Do you respect "personal space" in online games?

[Miktar]

While playing some games online that have multiple people in them running around, like MMOs, a question popped into my head.

Do you respect people's personal space in online games, with regards to their avatar/character?

That is to say, do you stay "out" of their models, do you move to the side of the road when someone goes by, do you avoid bumping into NPCS and avatars?

[GeometriX]

It always bothers me when people stand directly on top of me in MMOs, so I avoid doing it to other people. Even in spawning areas, like starting areas, when people all spawn in exactly the same place, I'll rather move to the side while I read the welcome quest messages.

In terms of actually walking though, I sort of do it - maybe about half the time. I'll almost always jump over the heads of little people like dwarves and gnomes and whatnot - partially because I feel it's polite not to intersect them, and partially because it's funny.

[Kharrak]

I do.

Of course I've also attempted to roost on other players' heads as a chicken in one MMO, so I may not count.

[FEN1X]

Same as Geo.

I do a bit of both, like with a stranger I would generally leave alone. But with a friend I might jump on his head or grief (eg: blow flamethrower while he's trying to snipe.). Also in a game like Dota, I know not to be in the way of a hero like Pudge etc.

Only time I mess with unknowns is in TF2 when they try to steal my teleporter and I push them out the way.

[Graal]

In MMOs, I believe in personal space to the max. I hate when you're grinding for a quest or to level and there's an entire area filled with creeps, but some douche decides to come stand next to you, fighting other creatures, often resulting in you targeting the same creep due to latency differences. Honestly, if I'd wanted to fight alongside you I'll invite you to a party.

Also, don't follow me around. That's just creepy, even for an MMO.

[Mikit0707]

I thought about this for the first time about two weeks ago when five of us were crammed into a small square courtyard fending off wave after wave of Tickers. I was with Azi and Cleric and two other people I'd never played with. I was conscious of not getting in the way of the two I hadn't played with before, but not so much Azi and Cleric seeing as I kind of figured they would have said, "Oi! Mikit, get the **** outta my crosshair". :p

Other than that scenario I haven't really given it much thought... but I don't exactly play a ton of MMOs.

[cr@zydude]

The only game I really play online is TF2, so I kind of need to run through people.

[Miktar]

I meant more in line with MMOs and such that have social elements and non-combat situations, really. How much of real-life's social structures do you carry over into the game?

[nukehead]

Heh, also thought about this the other day when playing some LBP online, as opposed to multi-player with a bunch of mates.

With a bunch of mates -around the same screen or online - the level of 'slapping' and holding-onto-someone-just-as-they-jump-causing-them-to-die was rife. Now I'll admit this tomfoolery was part of the reason I was reluctant to play online, I mean if my own friends would do this to me I didn't even want to fathom a complete stranger's actions.

Reluctantly I entered an online game with three random people and I really was quite amazed at how controlled people were; the way they respected personal space and also at the lack of 'slapping' and holding... just like in 'real life' :O

[Graal]

I meant more in line with MMOs and such that have social elements and non-combat situations, really. How much of real-life's social structures do you carry over into the game?

If I might be so bold as to take it even further, how much does anybody really care about making it a pleasant experience for others?

I try and make myself as invisible as possible. I hate when random people spam you with party invites/trade requests etc, so I only ever do it when I've previously spoken to somebody and there is mutual benefit to forming a party.

Also, I find it really rude to spam ' x armor for y gold' or 'x potion ltb/lts' etc' in the world chat. If necessary do it once every five minutes, not until somebody has to shut you up.

[Bonezmann]

Yeah, I tend to avoid walking "through" other players or standing in exactly the same spot as them. Also, I tend to jump over other players whenever I can. Not just Dwarves or Gnomes, but any player or NPC that's lower than me.

[Rah_Skill]

I know you said it's more for MMOs, but Graal's point about others making it a pleasant experience for you/others really made me want to comment on the dumbasses in MW2.

They just stand in the doorway and won't let you through, you knife them as means of WTF ARE YOU DOING and they knife you back and continue to stand in the same place.

But I do tend to give priority to others, if we're both sniping from a certain position I will let them take first pick in position or move for them.

Never played an MMO, but I'd do the same if I had.

EDIT (after looking at poll results): Awww, we have no *******s posting in this thread :(

[R4mzy]

I'd never much considered it before but now you've brought it up, I realise that I just do it without thinking.
If someone's running along the same pathway as I am then I'll move to the side to pass them and avoid a "collision", or I'll jump over them. I'll move to the side when reading a quest description or talking to an NPC, try not to jump onto people and generally just keep my space.
However I'm not so sure it's out of a respect or consideration for their space but rather a dislike of having them in my space :P.
Also, in other online games like TF2 or Modern Warfare, standing close to people and bumping into them is just irritating. The collision tends to create a bit of extra lag, not as much of a problem in MMOs but it's there.

And as far as Graal's question goes, again it's not so much a desire to make a pleasant experience for others but rather for myself. Generally, playing nice get's me the experience I prefer, so it's what I do.
I also find the incessant spamming in the world chat really annoying. Damn it man, we read your "Armour O' Armour 100k pm me" the last 50 times, we get the frikken message!

[Machine]

I mostly play FPS games like Battlefield or CoD.

I try to generally keep tabs on where my team mates are, so to stay out of their way when they're moving through a doorway to clear a room or going up/down stairways. Also, I do try to keep at least an in-game metre of distance when stacking up behind a team mates.

[Incognito]

I've only played one MMO and that was Guild Wars, but yeah I did try to stay out of people's way.

I try to generally keep tabs on where my team mates are, so to stay out of their way when they're moving through a doorway to clear a room or going up/down stairways. Also, I do try to keep at least an in-game metre of distance when stacking up behind a team mates.

As Machine said, in Bad Company 2 and in other FPS I usually try to crouch if I have to get in front of them as to avoid team damage/annoyance.

[Scy7he]

In MMOs, I believe in personal space to the max. I hate when you're grinding for a quest or to level and there's an entire area filled with creeps, but some douche decides to come stand next to you, fighting other creatures, often resulting in you targeting the same creep due to latency differences. Honestly, if I'd wanted to fight alongside you I'll invite you to a party.

Agreed, it gets me so ****ed off when i pick a spot with about 2 - 3 mobs, just the right amount for me to take on so i dont waste too many pots, then someone comes and stands right next to me and starts killing. It happened to me a few days ago, and then i was like fck it, and moved to a different spot, and when i checked again he moved to be right next to me again :/

[Aesir]

Hmm I must admit this is an interesting question. In WoW during non-com situation it is quite common for someone to flaunt their chars infront of someone else. In the cities you often see someone with their mammoth or what ever jumping around infront of other people or running up to them dancing. It has also happened that someone runs up to me stands there for a while then asks me about a certain piece of gear that I have.

Do I do it? Yes, sometimes. More to friends than anyone else but I have often walked up to a stranger that looked spiffy and asked them about their gear then danced and ran off. Sometimes when helping a friend grind a new char in the starting area I would take my mammoth and stand on top of another low level guy just to see what he does. Most people are quite chill in this regard.

Most of the time while I'm just running around the world I would avoid other people especially higher level players (in terms of level and percieved gear etc). Horde players especially paladins, rouges I will run a long way away from them. :P

In combat situations people also bug in a lot when fighting a big baddie. This is very annoying but the nice players will just attack him till he has very low health then leave him or heal you. This is what I like about instances they can't do it unless they are on your team.

Edit - just realised I didn't really answer the question except for enemies, but yes most of the time I would move a bit to the side while passing someone on the road and like I said the distance I would move is preportional to the level of the guy coming towards me.

[Azraphael]

I will generally avoid walking into other characters, I have this keep left policy at the back of my mind for some reason. What ****es me off though is when walking between towns or when in the middle of no-where, some dude comes up and just causes **** for no ****ing reason, usually killing me in the process. Yay your level 80 High Level Wanker just killed my level 45 rogue, aren't you a ****ing hero. Poes. Also, I am one of those people who does the whole jump-around-while-traveling thing, although I have been able to control myself since I got a mount.

[Cleric]

I haven't played an MMO in about 2 years, but for me, breaking personal space breaks the immersion to some extent, so always tried to keep things at distances that make sense in the real world.

[Nferno]

I respect personal space in MMOs as much as I can. There are times though that it's unavoidable such as when you are at a vendor/auction house or battlemaster/battlegrounds, etc. where there are multiple people standing on the spot you need to access.

Besides that, I roleplay on my characters to a certain extent, which involves giving people their space (No, I'm not on an RP server). I enjoy playing my character's part in an MMO and "living" in the game world. It feels like the game has more depth and I find that aspect as enjoyable as the gameplay itself.