World of Warcraft: The War Within Is Being Designed With Solo Players In Mind | MMORPG.com

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World of Warcraft: The War Within Is Being Designed With Solo Players In Mind | MMORPG.com

There is no doubt that at the heart of it all, World of Warcraft is an MMORPG, but sometimes players don't have the time to sink into a full-fledged gameplay session with their friends and can fall behind. Luckily, Blizzard has taken note of that and has come up with a fix. 

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Pher0cious

MSORPG

blix2006

will solo players be able to get top tier gear like a raider though??

Dattelis

So wow hasn't been designed with solo in mind for the past decade or so?

OrwellRand

It's a little too late, I think. WOW has become a toxic playground for basement dwellers. Want to find a Casual guild...there are plenty of them...only they aren't casual...damage meter monitoring and build review is the new casual guild.

Also, to those that think WoW has been a solo player game forever, endgame is Raids and Mythics...nothing solo about that...

If you want to play a fun, never ending type of WoW where you can go solo the entire time and actually have fun, play Ascension...

FrodoFragins

These next three mini expansions seem designed for maximum revenue and nothing more.  Sometimes a story is told and doesn't need to continue ala Supernatural.

husscool

OrwellRand said:

It's a little too late, I think. WOW has become a toxic playground for basement dwellers. Want to find a Casual guild...there are plenty of them...only they aren't casual...damage meter monitoring and build review is the new casual guild.



Also, to those that think WoW has been a solo player game forever, endgame is Raids and Mythics...nothing solo about that...



If you want to play a fun, never ending type of WoW where you can go solo the entire time and actually have fun, play Ascension...

So you're not good at hitting your numbers and because of that the entire population is basement dwellers?

The first step to improvement is to admit you suck, bro. It's all up from there.

Don't blame people who want to play the game at a higher level.

This goes for games and real life.

Angrakhan

So this is exactly what I'm hoping will turn out to be the case. They have a huge opportunity with delves to finally make the solo player a first class citizen in the game. For the hard core raid crowd, which includes M+ in my book, who think the solo player just sucks I would point out that a lot of us just don't have the time anymore. I used to off tank Molten Core back when MC was pinnacle content. I know the sacrifices it takes to do that stuff. I'm just no longer willing to make those sacrifices. Does that mean I should be excommunicated from the game entirely? I mean I have the money for the sub. Anyway since launch Blizzard has been on the side of the raider and would say, maybe not in word, but for sure in deed, that yes, if you're not able to raid (or run M+) then you are not welcome here. Go find something else to do. It's encouraging to see Blizzard finally realize there's an entire underserved segment of players more than willing to pay a sub as long as they have a path to advancement that doesn't require large blocks of continuous time that must be coordinated with others to participate at all.

As far as my hope for rewards I don't expect to see gear on par with top tier raiders. If we could get stuff that's maybe max tier minus 1 or 2, I'd be happy as a clam. Basically if we had gear that would make us viable in a raid should we ever choose to make that transition, that would be perfect. As it has been historically, if you don't keep up with the Joneses on gear you quickly find yourself left behind which turns you into a pariah because now if you did want to get into raids later in an expansion you have to find a guild willing to carry you and build your gear up with minimal contribution from yourself, and most guilds have zero interest in that. Frankly I can appreciate the sentiment because why should they bend over backwards to help someone out who didn't make the same sacrifices they did? It makes total sense and I do not begrudge them on that attitude. It would have to be up to the developers to create a path where none previously existed, and maybe just maybe that's what is going to happen.

I'm still highly dubious it will work out that way because you're talking about changing decades worth of disdain for the solo player, but maybe with new leadership comes new insight such as the giant pile of money they leave on the table by not keeping solo players engaged.

Xiaoki

blix2006 said:

will solo players be able to get top tier gear like a raider though??

Solo Delves will max out at Heroic raid gear.

Neoyoshi

Hmmmm, not sure how this will work out in practice.

Guild wars, FF11, FF14 have done this type of gameplay system for years and while it's a good way to ease new players into a mechanics-based environment, nothing can replace the actual experience of communication and fostering strength through teamwork.

WoW trying to implement such a old system so late into its life-cycle doesn't feel like it's going to be useful in a game that was already pretty mechanic-friendly.

ShinyFlygon

If they had done this one or two expansions ago, I would have been over the moon. Now it's way too late. I'm already back into FFXIV and loving it. Once I resolved that I would never again try to engage with the parts of FFXIV I don't enjoy, it became a blissful experience, and the recent direction of the game's development has made that so much easier than it used to be.

DafAtRandom

Declining numbers has Blizzard realizing that 99% of the game shouldn't be designed for 5% of the population.

They're just about 10 years too late to the party.  And WoW struggles to attract and retain newcomers because too many of their systems are not intuitive to learn in a nutshell.  And then god forbid if the newcomer wants to raid...good luck figuring out on your own the 23 addons or so that you will need just to not get kicked out of the raid/group.

richrem1

The problem with WoW, is that I find it boring. It would be more fun to play with friends. There doesn't need to be "solo" features, as the game is mostly solo'd until end game. So I don't see the issue there. Difficult raids require you to play your part, not be carried; so I understand the need to have sufficient dps, know your role, and a understanding of boss mechanics. It's no different in FFXIV, when it comes to difficult content.

FrodoFragins

DafAtRandom said:

Declining numbers has Blizzard realizing that 99% of the game shouldn't be designed for 5% of the population.

They're just about 10 years too late to the party.  And WoW struggles to attract and retain newcomers because too many of their systems are not intuitive to learn in a nutshell.  And then god forbid if the newcomer wants to raid...good luck figuring out on your own the 23 addons or so that you will need just to not get kicked out of the raid/group.

There's no way they will get rid of the content tier for the 1% though, even though it would vastly improve the community.

kitarad

Xiaoki said:

blix2006 said:

will solo players be able to get top tier gear like a raider though??

Solo Delves will max out at Heroic raid gear.

That guy that constantly posts here about games being gated with group content, meta and esteem issues would be ecstatic about this development or not. Who knows what else he will find to grouse about.

Scot

kitarad said:

Xiaoki said:

blix2006 said:

will solo players be able to get top tier gear like a raider though??

Solo Delves will max out at Heroic raid gear.

That guy that constantly posts here about games being gated with group content, meta and esteem issues would be ecstatic about this development or not. Who knows what else he will find to grouse about.

Who could you possibly mean?

Fact is no matter how solo MMORPGs go they will always shout for more solo, until there is no grouping content (optional or not) left.

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