10 years ago WoW was super active, with tons of guilds and people playing, Servers were alive, and people were social. Now it’s mostly empty. Aside from the big servers like Moonguard, it’s a lonely experience (I am aware some people like that but still). Even some of the big servers like Moonguard are semi-isolating. What happened?
WoW is basically a single-player game in all but name
Uhhh, lack of forced social stuff. More solo options.
This is still the case, though.
Cross-realm and LFG tools, mainly.
Yes, it was to speed everything up, but no one was thinking about what we’d lose at the time- the sense of server community, and seeing each other as nameless tools rather than actual players.
I think they’d need to do a massive server merge to get the same effect of Classic, feeling the world was ‘full’ again.
I’ll never forget frantically sending whispers to be invited to stuff during WoTLK, because chat was moving so fast, so many groups recruiting.
LFG/LFR. When you can just run through content, especially now that we’re all cross server, and never see a person again, there’s really no point to say anything or try and get to know someone. This caused what little social atmosphere is left in WoW to coalesce into the few guilds that were mega-conglomerates prior to the shift.
Ima say the spicy thing.
Mythic+.
quickly runs away
For the most part?
People figured out it wasn’t worth socializing with other players.
… not aided by many negative experiences over the years.
So most avoid content that requires socialization, because of the uncomfortably high possibility (exact numbers & probabilities don’t matter, the perception of that possibility does) that they could run into a jerk who will spoil their whole day.
Why play with others and risk having a bad time?
Play by yourself, then you can do whatever you want.
The genre and the game are no longer new. The original players were experiencing something radically new and they did it together.
Times have changed. The original players are 20 years older and are in a different place in life.
Younger players have different expectations.
Voice chat.
Before voice chat was common MMORPGs were entirely different. Everquest for example existed before fast travel, instances, and voice chat were more than niche things. The end result was that the world felt MASSIVE, and the slow leveling meant that traveling a long distance was a real investment of time. It was downright scary at times, because if you died you could literally lose everything. You HAD to socialize because otherwise you’d be unable to play the game.
I feel nostalgic about those days, but I don’t think I’d go back. The game is more accessible now and I don’t have 7 hours to spend farming Lower Guk.
People will say LFG but I was around in LK/Cata when people were still more guild-centric. What happened was optimization at the expense of social connections, the game not evolving fast enough to accommodate for people’s changing life states, and a general state of elitism and anti-social behavior that made higher end progression insufferable.
This is a huge part of it.
Other things could be dungeon finders. Don’t have to talk to organize outside of high end content.
Younger generations who are offended by everything, making people walk on eggshells to say anything in fear of being reported for something frivolous.
Attitudes of seasoned players who newer ones should rely on for guidance but get told “git gud” or other meme comments, making them skittish to ask someone else.
Some being burnt out with being social and prefer to keep to themselves.
Running into goofy people who you just shake your head and prefer not to engage.
For me personally, bad experience with people i thought i was cool with (people i founded a guild back in the day with), but they stabbed me in the back. Can’t speak for other peoples.
My opinion?
Vanilla through Wrath for the most part required you to join a guild, form relationships, etc. To join a PUG even you had to use chat to communicate and find people. You got to know most of the active folks on your server, and their reputations.
For good reasons, we eventually got Group Finder. No more needing to talk to people, no more having a list of people you liked running pugs or dungeons with. Just anonymous joining to do a run and finish it.
Then came CRZ, server merges, and eventually even cross faction. Nobody knows anyone unless they are in a guild, but there is no longer a NEED to be in a guild if you are not doing top end progression content.
The other thing I think impacted it was the shift from usually playing a Main - because that was the one your guild would gear up - to being able to gear all your alts through anonymous group finders. We can gear up most of our chars, do content with them all. We switch around a lot. Not just playing one most of the time.
Oh, and add in name changes, server transfers, and everything else on top of the merges and CRZ - there is no “society” on a server anymore.
IDK. I think sometimes it is just a shift in what people want as well. People don’t seem to want to pick a main, apply to a raid team, do an interview, do trial runs, etc. They don’t seem to want that kind of game anymore. For many those interactions felt forced and they did not enjoy them.
People change, games change. Memories of our old guilds, leveling with friends and discovering things - they are sweet and nostalgic. They were a product of who we were then as much as what the game was. We can’t go back.
Sitting here wearing pop-out googly glasses with a serious face “Define goofy.”
Ever went into a dungeon or LFR and seen someone say just weird or awkward things? Likely trying to get a laugh but met with dead silence.
I wish I could go back to the days when I was only on Hydraxis, as in wasn’t CRZ’d or joined with multiple other realms.
Such good times. I loved my little backwater.
No but I’ve had some very “WTF bro why you say dis?” proclamations at the start of PVP BGs, scratch that, we did have ONE fellow I think kicked at the start of an Amidrassil run for a blatantly sexually offensive statement…
That’s the type of stuff I’m referring to.
“Ah, yeah that makes much more sense…” he has added a fake twirly mustache and honking red nose to the googly eyes
And here I thought I was the only one.
WOAH… He’s got a twirly mustache!
Runs over and looks directly at it
My oh my, what a big red nose you have, and such… Wondorously googly eyes you have.
slowly reaches up to the fake mustache
Must… touch… the twirlz.