What happened to players?

[Cigaran]

WoW happened. Endgame and E-Peen became the entirety behind playing, and everyone who wasn't at max level and in top-end gear is treated as being worthless. The number of duty finder exploits that people have been using to be carried through instances without any effort doesn't help matters. Then add the usual trolls and ninja-looters.

Of course a game would have a toxic community at endgame. Those people who are taking their time and are actually still enjoying things are still in their 30's and are in no hurry.

Pretty much this.

To a lesser extent, I think once the RPG aspect of MMORPG's was dropped a lot changed and went out the window. Once the real depth and character development that some earlier games featured was removed, most saw the new breed of MMO's as little more than the multi-player games they'd been playing on their Xbox. Sadly, as more MMO's have been released, this mentality has only been reinforced.

[Haruka-Akemi]

I made a few friends helping them with hunting logs or quest NM s
And of course i meet many peope who i really dislike
But that doesnt stop me for helping
I only did 2 Amdapor Keep run 1 with some asses wich i ended quiting
And the second with a trio of speed runners who offered the best tips for a fresh AK runner
Really those guys helped a lot

CM i did 4 runs and in only one had problems
Just beause pc ppl think ps3 ppl are a burden i dont know how to shot th cannons with ps3 controller

Anyways not all people is an ass
There is some friendly guys/gals hidden

[Livilda]

Need help with a fight? = Pay us 300,000Gil to run you through.

700k on my server. The people doing this are complete and absolute scum, preying upon desperation like that.
When more of my friends are ready, we're going to start offering free runs like the free company Blacklisted. I'd love to see these pieces of chocobo dung compete with free.

[Kantide]

Nowadays people take less time being immersed in the game and spend more time playing the game.

[Azoryl]

It all stems from the "OMG just give us tokens for dungeon runs" people.... who then complain "OMG I have to run this dungeon 100 times to get the loot I want".

Back in the the glory days of MMOs ... you ran the dungeon till your loot dropped. Sometimes that loot had a .00001% chance to drop and you ran it forever, but it was all good. Today it is, "OMG we have to clear this dungeon in 30 mins so I can get 8 runs in the 4 hours time I have to play"....

Give me an updated graphic EQ any day.

[Lstkaws]

That is tough to get that kind of reaction from your LS. I am fortunate in that my FC has been around since the beginning of 1.0 and we have been playing together for years. I would definitely support making your own LS or FC and filling it with people that are of like mind. A lot of douche nozzlery going around these days.

[Bluejay]

WoW happened. Endgame and E-Peen became the entirety behind playing, and everyone who wasn't at max level and in top-end gear is treated as being worthless. The number of duty finder exploits that people have been using to be carried through instances without any effort doesn't help matters. Then add the usual trolls and ninja-looters.

This happened WAY before WOW was even created. We were dealing with this back in the UO and EQ days in the late 90's. To a lesser extent we dealt with the same thing in MUD's that existed before them.

The reason this was not as bad back then (and it was bad, just not AS bad) was that the population that played was smaller and if you were a jerk it would get around. I know players that got banned from MUD's for ninja looting (we didn't have that term yet). With a small, well known population you can't get away with being a jerk (as much). You also have alot more motivation to help others, since there are not that many players and you will need their help later.

But with a game population where anyone can play and you have 12 million players with multiple characters, you have essentially anonymity... and its fairly obvious how a lot of people become in an environment where there is anonymity.

[DragonSlayer45]

I don't know about you guys, but I never met an elitist in Final Fantasy XI. The game was a lot more unforgiving, there's no DF so you have to go with the old-school "Form your own party" routine and people were a lot more patient with the game and with each other. Those other people in your party? You looked out for them and they looked out for you. Those who didn't were singled out and eventually quit.

You don't meet players like that in FFXIV. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to laugh in the face of people who have ragequitted over wiping a few times in Garuda HM with more than enough time left. Death is so trivial in FFXIV compared to FFXI, all you have to do is click "Okay/Accept Raise" and you are back on your feet and spend a few hundreds/thousands in gil in repair costs. 60 minutes left? "No, I quit. You all are scrubs. L2P nubs." Nobody has the patience to do anything. The gap between the communities of FFXI and FFXIV are enough to be its own damn plateau.

[Tzain]

I've always placed the blame squarely on one single aspect that led to the community demise.

Single Player Friendly Progression Paths.

The moment you included a way of getting from 1-max without having to group you changed the name of the game from "collaboration" to "competition". Instead of players joining together they avoided each other, instead of being held responsible for their actions, they enjoyed the fruits of anonymity without recourse. It was a mental shift that led directly to the idea that certain behaviors were "acceptable" in MMO communities. Those behaviors ultimately led us here.

[AccountBanned]

I just don't think it is any one single reason.. the internet has evolved and maybe so too has the people who use it.

I remember 10+ years ago playing a game online with others... there were "zones" (similar to a dungeon) that took anywhere from 2-4 hours for a group to do and the reward was 2-4 pieces of good equipment. We had a group of 10 people and each person had 10 equipment slots to fill...so needless to say it took a while to "stack" your player with good gear... here's the best part... you would "raid" opposite teams and either get good rewards for doing so or a chance that you would lose every single piece of that equipment you worked days to get and would have to start over.... Here's the even better part........people of course got mad that they died but they kept playing the game and were still respectful of other people. That game still exists today and I doubt it'll go anywhere anytime soon.

Has this game I mentioned had its share of those players thinking they're above the human race? Sure! but those people were a serious minority and far from the majority of respectful players.