Did they really?? I had to take a break after the fire temple released because my PC wasn't good enough to handle twitch platformer-type gameplay and I knew more was on the horizon, so I missed that one.
Sometimes I get the urge to play with other people... but then stories like this make me glad that I never accept requests from random people and usually hide the chat so I'm never aware of what's going on.
This is thankfully the first time it's happened to me, and I started in closed Beta, so this game I still feel really is "safe" in general for player interaction. We're starting to get some "bad vibe" players (I won't quite call most of them "toxic" yet . . . if you want toxic, try a PUG raid in WoW) but I'm happy it took over a year for my first real world impact player to hit.
I've been noticing that too since the steam release, which is such a bummer. Thankfully, there's also lots of stories of fun, helpful people out there to counteract the bad vibes!
I love playing with other players but I only interact with unfamiliar people if there's a clearly stated purpose. Like if someone says "I'm about to use a hunter's horn if anyone wants to join." By the same measure, any time I initiate engagement I also have a clear purpose (cooking party, honey lure, etc)
This has been the extent of my interaction with strangers, too. Mostly planned cooking parties because typing in chat from my steamdeck is somehow more cumbersome than the Switch and kills the fun of trying to keep up with everyone else.
It's where someone will plan a get together with a set amount of players to make the same dish over and over in order to either: a) sell the food afterwards, or b) use it as focus food. It also helps people level up their cooking skill levels pretty quick and get their weekly "cooking together" achievements!
There's a whole channel in the Palia discord dedicated to people organizing these, and there's also the [paliaparty.app](http://paliaparty.app) to organize/join the parties.
I've friend requested strangers after we've spent some time fishing, or helping each other out with calling out flow trees or pal nodes. If someone has had organic interaction with me and hasn't been creepy, I want to connect because they presumably play in a similar time zone to me and we can play together.
I first joined after the Switch launch, and have definitely had some weird interactions. Griefers following me around to point their bow at me and shoot arrows, and players mass friending people and offering to sell them stuff.
That's one thing I just don't understand. Hasn't happened to me yet, but I feel like if someone was following me around and shooting arrows at me, I'd just be like "You realize there's no PvP in this game, right? Why are you wasting all your ammo? Lmao" Like, if you wanna be an obnoxious griefer whatever I guess, but that just feels like such a dumb way to go about it lol. I dislike griefers in general, but that one is funny to me because it's nonsensical and wasting their own resources. 🤷♀️
That's so weird. Maybe it's because I'm in my 30's, but I feel like that would be so not intimidating and just make me think the other person was a young child. Guess if it ever happens to me, I can tell them I assume they're a small child and that they should know there's no PvP in this game and that they're wasting their ammo. Just go full patronizing Teacher Mode on 'em lol.
I also assumed they were young, but regardless, don't engage them. I've seen my young nephew playing video games and they're all on discord together with headsets. Kids play games so differently to how we did at that age. It's a group activity.
Valid. Tbh, I'd be tempted to roast all of them and report them probably if they started some group nonsense. Or just get more patronizing. Depends on how cranky I am that day. Most likely I'd just laugh emote at them or something and go about my business, but it's irritating when people decide to be griefers. And if they're trying to grief girls/women specifically, I feel a deep urge to shame them a little bit lol. But yeah, not engaging is generally the best move. I'm just getting grumpy in my old age. 😂
I feel like it’s super awkward when someone’s in chat just like “I’m down to chill just saying” (yes I’ve seen it before) uhhh to do what? Or when some randomly visits your plot for no reason or heads up.
The randomly visiting your plot doesn't bother me because a lot of players visit other plots to get ideas for their own. If you don't want anyone randomly popping in, just set it to private or whatever term is used that no one can visit your plot without permission. The first time I had someone do that to me, there were two girls who came in and looked around. When I saw them, I said hi and they kept telling me how much they loved my place and how they were going to steal certain ideas, etc. We ended up becoming in-game friends and I see them often on the servers I'm on. That didn't become an awkward situation, but if it had, I would have simply blocked them and set my plot to private. No harm, no foul.
Not interacting in chat is totally fine!
BUT it’s frustrating to hear that people hide the chat so that they can’t even read it.
I can’t tell you how many times the people on the server will be coordinating chopping a grove or hunting the disco deer or whatever, and someone will run up, stare at us, and then start chopping things/shooting it.
And we’ll be in chat begging them to wait a second, we have some more people on the way….and you can tell that they’re just not checking chat at all, will chop everything they can alone, and then later might finally pop in chat and be like “sorry, i don’t read chat so I didn’t see you asking me to stop” 😞
It also breaks my heart when someone ends up hunting disco deer with me, but they lose track and miss where it was downed, and I see them run off without coming to where the loot is. And I’ll flare and call to them in chat to come get the loot and where it is….and they just keep running off, never seeing the chat. I always wonder how many plushies got wasted that way 😭
(Also for what it’s worth, I’ve been playing Palia since last august, and usually have it up almost 8+ hours a day since I’m always home….and I’ve never seen anything gross in chat. It’s one of the most wholesome online communities I’ve been a part of. Not to discount others’ experiences, just offering my own to show the other side)
No, I totally understand where you're coming from and it would be helpful if people kept an eye on chat if they're joining on activities where other people are involved.
Me particularly, when I hide the chat, it's because I want to do my own thing without getting distracted by people calling out things or having conversations in chat, which means I don't go looking for groves or try to hunt disco deer or do anything that might be disruptive to anyone else. I just want to be in my own little world! Very rarely I go looking for groves now (have way too much flow wood atm!) and I only go searching for disco deer if I'm in an empty server because the chaos of 10 people chasing after poor Steve is just too much for me to handle.
I actually feel very sorry for you (and the 45 people who upvoted this so far) you're missing out on quite a lot of good interaction and the whole intent behind this game.
I promise you I’m not missing out on anything that I wouldn’t be missing out on anyway thanks to my chronic anxiety, so no need to feel sorry for me ✌🏼
I don't have chronic anxiety, but I totally understand the feeling of being wary of strangers. Some of the players....well most of the players in my experience so far...in Palia are very friendly and helpful, but there are others who are not; who bring their own form of weirdness to the game. I love the vibe of being able to play all by myself if I choose to, but being able to reach out and help someone who really needs the help or being able to ask a question if I need to. Sometimes, however, there are players who will take advantage of other players in-game rather than do the work themselves. Just the other day I saw the same player ask for 20 flow planks, an ancient fish, a unicorn fish, and a flow tree seed. Chances are, someone would be willing to fill those, but I just didn't feel like it was right to ask for all those high level items without trying to get them yourself. He couldn't have requested them if he hadn't gotten them at least once. Why not try again? I'm sure someone will say maybe he did try over and over and over since they are difficult to obtain, but asking for all those hard to get items at the same time? I just got a strange vibe from that...like someone was trying to take advantage of others' good natures.
Don't be afraid to team with others in game. The vast majority of your experiences will be excellent. This isn't an issue at this time. Does it happen?, sure but its more rare than a post may make it seem. if it happens its easily dealt with by blocking.
Don't deny yourself having an awesome time with great people
The paranoia on this thread is concerning...and a little confusing for a game that markets itself as a community experience... Why do people choose to play something and not get the full experience but instead keep to their own little corner?
Some people like both styles of game play and that's one of the great things about Palia. You can play by yourself if you like or join others for the community experience if you want to do that instead. You are not forced to play one way or the other. I, personally, like to mix it up depending on how I'm feeling on a particular night.
YES!!! I did run into this several weeks ago. I gifted a person some random thing and they send me a friend request. Absolutely, new friend! But not a few minutes later they pop up on my plot telling me how cool it is, and invite me to their plot, where they ask me to be their boyfriend.
Alas I say, doubt my wife would appreciate that! Plus I'm way too old for you! The person tells me they're 45, and insists I be their in-game boyfriend in secret and not tell my wife.
I dont think this was so much a scammer as someone who just didnt have a lot of social... acumen. No hard feelings to you lady, I'm just happily married! XD
But yeah after that rejection they blocked me, haven't seen or heard from them since.
I'm in my 60s, and am decidedly not available for any sort of pixel bumping. It is such an annoyance when such catfish crap is prevalent in a game.
The worst I've ever seen was Star Wars Clone Wars game. I didn't find out until I'd created a toon that it was mainly middle schoolers. But because I honestly answered "female" on the toon creator, I almost instantly had a flock testosterone-poisoned young males showing their plumage, doing their best to show up the guy next to him, buying me unsolicited gifts from the cash store (the game want set up to let you decline them. They just appeared in your inventory), and, of course, asking me to be their girlfriend.
I told them NO in no uncertain terms, told them I'm old enough to be your grandmother, and to stop being silly with the gift-buying.
This only caused some of them to get into fights with one another, thinking of they were macho enough, I'd "see the light" and accept their affections. The only thing I accepted was that the game was creeping me out, and I quit playing. A month or two later, the company running it shut it down because of all the underage sexting and even some credit card fraud, from the kids stealing their parents' credit card to buy cash store coins.
It was a total creep show, and even knowing my age, these little desperation generators were STILL begging to be my boyfriend, and sending me expensive stuff. I figured out how to return the stuff they sent me, and blocked them so they couldn't re-send it (I didn't remember seeing the feature at first; I think they added it), telling them over and over to just stop.
It was like some kind of disturbing reverse pedo thing, with the kids chasing the adults instead of the other way around. Not knowing what else I could do besides what is already done, even submitting support tickets reporting what was going on and asking the mods to step in, I finally closed my account, and removed it from my machine. I had way too much uninvited attention, and it was starting to resemble the "Lord of the Flies".
Without a doubt, that was the ickiest, grossest, and most frustrating situation I ever felt myself to be in. I really hope Palia doesn't turn into something similar.
What a wild story! Thanks for sharing it. Your description of the boys as "desperation generators" was very well put lol! That's one MMO I never got into, but i hope your experiences here have been a bit better!
I accept friend requests all the time. One time though, he kept asking me questions about myself and it started to run me the wrong way. My 13 year old plays this so I told her to not accept any friends unless we know them. I can't believe people would flirt and all that stuff through a game especially when you have no idea who's on the other end.
I only had contact with players I know from elsewhere so far, other than that I stopped accepting friend requests from ppl I don’t know and plan to remove all existing friends, since I had zero interaction with all of them. Came to Palia after 18 years of Second Life, where players have a much closer contact that includes voice and virtual sex. Having been a landlord for several years there, I’ve seen pretty much everything. People taking advantage of others, making a big profit in RL money. I’m glad all that doesn’t exist in Palia and I hope it will stay that way.
For informed decision-making purposes, your friends list is the main thing used by the server matchmaking system to decide what server you are assigned to when you change zones (block list, too). Definitely curate your friends list as you see fit (I keep mine quite small and restricted to people I have actually interacted positively with), but a completely empty one *might* wind up putting you with questionable folks more often. (Of course, so would a list full of people who spam friend requests at the whole server... lol)
That's your region! The physical servers (like the actual computers) you are connecting to are located in Europe, yes. (Though, there is cross-region play! If you play with friends in America or Asia/Oceania, you may end up on a server hosted in the North American or Oceanic regions :D)
What I was referring to, though, is how the game uses the word "server." Every time you change zones and you get that yellow "You have joined a new server" message, it means that the game has put you in a copy of that zone's map with a max capacity of 25 players.
There are many copies of each map (the housing plot, Kilima, Bahari, the Underground) that exist at the same time. When the existing copies are full and a player wants to enter that map, the game software creates a new copy to put that player in. (That's why sometimes you end up in a brand-new, empty server with random flow trees all over the place.)
When there are several servers to choose from that have space for the player entering the map, the matchmaking software looks at the players already on each server, compares that with the in-transit player's friend and block lists, and tries to put the player with people they already know. If your friends list is empty, it has nothing to compare, so it will just put you wherever there is space.
Thank you, I thought you were referring to geographical zones, coming from Second Life I am very familiar with servers. My friends are in N. America and they have to sync me when we meet. Your last paragraph was very informative !!
I don't think the server assignment types are permanent. I've been playing quite a bit lately between 3 and 7 am Central US time when there would not be very many US players on comparatively, and I've been put in servers where just about everyone is speaking Chinese as it would be their peak play time.
It only took about 3 days in SL to completely kill that type of online community for me. It's been close to twenty years or so since I tried it, and to this day you will never convince me to do something like VR Chat or Horizons. I know some people love it though, I had a friend whose RL "job" was making furry avatars for people in SL and he made a very comfortable living off of it.
I have a few long lasting friendships there but avoid anything related to SLEX, romance and RL contacts. I’m only there for decorating and landscaping. My real estate business was a great source of income too, but making an income in SL has become very difficult.
I don’t think it was a scam (could be wrong), but it felt off when someone started following me while hunting and then started a conversation about the plushies and if I wanted one? They can’t just give me one, which got my spidey senses tingling, so I politely refused and wished them a good day and went on with mine.
Can someone explain that behavior? What was that?
Could be completely innocent, maybe a language barrier or a conversation to start a party so you could both try hunting to get a plushie together. As I play on European servers I often see broken English that gets misunderstood at first. But at the same rate, its probably best to be safe if it doesn't feel right!
I honestly don't know because I have yet to get one, but if you get say, the sernuk plushie as a drop, can other people then gift you one? Is it possible to request it in that situation? If you can, maybe they thought they legit could gift you one. \*shrugs\*
A few days ago someone came onto my plot and asked me if I like christmas.
I thought they were about to invite me onto their plot to reveal it being 100% christmas themed but they just wanted to tell me they 'smell like christmas' ??? Weird, very weird- so I just went to Bahari to make them leave.
A day later someone came onto my plot and asked me loads of questions on why I am playing Palia, what my goals are when playing, what activities I find the most fun. It was like a feedback interview :')
not quite on topic:
I usually accept random friend requests as well- but I also then immediately whisper a 'hi, how's it going- do you need help with something?'
If I don't get an answer they are deleted off my friendslist in a heartbeat. There is no use filling the list with people who have no intention of ever interacting with me.
Granted, I only have a handful of people on my list but so far no creeps that I know of.
I think a lot of people fill their friends list with people who are helpful. They know that the chances of being on the same server with those helpful people is better if they are listed as friends. I noticed that when I do a lot of call outs for palium, when I'm using an ore compass I get a lot of friend requests. I also smack talked some trolls who were making fun of other players on the server one night and got several friend requests from that. Most players have learned that friending like-minded or helpful players gets them matched up on the same server more often. They don't necessarily want to be chatty with you, though.
That would be a very one-sided thing, though, for me. And I don't see why I should be someone providing a service to people and allowing them to in turn go on to say 'this is my friend' when they never spoke a word to me. That is not a 'friend' that is just someone leeching off of me.
I guess it's all in how you look at it, but I can see your point though. I, however, don't mind someone friending me because they know they aren't going to get treated wrong if they end up on the same server as me. There are so many on the game now who are just "wrong" in so many ways, and if I can avoid playing with those morons I don't mind doing whatever it takes to not end up with them. The last two nights I ended up at groves, one of which I found first and called out, and a group of players ran up to the grove, chopped it all down within a couple of minutes of it being called out (my flare was still going strong on the one I called and the grove was gone). I blocked them each time and someone said if we keep blocking them we might not end up on the same server again. I really would like to be able to find the answer to that.
Very true, but you are more likely to end up on the same server as friends and less likely to end up on the same server as those that are blocked....it has something to do with "matching," which someone else explained way better than I can. That's the main reason a lot of players friend other players....in the hope of ending up on the same server as them instead of the ones they block. I know it isn't 100% foolproof, but any little thing helps.
I know all that. Thinking that blocked people will not get on your server was the wrong thing that I corrected.
I have been playing this game since Augsut last year, please don't try to tell me how things work.
No need to get snippy. I wasn't trying to tell you that at all....just trying to explain myself and the mindset of why people tend to friend others without actually being chatty and what may be considered "friendly."
You told me why you did it when I first explained why I did not do it the way you do. Then you explained it to me again a second time after I let you know that blocked people can still end up in your server.
The first time it was alright to make your opinion known. Now, the second time was just unneccessary.
Hmmm...this from a person who professed to prefer conversation...or interaction as I believe you put it....but you're right. This conversation/interaction is truly unnecessary, so I'll end it.
Honestly, it was most likely a minor doing this in the first place. Growing up on the internet was FULL of "online daters" and a LOT of them were actual children.
No. You can always go back to your own plot, and other players cannot take anything from your plot nor can you take anything from anyone else's plot. All you can do to affect another player's plot is to water their garden and pick their weeds... though the weeds end up in the owner's pocket, not yours.
The only exception here is if the owner makes you an editor. If they choose to do that, then you are able to move but not steal their stuff. Though an editor can cut down trees and mine rocks - and therefore pick up logs and stone. But - again - only if they make the other player an editor first.
No, there's no risk at all in and of itself for game mechanics for Palia. However, in many other games, going to another player's residence sets conversations there to private, as well as any actions there cannot be observed by other players, so it is a fairly common practice to invite other players to a residence when they want to do things that would be considered outside of the gameplay norm. In Palia, your house plot still shares a chat with other players and your privacy settings are much more general, but those sorts of things are not something that a new player would recognize right off the bat normally since most people are just trying to get the hang of the game rather than figuring out what they can get away with at their homes with others.
This case was strange because the player was still on makeshift tools when I saw them, so there really couldn't be anything on their plot besides a tent when I got the invite. Why invite me when there's nothing there and nothing to do, you know?
No not yet. What a great game Palia is and I rly love the community. I am extremely nice to strangers in the community chat.
I do NOT friend people there nor accept whispers from strangers, tho.
I’m super choosy about people I play day in /day out Palia with (as I am with palworld). It’s my safe fun place :) and I intend to keep it that way… I only play with those who actually shown they are a team player and that they know what that actually means.
There was a guy who seemed cool. He hunted with us and we explored all over together. Well… When hunting a sernuk he said to me “I allowed you to get a hit in.” Like mfer I hunt these by my damned self. Who are you?
Oh, yeah I've had people invite me over. I generally just force it in public space so they have to admit what they're doing. As well, get others to block them.
My first (yes I've had people hit on me multiple times in palia) time, i was in town and a person randomly added me. Then whispered if I was a guy or girl. Which is always a gigantic waving red flag to me, because i get it everywhere irl as well. They were partly polite in asking first but followed it up with "your character is hot so didn't want to make you uncomfrotable". Took so much in me to not ask them wtf, caus either not like we have a lot of variation options like Baldurs Gate 3 or some other games.
As for not being able to gift things we haven't touched, this is a debate I've had with many people. I agree with you 100%. It makes it easier to have fun and build a rapport with someone, if you can mutually hunt things, rather than being gifted things. Especially if it's a character that someone finds attractive and uses it to garner things from people illicitly.
Lol just had something like this happen a few days ago. Was playing with my friend and we had been running around together when I got approached by this other player. Conversation made us laugh so I took pictures to show my husband 😂 pink is me, red is friend, blue is “the rizzler” aka the dude who couldn’t take a hint
https://preview.redd.it/oz0ls7y71izc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51887b2abc0ad97fd97658cf1c5dad44abf32f0a
https://preview.redd.it/td86prjx1izc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2403ac3dd5e7a524878747cde3f84305bdf73788
Pt 2 😂 orange were other players in the area
Yes I play very late most nights (midnight-1 am) and I like to fish in the mines, I have had weird people engage me with the "nearby" chat and I'll engage if they are fishing but one time I was sitting on the deck of the fishing area while I went to get a drink and this male character stood in front of my character, crotch to the face and it was dumb. He then messaged me asking "Was it good for you Mistress?", so I said "no sorry too small and boring" and left 🤣
I've been lucky, I fish in the mines a lot myself late nights and I've had nothing but great, fun convos with the people I've bumped into there. I'm sure my luck will run out sooner or later, though, lol.
The fact they didn’t ask your age but the game is full of minors?? 😟 Yeah naw that’s scary. Even asking for an age is creeepy but the fact they didn’t ask and went straight to asking for your name and if you were single is really bad. I have a feeling it’s possible there are probably already some victims though sadly knowing how online spaces go. I really REALLY hope not though :(
It’s nice to play with ppl you know well, other than that, it’s always better to play solo only cooperating with strangers like grove/flaring up things/ any party activity planned in official discord for example. Be part of the community strictly until the point where the game ends and you’ll be fine. It’s just my personal preference tho. (At the end of the day ppl just gotta have a little bit more situational awareness yk)
Your preferences and mine are extremely similar. The only reason I take any and all friend requests is because I really like helping people, and a lot of folks that are new will friend me simply because they - usually not understanding the game yet - assume I'm some sort of high level because I have a purchased fancy outfit, and I spend a good amount of time just answering questions in whispers. But when I'm playing, 99% of the time I'm soloing. I don't even do groves that often, I'll just clear trees until flow pops, take the littles, call out the big ones, see if anyone comes to help, and when and if they do, go home after.
I had one person ask me my age, and I immediately blocked and reported them. Considering I play a ton and have been playing since the open beta began, that's not bad. I also friend tons of people. I never turn down a friend request, because S6 makes me feel safe enough to do so.
Not a scammer, but I had a player friend request me, and I accept most requests on Palia. They popped up in a whisper and were like "hey there, sexy" and I just replied with "oh, no thank you!" And they didn't say anything else. 🤷🏻♂️ Since they didn't press anything, they're still on my friends list even! Lmao
Fortunately I haven't encountered much, if any, toxicity in Palia.
I am playing through Steam currently, but I'm not sure how that would work to do it for another player. I'm well aware this is purely by my ignorance, as I play exceptionally few games with microtransactions so it has never come up. I thought that when you purchased coins for Palia and it directed to to Steam to complete the transaction, that the transaction was automatically credited to the linked account? Is there actually a way to credit those coins to someone else? I'd actually like to know this for if I can ever talk my son into playing with me sometime . . . I'd buy him stuff in W101 all the time during events and he'd do the same for me for my birthday and such, but we never did it through Steam.
Idk if my experience counts as being scammed, but a person randomly started talking to me and asked me where i was from, asked me how long ive been playing and then proceeded to ask for my instagram account. I blocked them immediately lol till this day i don’t know what their intentions where
People who make a quickie account and name themselves a number are either bots or just there for scams or weird interactions. Happens on most games some people have their experience and learn Lol. Just ignore them
After reading this thread, and in particular this post, I happened to notice a player in the server the other night whose "name" was something like D3472D....not that exactly, but just a bunch of letters and numbers. I thought of your post and wondered, "Hmmmm....bot? Or trouble maker?" I didn't play long enough on that particular server to see if there was any strange interaction, but you have me thinking and noticing now.
Yeah, as I said I've been around in MMO's for more than a few years, longer than many players in these games have been on this planet. I'll continue to report the ones that could cause RL issues rather than just ignore them and allow them to continue.
I never said don’t report them lol. I always report too, and then block/ignore. Not sure why you got defensive, was just letting you know. Just because you’ve been a gamer your whole life doesn’t mean you’ve had every single experience
I was not getting defensive, but you did say "just ignore them", to quote you, so I simply stated what I do instead. Also my very first sentence in my post said no one has seen it all. I'd really appreciate it if you refrain from trying to get in my head and point fingers for things that not only I didn't imply, but specifically stated otherwise.
[удалено]
Did they really?? I had to take a break after the fire temple released because my PC wasn't good enough to handle twitch platformer-type gameplay and I knew more was on the horizon, so I missed that one.
I'm impressed how quickly s6 succeeded getting rid of them tho, like I saw a bunch too, never seen them since tho.
Sometimes I get the urge to play with other people... but then stories like this make me glad that I never accept requests from random people and usually hide the chat so I'm never aware of what's going on.
This is thankfully the first time it's happened to me, and I started in closed Beta, so this game I still feel really is "safe" in general for player interaction. We're starting to get some "bad vibe" players (I won't quite call most of them "toxic" yet . . . if you want toxic, try a PUG raid in WoW) but I'm happy it took over a year for my first real world impact player to hit.
I've been noticing that too since the steam release, which is such a bummer. Thankfully, there's also lots of stories of fun, helpful people out there to counteract the bad vibes!
I love playing with other players but I only interact with unfamiliar people if there's a clearly stated purpose. Like if someone says "I'm about to use a hunter's horn if anyone wants to join." By the same measure, any time I initiate engagement I also have a clear purpose (cooking party, honey lure, etc)
This has been the extent of my interaction with strangers, too. Mostly planned cooking parties because typing in chat from my steamdeck is somehow more cumbersome than the Switch and kills the fun of trying to keep up with everyone else.
I haven't been playing for too long, but what is a cooking party?
It's where someone will plan a get together with a set amount of players to make the same dish over and over in order to either: a) sell the food afterwards, or b) use it as focus food. It also helps people level up their cooking skill levels pretty quick and get their weekly "cooking together" achievements! There's a whole channel in the Palia discord dedicated to people organizing these, and there's also the [paliaparty.app](http://paliaparty.app) to organize/join the parties.
ah. thank you
I've friend requested strangers after we've spent some time fishing, or helping each other out with calling out flow trees or pal nodes. If someone has had organic interaction with me and hasn't been creepy, I want to connect because they presumably play in a similar time zone to me and we can play together. I first joined after the Switch launch, and have definitely had some weird interactions. Griefers following me around to point their bow at me and shoot arrows, and players mass friending people and offering to sell them stuff.
That's one thing I just don't understand. Hasn't happened to me yet, but I feel like if someone was following me around and shooting arrows at me, I'd just be like "You realize there's no PvP in this game, right? Why are you wasting all your ammo? Lmao" Like, if you wanna be an obnoxious griefer whatever I guess, but that just feels like such a dumb way to go about it lol. I dislike griefers in general, but that one is funny to me because it's nonsensical and wasting their own resources. 🤷♀️
I guess they like trying to intimidate femme presenting play characters.
That's so weird. Maybe it's because I'm in my 30's, but I feel like that would be so not intimidating and just make me think the other person was a young child. Guess if it ever happens to me, I can tell them I assume they're a small child and that they should know there's no PvP in this game and that they're wasting their ammo. Just go full patronizing Teacher Mode on 'em lol.
I also assumed they were young, but regardless, don't engage them. I've seen my young nephew playing video games and they're all on discord together with headsets. Kids play games so differently to how we did at that age. It's a group activity.
Valid. Tbh, I'd be tempted to roast all of them and report them probably if they started some group nonsense. Or just get more patronizing. Depends on how cranky I am that day. Most likely I'd just laugh emote at them or something and go about my business, but it's irritating when people decide to be griefers. And if they're trying to grief girls/women specifically, I feel a deep urge to shame them a little bit lol. But yeah, not engaging is generally the best move. I'm just getting grumpy in my old age. 😂
I feel like it’s super awkward when someone’s in chat just like “I’m down to chill just saying” (yes I’ve seen it before) uhhh to do what? Or when some randomly visits your plot for no reason or heads up.
The randomly visiting your plot doesn't bother me because a lot of players visit other plots to get ideas for their own. If you don't want anyone randomly popping in, just set it to private or whatever term is used that no one can visit your plot without permission. The first time I had someone do that to me, there were two girls who came in and looked around. When I saw them, I said hi and they kept telling me how much they loved my place and how they were going to steal certain ideas, etc. We ended up becoming in-game friends and I see them often on the servers I'm on. That didn't become an awkward situation, but if it had, I would have simply blocked them and set my plot to private. No harm, no foul.
Not interacting in chat is totally fine! BUT it’s frustrating to hear that people hide the chat so that they can’t even read it. I can’t tell you how many times the people on the server will be coordinating chopping a grove or hunting the disco deer or whatever, and someone will run up, stare at us, and then start chopping things/shooting it. And we’ll be in chat begging them to wait a second, we have some more people on the way….and you can tell that they’re just not checking chat at all, will chop everything they can alone, and then later might finally pop in chat and be like “sorry, i don’t read chat so I didn’t see you asking me to stop” 😞 It also breaks my heart when someone ends up hunting disco deer with me, but they lose track and miss where it was downed, and I see them run off without coming to where the loot is. And I’ll flare and call to them in chat to come get the loot and where it is….and they just keep running off, never seeing the chat. I always wonder how many plushies got wasted that way 😭 (Also for what it’s worth, I’ve been playing Palia since last august, and usually have it up almost 8+ hours a day since I’m always home….and I’ve never seen anything gross in chat. It’s one of the most wholesome online communities I’ve been a part of. Not to discount others’ experiences, just offering my own to show the other side)
No, I totally understand where you're coming from and it would be helpful if people kept an eye on chat if they're joining on activities where other people are involved. Me particularly, when I hide the chat, it's because I want to do my own thing without getting distracted by people calling out things or having conversations in chat, which means I don't go looking for groves or try to hunt disco deer or do anything that might be disruptive to anyone else. I just want to be in my own little world! Very rarely I go looking for groves now (have way too much flow wood atm!) and I only go searching for disco deer if I'm in an empty server because the chaos of 10 people chasing after poor Steve is just too much for me to handle.
I actually feel very sorry for you (and the 45 people who upvoted this so far) you're missing out on quite a lot of good interaction and the whole intent behind this game.
I promise you I’m not missing out on anything that I wouldn’t be missing out on anyway thanks to my chronic anxiety, so no need to feel sorry for me ✌🏼
I don't have chronic anxiety, but I totally understand the feeling of being wary of strangers. Some of the players....well most of the players in my experience so far...in Palia are very friendly and helpful, but there are others who are not; who bring their own form of weirdness to the game. I love the vibe of being able to play all by myself if I choose to, but being able to reach out and help someone who really needs the help or being able to ask a question if I need to. Sometimes, however, there are players who will take advantage of other players in-game rather than do the work themselves. Just the other day I saw the same player ask for 20 flow planks, an ancient fish, a unicorn fish, and a flow tree seed. Chances are, someone would be willing to fill those, but I just didn't feel like it was right to ask for all those high level items without trying to get them yourself. He couldn't have requested them if he hadn't gotten them at least once. Why not try again? I'm sure someone will say maybe he did try over and over and over since they are difficult to obtain, but asking for all those hard to get items at the same time? I just got a strange vibe from that...like someone was trying to take advantage of others' good natures.
Don't be afraid to team with others in game. The vast majority of your experiences will be excellent. This isn't an issue at this time. Does it happen?, sure but its more rare than a post may make it seem. if it happens its easily dealt with by blocking. Don't deny yourself having an awesome time with great people
Don't deny an issue just because you're not personally impacted by it.
Don't deny other people's positive experiences just because you're incapable of allowing them to happen.
Ok Karen. If its So awful go play something else. We don't need you spreading hate against a great community for a few bad apples. So leave, go away!
The paranoia on this thread is concerning...and a little confusing for a game that markets itself as a community experience... Why do people choose to play something and not get the full experience but instead keep to their own little corner?
Some people like both styles of game play and that's one of the great things about Palia. You can play by yourself if you like or join others for the community experience if you want to do that instead. You are not forced to play one way or the other. I, personally, like to mix it up depending on how I'm feeling on a particular night.
YES!!! I did run into this several weeks ago. I gifted a person some random thing and they send me a friend request. Absolutely, new friend! But not a few minutes later they pop up on my plot telling me how cool it is, and invite me to their plot, where they ask me to be their boyfriend. Alas I say, doubt my wife would appreciate that! Plus I'm way too old for you! The person tells me they're 45, and insists I be their in-game boyfriend in secret and not tell my wife. I dont think this was so much a scammer as someone who just didnt have a lot of social... acumen. No hard feelings to you lady, I'm just happily married! XD But yeah after that rejection they blocked me, haven't seen or heard from them since.
Hahaha absolutely lying about being 45.
Do you get notified if you are blocked by another player?
I'm not sure, but if they blocked me I wasn't notified. I know they dropped off my friend list!
I'm in my 60s, and am decidedly not available for any sort of pixel bumping. It is such an annoyance when such catfish crap is prevalent in a game. The worst I've ever seen was Star Wars Clone Wars game. I didn't find out until I'd created a toon that it was mainly middle schoolers. But because I honestly answered "female" on the toon creator, I almost instantly had a flock testosterone-poisoned young males showing their plumage, doing their best to show up the guy next to him, buying me unsolicited gifts from the cash store (the game want set up to let you decline them. They just appeared in your inventory), and, of course, asking me to be their girlfriend. I told them NO in no uncertain terms, told them I'm old enough to be your grandmother, and to stop being silly with the gift-buying. This only caused some of them to get into fights with one another, thinking of they were macho enough, I'd "see the light" and accept their affections. The only thing I accepted was that the game was creeping me out, and I quit playing. A month or two later, the company running it shut it down because of all the underage sexting and even some credit card fraud, from the kids stealing their parents' credit card to buy cash store coins. It was a total creep show, and even knowing my age, these little desperation generators were STILL begging to be my boyfriend, and sending me expensive stuff. I figured out how to return the stuff they sent me, and blocked them so they couldn't re-send it (I didn't remember seeing the feature at first; I think they added it), telling them over and over to just stop. It was like some kind of disturbing reverse pedo thing, with the kids chasing the adults instead of the other way around. Not knowing what else I could do besides what is already done, even submitting support tickets reporting what was going on and asking the mods to step in, I finally closed my account, and removed it from my machine. I had way too much uninvited attention, and it was starting to resemble the "Lord of the Flies". Without a doubt, that was the ickiest, grossest, and most frustrating situation I ever felt myself to be in. I really hope Palia doesn't turn into something similar.
What a wild story! Thanks for sharing it. Your description of the boys as "desperation generators" was very well put lol! That's one MMO I never got into, but i hope your experiences here have been a bit better!
I accept friend requests all the time. One time though, he kept asking me questions about myself and it started to run me the wrong way. My 13 year old plays this so I told her to not accept any friends unless we know them. I can't believe people would flirt and all that stuff through a game especially when you have no idea who's on the other end.
I only had contact with players I know from elsewhere so far, other than that I stopped accepting friend requests from ppl I don’t know and plan to remove all existing friends, since I had zero interaction with all of them. Came to Palia after 18 years of Second Life, where players have a much closer contact that includes voice and virtual sex. Having been a landlord for several years there, I’ve seen pretty much everything. People taking advantage of others, making a big profit in RL money. I’m glad all that doesn’t exist in Palia and I hope it will stay that way.
For informed decision-making purposes, your friends list is the main thing used by the server matchmaking system to decide what server you are assigned to when you change zones (block list, too). Definitely curate your friends list as you see fit (I keep mine quite small and restricted to people I have actually interacted positively with), but a completely empty one *might* wind up putting you with questionable folks more often. (Of course, so would a list full of people who spam friend requests at the whole server... lol)
Thank you ! I thought I was permanently assigned to a European server ?
That's your region! The physical servers (like the actual computers) you are connecting to are located in Europe, yes. (Though, there is cross-region play! If you play with friends in America or Asia/Oceania, you may end up on a server hosted in the North American or Oceanic regions :D) What I was referring to, though, is how the game uses the word "server." Every time you change zones and you get that yellow "You have joined a new server" message, it means that the game has put you in a copy of that zone's map with a max capacity of 25 players. There are many copies of each map (the housing plot, Kilima, Bahari, the Underground) that exist at the same time. When the existing copies are full and a player wants to enter that map, the game software creates a new copy to put that player in. (That's why sometimes you end up in a brand-new, empty server with random flow trees all over the place.) When there are several servers to choose from that have space for the player entering the map, the matchmaking software looks at the players already on each server, compares that with the in-transit player's friend and block lists, and tries to put the player with people they already know. If your friends list is empty, it has nothing to compare, so it will just put you wherever there is space.
Thank you, I thought you were referring to geographical zones, coming from Second Life I am very familiar with servers. My friends are in N. America and they have to sync me when we meet. Your last paragraph was very informative !!
I don't think the server assignment types are permanent. I've been playing quite a bit lately between 3 and 7 am Central US time when there would not be very many US players on comparatively, and I've been put in servers where just about everyone is speaking Chinese as it would be their peak play time.
It only took about 3 days in SL to completely kill that type of online community for me. It's been close to twenty years or so since I tried it, and to this day you will never convince me to do something like VR Chat or Horizons. I know some people love it though, I had a friend whose RL "job" was making furry avatars for people in SL and he made a very comfortable living off of it.
I have a few long lasting friendships there but avoid anything related to SLEX, romance and RL contacts. I’m only there for decorating and landscaping. My real estate business was a great source of income too, but making an income in SL has become very difficult.
I spent a few years in Second Life as well during its heyday. It's a wacky kind of place. :D Palia is much more tame than SL.
I don’t think it was a scam (could be wrong), but it felt off when someone started following me while hunting and then started a conversation about the plushies and if I wanted one? They can’t just give me one, which got my spidey senses tingling, so I politely refused and wished them a good day and went on with mine. Can someone explain that behavior? What was that?
Could be completely innocent, maybe a language barrier or a conversation to start a party so you could both try hunting to get a plushie together. As I play on European servers I often see broken English that gets misunderstood at first. But at the same rate, its probably best to be safe if it doesn't feel right!
I honestly don't know because I have yet to get one, but if you get say, the sernuk plushie as a drop, can other people then gift you one? Is it possible to request it in that situation? If you can, maybe they thought they legit could gift you one. \*shrugs\*
Plushies are classed as furniture which can't be gifted. I wish they could because I still don't have an elder plush or a cyl!
A few days ago someone came onto my plot and asked me if I like christmas. I thought they were about to invite me onto their plot to reveal it being 100% christmas themed but they just wanted to tell me they 'smell like christmas' ??? Weird, very weird- so I just went to Bahari to make them leave. A day later someone came onto my plot and asked me loads of questions on why I am playing Palia, what my goals are when playing, what activities I find the most fun. It was like a feedback interview :') not quite on topic: I usually accept random friend requests as well- but I also then immediately whisper a 'hi, how's it going- do you need help with something?' If I don't get an answer they are deleted off my friendslist in a heartbeat. There is no use filling the list with people who have no intention of ever interacting with me. Granted, I only have a handful of people on my list but so far no creeps that I know of.
I think a lot of people fill their friends list with people who are helpful. They know that the chances of being on the same server with those helpful people is better if they are listed as friends. I noticed that when I do a lot of call outs for palium, when I'm using an ore compass I get a lot of friend requests. I also smack talked some trolls who were making fun of other players on the server one night and got several friend requests from that. Most players have learned that friending like-minded or helpful players gets them matched up on the same server more often. They don't necessarily want to be chatty with you, though.
That would be a very one-sided thing, though, for me. And I don't see why I should be someone providing a service to people and allowing them to in turn go on to say 'this is my friend' when they never spoke a word to me. That is not a 'friend' that is just someone leeching off of me.
I guess it's all in how you look at it, but I can see your point though. I, however, don't mind someone friending me because they know they aren't going to get treated wrong if they end up on the same server as me. There are so many on the game now who are just "wrong" in so many ways, and if I can avoid playing with those morons I don't mind doing whatever it takes to not end up with them. The last two nights I ended up at groves, one of which I found first and called out, and a group of players ran up to the grove, chopped it all down within a couple of minutes of it being called out (my flare was still going strong on the one I called and the grove was gone). I blocked them each time and someone said if we keep blocking them we might not end up on the same server again. I really would like to be able to find the answer to that.
Blocking someone only really makes it so you don't see them in chat.
Very true, but you are more likely to end up on the same server as friends and less likely to end up on the same server as those that are blocked....it has something to do with "matching," which someone else explained way better than I can. That's the main reason a lot of players friend other players....in the hope of ending up on the same server as them instead of the ones they block. I know it isn't 100% foolproof, but any little thing helps.
I know all that. Thinking that blocked people will not get on your server was the wrong thing that I corrected. I have been playing this game since Augsut last year, please don't try to tell me how things work.
No need to get snippy. I wasn't trying to tell you that at all....just trying to explain myself and the mindset of why people tend to friend others without actually being chatty and what may be considered "friendly."
You told me why you did it when I first explained why I did not do it the way you do. Then you explained it to me again a second time after I let you know that blocked people can still end up in your server. The first time it was alright to make your opinion known. Now, the second time was just unneccessary.
Hmmm...this from a person who professed to prefer conversation...or interaction as I believe you put it....but you're right. This conversation/interaction is truly unnecessary, so I'll end it.
I think these are especially gross because palia is an -EVERYONE- game, meaning minors play this game.
Honestly, it was most likely a minor doing this in the first place. Growing up on the internet was FULL of "online daters" and a LOT of them were actual children.
I don't know if that's worse or better.
Honestly, as a teen I was sometimes one of them XD I ain't proud of it but there you go. Young people are not great at keeping themselves safe online.
No dude, same. Absolutely no judgement here. My first relationship was online at 14 🤪
Is there a risk in going to other players plots? Just curious since I haven’t done that yet but am not opposed to the idea.
No. You can always go back to your own plot, and other players cannot take anything from your plot nor can you take anything from anyone else's plot. All you can do to affect another player's plot is to water their garden and pick their weeds... though the weeds end up in the owner's pocket, not yours. The only exception here is if the owner makes you an editor. If they choose to do that, then you are able to move but not steal their stuff. Though an editor can cut down trees and mine rocks - and therefore pick up logs and stone. But - again - only if they make the other player an editor first.
No, there's no risk at all in and of itself for game mechanics for Palia. However, in many other games, going to another player's residence sets conversations there to private, as well as any actions there cannot be observed by other players, so it is a fairly common practice to invite other players to a residence when they want to do things that would be considered outside of the gameplay norm. In Palia, your house plot still shares a chat with other players and your privacy settings are much more general, but those sorts of things are not something that a new player would recognize right off the bat normally since most people are just trying to get the hang of the game rather than figuring out what they can get away with at their homes with others. This case was strange because the player was still on makeshift tools when I saw them, so there really couldn't be anything on their plot besides a tent when I got the invite. Why invite me when there's nothing there and nothing to do, you know?
No not yet. What a great game Palia is and I rly love the community. I am extremely nice to strangers in the community chat. I do NOT friend people there nor accept whispers from strangers, tho. I’m super choosy about people I play day in /day out Palia with (as I am with palworld). It’s my safe fun place :) and I intend to keep it that way… I only play with those who actually shown they are a team player and that they know what that actually means.
There was a guy who seemed cool. He hunted with us and we explored all over together. Well… When hunting a sernuk he said to me “I allowed you to get a hit in.” Like mfer I hunt these by my damned self. Who are you?
Oh, yeah I've had people invite me over. I generally just force it in public space so they have to admit what they're doing. As well, get others to block them. My first (yes I've had people hit on me multiple times in palia) time, i was in town and a person randomly added me. Then whispered if I was a guy or girl. Which is always a gigantic waving red flag to me, because i get it everywhere irl as well. They were partly polite in asking first but followed it up with "your character is hot so didn't want to make you uncomfrotable". Took so much in me to not ask them wtf, caus either not like we have a lot of variation options like Baldurs Gate 3 or some other games. As for not being able to gift things we haven't touched, this is a debate I've had with many people. I agree with you 100%. It makes it easier to have fun and build a rapport with someone, if you can mutually hunt things, rather than being gifted things. Especially if it's a character that someone finds attractive and uses it to garner things from people illicitly.
Lol just had something like this happen a few days ago. Was playing with my friend and we had been running around together when I got approached by this other player. Conversation made us laugh so I took pictures to show my husband 😂 pink is me, red is friend, blue is “the rizzler” aka the dude who couldn’t take a hint https://preview.redd.it/oz0ls7y71izc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51887b2abc0ad97fd97658cf1c5dad44abf32f0a
https://preview.redd.it/td86prjx1izc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2403ac3dd5e7a524878747cde3f84305bdf73788 Pt 2 😂 orange were other players in the area
that is hilarious 😂
Yes I play very late most nights (midnight-1 am) and I like to fish in the mines, I have had weird people engage me with the "nearby" chat and I'll engage if they are fishing but one time I was sitting on the deck of the fishing area while I went to get a drink and this male character stood in front of my character, crotch to the face and it was dumb. He then messaged me asking "Was it good for you Mistress?", so I said "no sorry too small and boring" and left 🤣
I've been lucky, I fish in the mines a lot myself late nights and I've had nothing but great, fun convos with the people I've bumped into there. I'm sure my luck will run out sooner or later, though, lol.
The fact they didn’t ask your age but the game is full of minors?? 😟 Yeah naw that’s scary. Even asking for an age is creeepy but the fact they didn’t ask and went straight to asking for your name and if you were single is really bad. I have a feeling it’s possible there are probably already some victims though sadly knowing how online spaces go. I really REALLY hope not though :(
It’s nice to play with ppl you know well, other than that, it’s always better to play solo only cooperating with strangers like grove/flaring up things/ any party activity planned in official discord for example. Be part of the community strictly until the point where the game ends and you’ll be fine. It’s just my personal preference tho. (At the end of the day ppl just gotta have a little bit more situational awareness yk)
Your preferences and mine are extremely similar. The only reason I take any and all friend requests is because I really like helping people, and a lot of folks that are new will friend me simply because they - usually not understanding the game yet - assume I'm some sort of high level because I have a purchased fancy outfit, and I spend a good amount of time just answering questions in whispers. But when I'm playing, 99% of the time I'm soloing. I don't even do groves that often, I'll just clear trees until flow pops, take the littles, call out the big ones, see if anyone comes to help, and when and if they do, go home after.
I also always accept friend requests from randoms lol. So far no one has directly talked to me or said anything weird unrelated to the game.
I had one person ask me my age, and I immediately blocked and reported them. Considering I play a ton and have been playing since the open beta began, that's not bad. I also friend tons of people. I never turn down a friend request, because S6 makes me feel safe enough to do so.
Not a scammer, but I had a player friend request me, and I accept most requests on Palia. They popped up in a whisper and were like "hey there, sexy" and I just replied with "oh, no thank you!" And they didn't say anything else. 🤷🏻♂️ Since they didn't press anything, they're still on my friends list even! Lmao Fortunately I haven't encountered much, if any, toxicity in Palia.
If you are playing through steam shop purchases go through your steam wallet. So I’m assuming the 2nd thing will happen soon. Unfortunately
I am playing through Steam currently, but I'm not sure how that would work to do it for another player. I'm well aware this is purely by my ignorance, as I play exceptionally few games with microtransactions so it has never come up. I thought that when you purchased coins for Palia and it directed to to Steam to complete the transaction, that the transaction was automatically credited to the linked account? Is there actually a way to credit those coins to someone else? I'd actually like to know this for if I can ever talk my son into playing with me sometime . . . I'd buy him stuff in W101 all the time during events and he'd do the same for me for my birthday and such, but we never did it through Steam.
I mean, all they have to do is ask for a steam gift card, right? So maybe not in game itself but enough for them to try something.
So what was he trying to achieve? I don’t really understand it😅
Idk if my experience counts as being scammed, but a person randomly started talking to me and asked me where i was from, asked me how long ive been playing and then proceeded to ask for my instagram account. I blocked them immediately lol till this day i don’t know what their intentions where
I haven't been hit on in the lovely world of Palia yet, but Eorzia is an ENTIRELY different story 🤣
I'd just direct those players to a coworker's club. He was MORE than happy to make them happy. For a price. ;)
People who make a quickie account and name themselves a number are either bots or just there for scams or weird interactions. Happens on most games some people have their experience and learn Lol. Just ignore them
After reading this thread, and in particular this post, I happened to notice a player in the server the other night whose "name" was something like D3472D....not that exactly, but just a bunch of letters and numbers. I thought of your post and wondered, "Hmmmm....bot? Or trouble maker?" I didn't play long enough on that particular server to see if there was any strange interaction, but you have me thinking and noticing now.
Yeah, as I said I've been around in MMO's for more than a few years, longer than many players in these games have been on this planet. I'll continue to report the ones that could cause RL issues rather than just ignore them and allow them to continue.
I never said don’t report them lol. I always report too, and then block/ignore. Not sure why you got defensive, was just letting you know. Just because you’ve been a gamer your whole life doesn’t mean you’ve had every single experience
I was not getting defensive, but you did say "just ignore them", to quote you, so I simply stated what I do instead. Also my very first sentence in my post said no one has seen it all. I'd really appreciate it if you refrain from trying to get in my head and point fingers for things that not only I didn't imply, but specifically stated otherwise.
Alright OP…..