"Toxic" Community?.. My thoughts, feel free to add your own!

[Pixie_Knight]

Know something I don't miss from when the game was live?  Influence sales spammers.  I remember being in Atlas and having to put a half dozen on /ignore just to not have a quickly scrolling chat window full of "Influence for sale.  Great prices.  Go to www.ihateillegalsalesspammers.com". That, was toxic in my opinion. 

 

Yeah, and they stopped spamming within a year or two. They failed to create a Gold Seller market in CoH/V because they were trying to sell an in-game currency that was easy to get quickly. I recall pointing out to one of them (and being surprised it was an actual person rather then a bot) that I made 50 million Inf in a mission or two, so why would I want to spend $9.99 on their site to get that much Inf. The "power level" RMT sites had an easier time establishing a market, for a while. But as more systems, missions, and so forth got added the contact dry spots vanished. And when AE hit, they had their entire market demographic ripped right out from under their feet by the fact anyone could create an XP farm mission using the Architect system and endlessly repeat the mission.

 

And the AT devoted boards on the official forums were filled with "This is the Best/Only way to make/play this AT". Just like with any other MMO such people would get really angry about any dissenting opinions.

 

This is true, but in all fairness, Scrappers are the best/only AT to play!

 

Eh, the Scrapper forum section was dominated by "we are awesome" scrapper memes and Rick Rolling. Oh gods, the rick rolls. The Defender section was dominated by complaining about idiot teams who expected them to magically heal Stupid. The Tanker section, as I recall spent a lot of time around issue 5 and 6 whining about how they had been gutted because they could no longer round up every enemy on a map, let alone expect to survive doing so without backup. I didn't spend much time on the Controller or Blaster sections of the forums. As I recall, the Mastermind section spent a lot of time discussing macro/keybinds for pet controls and general "we are awesome" posts. As well as insulting anyone who dared to take and slot the personal attacks.

[justicebeliever]

Know something I don't miss from when the game was live?  Influence sales spammers.  I remember being in Atlas and having to put a half dozen on /ignore just to not have a quickly scrolling chat window full of "Influence for sale.  Great prices.  Go to www.ihateillegalsalesspammers.com". That, was toxic in my opinion.

 

So true...I used to just do anything I could to avoid Atlas Park.  I also remember getting in-game emails for it many times daily...

[Erydanus]

It's also entirely possible that some of the people trying to cause problems are not actually "of" this community. There has been this very toxic culture in gaming and it's entirely possible some ass lurking in the depths of the internet saw someone having fun and decided to cause problems. One of the other servers was hit with a low grade hack attack? Sounds more like random trolls than actual City players. First because I think it's unlikely "we" would do something like that. And second, if someone people in our extended community were to turn dark side like that and make an attempt I think it would be more professional. This game has a higher % than typical of programmers and IT pros playing it. If "we" tried to do something bad it would be "Nemesis Army" level competent not "Hellions" level competent.

[Solarverse]

I ran in to only one creep, he made my global ignore list or life.

 

I was advertising for a Frostfire mission (I run that mission on every single one of my characters) and a player sent me a tell, telling me he was level 2, and if he could join. I simply replied, "You may want to run a couple of DFB missions first, this mission is a bit high for a level 2 player."

 

Oh that set him off, started accusing me of patronizing him and started getting outright rude with me while tossing insults. I tried once to calm the little guy down but he was triggered. I simply /gignored the player. Not the type of player I care to run with. So his acount wil no longer be an issue for me.

 

He is the ONLY player I have had an issue with since this game reopened. I hardly count that one single player as a toxic community.

 

I have seen a bit of toxic people on the forums though. People on the forums can be a bit rude, it seems to draw them from any game you play, however, the people on these forums hardly represents the community. As most players have nothing to do with forums, nor do they want anything to do with them. Forum posters are the minority of any game.

[Grimm001]

I'm a former player from the Freedom server, and I re-rolled everything here on the Excelsior server. I've done a lot of random teaming for mission groups and a ton of DFB runs (enhancements aren't cheap and I need the influence, plus I'm helping with SG funding).

 

I have yet to run into a single butthead on that server. Thus far, it's just been folks getting together and playing the game. I've been in groups where people had some disagreements, but someone not agreeing with you doesn't make them "toxic".

 

Maybe I've just been lucky up to this point.

[Adeon Hawkwood]

The closest I've come to a toxic player was someone who quit a Citadel TF because we weren't waiting for the entire team to zone in before starting the missions.

[KittyEmpress]

I've had a few players go off on (always other players) if they die. Twice it has been a brute or scrapper yelling at a dominator that they should have gone blaster or controller, not a shitty archetype. Once has been a stalker screaming about how our team had 3 defenders 2 controllers (we ended up doing fine when he dropped group after the tanker refused to kick anyone like he demanded.)

 

But that's 3 times out of 40+ groups I've been part of.

[Primantis]

As I recall, the Mastermind section spent a lot of time discussing macro/keybinds for pet controls and general "we are awesome" posts. As well as insulting anyone who dared to take and slot the personal attacks.

 

 

Buwahaha! I remember when Demon Summoning came out. So many posts were people moaning about players actually taking their attack powers (dat whip yo), or 'even worse' foregoing their summoning powers in order to focus on said attack powers.

 

I think the same thing happened with Thugs and their pistol attacks.

 

 

I love this community; but we've never been short on the "Tell others how to play" aspect of things. Sadly, we still aren't. But our other strengths make up for it.

 

Nor is this a rare thing in MMOs. In many games, if you don't follow the status quo you won't progress in post-game. "What do you mean you didn't take that talent? /kicked"

[Jaguaratron]

Only seen a few crybabies quit TFs because we were doing the TF as opposed to powerleveling them, some Blaster really expected us to clear every mob for his XP on a Numinas, a long and tedious one.

 

Never seen anyone else be "toxic", worst is people who dont respond when soliciting.

[Primantis]

There's a small portion of the community that seems bound and determined to see Leandro and the Homecoming team as the bad guys no matter what. I see their posts on the discord and reddit on occasion. Naturally they don't show up much on these forums or any Homecoming servers.

 

 

When they could just let bygones be bygones and enjoy the game. But they seem intent on locking themselves up in that mental prison. Causing them to not be able to play or enjoy the game. The very same crime they accuse Leandro of. Oh the sweet irony.

 

 

[Adeon Hawkwood]

As I recall, the Mastermind section spent a lot of time discussing macro/keybinds for pet controls and general "we are awesome" posts. As well as insulting anyone who dared to take and slot the personal attacks.

Buwahaha! I remember when Demon Summoning came out. So many posts were people moaning about players actually taking their attack powers (dat whip yo), or 'even worse' foregoing their summoning powers in order to focus on said attack powers.

 

I think the same thing happened with Thugs and their pistol attacks.

The funny part is Mastermind attacks aren't even that bad. Damage-wise they're only slightly worse than Defender attacks so while they won't ever be your main source of DPS you can do a decent damage with them if you slot them up a bit. I generally take at least two attacks on my MMs and some have had more.

[HelenCarnate]

I've had a few players go off on (always other players) if they die. Twice it has been a brute or scrapper yelling at a dominator that they should have gone blaster or controller, not a shitty archetype. Once has been a stalker screaming about how our team had 3 defenders 2 controllers (we ended up doing fine when he dropped group after the tanker refused to kick anyone like he demanded.)

 

But that's 3 times out of 40+ groups I've been part of.

 

I would love to be melee on a team like this.  Nothing moving, you either untouchable or the mobs turned to tissue or both while you and the tank can go nuts.

 

On topic though I think like others have pointed out, most of the negativity has come from those outside of Homecoming.  Thinking some other party may have a vested interest in getting rid of people who are making the game free to others and not making a profit from it.

[Primantis]

As I recall, the Mastermind section spent a lot of time discussing macro/keybinds for pet controls and general "we are awesome" posts. As well as insulting anyone who dared to take and slot the personal attacks.

Buwahaha! I remember when Demon Summoning came out. So many posts were people moaning about players actually taking their attack powers (dat whip yo), or 'even worse' foregoing their summoning powers in order to focus on said attack powers.

 

I think the same thing happened with Thugs and their pistol attacks.

The funny part is Mastermind attacks aren't even that bad. Damage-wise they're only slightly worse than Defender attacks so while they won't ever be your main source of DPS you can do a decent damage with them if you slot them up a bit. I generally take at least two attacks on my MMs and some have had more.

 

And some have some useful debuffs. Demon Summoning whip attacks have a decent amount of -res for example. 10% is nothing to scoff at. Especially in the AoE

[Pixie_Knight]

As I recall, the Mastermind section spent a lot of time discussing macro/keybinds for pet controls and general "we are awesome" posts. As well as insulting anyone who dared to take and slot the personal attacks.

Buwahaha! I remember when Demon Summoning came out. So many posts were people moaning about players actually taking their attack powers (dat whip yo), or 'even worse' foregoing their summoning powers in order to focus on said attack powers.

 

I think the same thing happened with Thugs and their pistol attacks.

The funny part is Mastermind attacks aren't even that bad. Damage-wise they're only slightly worse than Defender attacks so while they won't ever be your main source of DPS you can do a decent damage with them if you slot them up a bit. I generally take at least two attacks on my MMs and some have had more.

 

And some have some useful debuffs. Demon Summoning whip attacks have a decent amount of -res for example. 10% is nothing to scoff at. Especially in the AoE

 

Exactly! They also give your mastermind something to actually do when you're not chain spamming heals to keep those spastic ninja alive against an EB or Freakshow Tank. Especially at low levels when you have only 1 or 2 henchmen.

[Dr. Gemini]

There are at least 2 servers with what I would call "toxic" communities. A few minutes of reading what they allowed posted on their forums convinced me I wouldn't want to play in the same game with these peoples, nor trust software from people allowing that kind of behavior to go on. I don't see that in Homecoming. Even the forums, for all that things can get a little heated at times, is tame compared to any other game forum I've seen aside from my other "go-to" game. Luckily, not being a for-profit game it doesn't matter what a gaming site has to say about us (although I have never seen any evidence that gaming sites influence the opinions of more than a tiny minority of a game's players anyway).

[Zep]

It shouldn't take long for the trolls to find a new bridge to hang out under.

 

What I have been reading happening to some of the other COH servers we are getting off easy.

 

I honestly dont get it myself.

 

In 7 years of COH I /ignored 1 person.

 

You'd see a little bickering and pissyness in the old forums here and there. Nothing awful (that I saw anyways) - I just think with 100000 subs we have all 12 of the truly disgruntled COH players posting all at once right now.

 

It is nice to see the nice, helpful, friendly community is reasserting itself.

[Pixie_Knight]

CoH's community was always the odd one out. Maybe that's because it was the first MMO where it didn't punish you for not having a 100% optimized party with very specific skill rotations and roles for everyone?

[Healix]

" You must remember that this game is nothing more than an electronic version of an elementary school playground; it is full of good kids, bad kids, bullies, cheaters, and whiners."

[Rizzano]

My wife and I have been playing for a while now on Homecoming, and we have not seen any toxicity. I have seen friendly players in Help helping out other players when they have questions, and ton of LFG posts, but no toxicity.

[rookery.]

My positive interactions greatly outweigh the negative so I am good.

 

The minor have been someone trolling the help channel and someone who just recently booted me from a team with a response AFTER the booting. Rude but whatever, I moved on.

 

Outside of that, it's been great. Helpful folks, people who like or tolerate your RP. Mostly just people who are happy to been somewhere that they loved to go and can now go back to.

[Flagwaver]

I've been playing for about two weeks. Except for the occasional troll asking "how do you quit a supergroup" in the help chat, I haven't seen anything even close to what the article stated. I run on Excelsior with heroes, villains, and even two Praetorians. I think I've only seen two people complaining. The first was about the lack of pool powers that were present in the Hero Designer. However, I told them that it was just a matter of time before they were created by the Devs and implemented. The second was someone saying that they didn't want to do any story missions because the game wouldn't last much longer (i.e. they didn't read the open letter). That was about it.

 

The first time I teamed, it felt like I had never left the game. Sure, there will be the occasional trolls, but that shouldn't ruin our experience just because some online magazine says it should. We're heroes (or villains) and know that we will always face opposition and will always overcome it.

 

Finally, for those who are like me, I would like to end with one more thing: Welcome Home.

[ghost emoji]

I haven't had issues with other players yet. So far everyone I've encountered in game has been civil or even helpful. Of course, this doesn't mean there can't or won't be problem players. Just the fact that someone has an interest in CoH doesn't (unfortunately) make them a good or polite person. It doesn't mean MO is exaggerating, all it takes is a handful of people who are very motivated to be assholes over a game for there to be something to report. Of course, it also doesn't mean all (or even the majority) of players are like this.

[Abraxus]

My experience to date has been nothing but positive.  When I don't have any of my SG mates around, I form teams to do what I'm in the mood to do.  I have had no issues with doing that, or with the folks I have teamed with during that time.  I'm pretty sure it was said already in this thread, but I think the majority of the folks they are referring to in that article are on the Reddit, and COXG servers.  They touted it as "The wild, wild west", and I'm sure it lives up to that.  If you go there, and don't know that about their servers, 1.) you need to do more research. 2.) Perhaps Homecoming wasn't that bad a place after all, huh?  ;)

 

[DeadDuck]

While I've seen a few chuckleheads in the global chats (Help/LFT/Global) I haven't seen any true toxicity in chat. Nothing like I've seen in other games that is. The chat is usually very helpful and sometimes funny.

Never had another player look at my toon and tell me "Your toon is ugly" or "You have to have power X to make it as an AT of X". I have had people tell me that they like my binds (and given a few classes on how to make them too).

But toxicity? Nope. Guessing the author of that article was on at a bad time or was making up fluff for their story... No chatlog/screenies, didn't happen.

Can't say anything about Discord servers (only use it for Server announcements) or other forums (which, if they're not this forum they don't really count).

 

That's my 2 influence worth (drops them in the jar).

[srmalloy]

Only seen a few crybabies quit TFs because we were doing the TF as opposed to powerleveling them, some Blaster really expected us to clear every mob for his XP on a Numinas, a long and tedious one.

 

I can see "I'm really close; can we clear this mission, so I ding before the next one and can get [power]?", exiting either at the ding or on clear, but doing it more than once feels like I'm imposing on the rest of the team. And I've laughed at the situation more than once when we cleared the mission, and I'm still a hair short of leveling, and see if I can hit up a few free-range mobs on the way to the next mission.