What can we do to make the community a better place?

[Shinjorai]

First off before i start this, i am not just talking about PSU which is a part of the PS2 community definitely, but i mean the general populace in planetside 2 once it launches. Having played some games with some very bad game communities that had some people with horrible attitudes a multitude of trolls and just outright rude people it got me to thinking. What are some games that have horrible communities and what are some games that have had relatively friendly and helpful communities and what is different about the way the games are settup that makes them different.

So what id like to do here is maybe if everybodys willing, give one bad experience with a game community you had and give one good experience with a game community you had and maybe we can all look at those good gaming communities and figure out what was different about them that drew in a more positive group of people. The reason this is more important than you probably realize is because this game will be totally community driven and if its filled with a majority of rude obnoxious people its going to potentially drive away a lot of players and in the long run I feel that will hurt SOE's sales as well as ruin some fun of the game because of the lack of cooperation.

Im a realist and i realize its not all going to be ponies and rainbows all the time but what im really getting at is maybe we can come up with some in game incentives we could suggest to SOE to help promote a better community maybe they hadnt thought of. Im not really sure off the top of my head what could be done but thats why i started this thread, im sure amongst the populace of PSU theres some good ideas out there we could suggest to ensure the game were going to be playing for hopefully the next many years will always have a healthy friendly helpful community.

One thing I remember hearing from a game i never played much but had a cult following was SWG I remember reading something about a helper system in the game and people would wear a helper tag and assist new people just logging into the game.I think maybe things like that in ps2 would be a great idea. Id also like to say too that i think its really great the way the devs get involved in the community here on the forums for example and actually communicate with the playerbase. I have been into gaming for a many many years and gotta say ive never seen that so i think thats really great and one good thing that leads to a positive community. Im not sure if this should be in the idea vault section or not since what im really asking for is maybe in game and out of game incentives to promote a better community but i figured id post it in the discussion section as more people seem to view this than the idea vault regularly.

So all that being said what are some Ideas to help promote a better community and what differentiates a good community from a bad one in your opinion?

[EightEightEight]

Trolling outside your own outfit should really not be tolerated. You can troll your own outfit cause hey you know those guys they know you they understand the troll.

we defiantly have competition and rivalries but that doesn't say we should not respect each other as people.

I fear when the Battlefield and Modern Warfare communities try to merge with ours that we are in for just lots of trolls.

Granted not all trolls but you know what they say about a needle in a haystack

[Krawanan]

Originally Posted by Shinjorai

First off before i start this, i am not just talking about PSU which is a part of the PS2 community definitely, but i mean the general populace in planetside 2 once it launches. Having played some games with some very bad game communities that had some people with horrible attitudes a multitude of trolls and just outright rude people it got me to thinking. What are some games that have horrible communities and what are some games that have had relatively friendly and helpful communities and what is different about the way the games are settup that makes them different.

So what id like to do here is maybe if everybodys willing, give one bad experience with a game community you had and give one good experience with a game community you had and maybe we can all look at those good gaming communities and figure out what was different about them that drew in a more positive group of people. The reason this is more important than you probably realize is because this game will be totally community driven and if its filled with a majority of rude obnoxious people its going to potentially drive away a lot of players and in the long run I feel that will hurt SOE's sales as well as ruin some fun of the game because of the lack of cooperation.

Im a realist and i realize its not all going to be ponies and rainbows all the time but what im really getting at is maybe we can come up with some in game incentives we could suggest to SOE to help promote a better community maybe they hadnt thought of. Im not really sure off the top of my head what could be done but thats why i started this thread, im sure amongst the populace of PSU theres some good ideas out there we could suggest to ensure the game were going to be playing for hopefully the next many years will always have a healthy friendly helpful community.

One thing I remember hearing from a game i never played much but had a cult following was SWG I remember reading something about a helper system in the game and people would wear a helper tag and assist new people just logging into the game.I think maybe things like that in ps2 would be a great idea. Id also like to say too that i think its really great the way the devs get involved in the community here on the forums for example and actually communicate with the playerbase. I have been into gaming for a many many years and gotta say ive never seen that so i think thats really great and one good thing that leads to a positive community. Im not sure if this should be in the idea vault section or not since what im really asking for is maybe in game and out of game incentives to promote a better community but i figured id post it in the discussion section as more people seem to view this than the idea vault regularly.

So all that being said what are some Ideas to help promote a better community and what differentiates a good community from a bad one in your opinion?

I think every game has it's nice people and trolls, but if you really want a great community, you have to look at cult games like SWG as you said.

but i think the ps2 community also comes pretty close

[Littleman]

Not being a dick and ostracizing real dicks is about all you can do. Unfortunately some people will always be dicks.

Some symptoms of being a dick include:

-Elitism and over-bloated ego's.

-"Removing" someone because they're in your way to wherever you're going.

-TKing back instead of letting an accidental shot to the back of your head slide.

-Passing up your fellows when you clearly have the tools to patch up their health or keep them supplied with ammo.

-Giving newbs or "bads" a mouthful when they're doing poorly. Advise, and then move on, especially if they talk back. You can't fix stupid, and trying to will only make you a dick.

I like playing TR. And really, #4 is more being selfish or lazy, than being a dick.

[nocte]

like above you will always get trolls in any community.

I loved the SWG community when the game 1st began. Another great community I was part of was in DAoC (Dark age of Camelot) when a server forum popped up for Prydwen, and everyone was very helpful as it was the less popular english server.


All you have to do is not feed the trolls as they will move on when they dont get a rise out of the community as that is what they thrive on.

[Pillar of Armor]

It needs to be strongly advertised that you should participate in an outfit and there should be some sort of in game incentive for joining outfits (like the ability for outfits to give resources to new members). Interoutfit ops should also be encouraged to create a strong community.

In eve, alliances were built from multiple corporations (outfits/guilds) and they were the kingpin of the game. Each corp had its specialties and the alliances gave them a purpose and a mission that kept people together and working hard to help each other.

Also, eve had a player run corp called Eve University. It was all about training people on how to play the game. Maybe PSU should put together a team for a PlanetSide University outfit. It would would be a great way to help new players get connected to the community.

Hand picking our community through creating outfits is the only way we can limit troll troubles :P Trolls are unstoppable...

[ChipMHazard]

Well rudeness is probably the thing I've experienced the most in games.
From BF3 where you experience people just bad mouthing others calling them hackers, noobs etc. Following players around via battlelog just to irritate them.
To LoL where you berate others for their lack of "skill", choosen hero and just generally being an intolerant douche.

There's nothing you can do about people getting mad in a competitive game, especially when KDR is made to apparently matter. So personally I would put less importance on stats like KDR and more on team focused stats; healing, repairs, obj. defending/capturing.
Make sure you don't allow players to /who someone.
Try to be helpful to others, either by being tolerant or trying to give advice. I like the idea of ingame helpers as it might help incourage a more friendly attitude towards each other. Just make sure it's a help channel and not something where you have to PM the helpers.
Perhaps allowing chosen players, the helpers?, to upload helpful videos on the PS2 site.
Make sure to promote team play and thus support classes. I'm not really worried about this as they already seem to be putting a lot of focus on support roles.
I do think having factions will help players treat other's from their own faction better, faction pride. Of course players would have to care about their faction.

[Shinjorai]

What if for the helper thing,maybe have like say a helper point system, if you get so many helper points you could trade them for special Shop items or something. What if there was a thing on everybodys profile in whatever PS2s version of the web ap thing will be called like battlelog is in bf3 where you could "thank" or upvote them and get points like that? Maybe a karma system, if it was somebody that was constantly causing trouble u could downvote them or "complain". And have special bonuses and penalties etc.

[zomg]

I think having a good community, especially if it's a large one, most of all requires an excellent moderation team. Problems must be dealt with quickly and actively.

Deliberate trolling, flaming and insults should not be tolerated. Warning system + banning has seemed pretty effective.

Unconstructive discussion should be disencouraged. What is unconstructive is probably hard to define, but especially for obvious cases warnings should be passed out. (obvious eg. insults).

Being rude should also be disencouraged. I would not straight off ban cursing, but deliberately insulting other members of the community should be a case for a warning.

Of course things like this can easily lead into moderator power abuse, but problems like that can be dealt with as well.

[ChipMHazard]

Originally Posted by Shinjorai

What if for the helper thing,maybe have like say a helper point system, if you get so many helper points you could trade them for special Shop items or something. What if there was a thing on everybodys profile in whatever PS2s version of the web ap thing will be called like battlelog is in bf3 where you could "thank" or upvote them and get points like that? Maybe a karma system, if it was somebody that was constantly causing trouble u could downvote them or "complain". And have special bonuses and penalties etc.

Aye it could work if when you ask for help you get a help log on your personal page, or ingame, where you can up vote the helpers answers.
It should only be possible to up vote, or down vote, someone who has actually helped you as to make sure people don't simply up/down vote their friends/enemies.
Perhaps make it so the helpers can click on a player's name in the help chat and specifically give them an answer. To make sure you don't get up/down voted for something you weren't proving help on.
But yeah I like the idea of that.

Originally Posted by zomg

I think having a good community, especially if it's a large one, most of all requires an excellent moderation team. Problems must be dealt with quickly and actively.

Deliberate trolling, flaming and insults should not be tolerated. Warning system + banning has seemed pretty effective.

Unconstructive discussion should be disencouraged. What is unconstructive is probably hard to define, but especially for obvious cases warnings should be passed out. (obvious eg. insults).

Being rude should also be disencouraged. I would not straight off ban cursing, but deliberately insulting other members of the community should be a case for a warning.

Of course things like this can easily lead into moderator power abuse, but problems like that can be dealt with as well.

On this note I do think it's a good thing PS2 will be F2P. From personal experience moderation almost always seem to be rather lax on official sites when a game costs money and or has a montly sub. The whole not making paying customers angry thing.

[Otleaz]

Community is entirely on the shoulders of the developers, not the players.

A good community is a tight-nit community.

Actively discourage changing names and switching servers, and make it easy for players to recognize each other. Give them plenty of places to see each other names, and give them the ability to publicly denounce other players.

Players should want to get on the good side of others. Being denied access to a squad should hurt. Give players xp bonuses that can only be given to other players they meet.


That is pretty much a rough list of everything that came to mind.

[Doxy]

We need more Vanu to make this community a better place =]

[Shogun]

the big thing that will help ps2s community is the fact that we have three factions and have to stay (more or less) with the faction of choice.

most trolling will be against the other factions. and this even adds to the fun! i totally love the smacktalk that is going on here all the time.

just make sure that the dicks trying the game choose the faction that is exclusively for them, the VS

the other thing that helped the ps1 community, was the fact that ps1 was not meant to be a game for kids. kiddys who managed to get a creditcard from somebody to play the game, transformed into great players or left the game immediately because it was too complicated.
this will not be the case with ps2
any dick can play the game and have fun with it. this is bad for the community, but good for population.

[HeatLegend]

There isnt much one can do for a better community other than being nice yourself and setting standards. Trolling can be fun around your friends but should be done lightly to people you don't know. Be nice and helpful to people of your own team, even if you dont know them, and obviously dont be a total douche to your enemies, but rivalry in forms of light insults and boasting is always fun.

That's all you can do, be nice and others will be nice. Even if you play and just meet idiots time after time doesn't mean you need to follow their example.

[zomg]

Originally Posted by Shogun

most trolling will be against the other factions. and this even adds to the fun! i totally love the smacktalk that is going on here all the time.

I think it should be disencouraged in more "official" boards or threads. Although it's occasionally fun, I find it extremely annoying when trying to read a discussion about something and then half of the posts are just replies to faction trolls.

Fine in more "relaxed" areas like The Lounge though I think.