Hopefully, this will help a person actually experience the story in the right order. Ex. I remember doing quests for a dwarf I rescued... before I rescued them, largely due to the fact that I couldn't put a group together to do the big rescue mission.
Being as none of my rl friends play any sort of mmo's, I mostly solo in my games. I do belong to guilds, but don't often want to 'bother' anyone that is already in game when I log on. But, if they send a tell asking for company, I heartily accept. I am just a little on the timid side, I guess.
I am the same way. Furthermore, since I play casually, I feel as though when I do log on and want to attempt for the first time content that is months old, I'm reluctant to ask my guildmates for help since they've already been through it dozens (if not hundreds) of times.
And I really rather not group with strangers becuase, quite frankly, I can't tolerate the company of most of you out there. Yeah, I'm grumpy and bitter...so sue me.
Well, as a solo player I'm happy for the change. However, I am still of the mind that these instances should have robust group version that give completely diferent rewards so that players might seek them out in a group.
The problem wasn't that people didn't want to do them in groups, rather that they couldn't do them in groups. Having a version that further warrants group play would simple shift the frustration to resentment for the people that wanted to group. It wouldn't suddenly incentivize grouping.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
So Turbine add another nail to the coffin of traditional MMOs. Good for their f2p business model but bad for MMOs in general. We seem to have lost touch with the reason we play online games - and that is to play with other people. I don't mean RL friends who play the game too, but people you meet in game. The posts in this thread just show how much people want to solo as much as possible and not be "troubled" by having to look for a group. It makes me sad.
These days I swap games so readily when I become bored and I look back and wonder how it was that I played EQ for almost 5 years and SWG for almost 3. The answer is because I had a deep investment in those games, and not because of gear or levels or time played, but solely because of people. Friends I had made when I died at the bottom of Blackburrow and they had come to help me recover my corpse and with whom I still grouped 2 years later, or a couple of guys I met dying over and over in Kedge Keep who I helped get out or someone I had escorted through East Karana when they had got lost.
Making friends in a game and playing together to overcome challenging content is the soul of MMOs. Without the need to collaborate with each other we may as well just unplug our internet connections and play an RPG.
I think the major problem with groups in todays MMOs is that you have a different type of player as the majority. WoW introduced MMOs to very large group, and these players arent the same ones that played EQ, SWG, and FF11. The prefered to solo, they werent MMO vets, and in many cases they were younger.
When i played games like SWG, EQ, and FF11 you could get help from the community, it was never a problem. But in the games that are more like wow or LoTRO that are already set up to be very solo friendly, you just cant get any help. FInding a group is like pulling teeth.
So these types of systems have to be put in, or noone will ever exp the content.
There are a few games left that are more community oriented, but they mostly have small pops, so its even tough the get groups there, even though the playerbase is more likely to want to group up.
Personally, I think this is fantastic and something more MMOs should do. Being forced to group to see content or progress my character is why I've quit so many MMOs including Lotro, Wow, EQ and recently CoH's new direction.
I find this all slightly ironic given one of the key themes of the Lord of the Rings is comradeship and the need to work together.
Gandalf: "We will form a great fellowship and..."
Frodo: "Yeah I like talking to you and all Gandalf but I don't really need to work with you to go and fight the forces of Mordor."
Gandalf: "But you need my special powers and guidance!"
Frodo: "Nah sorry bro, the Enemy will see i'm alone and not try as hard. Just keep in touch in vent as i'm off to solo the Balrog lulz."
Except you forget certain parts of the story. Like when Frodo and Samwise split off to do there own thing. Then the other two hobbits went their own way. Also didn't Gandalf bail on the group not once but twice and solo Saruman and the Balrog? It was a back and forth type of grouping and most of the time these guys were duoing not in a full fellowship.
Yeah, maybe you should go back and read the books or at least watch the movies.
In America I have bad teeth. If I lived in England my teeth would be perfect.
Mmorpgs are for making friends to group and have fun.Nothing better than fighting side by side with ur friends ,even random ppl,and after some hard work to see u and ur friends been victorious...Tolkiens world is all about honor ,courage and above all friendship....I dont say soloing is that bad but if i want solo ill go play a single player game.
I dont say soloing is that bad but if i want solo ill go play a single player game.
So if you want to group in that solo game what do you do?
Exactly, the 2 things arnt the same, saying if i want to solo ill play a single player game implies that somehow if you choose to solo your locked into that choice forever.
Apparently stating the truth in my sig is "trolling" Sig typo fixed thanks to an observant stragen001.
Mmorpgs are for making friends to group and have fun.Nothing better than fighting side by side with ur friends ,even random ppl,and after some hard work to see u and ur friends been victorious...Tolkiens world is all about honor ,courage and above all friendship....I dont say soloing is that bad but if i want solo ill go play a single player game.
What about making one's own way through a vibrant and living world populated with real people with their own unique concerns and agendas that make the game world a more interesting place?
You might very well prefer or believe that mmo's are solely about fighting side by side with friends (and nothing wrong with that, I love fighting side by side with friends) but I believe that mmo's offer far more than just having grouping partners.
Go play a game like morrowind or oblvivion where the populace just stands there or at best wander around aimlessly, bumping into things and talking about the same things over and over.
If people want/believe that mmo's are supposed to be living worlds then why is it that they don't understand that "living world" encompasses more than just grouping partners?
It is my thought that a living world means that the inhabitants shape that world in any number of ways depending on their own agendas.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Well the epic story quests are the core of LOTRO..I just dont see why they should be full soloable...no joy in that IMO.
No joy in not being able to get people to band together to do the epic story line either. If you happened to join the game late or if you happen to not be able to get in game at the first chance of everyone running it then you have about a 10% chance of ever completing if you don't get it done within the first few days of epic story lines going live.
I'm all for having group and solo content side by side but I do thnk the Epic line should be able to be done as either solo or group in order to keep people up to date with the Epics.
In America I have bad teeth. If I lived in England my teeth would be perfect.
Comments
Hopefully, this will help a person actually experience the story in the right order. Ex. I remember doing quests for a dwarf I rescued... before I rescued them, largely due to the fact that I couldn't put a group together to do the big rescue mission.
I am the same way. Furthermore, since I play casually, I feel as though when I do log on and want to attempt for the first time content that is months old, I'm reluctant to ask my guildmates for help since they've already been through it dozens (if not hundreds) of times.
And I really rather not group with strangers becuase, quite frankly, I can't tolerate the company of most of you out there. Yeah, I'm grumpy and bitter...so sue me.
The problem wasn't that people didn't want to do them in groups, rather that they couldn't do them in groups. Having a version that further warrants group play would simple shift the frustration to resentment for the people that wanted to group. It wouldn't suddenly incentivize grouping.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Agree 100%
I think the major problem with groups in todays MMOs is that you have a different type of player as the majority. WoW introduced MMOs to very large group, and these players arent the same ones that played EQ, SWG, and FF11. The prefered to solo, they werent MMO vets, and in many cases they were younger.
When i played games like SWG, EQ, and FF11 you could get help from the community, it was never a problem. But in the games that are more like wow or LoTRO that are already set up to be very solo friendly, you just cant get any help. FInding a group is like pulling teeth.
So these types of systems have to be put in, or noone will ever exp the content.
There are a few games left that are more community oriented, but they mostly have small pops, so its even tough the get groups there, even though the playerbase is more likely to want to group up.
Personally, I think this is fantastic and something more MMOs should do. Being forced to group to see content or progress my character is why I've quit so many MMOs including Lotro, Wow, EQ and recently CoH's new direction.
I may actually rejoin Lotro now because of this.
Except you forget certain parts of the story. Like when Frodo and Samwise split off to do there own thing. Then the other two hobbits went their own way. Also didn't Gandalf bail on the group not once but twice and solo Saruman and the Balrog? It was a back and forth type of grouping and most of the time these guys were duoing not in a full fellowship.
Yeah, maybe you should go back and read the books or at least watch the movies.
In America I have bad teeth. If I lived in England my teeth would be perfect.
Mmorpgs are for making friends to group and have fun.Nothing better than fighting side by side with ur friends ,even random ppl,and after some hard work to see u and ur friends been victorious...Tolkiens world is all about honor ,courage and above all friendship....I dont say soloing is that bad but if i want solo ill go play a single player game.
So if you want to group in that solo game what do you do?
Exactly, the 2 things arnt the same, saying if i want to solo ill play a single player game implies that somehow if you choose to solo your locked into that choice forever.
Apparently stating the truth in my sig is "trolling"
Sig typo fixed thanks to an observant stragen001.
Well the epic story quests are the core of LOTRO..I just dont see why they should be full soloable...no joy in that IMO.
What about making one's own way through a vibrant and living world populated with real people with their own unique concerns and agendas that make the game world a more interesting place?
You might very well prefer or believe that mmo's are solely about fighting side by side with friends (and nothing wrong with that, I love fighting side by side with friends) but I believe that mmo's offer far more than just having grouping partners.
Go play a game like morrowind or oblvivion where the populace just stands there or at best wander around aimlessly, bumping into things and talking about the same things over and over.
If people want/believe that mmo's are supposed to be living worlds then why is it that they don't understand that "living world" encompasses more than just grouping partners?
It is my thought that a living world means that the inhabitants shape that world in any number of ways depending on their own agendas.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
No joy in not being able to get people to band together to do the epic story line either. If you happened to join the game late or if you happen to not be able to get in game at the first chance of everyone running it then you have about a 10% chance of ever completing if you don't get it done within the first few days of epic story lines going live.
I'm all for having group and solo content side by side but I do thnk the Epic line should be able to be done as either solo or group in order to keep people up to date with the Epics.
In America I have bad teeth. If I lived in England my teeth would be perfect.
Nor is there joy in not playing them at all. If I'm forced to team up, then I'd simply rather not play.