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August 06, 2008

Comments

Syah

I wish Developpers would add more duo content as well. I love soloing as I do not want to always relate on others. Same in real-life. I do understand that some aspects of the game should be orientated towards grouping, but since it seems that the average age of MMO players tends to be in the mid-thirties (and this implies players that do have a job and duties at home, therefore less time to play), this aspect should be taken into consideration more and more in the future.
Many couples do play together as well. I play with my partner since 3 years now, and from our own experience it has been very difficult to find groups (pickup or in guild) for small instances (I'm talking about WoW mainly) since we both had DPS classes and it's always the healer or the tank that is missing. We wasted too much time waiting to create a group or to be invited in a group so we just stopped grouping and concentrated on battlegrounds, crafting etc.
In EQ2 it was easier since most of the instances with the exception of the highest levels can be completed with 2 players (depending on your class of course but with an illusionist and a dps it's a piece of cake) and a few levels higher than the instance requirements. Same for Lotro.

Hence, I won't waste any money anymore on a game that would be mainly focused on grouping (i.e. more than 2 players).

Openedge1

Mmmm...

Another post that personifies my reasoning for going back to Guild Wars.

Myself, my wife, no need to bother with others...yet we can easily chat with them, trade with them. And yes, even gather in Pre-Ascalon and have a Dance Party!
The new Heroes system is awesome, and the fact Guild Wars 2 will be "persistent" zones, but still allow a "single" Hero type to go with you...removes the need to two box even.

I so wish Guild Wars 2 was out NOW, as WAR is still sounding very pushy in respects to groups, and the fact people are desperate to form guilds before launch shows this.

You solo away, live free like the Butterfly you are, yet watch out for that Elite called the Windshield, as it always causes "Res sickness"

Sente

I think many of those who complain about people soloing are those with a very achiever mindset - gettting the optimal xp, best loot drops or whatever it may be. Not teaming in combat goes in the opposite direction of what they think is the way to play the game.

Personally I love teaming as defined by the limited scope that includes direct support from the game itself. But only during certain circumstances. Friendly and nice people in the group and the setting. If there is a story told, then that should be possible to follow.

Teaming in many MMOs does not do much to encourage that, it is more achiever oriented and preferably also that all are in sync and play generally in a certain way.

The game were I have been teaming by far more than any other MMO is City of Heroes/Villains, because there are not many hassles around it and indirectly encourages a friendly atmosphese more than other games and many different team constellations, which is part of the charm. And also simply because soloing can get tedious there.


Saylah

I think duo content would be very nice. Unless my memory is faulty, it seemed more naturally available in AC2. Back then I ran in a little quartet but we were usually playing as a duo or trio depending on who was on at the time. When I wasn't soloing I was mostly in a duo and I don't recall it ever being a problem. In fact, other than the master vaults which had what 60+ people in them I don't ever recall needing a set number of people to do anything. We ran the same content when it was two, three or five of us. The only quest I really recall outside of vaults needing a minimum number of players and certain classes was Boots. Gawd, I hated that quest chain. I eventually sore off of it entirely. Talk about group drama, Boots took the cake. Okay, I guess IceFire needed minimum peeps too but you just showed up and the location and joined whoever was around.

GW2 - I'm all over it. I enjoyed many things about GW except for the ultra static feel to the completely instanced world. That was a turn off to me. Everything else can stay the same and just the fact that they are moving away from that aspect will be enough for me to buy it. It's free to play so I have nothing to lose by giving it a whirl when it comes out. I hope the AC1 still lives while AC2 goes under doesn't strike GW.

Loredena

I have no problem at all with soloing being a viable option, even though I personally do not enjoy it. What I hate is what I noticed in WoW -- with the exception of instances you are *better off* soloing then duoing or grouping, by far, in terms of both exp per hour and quest completion time. It shouldn't be a disadvantage to group, just as it shouldn't be unviable to solo.

Tesh

Loredena, isn't that "time efficiency" thing offset by the greater loot rewards of grouping? That's certainly the case in the WoW endgame raiding scheme.

Also, efficiency isn't what is being talked about here; it's about various playstyles, specifically solo play. Some people just play to play. That said, min/maxing the game is a playstyle, and yes, it would be nice if soloing and grouping were balanced. No argument there.

Loredena

Tesh -- in instances yes, but not just for general grouping to level and quest together as friends. That's my frustration. You can't really level up entirely in instances, and attempting to level with even just my husband, never mind a group, was much slower then if we just went off and solo'd. I think you *should* be able to solo without much difficulty, but I would like to duo or group without feeling like we're wasting our time.

Saylah

When I'm playing MMOs I don't even consider what's the fastest way to level. I choose a class I like and I try to be as effective with that class as possible. If I know the game doesn't go out of its way to support soloing then I take that into consideration when planning my journey. Like in EQ2 I go in prepared to spend a LOT of gold on upgrading my gear, a LOT of gold keeping my primary skills upgraded and always use food with buffs.

Ideally, I'd like to see that playing solo is as effective as group. Not sure that's possible outside of instances. If I kill a mob by myself I get all the XP. If three people kill that same mob they split the XP. It's the trade of grouping to do quests and world kills versus doing that solo. Whereas people who solo don't get the gear sets or loot from the group content.

My son who level 3 characters to max level in WOW did so primarily through instances. He hates running around doing quests and despises grinding. Of course he had to do a bit of all three to make it but primarily he did instances. As a result, he also had more gold than I did because he got to auction the items that were BOE and disenchanted the BOPs. Pros and cons to both approaches.

Syah

My ultimate purpose is to have fun. And when it becomes tedious to wait for a group and you spent your entire evening waiting, that's no fun anymore.

Also I never focus on XP,although it is true that in most MMOs it's more XP-effective to solo than group since when you group you share some XP).

I just would like to have access to group content by either solo or duo. They start to understand this as for the next WoW-expansion there will be 2 instance modes: one 10+ people and the other 25+ people. Loots will be better in the 25 people option which is understandable. But at least there is the choice.

Well, I absolutely would love to see instances with a solo mode (just to have fun and exercise your playstyle, why not), a duo mode, and a group mode (whether it's 5+, 10+ or 25+), with different types of loot and difficulty settings depending on the mode. (and this is different from the normal or heroic mode in WoW, since both require 5+ group).

Saylah

@Syah - I think the answer to why not is, there is no reason not to do it. Age of Conan has solo instances and scripted events called Destiny Quests. Besides the combat mechanic and great graphics, this was the best part of the game. It's exciting to do a well scripted event knowing that you have to complete it all on your own. If you get in there and find that you can't, you leave and prepare more. At least that's what I did.

I understand the potential content development time sync of doing solo instances in something like AOC because you only do them once. However, for repeatable content there is no real reason other than, no one has done it yet - and because, it's an MMO. *grumble* If not solo then at least do some duo content. I'd be 2-boxing all over the place. *snicker*

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