The Sound of Silence

[Serilda]

I talk a lot (despite being on console) and get frustrated when people won't respond even to critical attempts at important tactical communication - on my server it's the non-Japanese-speakers who are notorious for this. I assume they are used to not being able to communicate and just don't bother reading the chat at all but since I can translate for them it's very frustrating to be ignored. Some people don't even say a quick hello in auto translate when I join a PF to help them - I leave when that happens because life is too short to help people who won't bother acknowledging your humanity. Quiet is fine if people are busy or shy, but at least greeting one another reminds me I'm not just playing with a bunch of bots

[Just-Communication]

I imagine the song playing in my head when (as the tank):

a. I say hello at the beginning of a DF party and no one answers;
b. I say hello at the beginning of a DF party and the healer/DPS has already pulled the first mob;
c. I stop at the first boss to explain the fight (if there's a new member) and the healer/DPS pulls the boss;
d. I congratulate the party on a job well done and everyone's already left the instance;
e. I say hello to a random person at a quiet aetheryte and they fly away on their chocobo; and
f. when I visit the Famfrit server forums on Lodestone.

Hello darkness, my old friend...

I talk a lot (despite being on console) and get frustrated when people won't respond even to critical attempts at important tactical communication - on my server it's the non-Japanese-speakers who are notorious for this. I assume they are used to not being able to communicate and just don't bother reading the chat at all but since I can translate for them it's very frustrating to be ignored. Some people don't even say a quick hello in auto translate when I join a PF to help them - I leave when that happens because life is too short to help people who won't bother acknowledging your humanity. Quiet is fine if people are busy or shy, but at least greeting one another reminds me I'm not just playing with a bunch of bots

You know what, good on you for leaving if folks don't have the basic decency to say hello. I kind of agree with that. Sometimes I wonder if it's simply a different mentality. The line between friend is stranger is like a thin piece of bamboo paper. It feels as though players are so turned off by negative experiences with people in game that anyone who's not in their FC, LS or friend list are pushed into the 'just barely tolerable' zone and, the moment the tiniest controversy occurs, things explode. It's like folks are just so pent up with frustration that they're subconsciously waiting for conflict to happen just so they have a reason to vent.

With how some quests play out in HW, where NPCs actually run around with you in a dungeon, might as well ask SE to let us run with NPCs for anything that's not end-game content if it's no different than doing a DF instance with unresponsive players. Probably less grief, too.

[Zojha]

Quiet is fine if people are busy or shy, but at least greeting one another reminds me I'm not just playing with a bunch of bots

You can program bots to greet you if you come online or join the group, though! Can't do that with players.

Goat Simulator's MMO level is quite fun in that regard: You get a chat that's constantly spammed with seemingly legit MMO requests, arguments, memes, LFM and whatnot - all by bots. Perhaps ironically, it's more lively than even Idyllshire arguments >_>