before they see me.. XD I guess what I am getting at is while PvP can sometimes have it's negatives is does have the side effect of bringing people together.

Which makes me think there has to be other ways of making people talk to each other or at least interact on some level and perhaps break the ice of being impersonal. The one thing I really hate about grouping up for certain missions is that people get so used to them they start acting like robots; go here go there, boom boom, we're done, thanks all, disband. I miss emoting like a jackass and actually talking to my group partners, how are you supposed to make new friends if you treat this like a business transaction? Now I starting to derail so maybe I'll cut it short here and ask; what do you think devs should do to encourage player interaction?