Stugein wrote:
I'd feel the exact same way if, say for example everyone could have their own instance of EFP or QH.
The visual attached to this has a downright creepy feel to it! Reminded me of the pilot episode for The Twilight Zone! :)
Stugein wrote:
...And so on it has gone, all of us moving with each other as a server community.
I'm not sure I agree with your premise here. In fact I'm pretty sure I don't! The problem I'm having with it is the asumption that "everyone" on the server is moving forward together. If this were the case wouldn't it be easier to find a pickup group for whatever quest line we were all working on at the moment?
Seriously though, one of the wonderful things about playing an MMO is that at any given moment there are people strung out all across Hell's half acre doing different things. I talk to a friend in guild chat and he's in the middle of a quest I did a year ago so I share some insight to help him over the hump... that sort of thing...
Stugein wrote:
As cheesy as it may sound; now instead of us all looking forward, facing what's to come together we run the risk of it being, "Ok everyone, go to your own little corners"... It's not guild halls I have a problem with per se...I'm more afraid of them creating a feeling of disconnection with the server community at-large.
I totally agree that nurturing the feeling of community is far preferable to the game becoming one endless solo endeavor, I just don't think that guild halls will bring that isolationism about. In fact, I see them as the solution for the isolation "imposed" by players having all the comforts of life at home (like a crafting station and a mail box). With guild halls, our game focus will shift from the individual to the family. The guild hall could well become the center of societal life... a meeting and gathering place for you and your in game family.
Stugein wrote:
There's something to be said for the world around you feeling alive that heightens the sense of community and in-game experience.
Again, I totally agree with you here. One of the most attractive aspects to an MMO is the fact that there are hundreds or even thousands of other
REAL humans out there in the world with me. But again, I don't think this mode of existence is in any danger. Especially not from a game mechanic that is designed to bring large groups of us together in one place.