I like soloing myself,i prefer to log into a game and be able to go off from the offset and do what I want,then log off.
I agree that there should be more reason to utilize grouping in MMOs though,such as added incentives like enhanced XP or whole regons that are group only.
I wouldnt play a game if it was totally group centric though-having to spend time looking for a group,maybe having trouble getting a place if you were playing as a certain class,or having to group with people you really cant stand or who 'rambo' into everything without thought..
<world chat>you say:looking for group for siege quests
<thrain whispers you>:im about to set up a group for that,want to join?
<you tell thrain>:yeah ill join
thrain invites you to join a group.accept?
you join the group.
<group chat>you say:hello
<group chat>thrain says:hi,just inviting some guild friends.
killerboy joins the group
<group chat>killerboy says: HI GUSY
<group chat>thrain says: hi killer.going to invite another guildy,hang on
n00bpwner joins the group
<group chat>n00bpwner says:LOLOL
<group chat>killerboy says: CHUCK NORISS LOL
<group chat>n00bpwner says: LOL MCWAFFELS
<group chat>thrain says: is Ipwnnaabs online?ill invite him. how about gendalf and thral?
DAoC(didn't used to be, but bots and instances changed that)
CoH
LotRO
I don't mind being able to solo. You should be able to solo a bunch of stuff. HOWEVER, the KEY difference is, there should be more benefits to grouping aside from social interaction, and killing certain hard mobs. There should be exp bonuses and the like.
Soloing should be fine, grouping should be better, but not forced.
A big thing thats killing grouping is the Questing system that WoW popularized. Quests used to be about epic adventures, they increased the lore, they gave you an item or two, and a little bit of exp.
NOW though, in the post WoW MMO world, questing is the ONLY way to level up remotely quickly. Quests are watered down, they're everywhere, they're simple, they tell you where to go, they pretty much involve just killing things, and they return lots of exp in rewards. Now, the only time people group(especially in LotRO) is to take down a particularly difficult quest, then they disband as soon as its done. There is no social interaction, its just grab this quest, run here, kill that, all go seperate ways. It SUCKS. The worst thing is, most people who were brought in by WoW know no other system, so companies keep releasing games that do this, because its familiar to the WoW giant, and all they care about is money.
One last gripe... WTF, why do ALL QUEST NPCS have markers over their heads? Is it so difficult to do some work talking to random NPCs to find a quest? It really takes away from the world. Basically saying "All these other guys, they don't matter, they're just eye candy. If their heads don't glow, don't bother looking at um."
I want less quests, no icons overhead, more meaningful quests, and grouping to give an exp bonus. That would be the perfect MMO.
Hunting and questing in groups should yield more xp period. If you want to do it the slow hard way (which is what solo should be) then good luck but you should not get equal benefits or xp. They need to make crafters items the very best instead of loot drops and lose the auction houses.
Instead of giving the option to solo with a preference to grouping they have done exactly the opposite. This will not build good communities period.
Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and hatred for every kind of imposture.
If you actually read the quests it helps move you along. Personally I can't take just going out an killing whatever mobs give the best exp over and over again. Once upon a time that was okay with me, but now I wont play a game like that. A quest may seem another grind to you, but to me I read the quest and there is a little story behind each one.
I'd rather wipe out a camp of goblins than run to town, get a mission to kill boars, kill boars, run back, rise repeat. I'd rather progress slowly through a dungeon, or fight my way through a zone, taking time to TALK to people and enjoy the sight. There isn't even any downtime in games anymore! It's sort of cool, especially for the soloist, but theres no down time in groups to just chat. Some of the best convos I've had in MMOs were waiting for the cleric to get some power or something. But again, cause of the soloers, everything regernerates like lighting. Its nice, sometimes .
That quest to kill boars probably has some kind of story behind it. If you just grab the quest, read the summary, and then go kill the boars it's going to be a grind because the quest has no meaning to you. If you like the story for the quest it will give some meaning other then just killing the boars. Personally I like the little stories for these quests. Yeah you could make up your own reason for killing things, but I prefer the game makers do that.
People just need to learn some basic social skills, then they can make their own friends, instead of demanding that the game force people to play with them. I constantly turn down grouping requests from complete twits, but I'll gladly accept a polite and well-worded offer.
I thought perhaps that was the case, but I've tried some games since EQ that have been group based like Final Fantasy XI an Vanguard and I must say that it's to much of a hassle to go out of the way for other people in games all the time. I much prefer to explore the world alone and see what happens. I do enjoy seeing other people running around and talking though as it makes the world feel more alive. I'm a layed back person and I'm playing games to relax. Too often it stresses me out to be involved in groups or even worse raids.
Non-soloable games end up being troublesome. Take FFXI for example:
1 hour - get group ready
30 minute - meet at location
10 minute - preparing
45 minute - someone convinently leaves, spend time finding a new member
Level for about 30 minutes
30 minutes - someone goes AFK
Well, you basically get the idea.
However, I think games should force 2 OR more people to group... and not solo. But damn, no way in hell do i want to always go through the hassle of having 4+
I thought perhaps that was the case, but I've tried some games since EQ that have been group based like Final Fantasy XI an Vanguard and I must say that it's to much of a hassle to go out of the way for other people in games all the time. I much prefer to explore the world alone and see what happens. I do enjoy seeing other people running around and talking though as it makes the world feel more alive. I'm a layed back person and I'm playing games to relax. Too often it stresses me out to be involved in groups or even worse raids.
my sentiments exactly.It's not that people are bad either it's just grouping brings out bad things in people a lot of the time. Other then the much larger time consumption needed for groups you have the greed factor sets in since it's hard to get items via raids especially. You have people like myself who are bored out of their mind and end up making a mental error which you end up getting crucified for by everyone in the group/raid. I just don't need to deal with that kind of thing. You also have the I don't want to ruin the group by leaving so you end up staying on a lot longer then you really want to. It all adds up to some bad juju. I think the Warhammer public idea will be much more enjoyable then forming groups or raids.
I enjoy always having the option of going solo at any time, even if it would mean waiting on whatever is my current development objective. I do not however enjoy games where every bit of content is soloable and/or soloing is more efficient in the end.
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Hemingway
Look at WOW.Many many new/casual players...that like to play for a bit...actually accomplish something and stop playing. Look how much EQ2 was punished when it intro'd with minimal solo content. I won't even get into VG and solo content.
REMOVE the auction houses and bring back the old player to player trades, make a system where crafters can advertise their stuff, like a board, instead of making it an acution house make it a post board, where you search for (not items) but crafters...
or make the crafters have their own vendors in a rented place in a market square or their own house
I would say the second part of your comment here about having their own rented place or shop would be better. I don't think moving backwards in terms of game functionality is the way to go.
If I could travel to their shop in relative convenience (doesn't have to be all over the place like AH's) and look/purchase goods at anytime, it would probably come closer to achieving the goal I *think* you have in mind. If you could only trade via player to player trades, it would make crafting in general more of a pain in the ass. Even if you play only a couple hours a day, I doubt most people would wait just because they know the crafter personally for alot of goods.
I've played games with no auction house type system, and half the time people just complain about not having one and the problems it creates. Trade spam, wasted time, can't reach as big a potential customer base, wasted travel time, etc etc etc.
I know you want to create more interaction, but you don't build a wall by breaking 3 windows first.
I love the strategy and coordination in a group but hate having to deal with waiting to find the appropriate classes and others on the same quest/dungeon. I also dislike being glued to my seat for an hour or more out of obligation to the group. PvP is the only play type where I think you can solve both these problems. Whenever you feel like playing, log on, find some guildmates or friends, kill some pixels and log off to do whatever needs doing or is calling for your attention in real life. Four hour raids are utterly ridiculous.
When MMO's were being thought of, pre-Ultima Online and even after UO was released, group hunting was never considered the focus of what makes an MMO
its mindsets like this topic that is really ruining MMO's and making them into clones. MMO's were originally thought of to be more of a social interactive environment with a world that ever changed by the players interaction. Now theyre just hack/slash NPC pez dispenser games that are focused completely on combat.
so.. I suppose Im the complete opposite.. Im tired of quest centric connect the dot MMO's that you begin to hit a wall if you dont have an active group of friends online at all times.
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a robot foot stomping on a human face -- forever."
In every game you hit a wall eventually. It's weather or not you are willing to accept that and leave. I'm the exploring type so when there is nothing new to explore I'm not going to hang around and repeat the same endgame content over and over again. Theres nothing wrong with wanting to socialize, but it's your choice to do so really.
To the OP: I am of the opposite of opinions. I am tired of being forced to join in massive groups for raids. Groups filled with yahoos and idiots that I wouldn't even bother wasting my time to spit on. Anything more than a half dozen people in one group is more than I can stand. I usually end up so frustrated with poor behavior, bad sportsmanship, illiteracy,over zealous gung-ho fools. No give me solo content or small group content and forget about the bigger raids.
Couple those feelings with my reply to Cale
Originally posted by CaleSentari
I've played games with no auction house type system, and half the time people just complain about not having one and the problems it creates. Trade spam, wasted time, can't reach as big a potential customer base, wasted travel time, etc etc etc.
I know you want to create more interaction, but you don't build a wall by breaking 3 windows first.
If the craft system was given a major role, instead of the time sink filler role they stand as now. Then the craftsman's items would be better, and depending upon skills superior, than 80% of the drops and all of the vendors wares. Then the Craftsman themselves would be very popular and much in demand. Get rid of personal stalls that clutter up a screen and causes lag to most minimum spec systems, cutting of the view of players passing through. Drop the Auction Houses. Create in the towns Guild Halls for the Craftsmen.
Enter the Weapon smith's Guild Hall. There you can talk to a NPC Guild tradesman. The tradesman will tell you he has wares created by (and a list of names follows). You Select the craftsman you want and see what he has for sale and the price he asks. Buy or get out. No Loitering!!
The people who complain about having to go around to do stuff are just to lazy to get immersed in the art of Role Playing. Pre Computer times would not have a worldwide auction system. If one wanted something made my So-&-SO the smith, one would travel to see that smith.
Add to that, and for Craftsmen of a certain higher ranking, the ability to own wagons and travel with those wagons around the world and viola. Immersible Role Playing!
I like grouping, unfortunately I'm not a very good player and get kicked from party's quickly. Also I always end up spending an hour or more trying to get into a party/fellowship/etc., and, just dont have that much patience. I hurry up and wait, too much as it is, in real life. Giving me a suit of armor or a pet monkey doesnt hide the similarirty's from real life enough for me to feel immersed, or even to simulate fun. When I play a game I want to feel as if I'm having an other worldly experience. Being forced to run with the crowd, is just like paying taxes, haha, what choice do I have? As to why do I try. Simple, the graphice in most of these games are freakin cool. My pet Monkey is freakin cool. The guy running the party or fellowship telling me to STFU right before he kicks me is not cool. He's just like the dozens of A- Hole people Ive had to work with, all my life. Fortunately, I am retired, and dont have to work anymore. I just wanna play. Play Play Play. God, please dont make me think. Think Think Think. Oh yeah I agree about the nixing of Auction houses. I like crafting, provided it's simple, and yealds awesome goodies. Goodies Goodies Goodies. And I like game T-shirts. Why dont subscribers get free T-shirts?
With all these highly soloable mmos out with the exception of FFXI to a point i miss the good ol days of EQ where most of it was group based but it was extremely fun. People wonder why mmorpgs get boring so easily because all it is, is solo to end game then raid raid raid.
I liked EQ "ok" but I only went there because most of my UO guild quit and went to EQ.
*I* however, kept playing UO because I preferred it by FAR compared to EQ.
*I* actually liked FFXI more than EQ but still not as much as UO.
As to grouping in MMO's... I don't really like the majority of people I meet in real life. Why would I want to be forced with them? I like a game that has enough content that allows me to meet people worth grouping with... and after I do that.. has content that makes grouping worth it.
So in general no... if a MMO has a lot of solo content I in fact feel that's a good thing. Forced grouping... pretty much destroys most games imho.
Oh and you don't have to be a great player to be someone I'd group with. Its more about attitude, sense of humor and not being a (well a term I can't use on this forum) and I'll group with you.
However, those type of people seem to be pretty hard to find. Once I find a group of them... I don't really care for solo play. However, that's just it... that's a group built on social interaction... rather than being forced togethere.
I prefer when solo is FUN in a MMORPG and rewarding.
But if it infringes on grouping, this is where it is bad.
Example: In CoV, if you want to get salvages, you should solo...this is bad...this is taking it too far.
But solo has to be FUN and rewarding in a way or another, just not at the expanse of grouping. If you can't get solo right, you can't get more complexs gameplays right. If a dev is unable to make a good soloing game, he is unable to make a good grouping game. Having soloers happy and...soloing...is an important aspect of a successfull MMO-RPG.
Solo is, after grouping, the most important aspect of a MMO-RPG...
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Oh bye the way. This sure is a decent thread. Nice job folks. Way to comunicate. Rock on. And I forgot to mention something, that occured to me as I re read some posts here. One person mentioned having shops, instead of Auction House. I like that. In the ROSE beta's, we had shops that people could set up and sell there items. The player could choose the content of the sign, open shop, buy and sell. The only drawback was having to stay logged in over-nite, or whatever, and be afk. Im sure this is nothing new to most of you, but it worked good. The ROSE beta's were alot of fun.
The particular genius of the MMORPG genre is that it has the freedom to allow any of the modern MMORPG archtypes to log on and advance through-out the game in their own way. If any MMORPG in the future is going to be WoW's successor its going to have to have well thought out content in all the areas the modern MMORPGer expects, ie. questing, raiding, PvP, crafting, and exploring in soloable AND group versions. Any game that forces a player into any one of these aspects and ignores the others may still enjoy success but only in its target audience. (For PvPers see Guild Wars, For forced grouping see DnD online) It will be very hard pressed to reach out to the other archtypes, excluding 80% of the market at launch.
I personally enjoy the archtype that WoW has set up, that quests and PvP can be joined immediately after logging in, sessions can be brief or lengthy(the player is not tied into the game), and are easily available in solo or group versions. It promotes casual gameplay which the majority of players in everygame are going to be, making the game more appealing to a larger market.
Personally, Ive always been a loner/rogue player in MMORPGs. I used to spend alot of time in the old games that forced grouping, trying to figure out ways to solo or exploit the content by myself. But I like the freedom to choose if I want to be solo or grouped, and I dont want to be penalized if I choose to play solo. Ive never thought you should reward a style of play.
Ive always found in these games that people of the same preferences given enough time are gonna find each other anyway. Groupers, after a while, begin to recognize the other groupers. PvPers stick together once they meet. I like that we can make friends liek we make them in real life, in our own casual and personal ways.
On a side note to crafting, I do think that the crafter archtype gets the least amount of attention in an MMORPG game. But, I still wouldnt want to delete the Auction House System because it does create very interesting economies that can dramatically vary from server to server within the same game. Unfortunately, Im really not sure how to fix this. Upgrading the quality of the crafted items could help. Unique weapons/armor/items for specialized crafters could help. Virtual economies are as fickle as real economies, so it would be interesting see how thses might affect. I dont really liek the personal "Booth" style that alot of the Korean MMOPRGs have though. Most people tend to make the booths in the middle of towns/quest giver centers making it very crowded and difficult to find anything.
/sign. It's a difficult question though. I mean, damn, I want to be grouping like I did back in Everquest, and I want to play and MMO and have fun grouping like I did in Everquest and to a lesser extent, Horizons: Empires of Istaria. Everyone has been saying that soloable games give choice, so let's talk evidence. Let's take a look at the poster child for soloable MMORPGs; yep, you guessed it, World of Warcraft. Read just about any guide for this game, and it will tell you: "the fastest way to advance is through individual quests." Combine this with just about every other two-bit jackass out there who wants to reach max level to join a mindless grind not wanting to group, and you have a game that doesn't really give you choice now, does it? The vast, vast, vast, vast, vast majority of content is solo content, with only instances being the short time one will spend with a group, and in most instances, pardon the pun, those won't be pick up groups, but instead guild groups. So, what is in these solo games? Well, it's a whole bunch of people all playing the game individually, not reallly meeting each other, not really depending on each other, and recoiling from the idea. The whole community is based on segregation, and not having to interact or depend on anyone else. Look how that turned out...
However, it is important that we look at the flipside. Take a game like Everquest II which some of the more hardcore amongst us might not agree is a truly group-based game. I've tried to solo it, and I've played it through grouping, and I know what was easier and more fun. Certanly, the class abilities alone lend themselves to gorup play, and apart from the proliferation of solo quests, it's got a fairly similar philosophy regarding solo content as its predecessor. Now, if one has a group to play with, it's a lot of fun. However, I started playing with some friends recently, and I've got a lot less time than I used to, and before I know it, all three of them are ten levels ahead of me and rising. Now that I can't group with them, riding around alone spamming LFG is a lot less fun than even the meaningless grind that is solo content. Although I only played Vanguard: Saga of Heroes for a month or so, I found it to be the same in many respects. While grouping was indeed a whole bunch of fun, finding the group was what bothered me.
However, this wasn't an issue back in old Everquest if I recall correctly. One would just need to go to the right place and ask, and before long, a whole unit would assemble before one's very eyes. Not only that, there was a sort of magic to the group play, the repetitive killing of mob after mob: the best grind of my life. Honestly guys, let's go back to that, let's see some real group games with real group ethics.
Comments
I like soloing myself,i prefer to log into a game and be able to go off from the offset and do what I want,then log off.
I agree that there should be more reason to utilize grouping in MMOs though,such as added incentives like enhanced XP or whole regons that are group only.
I wouldnt play a game if it was totally group centric though-having to spend time looking for a group,maybe having trouble getting a place if you were playing as a certain class,or having to group with people you really cant stand or who 'rambo' into everything without thought..
<world chat>you say:looking for group for siege quests
<thrain whispers you>:im about to set up a group for that,want to join?
<you tell thrain>:yeah ill join
thrain invites you to join a group.accept?
you join the group.
<group chat>you say:hello
<group chat>thrain says:hi,just inviting some guild friends.
killerboy joins the group
<group chat>killerboy says: HI GUSY
<group chat>thrain says: hi killer.going to invite another guildy,hang on
n00bpwner joins the group
<group chat>n00bpwner says:LOLOL
<group chat>killerboy says: CHUCK NORISS LOL
<group chat>n00bpwner says: LOL MCWAFFELS
<group chat>thrain says: is Ipwnnaabs online?ill invite him. how about gendalf and thral?
you leave the group.
SWG,
DAoC(didn't used to be, but bots and instances changed that)
CoH
LotRO
I don't mind being able to solo. You should be able to solo a bunch of stuff. HOWEVER, the KEY difference is, there should be more benefits to grouping aside from social interaction, and killing certain hard mobs. There should be exp bonuses and the like.
Soloing should be fine, grouping should be better, but not forced.
A big thing thats killing grouping is the Questing system that WoW popularized. Quests used to be about epic adventures, they increased the lore, they gave you an item or two, and a little bit of exp.
NOW though, in the post WoW MMO world, questing is the ONLY way to level up remotely quickly. Quests are watered down, they're everywhere, they're simple, they tell you where to go, they pretty much involve just killing things, and they return lots of exp in rewards. Now, the only time people group(especially in LotRO) is to take down a particularly difficult quest, then they disband as soon as its done. There is no social interaction, its just grab this quest, run here, kill that, all go seperate ways. It SUCKS. The worst thing is, most people who were brought in by WoW know no other system, so companies keep releasing games that do this, because its familiar to the WoW giant, and all they care about is money.
One last gripe... WTF, why do ALL QUEST NPCS have markers over their heads? Is it so difficult to do some work talking to random NPCs to find a quest? It really takes away from the world. Basically saying "All these other guys, they don't matter, they're just eye candy. If their heads don't glow, don't bother looking at um."
I want less quests, no icons overhead, more meaningful quests, and grouping to give an exp bonus. That would be the perfect MMO.
Darkfall Travelogues!
Hunting and questing in groups should yield more xp period. If you want to do it the slow hard way (which is what solo should be) then good luck but you should not get equal benefits or xp. They need to make crafters items the very best instead of loot drops and lose the auction houses.
Instead of giving the option to solo with a preference to grouping they have done exactly the opposite. This will not build good communities period.
Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and hatred for every kind of imposture.
If you actually read the quests it helps move you along. Personally I can't take just going out an killing whatever mobs give the best exp over and over again. Once upon a time that was okay with me, but now I wont play a game like that. A quest may seem another grind to you, but to me I read the quest and there is a little story behind each one.
Darkfall Travelogues!
Non-soloable games end up being troublesome. Take FFXI for example:
1 hour - get group ready
30 minute - meet at location
10 minute - preparing
45 minute - someone convinently leaves, spend time finding a new member
Level for about 30 minutes
30 minutes - someone goes AFK
Well, you basically get the idea.
However, I think games should force 2 OR more people to group... and not solo. But damn, no way in hell do i want to always go through the hassle of having 4+
Yes, and yet, no
I enjoy always having the option of going solo at any time, even if it would mean waiting on whatever is my current development objective. I do not however enjoy games where every bit of content is soloable and/or soloing is more efficient in the end.
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Hemingway
I would say the second part of your comment here about having their own rented place or shop would be better. I don't think moving backwards in terms of game functionality is the way to go.
If I could travel to their shop in relative convenience (doesn't have to be all over the place like AH's) and look/purchase goods at anytime, it would probably come closer to achieving the goal I *think* you have in mind. If you could only trade via player to player trades, it would make crafting in general more of a pain in the ass. Even if you play only a couple hours a day, I doubt most people would wait just because they know the crafter personally for alot of goods.
I've played games with no auction house type system, and half the time people just complain about not having one and the problems it creates. Trade spam, wasted time, can't reach as big a potential customer base, wasted travel time, etc etc etc.
I know you want to create more interaction, but you don't build a wall by breaking 3 windows first.
When MMO's were being thought of, pre-Ultima Online and even after UO was released, group hunting was never considered the focus of what makes an MMO
its mindsets like this topic that is really ruining MMO's and making them into clones. MMO's were originally thought of to be more of a social interactive environment with a world that ever changed by the players interaction. Now theyre just hack/slash NPC pez dispenser games that are focused completely on combat.
so.. I suppose Im the complete opposite.. Im tired of quest centric connect the dot MMO's that you begin to hit a wall if you dont have an active group of friends online at all times.
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a robot foot stomping on a human face -- forever."
To the OP: I am of the opposite of opinions. I am tired of being forced to join in massive groups for raids. Groups filled with yahoos and idiots that I wouldn't even bother wasting my time to spit on. Anything more than a half dozen people in one group is more than I can stand. I usually end up so frustrated with poor behavior, bad sportsmanship, illiteracy,over zealous gung-ho fools. No give me solo content or small group content and forget about the bigger raids.
Couple those feelings with my reply to Cale
If the craft system was given a major role, instead of the time sink filler role they stand as now. Then the craftsman's items would be better, and depending upon skills superior, than 80% of the drops and all of the vendors wares. Then the Craftsman themselves would be very popular and much in demand. Get rid of personal stalls that clutter up a screen and causes lag to most minimum spec systems, cutting of the view of players passing through. Drop the Auction Houses. Create in the towns Guild Halls for the Craftsmen.
Enter the Weapon smith's Guild Hall. There you can talk to a NPC Guild tradesman. The tradesman will tell you he has wares created by (and a list of names follows). You Select the craftsman you want and see what he has for sale and the price he asks. Buy or get out. No Loitering!!
The people who complain about having to go around to do stuff are just to lazy to get immersed in the art of Role Playing. Pre Computer times would not have a worldwide auction system. If one wanted something made my So-&-SO the smith, one would travel to see that smith.
Add to that, and for Craftsmen of a certain higher ranking, the ability to own wagons and travel with those wagons around the world and viola. Immersible Role Playing!
I liked EQ "ok" but I only went there because most of my UO guild quit and went to EQ.
*I* however, kept playing UO because I preferred it by FAR compared to EQ.
*I* actually liked FFXI more than EQ but still not as much as UO.
As to grouping in MMO's... I don't really like the majority of people I meet in real life. Why would I want to be forced with them? I like a game that has enough content that allows me to meet people worth grouping with... and after I do that.. has content that makes grouping worth it.
So in general no... if a MMO has a lot of solo content I in fact feel that's a good thing. Forced grouping... pretty much destroys most games imho.
Oh and you don't have to be a great player to be someone I'd group with. Its more about attitude, sense of humor and not being a (well a term I can't use on this forum) and I'll group with you.
However, those type of people seem to be pretty hard to find. Once I find a group of them... I don't really care for solo play. However, that's just it... that's a group built on social interaction... rather than being forced togethere.
I prefer when solo is FUN in a MMORPG and rewarding.
But if it infringes on grouping, this is where it is bad.
Example: In CoV, if you want to get salvages, you should solo...this is bad...this is taking it too far.
But solo has to be FUN and rewarding in a way or another, just not at the expanse of grouping. If you can't get solo right, you can't get more complexs gameplays right. If a dev is unable to make a good soloing game, he is unable to make a good grouping game. Having soloers happy and...soloing...is an important aspect of a successfull MMO-RPG.
Solo is, after grouping, the most important aspect of a MMO-RPG...
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
The more solo content, the longer the game will be alive.
UO and EQ anyone?
The particular genius of the MMORPG genre is that it has the freedom to allow any of the modern MMORPG archtypes to log on and advance through-out the game in their own way. If any MMORPG in the future is going to be WoW's successor its going to have to have well thought out content in all the areas the modern MMORPGer expects, ie. questing, raiding, PvP, crafting, and exploring in soloable AND group versions. Any game that forces a player into any one of these aspects and ignores the others may still enjoy success but only in its target audience. (For PvPers see Guild Wars, For forced grouping see DnD online) It will be very hard pressed to reach out to the other archtypes, excluding 80% of the market at launch.
I personally enjoy the archtype that WoW has set up, that quests and PvP can be joined immediately after logging in, sessions can be brief or lengthy(the player is not tied into the game), and are easily available in solo or group versions. It promotes casual gameplay which the majority of players in everygame are going to be, making the game more appealing to a larger market.
Personally, Ive always been a loner/rogue player in MMORPGs. I used to spend alot of time in the old games that forced grouping, trying to figure out ways to solo or exploit the content by myself. But I like the freedom to choose if I want to be solo or grouped, and I dont want to be penalized if I choose to play solo. Ive never thought you should reward a style of play.
Ive always found in these games that people of the same preferences given enough time are gonna find each other anyway. Groupers, after a while, begin to recognize the other groupers. PvPers stick together once they meet. I like that we can make friends liek we make them in real life, in our own casual and personal ways.
On a side note to crafting, I do think that the crafter archtype gets the least amount of attention in an MMORPG game. But, I still wouldnt want to delete the Auction House System because it does create very interesting economies that can dramatically vary from server to server within the same game. Unfortunately, Im really not sure how to fix this. Upgrading the quality of the crafted items could help. Unique weapons/armor/items for specialized crafters could help. Virtual economies are as fickle as real economies, so it would be interesting see how thses might affect. I dont really liek the personal "Booth" style that alot of the Korean MMOPRGs have though. Most people tend to make the booths in the middle of towns/quest giver centers making it very crowded and difficult to find anything.
However, it is important that we look at the flipside. Take a game like Everquest II which some of the more hardcore amongst us might not agree is a truly group-based game. I've tried to solo it, and I've played it through grouping, and I know what was easier and more fun. Certanly, the class abilities alone lend themselves to gorup play, and apart from the proliferation of solo quests, it's got a fairly similar philosophy regarding solo content as its predecessor. Now, if one has a group to play with, it's a lot of fun. However, I started playing with some friends recently, and I've got a lot less time than I used to, and before I know it, all three of them are ten levels ahead of me and rising. Now that I can't group with them, riding around alone spamming LFG is a lot less fun than even the meaningless grind that is solo content. Although I only played Vanguard: Saga of Heroes for a month or so, I found it to be the same in many respects. While grouping was indeed a whole bunch of fun, finding the group was what bothered me.
However, this wasn't an issue back in old Everquest if I recall correctly. One would just need to go to the right place and ask, and before long, a whole unit would assemble before one's very eyes. Not only that, there was a sort of magic to the group play, the repetitive killing of mob after mob: the best grind of my life. Honestly guys, let's go back to that, let's see some real group games with real group ethics.