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The Think Tank: Would you play a chat-free MMO?
Last month, Justin asked you in a Daily Grind article whether you'd play a chat-less MMO. His examples included The Endless Forest, where communication is done through emotes and symbols, and Journey, where players use visual cues to signal intent. As MMO players, we feel that massive communication is a must-have feature and socializing is just part of the game. So I was curious about the opinions of the massively staff members on this topic. Would they play a chat-less MMO?
The Daily Grind: Would you play a chat-free MMO?
A recent post by blogger Bhagpuss intrigued me, as he detailed his experiences playing a pseudo-MMO called The Endless Forest. In this game, every player is a deer going through an (endless) forest, exploring the wilderness and tricking out his or her beast. What interested Bhagpuss and me is that there's no chat function in the game, just various emotes that can be used to connect with other players. This made me think of the recent console sleeper hit Journey. In that game, players couldn't directly chat either, but did have a limited array of visual cues to signal intent and foster teamwork. I've read plenty of stories where players say that being denied chat actually made them feel closer to their teammates and really think about the value of human connection. Therefore, I'm putting today's discussion into the realm of the slightly absurd. Would you play a chat-free MMO? How could such a thing work over the long haul? What advantages and disadvantages would come into play? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
