Not sure if this is the right place to put this post, but...
By
beyeajus,
Posted on: 2010-02-01 15:33 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Yes we are awesome.
I hope that other game doesnt let you down.
Yup, CoH definitely has one of the best communities of any MMO. It has its share of jerks, but they are vastly outnumbered by decent folk who just want to enjoy the game.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
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Fixed, for a unique truth |
Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
It has its share of jerkhackers
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@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
LOL, gone to teh golden girl!
Yup, I'm happy to log in here and bla bla bla it up at work everyday. everyone I come into contact with online or the forums has been great in my piddly 9 months lol
wtf? It says I'm mentor now?! NO! I wanna be super-powered still! I can't be a mentor, too much responsibility!!!
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Has anyone come up with a coherent reason *why* that is?
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Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
Yup, CoH definitely has one of the best communities of any MMO. It has its share of jerks, but they are vastly outnumbered by decent folk who just want to enjoy the game.
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Because we are refined.
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Originally Posted by Thug_Two
Has anyone come up with a coherent reason *why* that is?
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Honestly? I'll say it's because the game has had a casual friendly focus for so long. In the beginning we didn't have PVP or phat lewtz, so people played the game because they wanted to play a fast-paced, fun, superhero game with their friends.|
Originally Posted by Thug_Two
Has anyone come up with a coherent reason *why* that is?
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Five years down the road, they've added PvP, a little bit of lewt, and some "elite" content, but the casual feel of the game remains, and I think that discourages the sort of people who make other games so unpleasant.
Agua Man lvl 48 Water/Electric Blaster
"To die hating NCSoft for shutting down City of Heroes, that was Freedom."
Well whatever it is, I'm happy with it 
"Iron defenses and a crappy attitude do not, a tanker, make."
Proud Leader and founder of The Gangbusters Super Group and The Madhouse Villain Group: Ask me about becoming a member!
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I'll attrubute it to Cuppajo in the start.
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Originally Posted by Thug_Two
Has anyone come up with a coherent reason *why* that is?
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In the Arena of Logic, I fight unarmed.
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Oo! Oo! *raises hand jumping up n down* |
Originally Posted by Thug_Two
Has anyone come up with a coherent reason *why* that is?
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I have some theories.
a). Players tend to behave "heroically".
Before it was a superheroes n villains game, it was a superheroes game, and as such held an innate appeal to people with "heroic" aspects to their personalities. This involves being helpful, polite, and considerate, especially to new players.
b). A Positive Feedback cycle of helpfulness.
Based on a). we have veteran players generally behaving heroically toward newer players. Providing guidance and advice and answering questions, gifting Inf, drive-by buffing, Level 50s tagging along with sewer teams (sewer buffing?), Taxibot services (free or paid), etc.
When the newbies become vets, they behave similarly, remembering how much it meant to them as newbs, to have such assistance.
Lather, rinse, and repeat.
c). Easy(ish) to learn, lifetime to master.
In relative terms, there's a lot to keep track of in-game. Different zones, best ways to get there, Contacts, Enhancements, Inspirations, buffs/debuffs, and the most effective use of Powers in general, etc. To someone not willing to invest a few brain cells, these "features" can be off-putting. This keeps out the riff-raff.
d). These Forums respond well to, and I would say expect, a certain level of intelligence/education/cleverness/civility.
From the player/posters to the Mods n Devs, the vast majority of people found here are smart n funny. If you're not either of those things, you're probably going to feel out of place here. Posters and Mods are not going to respond well to stupid comments or trolling, insults, or bad behavior in general. People will be quick to figure it out if they're not wanted here, and will move on to other forums where they feel more at home.
I've actually pondered on these issues quite a bit, having tried WoW and Pirates of the Burning Sea (after already being a CoH player), but finding the communities there so immature and inconsiderate, that I had no desire to play beyond the Free Trial period. And I'm an even bigger fan of the Age of Sail than I am superheroes!
But those games, then, suffer from the corollary NEGATIVE feedback cycle - rude vet players being rude to new players, who in turn...yadda.
I even had this experience with a SINGLE-PLAYER game...went on their Forums looking for help, found the denizens so mean and unhelpful, that I don't play the game anymore, even though I was enjoying it before visiting their Forums!
I love this game, the Mods, the Devs, the Forums, everything. You're all very special people, and I like it here.
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This must be why I waited till COV came out before I bought this game. No innate appeal till then.
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Originally Posted by RobertoLyon
Oo! Oo! *raises hand jumping up n down*
I have some theories. a). Players tend to behave "heroically". Before it was a superheroes n villains game, it was a superheroes game, and as such held an innate appeal to people with "heroic" aspects to their personalities. This involves being helpful, polite, and considerate, especially to new players. |
The Revenants and Vengeance Imperium-Triumph, Champion & now flavoring Justice!
Tanker Tuesdays & Brutal Thursdays. If you like fun, look'em up!
Shhh! Rangle is plotting.
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Now, I found this completely unrelated thread that might be where some other people are talking about some sort of MMO that's supposed to release shortly: 1,965 posts and counting for this particular MMO in our thread|
Originally Posted by Flarecrow
Not sure if this is the right place to put this post, but...I've been playing another MMO recently. It's launching tomorrow, but I've been in the Open Beta and Head Start and have to tell you, I love the game and whatnot, and I've even gotten into the PvP, which is rare because I've never been a PvP fan at all. I haven't left CoH; far from it. This is still my main MMO, and my home. And that's for one...VERY..specific reason.
Golden Girl. |
fix't
I'm in total agreement. I started playing this game five or six years ago because I dig superheroes. But I've STAYED for five or six years because I love the folks involved.
It's like one big family.
I just wish I wasn't the uncle that the kids aren't allowed to be around...
Troy Hickman - So proud to have contributed to and played in this wonderful CoH universe
I still contend that this community is the best simply because it attracts people that want to play HEROES.
It nevers bothers me how the community behaves or is depending on the game. If I did, I would of left WoW years ago. But I will say, CoH/V's communtiy is more evolved than most...and I do find that attractive.
Maybe the size of the game has something to do with this - a game with 11 millions players it's quite more likely to have idiots posting or run into. Maybe this game doesn't allow performance measuring mods and an Armory which other players can readily ad hominem if they disagree with you or at worst, greif you over with when you're trying to progress. Maybe it's all those flamboyant costumes both men and women trot around in...making this game feel more open, accepting and certainly colorful. I could go on...but for what ever reason, it 's clear that the community here has always been great.
If it's small and pink, it's probabley a Gnome.
I have a more reserved perspective. Yes, the CoH community is better than every other MMO community I've seen, but considering most MMO "communities" are pretty bad to begin with, that doesn't say much. Rather than resting on our laurels, let's try to make it better by not participating in childish drama or the antics of the occasional idiot who crops up.
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You know... That's actually a very good point. A lot of the reasons other forums tend to be unpleasant is a distinct "us vs. them" mentality that exists over different parameters. It could be veterans vs. newbs, horde vs. alliance, casual gamers vs. min/maxers, PvE vs. PvP... You name it, people will hate each other over it. And, yeah, we see some of that in our own community, but it rarely becomes a problem. For the most part, with the game being as open as it is and outwardly encouraging players to try things they may not have otherwise been inclined to creates an air of tolerance. Yeah, we did have a lot of the "us vs. them" thing back when we had separate CoV boards, even though many of us played both sides of the game, but it's been a long time since that.|
Originally Posted by Utakata
Maybe the size of the game has something to do with this - a game with 11 millions players it's quite more likely to have idiots posting or run into. Maybe this game doesn't allow performance measuring mods and an Armory which other players can readily ad hominem if they disagree with you or at worst, greif you over with when you're trying to progress. Maybe it's all those flamboyant costumes both men and women trot around in...making this game feel more open, accepting and certainly colorful. I could go on...but for what ever reason, it 's clear that the community here has always been great.
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See, in my experience, bridging the gap and at least TRYING something you may have "hated" tends to make people a lot more lenient. "The others" are no longer such strangers, and so don't seem as easy to hate. The game promotes diversity, liberty and, to a large extent, adventure in a way that other MMOs just do not. Other MMOs constrain you. They define you. They give you a character, give you a class, give you a task and severely punish you if you deviate and screw up. City of Heroes is different. It plops you down into the game and more or less ORDERS you to go wild. Go on, make a crazy costume! Come on, play recklessly. Die, if you have to. It's not so bad. Go out, have an adventure, let loose a little. We don't mind. You don't have to do what gaming tradition expects you to do. You can go wild and actually do what YOU always wanted to do.
That sort of game design really lends itself to a much more relaxed type of atmosphere. Less pressure and more freedom make people less likely to lash out against each other, less likely to segregate and band in small, exclusive groups and just generally more likely to have fun their way. When everyone takes part in diverse activities, there really isn't much ground to hate anyone else because, chances are, you have a lot in common anyway.
When the game doesn't piss you off, you have less reason to be grumpy, basically.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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This tends to be my standby response, and even though I got accused of promoting "mob justice" through it, I stand by this point. The forums population doesn't so much police itself, as it sets a very high standard that just isn't very accepting of idiots. Where in other communities, being a jerkass will inevitably get you some notoriety and other jerkasses queuing up to high-five you, here they just get the cold shoulder. It can be pretty disheartening to be disruptive in a community and realise you've made yourself almost completely unwelcome in doing so, shooting down any support you may have otherwise had. We do get our fair share of idiots, but we rarely get serial idiots as it's just not pleasant to be disruptive in a community that doesn't stand for that.|
Originally Posted by RobertoLyon
d). These Forums respond well to, and I would say expect, a certain level of intelligence/education/cleverness/civility.
From the player/posters to the Mods n Devs, the vast majority of people found here are smart n funny. If you're not either of those things, you're probably going to feel out of place here. Posters and Mods are not going to respond well to stupid comments or trolling, insults, or bad behavior in general. People will be quick to figure it out if they're not wanted here, and will move on to other forums where they feel more at home. |
Specific notable people do manage to be largely mean-spirited and still tolerated, but they're tolerated in the same way as a bullet in the body. Once everyone grows to accept the person and stops taking them seriously, the disruptive person can no longer be truly disruptive if no-one is disrupted by them. And so the community just flows around them.
Personally, I credit the actual people that make up these forums for why they are as cool as they are.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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Stop talking about me behind my back! | Specific notable people do manage to be largely mean-spirited and still tolerated, but they're tolerated in the same way as a bullet in the body. Once everyone grows to accept the person and stops taking them seriously, the disruptive person can no longer be truly disruptive if no-one is disrupted by them. And so the community just flows around them. |
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But it's your best side!|
Originally Posted by Westley
Stop talking about me behind my back!
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I agree with pretty much everything that's been said, but I think another factor is that when the game started it almost certainly had a higher average age for it's player base than most others at the time. I think perhaps this helped kick off that more mature positive feedback cycle.
However, it turned out that Smith was not a time-travelling Terminator
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Originally Posted by Mental_Giant
Honestly? I'll say it's because the game has had a casual friendly focus for so long. In the beginning we didn't have PVP or phat lewtz, so people played the game because they wanted to play a fast-paced, fun, superhero game with their friends.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
The game promotes diversity, liberty and, to a large extent, adventure in a way that other MMOs just do not. Other MMOs constrain you. They define you. They give you a character, give you a class, give you a task and severely punish you if you deviate and screw up. City of Heroes is different. It plops you down into the game and more or less ORDERS you to go wild. Go on, make a crazy costume! Come on, play recklessly. Die, if you have to. It's not so bad. Go out, have an adventure, let loose a little. We don't mind. You don't have to do what gaming tradition expects you to do. You can go wild and actually do what YOU always wanted to do.
That sort of game design really lends itself to a much more relaxed type of atmosphere. Less pressure and more freedom make people less likely to lash out against each other, less likely to segregate and band in small, exclusive groups and just generally more likely to have fun their way. When everyone takes part in diverse activities, there really isn't much ground to hate anyone else because, chances are, you have a lot in common anyway. When the game doesn't piss you off, you have less reason to be grumpy, basically. |
For example, booting non-contributing door-sitters is understandable, but I've been in a (different) game where a group that regarded itself as casual and fun-oriented maintained a logging program to make SURE its members were clicking enough times during raids, and kicked out people who weren't maintaining a certain performance standard. *Shudder* And these folks self-identified as non-competitive and friendly...and you know what? They WERE casual and easygoing in other game systems; I played other games with these same people.
The system here doesn't make playing into the kind of work where your "boss" monitors your keystrokes to decide whether to fire you.
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
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The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
You know, I'm playing that other space game too, but I mainly bypass the forums (and the in-game jerks) to focus on my own fun. And I've run into a few COH regulars over there.
But I keep coming back to this game because I just love it so much. Although I've given up hope of getting my latest character to 50 before GR comes out.
--NT
They all laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian.
But I showed them, and nobody's laughing at me now!
If I became a red name, I would be all "and what would you mere mortals like to entertain me with today, mu hu ha ha ha!" ~Arcanaville
I've been playing another MMO recently. It's launching tomorrow, but I've been in the Open Beta and Head Start and have to tell you, I love the game and whatnot, and I've even gotten into the PvP, which is rare because I've never been a PvP fan at all. I haven't left CoH; far from it. This is still my main MMO, and my home. And that's for one...VERY..specific reason.
You guys.
The community on...uh...Intergalactic...Trip...On the internet...*cough*...for the most part, is not what I'm used to. Everyone is so negative and childish...it makes me realize how special the community we have ehe really is. You guys are tops, IMO.
On any given day, I can team with a group of people here and have fun, make friends, and enjoy myself. Outside of my main group there....I have yet to run into a single pleasant individual. People are rude in zone chat, BEYOND asinine in PvP, and overall...the bottom of the barrel as far as I can gather.
Now, I'm sure, eventually, that the ones who don't stick with the game will move along and the community will evolve beyond it's infancy, as it is now, but really...they've got nothing on you guys. I've heard people say it, hell, I've even heard the Dev's say it...but you guys are the best community out there. Period.
"Iron defenses and a crappy attitude do not, a tanker, make."
Proud Leader and founder of The Gangbusters Super Group and The Madhouse Villain Group: Ask me about becoming a member!