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Vindictus: Is Forced Grouping Fun?
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
In his latest entry into the MMORPG.com Staff Blog, Bill Murphy talks about his experiences in the Vindictus Early Access beta. While Bill has played much of the game (so far) alone, there was a point in time where being in a group was necessary. Find out what Bill thought of the 'forced grouping' situation into which he was put. Let us know your thoughts on the forums.
At this point you’ll be tasked with the mission “A Decisive Battle”. There’s a main town hub in Vindictus where all players congregate, advance the story in, sell, craft, check mail, etc. But in order to see action, you’ll go to the docks, select a specific mission or “battle” and launch a ship to travel there. You can also see other players’ ships preparing to launch, and join their party if there’s room available. And for “A Decisive Battle”, unless you’re higher level or playing as Fiona, you might want to do just that.
Read more here.
Comments
Meh, its f2p, nothing else needs to be said.
I was in hype with this, tested it, and went back to real life.
There is no knowledge that is no power.
Forced grouping? Only if you suck and can't learn to use tactics instead of facerolling.
Its not so bad but being forced to do anything sucks . Kaspertg you clearly didnt get the point of the quiestion .
I found it no more repetitive than I would subject myself to crafting, raiding, dungeon crawling or PvPing in any other mmo. Moreso I find the latter a bit more repetitive (anything that allows me to eat a sandwich in one hand and survive can be repetitive and alot more proactive.) But I can't do that in Vindictus. Yes the move sets can be a bit repetitive, but the demand is reactionary. You cannot just sit around a read a book or watch TV during a fight. I can honestly say that a Boss fight in Vindictus will never play out the same way twice (well at least differ more than a classic mmo dungeon boss battle)
But the grouping aspect is where this game gets it right. No need to spam for someone doing the same quest as you (well not as much), because the quest are all linked to the docking boats. Look up your quest and look for a like-minded group of players. Everyone prepares then you set sail. Vindictus even attempts to school players in the ways of common courtesy that's lost to a lot of players these days with the inclusion of default macros for thanking a player for rezzing you (F2) and prasing your group on a job well done after downing a boss (F11). The message appears on screen after these two actions prompting you to press the key.
Vidictus for me is not so much a traditional mmo, but what combat in mmos could evolve into. I like bosses that ignore hate meters and judge all targets for being equal threats. I like having players that think on their feet and have to keep an eye on their party members (for rezzing) and on the fight at hand without turning into a zergfest (that would get your group slaughtered quickly). It reminds me of everytime I look on the cover of a fantasy novel or piece of fantasy art. And you see the heroes posed there in battle with a fearsome beast. I just wish mmos could capture this tone of excitement.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
I dont like like force grouping..I dont need another player to hold my hand..Even though you can solo for awhile in this game..But after, grab any partner and dosey doe..Rinse and repeat...
Grouping isn't forced in Vindictus. Grouping is just the fastest way to get most of the quests done but almost everything can be solo'ed with the right skill and tactics. Some quests require you solo certain bosses to get max battle points.
^x2
I actually did Decisive Battle Solo as Lann. You can use the pillars at the back of the big room to avoid the Chieftain and come out for quick strikes when he does his big attacks that stun him afterwards. It takes a while but very doable.
As for the game, I had a blast in the early access. I don't think it is any more repetitive then your standard FPS. I am more anxious to see what they do with MTX and if it will be too heavily influenced. Once you get past the perilous ruins and you start fighting the bosses with slingshots in the ice caves, it is mad fun as it requires a lot more movement and dodging.
I really hope the author is trolling or joking. There is an OATH that requires you to SOLO the boss. You HAVE to solo some bosses in this game to get the oath. You are NEVER forced to party in a group in this game.
Play the boss, learn it's attack patterns, dodge and attack. This isn't a typical mmo where you wait and spam buttons, lol.
Regardless of all the hate on this game, I will say that this game is FUN and best played CASUALLY.
There's more to it than just throwing spears, hooks, and bombs. Almost anything you see, you can pick up (depending on your strength) and can use it against your enemy. Boy oh boy, just wait until you face the orc chief and the giant polar bear!
I never understood why people called grouping "forced" in a negative way? I mean, it's a MMO, isn't it supposed to be social?
I mean, if I play D&D I am also forced to group. Such is the nature of social games. Otherwise you need to play solitaire. My general experience is, the more soloable MMO got, the more people do solo. As glum as it sounds, you have to force people to group in MMOs for their own good.
Soloed that mission on both normal and hard at level 14, it was much more EPIC than being in a group, group playing is fun and hilarious at many points tho. Vindictus is a very fun epic game but the lag mess it up for me in "eob" and the fact that they raise the level cap to only 38 and no new class is bs! know how fast it would take any player to reach level 38, I hope they see this problem and make the level cap 60 or more!
Also some team players you can not trust
be safe.
"...even though the action can get a little repetitive this far into my career as a Crimson Blade (I’m only level 11)."
"Lann doesn’t have the shield to put up with the onslaught from the mission’s Gnoll Chieftan boss (or maybe I just suck hardcore). "
I'm honestly not saying this in any sort of elitist way, but Bill, you haven't really gotten into the game. And it's possible that you either 1) may not be playing it the way it's supposed to be played, or 2) this really isn't your type of game. The early levels up to the Gnoll Chieftan are training levels, to be quite honest. Pretty much every player hit that Gnoll Chieftan and either went "WTH this is impossible" or "Hell yeah, now you're talking!".
(Incidentally, Fiona doesn't have any easier of a time on that Gnoll Chieftan - all of that guy's attacks, save for his occasional short-range kick, are smash-type attacks that blow right through shield guards. In fact, there's an event for Fiona after you beat him, where you finally learn a technique that CAN block those kind of heavy smash hits.)
For all intents and purposes, the game can be considered to come rather close to "forced grouping". But I would also submit that the grouping is largely painless, very well faciliated, and there's no holy-trinity to foul things up. I ran the first couple levels solo, then tried a few groups - and it's good. You all have a common goal, basic communication is built right in, difficulty scales with the number of group members, and since loot drops so there's one for each player, there's no contention there either. If you're going for specific goals, start a boat and type in your aims right in the title so there's no miscommunication. The worst of the forced grouping aspects was probably during the last week of early-access, when many of us had been banging the level cap for a week or two, doing speed runs on the raid, and cabin-fever started to make itself known. That aside, I had lots of spontaneous conversation with complete strangers, and a surprising amount of teamwork in the midst of fights. Good times for me, definitely.
And as already stated, but there are numerous oaths (aka achievements) requiring solo play-thru on many of the harder quests. They're not mandatory, but they're not oaths you have to come back to twenty levels later with uber-gear to survive - all that's needed is skill, patience, and a desire to push yourself in a game that actually gives you a chance to prove yourself.
If you're the type of player that's adamantly against grouping, that's fine. All types play MMO's, and multiplayer doesn't need to automatically mandate grouping. But this game isn't what I would consider a good example of why forced grouping is bad. In fact, I would consider this game a steller example of how to make pugging as smooth and painless as possible.
A Modest Proposal for MMORPGs:
That the means of progression would not be mutually exclusive from the means of enjoyment.
true that, but i do got to say forced grouping is real fun anyway
Terrible article. The author stated that you are not forced to group in the article so why was this even brought up? If you find the game repetitive then GTFO cause no one who enjoys the game cares. I will not judge the author on his skills since I don't know him but grouping is just easier to deal with, Vindictus makes grouping easy.
I saw someone complain about how the grouping adds nothing to the community cause no one talks. Well, then TALK TO THEM. You start up the conversation, genius. Believe me, once voice chat goes in you will be begging for them to shut up or just out right mute it so enjoy the peace while you can. If you want community wait for guilds to be implemented cause if you group with guild mates you get bigger rewards so, you will want to play with them more.
For the people who say "who cares, F2P = sucks". Do us all a favor and jump infront of a moving car or overdose on pills cause that would be more helpful to the world then your opinions.
Forced grouping can be fun. Many MMOs force grouping, even if you blindly deny it.
I agree, this is actually more fun than i expected to be, i like the pace to, controlled action galore especially if your flowing like a good payer does.
Forced Grouping, or Group "Content", is the dumbest thing any MMO should do.
Wish I were sober enough to elaborate in detail, but. i'm not.
Simply put, what is the reason for Forced Grouping and how does it affect the MMO community?
What is the ultimate Goal? People want the best a game has to offer.
Pre-Cu Swg had this in the form of the Crafting system, where the "Best:" a game offered changed regularly(month to month) and not based on Expansions that take many months or years to change.
Variable changing resources meant the "best" items kept changing. The "group" content was required to abtain items that Enhanced the "best" crafted items.
I just found the game too shallow to hold my interest. I suppose if you were really bored it would be some light gaming. With all the games out there these days, I just don't see this game competing.
I swear, your the biggest whiner on this site. Just seems like everything bothers you and nothing is good enough for you. Maybe you need to find another hobby cause apparently no game is good enough for you.
very true! "Let's play a mmorpg and just ignore the community"
Online Games - Games
Ah, so you don't like someone being critical of development houses putting out lots of mediocre games? You don't find most of these new games shallow and boring? There are some decent games coming up. Rift and Guild Wars II look very promising, TERA could be, SWTOR could be, but the present games in the genre are sorely lacking atm imo.
You know when you accept mediocrity as the standard, you end up with it as the norm.
Is anything "forced" fun.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....