I'm having a lot of fun... but I'm having it by myself.

Is it just me? Am I doing something hellishly wrong? Or is the vast majority of the player base comprised of greedy, stupid, attention-deficit *children*?

Every time I head back to a lower-level town with a bag of goodies for newbies I remember why I stopped trying to play Santa last time. You literally cannot get anyone's attention long enough to *give* stuff away. When you can, they bug you for more, or sneer that their other avatar has something better. Know how many simple 'thank you's' I've gotten? One. Precisely one.

Every time I try to assemble a group for quests or missions, or join one, I remember why I stopped grouping last time. The NPC henchmen are weak, true, but they don't dash off and attack things themselves, and they don't leave the group without notice -- a major no-no in every other online game I've tried my hand at. It's SOP in GW. Know how many groups I've been with that completed the mission/quest with its full compliment of members? Two. Precisely two.

Every time I try to start a conversation in town -- not heavy-duty RPing, just shooting the bull about local quests or personalities -- I remember why I stopped last time. You know how much vital information I've been able to garner about what lies ahead, or how many times my patient, repeated offers to help out others have been taken up? Zero. Precisely zero.

The game is a mechanical marvel -- smooth-running and graphically rich. It has an storyline that allows you to star in your own personal epic. Several times a week I figure, oh, I must have just hit that town at a bad time, or was in the wrong instance, or maybe that was just the time all the LeEt HAXXorZ were on before they had to eat dinner, and I try to give something back and be sociable...

...and I remember why I stopped trying the last time.

Is there a guild of halfway-functioning adults out there that will have me?

Just gotta search.

Check pms in a sec.

This is the utter and sad truth. I hate the fact that this is the way things are, but what can you do? People are going to be people and for the most part people suck.

Look me up online sometime and I can get you into a small, but helpful and friendly guild.

Online name: Zintinix Blessmore

To be honest, I usually play with friends I have in real life. They are the best to play with. We get together every once in a while at the LAN cafe to play together and share strategies and learn them so we can pull them off without having the other guy yelling it to you from across the room.

However, when I pick up teammates online, I look for people who know what they're doing. People who type with punctuation are normally great party members, although very rare. Other good ones are the ones who know the jargon.

If you would like, you can look me up, normally at Slade Carter. I can't guarentee I'll be available, but I can try to help.

hence the reason why i created [Solo]. Its just easier soloing, and being social when you want to, imho anyhow. Send a whisper to Augustus Jenk if you're interested in joining. I also made a post in the guild forum with a little more detail.

Seriously, I've seen games with a large population of idiots, but this game, for some reason, really seems to be over the top in sheer number of completely inept players. Mabye its because it actually requires some thought to use a character effectively? Thats part of it Im sure, but I only ever quest with people who I know aren't retarded, non english speaking, ADD, farmer, etc. Thats a very small number, I hope as more people hit 20 the average level of proficiency goes up. Its literally like trying to herd cats when I lead a mission.

I noticed the same thing.

Really, it's ridiculous, but I've found soloing to be very rewarding too...

I knew it would be like this the moment they announced that there would be no monthly fee. The more popular a game is, the more idiots that are drawn to it. The lower the price, the more immature ***holes playing.

I find that in the post 20 game doing missions, most people are intelligent, know what they are doing, never leave early if they can help it, and are generally nice. The missions at that point are really hard and still kick your ass though(henchmen are pretty much out of the question for many of the missions), and getting to level 20 (the ascension missions) will force any idiot to become good at the game or quit playing. I think what your saying is true at lower levels but is less and less as you go up in levels, especially considering that since there is no real uber loot type things you don't have a whole lot of elitism "I have da uber item joo sux" type thing etheir, and if those people exist they wouldn't be doing missions post 20 because for them there probably wouldn't be a reason to.

I know exactly what you mean. I haven't really had to deal with these problems much since I made certain to get a guild of good friends (online and offline) together long before the game was ever released. I'm having a good time as a result, but it's sad that I have to block out the rest of the population in order to avoid being overwhelmed by the incredible number of idiots out there. The few times I've found myself online when no one else in my guild is on, pick-up groups, chatting in town, or anything other than soloing has proven to be a complete waste of time. I still love Guild Wars, and plan to continue playing for a long time to come, but I'm not loving the post-release community.

yep i agree, all online rpgs give u the best experience when u join a guild, not too small so that no ones ever on and not too big so that you dont feel a community. But join a medium sized guild- you will see your problems lessened by a lot.

Example:
People who type thusly: "D00d I wunt tu find the cristal ball soo I can geut the skil pnts 4 this qeust"
... Are not worthy of questing with you. However, If they type in this manner:
"Excuse me, sir, but I am seeking a monk for a party I am throwing together. We are about to attempt the "Crystal Ball" quest, and any help would be appreciated." are very capable players, and you should add them to your freind list ASAP.

Ah, and I have solved this mystery. Anyone remember a free online game called Diablo 2? Remember all of the fools that practicaly ruined the game? Well, imagine if you will, that those buffoons are similar to the aliens from "Independence Day", traveling from game to game, absorbing all that is good in that game, and leaving it a hollow shell of what it once was while they seek out new victims. For future reference, we shall label these creatures as "fun-locust". Those idiots that you speak of are but a small infestation of fun-locust.

Which is why I desperately hope that the fun-locust stay with WoW. So long as WoW remains the popular MMORPG, guild wars is safe.

Correction, Deaf, Mute, Blind, Retarted cats with only 3 legs.

Honestly the comunity isnt that bad. Here are the problems I see

1. Experienced players turning off the main chat, ive seen newbies screaming about a part of a quest they cant figure out because no one will help them. I try and help all I see, but I am only one man.

2. Players (Ive seen this happen many times) do something extreamly foolish like running off into 5 lvl 22 hydra alone(wich of course means death), and then proceed to cuse every other member out, call them noobs and leave.

Thoughs are the only real problems I see; however, it could just be me.

Yeah it is getting increasingly worse, I know that in towns i constantly have the Local chat turned off, its just plain annoying most times, and finding a good group. Good decent players are hard to come by, even tho i dont buy into this punctuation thing, i rarely use apostrophe's(yes i know i used one there this is a forum im alot more careful on here) But its not the way they speak that i look for, its the way they present themselves. When i enter a group or create one of my own i usually start with "hey" or "hiya" and those who reply i know ill be able to have a decent discussion with during the mission, those who dont reply at all i generally just treat as NPC's and expect them to know how to at least follow orders(alot of the time im let down here).

any of you feel free to look me up sometime, i play on 2 different characters, either

Tanik Roshar or Tanik Zelpher, if you ever see Tanik in a town, its me as far as i know no one has stolen my name on this game... yet

Honestly, I intend to continue soloing straight up till level 20 unless I'm with guildies or friends.

I'm praying that by the time I get there, people will have learned to play and be courteous. I'm sick of that stupid E/W that sprints straight for the largest group of mobs he can and dies.

But, in all reality, the only thing you can do about it is find a good group of folks and play with them only. We can't make the fools go away.

I basically solo as well, unless I need to have a co-op mission. One guy actually cursed me out because I was looking for more members. I'm trying to find a good guild which isn't just pvp focused.

Too true.

If anyone uses the follwing 'words', they are one of these idiots:

y, i, u, suk, skil, missin (mission), loser, or (my favorite) idot.

Exactly. I've been using the Henchemen because I'm just not finding the friendships ect. It doesn't seem to have a very established community. At least not yet.. but it is new so that could change. I remember making a lot of friends and stuff on FFXI.. but it was also because we were in the same "realm" so we'd run into the same people.. which doesn't happen as often in GW because of the different districts.

Actually, you're not far off. I don't add them to friends, though.

Before criticizing my methods, ask yourself, "Would I want to adventure with my first example?" As of now, I just aim for people who can spell and use grammar. You'd be surprised how difficult it is to find someone who capitalizes their sentences and/or uses periods. However, one must take other things into consideration. Even if he is using perfect English, I won't let the naked female Elementalist selling purple dye for 1000g join my party.

Please note that I'm currently lvl8 in Fort Ranik. I have yet to reach Ascension and hope that the society there is a little more mature. Until then, I'll continue to play with people I know personally.

I have been solo'ing (new word) since I started for all the reason's mentioned above. I just hit level 8 and traveled to Post-Sear. I'm a BIG time roleplayer with lots of background and I easily get irritated by a lot of the people playing this game. The whole "thank you" part bugs me a lot. I try to be as helpful as possible to anyone who wants/needs it, but rarely get a thank you. So I choose to travel alone or with the help of my mute henchmen and pet . I have been looking for a guild but don't want to join a real big one. I prefer a smaller one because I think you get to know them better. Kind of like a small town or office atmosphere. I don't get to play everyday (even though I would maybe like to) so a guild that "requires" you to be on at this time on this day wouldn't work for me. I have to go to work and my wife and kids actually like spending time with dad (believe it or not), so some things have to come before the games.

Anyway, if there are any smaller guilds around that is looking for more members throw it out to me. I would like to link up with some more mature people who enjoy roleplaying and getting into the game instead of just trying to hit level 20 in the fastest time possible. Good thread!