The Group/Guild Irony

[btamilio]

Ok, one of the (very few) things that concerns me about this game is the difficulty involved in getting a pick-up group to hunt together.

I'm 50 something in melee, and duo with my girlfriend who is about 8 or so levels behind in off and def magic. In Matis, we can *never* find anyone to group with us.

I mentioned this offhandedly in Region chat the other day after several of the occasional "anyone 40-50 ish looking for a group?" over ther course of 3-4 hours, and asked if everyone solos, or frankly, what the deal was with not ever being able to find others interested in grouping.

I was met with a lot of zealous responses, that it "wouldn't be a problem if I had a good guild". Lots of folks chimed in saying that they "only hunt with their guild", and that I should find a guild. Furthermore, that I should check the game forums to find a guild.

I then posed the question: How can I find a guild If I can never find anyone to group with...? I then got spammed with guild invites, which I declined.

Mind you, I'm not interested in finding a guild or joining a guild for the sake of it -- like most players, I'll join or start a guild when I meet some people who I enjoy hunting with, but joining a guild ONLY so I can find hunting groups seems a little ironic to me.

This mentality is new to me, and is concerning. I understand there is a guild "twist" to the game, but it's not even fully developed yet. So why be stubborn about only hunting with your guildies, and ridiculing to those of us who are not guilded, and who have no reason to be?

Well, anyway, I rant. I'm not looking for a sympathy guild invite or group offer or whatever, I'm just concerened about the staunch guild focus it seems players have, and the certain frustration new players may have if they can never put together a group because they aren't guilded, and are used to grouping. It's an unusual dynamic.

[pandorae]

Your race seems to be very much dominated by the guild dynamic. I would reccomend traveling when you can to other lands. I think that you will find that the environment is a lot more open. I would hazard a guess that this is due to the large concentration of FBT players in the Matis race due to their familiarity with the land and its unique advantages over the other lands in Atys.

Hopefully you will notice a shift in this soon!

[ikkoku]

Yeah, I totally agree with you on this issue. I happened to be on at the time when you brought the issue up in region chat and admittedly was a little shocked at some of the rude, almost angry responses you got at first. I'm close in level range to you and seem to share some of your MMORPG mentality. I like playing with other players, but don't always feel like I have the time or in-game resources to contribute to a guild and don't want to join a guild to just get free crafted equipment. Not saying I would never join a guild, would just like to have the choice NOT to and still enjoy myself.

Having heard this conversation in region chat yesterday soured me a little on the game. I've been enjoying myself so far but would hate to think I'll never find a group if I don't have a guild. I'm sure people are going to pipe up and say that maybe this isn't the right game for players like us, but hopefully as more start playing there will be a niche where everyone can fit in.

[btamilio]

Thanks for the support, guys. It's encouraging to hear that this... ideology... might be... contained... to Matis, and that I'm not alone in thinking this way, and frankly, not insane for doing so.

We hitched a ride with a few Matisians headed to Fyros last night, and are looking forward to starting over there and meeting new folks.

It seems counter productive to game growth to have the player pool so cliqueish and fragmented so early on, but this is the risk of such an extended Beta, I guess. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot of "new" players in the last couple of weeks to counteract it, and break down some of those barriers. Hopefully this will change.

[selyf]

Having adventured in over a dozen online worlds in the last decade, with extended stretches in some of them, both out of guilds, in guilds, and in one case, leading a guild, allow me to say this.

First, I'm Matis, as is my friend Miy, but we're still wandering around, clueless in our upper 20s, new to the mainland. I was surprised that region chat in both noobland and the mainland was dominated by bored harvesters and crafters talking about all the other games coming up, but very little about Ryzom, and virtually nothing IC (in character).

Second, guilds who are so exclusive that they don't freely and openly look to add additional people for their groups do not impress me. All the great guilds I've been in were always very happy to make friends with new people, since it was through those chance meetings that you find and recruit your best new members.

Of course, Ryzom seems to work against adding people to groups in mid-adventure, since there is no easy way to get people from the capital to a hunting spot, not even casualties. I've already seen lonely and bored adventurers hanging around doing nothing because an untimely death separated them from their group now far away.

Third, most worlds evolve a standard "gathering place" for people who are seeking groups. Whether it was outside dungeons in EQ, at major urban mission terminals in AO, near the starport or cantina in SWG, or just inside DF in DAoC, you eventually discovered a place to find people who were also looking to team up with others. Sadly, I don't see any similar place here. Perhaps the racial capital is supposed to be that place, but the current Matis population is just too clannish and anti-social?

Fourth, I'm concerned that we might not have a large enough population to reach the "critical mass" needed for a functional social group. There doesn't seem to be enough people IN the world that there are crafters available when you're looking to get something, or unattached adventurers in your age range looking for a group.

- Nadisu

[fuse1001]

Thanks for the support, guys. It's encouraging to hear that this... ideology... might be... contained... to Matis, and that I'm not alone in thinking this way, and frankly, not insane for doing so.

We hitched a ride with a few Matisians headed to Fyros last night, and are looking forward to starting over there and meeting new folks.

It seems counter productive to game growth to have the player pool so cliqueish and fragmented so early on, but this is the risk of such an extended Beta, I guess. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot of "new" players in the last couple of weeks to counteract it, and break down some of those barriers. Hopefully this will change.

I've notice the same thing. Sometimes it tough finding group. Other times you’re just in the wrong region and no one can hear you. If you’re heading to Pyr try looking for a Clopper group in Oasis. Good xp off of Scary Cloppers. Will probably need at least 3 or 4 in group to keep the xp rolling and surviving the occasional Add. Good luck!

[yy48n19]

I understand there is a guild "twist" to the game, but it's not even fully developed yet. So why be stubborn about only hunting with your guildies, and ridiculing to those of us who are not guilded, and who have no reason to be?

I'm not real keyed-in to the guild aspect of these kinds of games, but I think the "guild-twist" you are referring to is intended to be different (hence the "twist") than these insular guild guys and gals are expecting. From reading the interview with the dev that was posted yesterday, I was getting the sense that the devs intend there to be some political, rp-driven interactions between the guilds, which may throw some of the people who are stuck in the "My guild will meet your guild at the playground at 4:30 after school for a fight" or the "I will not associate with anyone outside of my guild" mentalities. It seems to me that the goal is to have a dynamic world of individual characters who create guilds with clearly defined purposes, and sometimes switch sides. This seems different than the standard MMORPG guild model, which is, "My group of buddies that I hunt with and get equipment from."

Just my own speculations and hopes, not sure if they are accurate or way off.

[elfmatic]

Now, I'm Zorai and have spent little time in YurAnis, I mean Yrkanis, but almost everytime I've had a group rally together we've met at the stables of whichever city. I started about 2 weeks after my guild, which I'd met up with in beta, so I had to spend some time 'catching up to them' before I could realy go hunt with them. I did so by hanging out at the most popular respawn point in Zorai. Most of the people coming through that respawn where close to my level (otherwise they'd respawn near the primeroots or a city further out) and most of them needed a teammate (otherwise maybe they wouldn't be respawning? ).

Being a dedicated healer, I HAVE to group to get ANY xp and this worked for me, so I'm sure you can make it work too. Also, you are still early in the game, maybe start a couple more characters in diff races and see if there's another culture you prefer more?

~Elf

[jokque]

I am tryker myself, 76 2h 65 1h 65 cc 55 def 40 off (phew) at the moment
Came to tryker mainland at 31 melee with all the other skills as lvl 20
Had a hard time getting teams, asked and asked, almost begged, for a team to no avail, while by zooming my radar out to 250m i saw single blue dots aplenty. Somehow suddenly 9 people all wanted to team at once, all lvl 30ish, so we went to a place with baying cloppers in trykerland and everyone was 45 in like an hour. The next day i couldnt wait to log back on as i had finally experienced something fun and as i logged on there was the same problem, no teaming. So after watching a movie, trolling forums and generally roaming around for 3-4 hours i met this healer/melee duo and i asked them if they wanted more, which they did. So i got to 55 in a session there. Somehow, gradually i soloed my way to 76/65/65 over the course of 10'ish days (not being in a single team) before my guild arranged a trip to matis-land. And yep, your fears are true, ever since i got to matis land ive never had problems getting team, but EVERY SINGLE ONE of them has been with my guild, and ONLY my guild, well once we met 3 others who we joined up with.
And i still see single blue dots everywhere with 250m radar...

Theres 4 things you can do :
-Quit the game (if you arent guilded this game can feel like a singleplayer rpg which you pay monthly to play)
-start whining in regionchat, making threads on the forums, try to get people to team more for the sake of the community
Or the 2 most valid points :
- Join a guild
- Roam about wherever you are, if you meet someone ask them if they want to team, most people if not just not paying attention to region chat actually have that thing muted, so you can get alot further by around-talking them

[lankin]

I am a Tryker, Apoljing, and a member of the Ion guild there. We usually will team with others. It would be great for them to join our guild but if they do not it is still okay and great fun to have them with us as we attack the mobs and explore the land. So if you are ever in tryker land ask if somebody in the Ion guild would like to team and I am sure you will get a good reponse.