Damn nobody ever talks..
 

I swear I'm talking to myself in ooc/shout no matter what zone I'm leveling in. It's like the server is just completely full of mindless zombies playing without speaking or interacting.

I know I'm generalizing... but man, it's so hard to get people to engage in conversation. Unless you're in Highkeep of course and it's someone bitching about camps or something.

Ok done with my complaint. Discuss.

People have their own cliques and chatting away on aol, im and other things. its not that other people are mindless zombies.. its just you are that weird loner dude

I'm forming groups all the time on my Warrior and chat a ton during those groups while auto-attacking / autorunning with a pull inc. I dunno where you're at, but yea, plenty of people chat if you engage them in conversation yourself.

I like talking in ooc/shout in empty zones. Something cathartic about it.

One thing I've learned about people in online games from 20+ years of MMOs is that people never feel compelled to respond to global channels. This includes a guild channel.

However, if you address someone directly, you're far more likely to get a response. I definitely fall into this. Let's take the Paineel elevator for example.

Situation 1:
Soandso says in out of character, 'man i died can anyone plz come nad click elevator for me for a cr?'

No.

Situation 2:
Soandso tells you, 'Hey are you downstairs in Paineel by any chance? If so, can you please click the elevator for me? I'm in it now.'

Yes, probably. Mostly because I'm addressed directly. The quality of the text is a hyperbole of how my brain automatically thinks of /ooc people.

It boils down to... if you're saying random stuff in /ooc, you're not addressing anyone in particular and therefore you're not talking to me. If you /tell me directly, you're talking to me and I will feel compelled to respond even if I can't help you.

It's not just begging in OOC either. Another example.

Situation 1:
I'm in Dreadlands killing on north wall on my shaman.
Soandso says in out of character, '42 monk lfg'

I probably just keep killing on north wall.

Situation 2:
Soandso tells you, 'Hey man, want to duo with a 42 monk?'

I probably say okay.

It's an interesting social thing and I don't think that I'm weird in this way, as this mirrors my experience on the opposite end of things. If I /ooc I get no replies. If I message people directly, I get replies probably 80% of the time.

Okay, one last example. Even in settings as small as a group. Say I'm in a group of 6 in MM.

Situation 1:
You tell your party, 'Hey where's everyone from?'

Maybe one guy responds.

Situation 2:
You tell PartyMember1, 'Hey cool sword. What is that?'

Probably responds.

Long post, but something I have actively thought about.

Groups are only a couple people so I wouldn't think it's that weird if a group chat ends up being quiet. I'm not talking about cliques or guilds though. I'm not level 60, so this is just my experience progressing through the levels and zones. Zones are often 10-20 people for hours with no one saying a word, not even answering questions like where the food vendor is -- except "CC" that shit is instant. It's freakishly weird. Oh, lol, you'll also hear from people in a super rage-y kind of way if you kill their guard or rat or whatever and it was part of some camp you didn't know about.

And wtf, AOL? This is 2019. If you were going to chat in something it would be Discord. But only weird people type instead of using a mic when given the option. And besides, having Discord doesn't prevent you from communicating in-game.

Let me clarify though - people have been super friendly and talkative if I send them messages. I've met some pretty cool people that way too. Both higher levels and lower levels. It's just been bad enough in public channels I've started to think there were unspoken rules about public communication, lmao.

edit: This has been mostly in Highkeep and then some of the outdoor zones I've leveled in. Maybe it's a bit different in big grouping hotspots at higher levels.

This is probably what it comes down to. And it seems to extend to just general, random topics also -- not just questions or services.

I was just bringing it up because it does seem kind of lonely out there at times even despite there being so many people in the zone.

Most of the guilds on the server use AIMchat as their primary method of communication. What is Discord?

Yeah, I suppose so. I try to send a direct tell to people who might want a group or I want some company instead of soloing. The duo turns into a trio, then a full group where there's 3-4 mobs coming in, being CC'd and we move from mob to mob, and then more pulled. Hell, people even invite to a discord channel if the group's having a good time.

The modern communication options probably have something to do with it...telegram or discord or any other number of IMs that weren't around back in '99-2000. That and also people prolly don't split their chatwindows by category. I have a window full of guildchat, groupchat + tells, a couple spamwindows and so on.

This would have been a five-star thread if no one replied.