CoH: a game for Introverts, too

CoH: a game for Introverts, too

I have an Introverted personality. There is nothing wrong with that. It is okay to not be socially outgoing, vivacious, gregarious, assertive or have terabytes of friends cached on 150 servers.

Historically, CoH is a friendly game to play for people like me. It offers scores of activities that do not require one to have lots of friends or any friends at all. Most missions are setup to allow for the slow, thoughtful, analytical play style that many introverts prefer. We can take our time, enjoy the scenery and not be hassled for doing so.

Because we tend to be quieter and less assertive in expressing our opinions, it is commonly assumed that there are not that many of us playing MMO's. If a survey were taken, I'd bet we constitute a large % of the MMO population.

The release of I19 and the Incarnate system, rightly or wrongly, sent a strong signal to Introverts that our play style and personality types were not being recognized as determining factors for future expansions. When the developers listen to their players, it is usually the Extroverts who are expressing their opinions and, thusly, having more content developed that match their personalities.

The extroverts want high action, adrenaline pumping, massive group oriented activities. This is want interests them most and gets their juices (so to speak) flowing. But, in order to maintain this group's loyalty to the game, ever more exiting, adrenaline pumping, challenging content must be developed. If the 'next great thing' is not fast enough in coming to match their short-term goals, they get bored and quickly move on to something else.

The exact opposite holds true for me and probably most other introverts. We don't become bored with activities as fast as our counterparts. Far from it, we stick with the tried and true until we have explored it from every possible angle. We like to take our time with the game and explore it from many different perspectives. We set long term goals for ourselves/characters and let them play out over many weeks, months or even years. Our loyalty is not nearly as volatile as that of the currently being courted extrovert group.

The coming Issue 22 has the potential to become a turning point in the game for the introverted personality IF (and that's a big IF), the developers recognize our not insignificant contributions to the stability and success of CoH and use the revamped DA to cater to our more sensitive playing style. Even though we do not typically like the rush, rush feel of most trials and TF's, preferring instead the more deliberate pace we set for ourselves, neither we do want to be encumbered with content that permits advancement along the progress path at a pace slower than sloths.

Please understand, we don't all avoid trials/TF's because we simply don't like or approve of them. Instead, those type playing environments are a real hindrance to our thinking processes and our functionality within them is less efficient than it is in situations with smaller teams or solo where, when given the chance, we flourish and excel. A high stimulus environment stifles our thinking while a low stimulus one revs it up.

We are not bad. We are not handicapped. We are not wrong. We are not lacking. We are simply different in a world where the extrovert may be over-valued.

We are the exceptions in a culture where the extroversion is taught and encouraged and assumed to be the trait to have most in order to succeed. Research has shown those assumptions to not be entirely valid as many of most successful and innovative people in the world are introverts and many of the more notorious flame outs were extroverts. Think Bill Gates and Stephen Wozniak who succeeded by eschewing the team environment in favor of a more individual approach to innovation.

Anyhow, that's all I have to write on the subject right now. I hope the developers take these factors into consideration when designing future content. Creating content that is suitable and playable for all personality types is a tough problem to resolve, for sure, but it can be done given the proper insight and motivation. I just hope they don't undervalue our contributions and support of the game just because we are not as noisy and assertive as our counterparts.

thanks

Psst, did you realize that you posted this publicly?
I kid, I kid!

I like what you are saying and I agree.
I tend to bounce back and forth between the two extremes, but I pretty much always prefer smaller groups over larger ones.
That's the only sketchy aspect of your respectful post... any time we generalize and categorize, we err on the exceptions and the different reasons why some people may do this or that.

Another cool thing is that many more people than just introverts are turned off by large teaming and multi-team content and have been pretty vocal about it. So, it's not even just for introverts that the developers need to think of in order to make things more appealing... And, of course, I'm sure there are many introverts that enjoy the multi-team content as well. I suppose some don't mind disappearing within a crowd to partake in content they find fun.

Regardless... I certainly hope that they do take some turns with the solo and small group aspect of playing as I whole-heartedly think it has been a great aspect of this game and does indeed have a great number of players that enjoy and prefer that style of gaming.

There is definitely room enough for both extremes.
And, as you said, it is absolutely a difficult balance to maintain for the developers!

I am EXTREMELY introverted (looks at post count and joined date). Have been playing 7+ years and have maybe 4-5 players listed as global friends. Had more but none play anymore.

Must be I'm the exception to your thoughts because I absolutely love playing Lambda (not that SLAM garbage), the BAF, and Keyes. Have yet to try the newer trials, but think they'll be fun too. I enjoy them because I can easily get stuff done and blend into the crowd. I don't have to be popular or cool or social to get in on them either.

Not sure if anyone else feels like I do, but figured I'd offer my 2 cents. =)

Base on my post count alone... I'm pretty sure introverted can't be used to describe me but I despise the raid mentality. The question is why?

I took a screen shot the other night when I was in a BAF. I couldn't even see my character due to all the other effects/players/enemies on the screen. Yes, I was certainly aiding the league by dishing out damage, but I couldn't watch my character do it.

I play this game to play my characters and to see what I can manage to pull off based on how I build them and how I play them. Sticking them in the middle of some huge team where I'm buffed to the caps completely destroys the reason I enjoy playing.

And yet I chose to run two trials the other night because I've lost all hope that the devs will give us a viable and equitable solo incarnate path. Which rather sucks. I'd much rather have several incarnated characters instead of only my main.

Just pointing out the irony of an Introvert speaking for all.

The use of "we" kind of goes against the definition of Introvert.

Just found that funny.


I apologize for no actual input to the point of the thread.

Same ol' spew from TonyV. Must have really ticked you off when they announced the Dark Astoria changes considering how loudly you screamed that we should never have a solo incarnate path. One less thing in game to force teaming.

MM stands for massive-multiplayer. All that means is that multiple players can exist in the same environment. Nothing more, nothing less. It doesn't mean forced teaming. It certainly means you CAN team. You've been pushing your own definition of the MM for years around here and you're still wrong.

TonyV, you make Bill Z Bubba and I take the same side... So, clearly you're way off.

Tony, your point is well taken. However, I can't entirely agree with it, either. There is a difference between saying "it is not unreasonable to expect that there will be some parts of the game that require teaming up" and saying "the only way you can progress your character is to participate in huge raids".

What I hear from friends and acquaintances, is that the game is becoming something meant for someone else, not them. A lot of people I know feel alienated because they dislike raids. As it stands, their choices are: a) play content they loathe so they can keep up with everyone else, or b) avoid playing what they dislike, and feel gimped, weak, and useless.

Is it necessary to add content that only appeals to a certain style of play? Yes, actually I think it's quite important to offer varied content that appeals to a broad range of tastes. However, there is nothing else in the game but the I-Trials which actively limits your characters if you don't participate, either. Only the Trials.

I do not believe the argument is about whether raids should exist for those who enjoy them. Of course they should! The argument is about whether or not a certain segment of the playerbase is important or not. If you design character advancement around only ONE style of play, then whether it's intended or not, the message is heard "we do not care about you."

I did not mean in any way to point a fingers at any one (especially TonyV for whom I have a great deal of respect). My point is that people here do matter, and so long as the game remains balanced, and as exploit-free as possible, then I would like to see viable alternatives so that everyone feels included and important.

Nope, can't find it. Here, I'll correct my post for you:

Corrected:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba Same ol' spew from TonyV. Must have really ticked you off when they announced the Dark Astoria changes considering how much you enjoyed screaming at and insulting all those requesting an equitable and fair solo incarnate path since you saw them all as whining children with entitlement issues based on your erroneous belief. MM stands for massive-multiplayer. All that means is that multiple players can exist in the same environment. Nothing more, nothing less. It doesn't mean forced teaming. It certainly means you CAN team. You've been pushing your own definition of the MM for years around here and you're still wrong.

My apologies for misrepresenting your opinion on the DA changes.

TonyV, a tl;dr version of GG one-liner spam does not a valid argument make.

I'm not a generally introverted person historically in on-line games. I have been a guild leader on multipe occasions, and coordinated and run server-wide events. I even met the lovely lady who is now my wife in a MMORPG. That said, I personally "grew out" of an interest in establishing meaningful relationships with people I meet on-lines games.

I have a full and busy life outside of games, and play them for other reasons now. The mechanics, detail, and progression structure generally suits my gaming preferences. I just really don't want to play them with anyone else anymore.

So yeah. I agree with the original poster, in spirit if not for precisely the same reasons. I don't hold my breath for any special attention however, as I think the models for prolonged engagement through social interaction are becoming more prevalent than ever in the MMOG industry today.

No offense meant to anyone, but it always amuses me how the supposed introverts are some of the most vocal people on the forums. Or that's how it seems these days.

Also, did we really need to have this argument yet again? Has it not been done to death already?

The trouble with the argument against forced teaming for incarnate stuff is that if all incarnate stuff is teaming, there is no need to get it if you don't team.

If I can only get pvp stuff by pvping, and the pvp stuff is only used for pvping, then there shouldn't be a problem for non-pvpers.

Likewise if the point of getting incarnate powers is to do incarnate content, and both rquire teaming then it shouldn't be a problem for non-teamers.

They did not remove any of the other content to add in incarnate trials. Nothing was taken away from non-teamers. Something was added for people who team.

I plan on never doing incarnate trials. Not because I don't like teaming, I love teaming, but because I don't like the high levels. I do not begrudge high level players their content. As I do not begrudge pvpers their content, villains their content, badgers their content, roleplayers their emotes, etc.

If you choose to limit yourself to certain parts of the game you will miss other parts. It simply is not fair to complain and not want those other parts of the game to exist.

Okay this game really has this pervasive "us vs them" mentality for EVERY SINGLE CHANGE. Seriously, what the hell? People are so offended that there is a group based system that rewards better than a solo system? Why? Why does YOUR way always have to be THE way. For years CoX has been nothing but solo with laughably rewarded Task Force, then they changed that and people threw a fit with the introduction of recipes. How about you just accept that the game changes and it wont ALWAYS be to your liking. I was a PvPer pre-i13 then they changed they game so much that it was no longer fun for me. Then they announced the incarnate system and I came back because it appealed to me. SHOCKING RIGHT?! You don't HAVE to play this game and you can't stop it from changing, if you don't like the changes then leave or deal. Stop telling everyone, the devs included, that they must appeal to your play style or there will be hell to pay.

You are getting a solo option with DA, is it as fast as the trials? No. Nor should it be because the idea that they give equal rewards would flat out kill trials and group content. Because in the end it is about risk vs reward, and there is a lot less risk involved when I have no one else I have to rely on and I can control everything that happens in the mission. In a trial I have to rely on other players, which more often than not is why trials fail, because people just can't follow simply directions. But when the planets align and they DO pay attention and things go well you get a reward for working together. Solo, there is no risk. At wost you have to run back from the hospital and continue the mission with more inspiration. Solo there is NO change for failure short of a time limit and even then I have never felt pressured by a time limit in this game.

A friend and I were discussing something similar to this recently. In my little corner of the Virtueverse, I am well-known as an organizer. Not necessarily as a leader. I know how to get a great group of RPers together in a short amount of time, and I can recognize The Right Stuff in leadership traits in order to pass off the star in preparation for a really fun night. Several people hit me up when they log on, to find out if anything's going on that evening. I've gotten used to this and have learned to let it fit me.

So this friend asked me what I'm up to in the days and weeks that occasionally pass when they don't see me online. They were surprised when I told them I was still playing City of Heroes during those times, by myself, with the /hideall command activated.

They were even more surprised when I told them I was still RPing, all by myself, in my imaginary adventures. I'm very connected to these fictitious creations of mine, no matter where they go. And just like many of my favorite comic book characters, several of my own characters have their solo episodes. Lots of solo episodes. (Though I sometimes use /unhideall and crawl out of my shell for those particularly epic end-of-arc missions, not because I can't solo them, but because in some cases it feels like it adds something to those stories.)

Most of our frustration seems to be coming from a subtle but meaningful reframing of the OP's argument that I doubt Fritzy would agree with. In fact, I could boil Fritzy's argument down to the distance between the Earth and Moon--that's how far off the game is from a "sweet spot", with respect to various playstyles in high level content. Fritzy isn't asking for the game to be changed. He/she is asking for the devs to consider additional solo-friendly, high-level content going forward, and expressing his/her hopes that Issue 22 will provide some of that.

I'm one of the devs biggest fans, but I haven't touched any of their Incarnate content. And it's not as if I'm even boycotting it. Oh, maybe I'll get around to it; but not today. I'll be enjoying smaller teams who work well together, teams that allow everyone's personalities to shine.

Publishers in the MMO genre learned years ago that their games paradoxically attract introverts. Where there's money to be made, money will be made. Unfortunately, Golden Girl and TonyV are right in this specific case, regarding high level content. They've pegged the devs narrowing vision to a T.

Well, I wish we could all be right.

Of course, the game should not be 100% solo-friendly, but that was never up for argument in the OP. A lot of frustration could be avoided here simply by listening.

What I take from this is that forced teaming is such a horrible thing people will fight the very nature of their being because of it.